The Sports Frog

The US just ripped its North, Central, and South American bretheren limb from limb the last few weeks, securing its spot in Beijing. It did so with a balanced team that actually featured shooters, ball-handlers, and some concept of the need for defense. So, everything is locked in for a return to to the top of the international bragging rights pile next year, right?

Not so fast, says Michael Wilbon in today's Washington Post:

"In Las Vegas, the U.S. team faced no serious competition. In Beijing, the U.S. team will be in a very competitive field that will include Spain, Lithuania, Croatia, Italy, Greece and China. Oh, and don't forget the real Argentina, which played the Americas tournament without starters Andres Nocioni, Manu Gin?bili and Fabricio Oberto, all of whom figure to be in the lineup next August when Argentina defends its Olympic championship.

Unlike the last two weeks, there will be plenty of teams in China whose players believe they can beat the United States. Not only has the intimidation factor been lost forever, international teams now can't wait to play Team USA, no matter who's in uniform. Colangelo is aware of this, which is part of the reason he wants to hold a team-building, chemistry-enhancing minicamp of sorts in July before the August Olympic Games. Qualifying is a nice first step, but Colangelo and Coach K know exactly where international coaches are probing for weakness. While the 127-100 victory over Mexico looked like just another blowout to most folks at home following the results, the fact that Mexico scored 51 in a half is what got the attention of the rest of the world."

OK, so maybe the US is still working on the "play defense" part of the equation. As for the rest of it, Wilbon raises solid points.

Then again, the notion that the US will have to work to win gold, and knows they have to work to win gold? Kind of makes them more endearing. At the least, the arrogance of the past few US national teams should be a relic from the past.

The new design, which cost £400,000, has received a mixed response, but Lord Coe was adamant it put across the image and message that he wanted the London Games to deliver to the world.

"It's not a logo, it's a brand that will take us forward for the next five years," he told BBC Five Live.

I love it when there's this big presentation and press release about the fantastic super-exciting news that the United States Olympic Committee (USOC) is going to bid on the Olympics 10-15 years from now.

Wow. Really? That is just so not going to impact my life today.

First of all, the Olympics are mostly a bunch of boring hype highlighted only by the Jim McKay puppet ABC trots out. I mean, he is remarkably lifelike. Secondly, the USOC bids on pretty much every Olympic games. So this is non-news. Finally, this is for 2016. There will be two more World Cups, nine more World Series, and 10 more Super Bowls between now and then. My four year-old will probably be starting high school.

But hey, the staff of the USOC has gotta eat, right?