Wow! Those were quite the Olympics. The past two nights I've just kind of stared at my blank TV wondering where all the volleyball highlights were. Thankfully, American's who thought they couldn't get enough of Misty May-Treanor will get to see her chasse on the new season of Dancing With the Stars!

Since Sunday's Closing Ceremonies, a few questions have been on my mind (other than what the point of interviewing Michael Phelps in London was. Did anyone get anything out of that other than to confirm that there is in fact a British equivalent to Ryan Seacrest? Lucky them...). Looking forward to London in 2012...

1) How can London top Beijing's Opening Ceremonies? Aside from raising King Arthur from the dead and having him pull Excalibur out of a stone before using it to light the torch, I'm not sure we're going to see an Opening Ceremony like that again. If London's bit during the Closing Ceremonies was any indication, they're going to rely on a theme of "China's show may have been exotic, incredibly choreographed and awesomely inventive, but we have celebrities you recognize." Although Beijing did have Jackie Chan singing on Sunday!

2) What will the featured events be for the Brits? After 2004, China made a concentrated effort to focus on gymnastics, diving, table tennis and badminton...and it paid off in a huge gold medal haul. But the UK cleaned up in track cycling, they're definitely going to want to do well in soccer, and I'm sure they'll be a factor in rowing. If you go to the London venue page, they are hyping the velodrome and its 6,000 seats. Great news for cycling fans.

3) Will there be any new events? BMX and open water swimming had pretty exciting debuts. I've heard rumblings that golf and squash are on the list. Anybody know of anything else? I imagine darts would be a great sport to debut in London.

4) Speaking of open water swimming, I wonder where it will be held. The Thames? Maybe 10K out from the city in the English Channel and just have the athletes swim in? OK, probably not.

5) Will the pool be as fast as Beijing's? A majority of swimming races at these past games saw world records set. A majority of those had more than one person or relay team surpass the existing w.r. Sure the LZR suits helped, but there was no doubt that Beijing built a fast pool. I imagine London will look to do something similar.

6) Can the U.S. track team get back on track? Granted, on paper they did pretty well. But to track aficionados (and NBC studio hosts) we could have done a little bit better. How will USA Track & Field respond? Maybe Jerry Colangelo is available...

7) And finally, going beyond 2012, does Russia deserve to host the 2014 Winter Games? They blatantly broke the Olympic truce on the night of the Opening Ceremonies by invading Georgia. Sochi, the site of the 2014 Olympics, lies just several miles from the Georgian border. Yet IOC president Jacques Rogge felt content to save his criticisms during these past Games for Usain Bolt's post-race "antics." Please. What will it take between Georgia and Russia to affect the 2014 Winter Olympics? Let's hope something is worked out and aren't raising eyebrows in a few years as we can watch Vancouver hand over the flag to Sochi.

But until the next Games, I'll be rooting hard for Chicago's 2016 bid and keeping my eye on that Taylor Phinney kid. I hear he's got potential.

With Michael Phelps mania sweeping the nation, I find myself pulling more for Ryan Lochte in tonight's 200 Individual Medley.

Granted it's a huge long shot. He's got the 200 Back finals against Aaron Peirsol 39 minutes beforehand -- a race either man can win. And the IM field includes, oh yeah, Michael Phelps. But for Lochte to win would take an amazing swim, perhaps leading to a race more exciting than the recent 4x100 free relay.

Not to mention that Lochte, a talented IM swimmer, must sort of resign himself to finishing behind Phelps for the rest of his life.

I like Michael Phelps. I have nothing against him. I love watching him swim. But him breaking Mark Spitz's single-Games gold medal record isn't really that important to me and how much I enjoy watching Olympic swimming.

Frankly, I'm kind of turned off the Speedo LZR. It's a little too technological for swimming, I think. Now if Phelps stepped up on the block without a cap or goggles, sporting a mustache and wearing just a tiny Speedo, a la Spitz -- that would be amazing.

