The surrogate
It begins with a woman who yearns for a baby and another who is willing and able to give her one. You can imagine the motives of the prospective parents. But what about the woman willing to carry a baby, give birth and then walk away?
Friday Night Rewind It doesn't matter which team you cheer for. We've got video previews of every high school football program in Hillsborough, Pinellas, Pasco and Hernando County.
Eva Lee of the United States smashes a shot during her badminton singles match against Anna Rice of Canada. Don’t lie: Did you run out and set up a net in the back yard afterward?
Most overused phrase
Please, someone retire "that's the Olympic spirit" and variations of it.
It's everywhere. Everywhere. Twice in less than an hour I heard it during badminton coverage.
Once, because Mauritius' Karen Foo Kune was going to continue playing after getting some numbing spray on what appeared to be a pulled muscle in her, uhh, gluteus. "That's the Olympic spirit."
(Apparently, she ran out of Olympic spirit, because after losing the first game 21-3 and trailing in the second 7-1, she retired.)
Cheng Shao-Chieh of Taiwan was "giving it her all" in her match, which is, if you didn't know, "the Olympic spirit."
I'm already sick of the Olympic spirit.
Strongest comment
Sal Paolantonio on ESPN's Sports Reporters: "The Packers are in a better position in the NFC North with Aaron Rodgers than Brett Favre and the Jets are in the AFC East. No question about it."
He also predicted that the Packers will win more games than the Jets this season.
Speaking of Rodgers, he makes his debut at 8 tonight on ESPN.
At Lambeau Field.
Yeah, you have fun with that, Aaron. Just don't throw an interception.
Best question
Why Matt Lauer?
Seriously.
Memorex stinks
NBC broadcast the men's basketball game between the USA and China live Sunday, even though it started at 10 a.m. Great move. Now, if they would just do that more often for big live events, especially on the weekends and oh, say, the opening ceremonies.
We'll watch. Promise.
No, no, no
Hated NBC playing the NBA on NBC theme during the men's basketball game.
It's not the NBA, guys. If it were, we probably wouldn't be watching.
Soft touch
NBC was classy to dedicate the opening ceremony broadcast to Jim McKay. For many watching, McKay was the voice of the Olympics, having hosted the event for ABC for years. He died in June.
Most almost-emotional moment
Just when it looked like a tear might roll down Michael Phelps' cheek Saturday night as the national anthem played, the recording malfunctioned. Instead of crying, Phelps laughed.
Dumbest comment
After Michael Phelps' triumphant victory Saturday in the event in which he was supposed to be vulnerable, NBC studio host Bob Costas asked, "How (does his competition) go back to the drawing board when more and more it seems like that drawing board is blank."
Swing … and a miss. Best (or worst) acting
On Fox's pregame show Saturday, injured Diamondbacks outfielder Eric Byrnes played the role of all the teams in contention in the American League in a People's Court spoof.
When he was the Rays, he wore glasses and "acted" like a teenager Get it? Rays = young?
Anyway, when it came to who is headed to the World Series, Judge Joe Wapner ruled in favor of the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim.
Who knew?
They're still playing golf, even without Tiger Woods? Really?
The Tiger-less PGA, CBS and golf coverage in general finally caught a break with an exciting finish to the PGA Championship as Padraig Harrington sank three gorgeous putts on 16, 17 and 18 to beat Sergio Garcia in a thriller. How fortunate was CBS? During the final portion of its broadcast, NBC came back from a news break with synchronized diving.
Three things I think Tom Jones would have thought if he were watching TV and not vacationing
1 Preseason football, especially the first game? Ick.
(And apparently, judging by all the empty seats, Dolphins fans felt the same way).
2 Somewhere, the organizers for the 2012 London Olympics watched China's opening ceremony and muttered "Oh fudge.''
3 Padraig Harrington has now won two straight majors. You heard me.
John C. Cotey can be reached at (813) 909-4612 or johncotey@gmail.com.
The Olympics aren't perfect. China has a human-rights record that is atrocious. Politics hang over the Games. You never seem to know what's live and what isn't. That said, people are watching in record numbers, and they will continue to do so. Maybe this is why: On a normal sports-watching day, I retreat to the den. No one bothers me. The family comes and goes as if I don't exist. But while walking past the television Saturday afternoon on his way to play with some of his Ben 10 action figures, my 5-year-old stopped for a second to watch men's gymnastics. After five minutes, he was sitting on my lap. After 10 minutes, he wanted me to explain how the scoring works and what color I was rooting for. Later that night, my wife wanted to know when swimmer Michael Phelps was racing. She asked that I turn to NBC, and leave it there, so she didn't miss it. We ooh'd and aah'd at a feature showing swimmer Dana Torres' getting stretched out. Sunday afternoon, my 18-year-old daughter sat on the couch and watched sports with me, for the first time since she was a few months old and had no choice. We watched badminton. We looked up the country of Mauritius, where one of the players was from. She asked about the rules of water polo. When I changed channels, they changed rooms.
Best sport you usually don't watch
Yeah, I was watching badminton. What of it? It's much better than tennis, and the most entertaining of all of Sunday's afternoon offerings.
Top moment
It's tough to beat any number of moments from the exquisite opening ceremony, but 9-year-old Lin Hao — an earthquake survivor who rescued two of his classmates — walking alongside 7-foot-6 Yao Ming was pretty darned good.
Close runnerup: Bursting-with-pride Eddie Lastra tapping his heart and saying, "That's my boy," after son Danny whacked his second home run in Citrus Park's Little League victory Saturday. Any dad could relate.
Best setup
"He told us yesterday, 'I think we're going to hit more home runs than them, even though we've hit 20 and they've hit four.' "
ESPN's Sean McDonough, talking about Citrus Park manager Joe McGuire. At the time, Citrus Park had two homers. Three of the next six batters then clubbed homers, including the game-ender.
[Last modified: Aug 11, 2008 12:14 AM]
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