Wild World of Wednesday - August 20, 2008

I just absolutely love the Olympics! There is so much to talk about that I know I won’t cover it all. I won’t even try.

Track and Field: The small nation of Bahrain received its first Olympic medal. Morocco native Rashid Ramzi won the gold medal in the 1,500 meter race. The tiny country sent one shooter, two swimmers, and 12 track and field athletes to the Games.

Bulgarian coach Dimitar Vasilev took the blame for runner Daniela Yordanova’s positive drug test. That was nice of him to do. He’s blaming the positive results on shoddy manufacturers selling impure product.

Futbol: Nigeria bested Belgium by a score of 4-1 to reach the finals. Belgium was a surprise as the country has not competed in the sport at the Olympic level for some time. Argentina beat the Brazilian powerhouse to advance to the final round. Ronaldinho and company will be leaving without the gold. Interestingly, even though Brazil has the most World Cup wins they do not have the same luck with Olympic gold. The US women got it together and will meet the Brazilian women for the gold medal match.

Beach Volleyball: The US is on fire! Misty May-Treanor and Kerri Walsh look unstoppable. They beat the Brazilian team in about thirty nine minutes. They’ll play for the gold against one of the teams from China. The bronze match will be Brazil vs. another team from China. Todd Rogers and Phil Dalhausser will also be representing the US in the gold medal match.

Softball: The US team was tested but came out on top versus Japan. They won by a score of 4-1 in extra innings. The team now advances to the gold medal round.

Today in Sports History

1920 - Preliminary meeting in Akron, OH to form the American Pro Football League - which would later become the NFL

1945 - Brooklyn Dodgers Tommy Brown (SS/OF) is the youngest player to hit a home run at only 17.