Phelps' toughest test is going to come against Ian Crocker in the 100 fly. Both men are probably going to be incredibly amped up for it. Crocker swam a slow 51.95 in the qualifying heat (compared with Phelps' 50.87), about a second and a half off his own world record. Maybe he's just conserving energy.

But I can't help but think, "How amazing would it be to see Ryan Lochte pull off an upset in a race that Phelps seemingly owns?"

Besides, maybe he's waiting for just that kind of swim to break out the grillz he sported at the 2007 Worlds in Melbourne:


AP Photo/Mark Baker

With the Olympic games rapidly approaching, one question has been looming in my mind...what caliber of players will be representing their respective countries in Beijing? Between World Cup qualifying matches, Champions League matches, the start of league play and other important matches around the world , the Olympics have to be a secondary concern for most clubs/countries. With that being said, I decided to do a little research....

The Olympic tournament is by definition an under-23 event, but each team can field three over-age players, who the clubs are not required to release. In a recent statement, FIFA reminded clubs worldwide "that the release of players under the age of 23 for the Men's Olympic Soccer Tournament is mandatory for all clubs. For Beijing 2008 the same principle shall apply". Clubs are not required to release their over-aged players, however Sepp Blatter (FIFA President and IOC member) has repeatedly urged them to do so out of respect "for the Olympic spirit".

So, what does this mean? Well, in spite of President Blatter's strong words of encouragement, I think we will be seeing a whole new host of young, green talent...and a handful of semi-retired veterans. As much as I would love to see such world renown stars as Ronaldinho, Landan Donovan and Robinho returning to the international stage, I sincerely doubt the likes of Barcelona, Real Madrid and the US Men's National Team (1st Team) will give a second thought about releasing their star players...but only time will tell.

Worker's Stadium-Beijing

The USA Decathlon Team consists of three world class athletes that will represent the U.S. for the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing. The U.S. already in my eyes has the edge in the event in terms of probable medal winners because of Bryan Clay & veteran Tom Pappas. Both have Olympic experience and Clay is the favorite to win the Gold this year as he attempts to be only the 2nd man in history to break the 9,000 point barrier.

Getting a chance to compete in the Olympics is just about every athlete's dream. After two days of fierce competition and years of training beforehand, Trey Hardee's vision of sporting the red, white and blue in Beijing is now a reality. The 24-year-old former University of Texas standout ended up with a second-place finish in the decathlon in Eugene and he posted a career-best total of 8,534 points, ranking him behind overall winner Bryan Clay and ahead of Olympic veteran Tom Pappas.

Not bad for the now 6-foot-5 track star who was once overlooked when he tried to make the basketball team in high school. Hardee's path to Beijing wasn't a smooth one. He had to overcome a hip injury, which cut his training short.

"At this time last year, I couldn't even train, I couldn't do anything," said Hardee, who lives in Austin, Texas. "My hip was pretty busted up. I couldn't run. It hurt to walk."

Once his hip healed, Hardee was forced to put his training into high gear.

"Really it wasn't until this year, until like late winter, early spring of 2008, that I was really able to train really hard again," he added.

Trey needed and had a breakout meet on the 2nd day as he set the stage for the rest of his day by an epic battle in the first event--the 110m High Hurdles. The event posted 3 world class times. Trey was trailing after 6 hurdles and over the final 4 looked like a man possessed as he sprinted to a 1st place finish and a time of 13.71 (PR) Whew! What a race!

The 24 year old at the end of the day found himself standing in 2nd place and bound for Beijing! At the Olympic Games over the course of 10 events anything can happen to anybody. Although he may not be everyone's favorite he is certainly mine. Trey is so young and so talented. His energy level cannot be matched. The title of the World's Greatest Athlete is up for grabs in Beijing and Trey Hardee wants it!

Below is the Video of the 110m HH Day 2 of the Decathlon Trials in Oregon
Trey Hardee is in Lane 7--Talk about shifting gears..