Last night my roommate, Jeanne, said, "What are we going to watch on TV once the Olympics are over. They should just have the Olympics on all the time." I wasn't exactly sure whether she was serious or making a sarcastic comment. With Jeanne it's sometimes hard to tell.

It's time to face the fact that the 2000 Olympics are almost over. What ever am I going to do? Luckily, the Fall TV Season Premiere week and then a trip to California will help keep my mind off of my loss of Olympic coverage. On the up side, I will be able to go back to my normal sleeping pattern. The past 2 weeks have taken their toll. Staying up to midnight nearly every day and reading Memoirs of a Geisha during the commercial breaks overloaded my mind so much that I had to take day a sick day from work to recuperate a bit.

Never mind that it was the same day as the Gold medal game for Women's Soccer.

Kristen was good enough to lookup up the TV schedules on the NBC Olympics web site taking care that she not reveal any results which had not yet been broadcast. [Editor's note: I can deviate from the "avoid-all-things-Sydney" for a true friend. She'd do it for me. If she had a problem with Sydney, which, as we've all learned over the past two weeks, she does not. But I digress.] All that was ruined by Don Imus while waiting for the MSNBC Olympics broadcast to begin. Who does this guy think he is? If there is one thing I cannot stand, it is obnoxious morning radio talk show hosts. Even more annoying was that he revealed that the US Women's Soccer team had lost the gold medal to Norway. It was still a great game to watch. The US made a tying goal in the last minutes of regulation play but they lost to Norway in sudden death overtime.

Week 2 of the 2000 Olympics focused on Track and Field, Diving and team sports. Here are some of my highlights:

Great Expectations:
Marion Jones, (women's 100 meter, USA)
Maurice Greene, (men's 100 meter, USA)
Michael Johnson, (men's 400 meter, USA)
Kathy Freeman, (women's 400 meter, Australia)
 
I wouldn't want to feel the pressure of being the favorite to win the Gold medal. These four people proved that the favor was deserved by winning decisively and with glory.

Better Than Expected:
USA Men's Baseball Team
USA Men's Soccer Team
USA Women's Indoor Volleyball Team
 
The USA can't be the best at everything, but we can sure try. These three teams made good showings at the games despite low expectations. For the Men's Baseball team, it was good as gold. Look out Fidel Castro - here comes Tommy La Sorda.

Big Comeback:
USA Women's Softball
 
Didn't I say that they would come back to win it all? There wasn't a shred of doubt in my mind.

Big Disappointment:
USA Women's Soccer
 
Oh I can't even talk about that. They are the greatest soccer team on earth as far as I'm concerned.

I'll Just Let the Other Guys Screw Up:
Laura Wilkinson, (10 meter platform diving, USA)
 
The Chinese and the Canadians were well on their way to medals, but Laura kept making good consistent dives. In the final rounds, the Chinese and Canadians started to miss, and Laura shot up to the top of the list.

Going Back to My Roots:
Naoko Takahashi, (women's marathon, Japan)
 
Well, there weren't any American women in medal contention, so I shifted my loyalty to my mother's home country temporarily for the marathon.

Give It Up for the Greeks:
Ekaterini Thanou, (women's 100 meter, Greece)
Konstantinos Kenteris, (men's 200 meter, Greece)
 
Let's be honest. The sprinting events are dominated by athletes of African descent. What a surprise that two Greek athletes would take Silver and Gold in the Women's 100 and Men's 200 respectively. The beginnings of a hometown showdown for the 2004 Olympics in Athens.

You Go Girl!:
Stacy Dragila, (women's pole vault, USA)
 
She's cool. I wanna be like Stacy.

Sums It Up:
Eric Fonoimoana and Dain Blanton, (men's beach volleyball, USA)
 
For me, this was the best event of the week. They had it all. Melting Pot. Underdogs. Come from Behind. Team spirit. Group Hug in the Sand. And of course, the Gold Medal.