More on Track & Field

-- Who is "Flag Guy"?  Anytime an athlete wins a gold medal, someone is there to hand them a nice, fresh, clean, folded-up flag of their country -- for the athlete to drape over their shoulders or wave during a victory lap.  I have some vague recollection in the olden days that such victory laps used to be spontaneous, with the athlete grabbing the flag from someone in the stands.  Man, those Greeks are organized. 

-- Ok, here's the thing I don't like about Track:  when NBC runs the race again in slow motion and you see the athlete's face moving around on his or her skull.  It isn't pretty.  A runner at top speed is pretty.  A swimmer in slow-mo -- with their body smoothly cutting through the surface as the water cascades down their head -- is pretty.  A runner in slow-mo, however, looks like they're doing something extremely unpleasant to their body, what with moving so fast their facial features don't stay in the usual positions.

-- Unrelated to that, Marion Jones is pretty.  I don't know whether she's guilty in this whole doping scandal -- and I truly hope she isn't -- but you just want to give her the benefit of the doubt because nobody with the grin of hers can be bad, right?

-- As we are now firmly into the second week of Olympic coverage on NBC, I have a couple memos for our corporate sponsors: 

           1.  I am sick of the Sprint ads with Mary Lou Retton telling small children they've used up their half-Nelson minutes.  Please, make it stop.

           2.  At first I thought "Father of the Pride" might be cute.  I have now watched so much of it in 30-second increments, it no longer seems fresh and new.  Can't imagine watching the damn thing now.

Moderation, people!  I'm being a good little consumer and watching 4 hours of Olympic coverage every night.  D'you think I might get sick of the same ad by the fortieth or fiftieth viewing?