To sum up, the USA ended up winning the most medals and most gold medals, followed by China. The USA men's basketball team beat Spain to win team gold - but the bigger story that week seemed to be Dwight Howard being traded to the Lakers.
Welcome to the Lake Show, Dwight. Don't worry, the bar isn't set THAT high.
Anyway, the Olympics were great overall but NBC totally missed on not showing the closing ceremony in full, and forcing some lame ass sitcom down our throats in order to watch the complete ending of the ceremonies. I realize that may be harsh, but come on! If you're going to cover the Olympics and forgo all your local programming for it - DO IT.
Lesson learned NBC. Think about that before the Winter Olympics begin in 2014.
Random sidenote: Eric Idle in the closing ceremony was awesome. Why wasn't Monty Python integrated into the London Olympics sooner? And the Spice Girls Reunion? LOL. It was...okay.
So...football! Yes, preseason football is here as well as all of the speculation about players, coaches, teams and the like.
Preseason to me doesn't really mean that much. Peyton Manning threw 2 interceptions last week and that was ALL the national media could talk about. It's game 2 of the preseason. And he's with a brand new team. Speculate how you will but the regular season changes everything.
Andrew Luck had a great opening preseason performance against the Rams, but wasn't quite as stellar against the Steelers (but still decent, nonetheless).
The Rams looked pretty dreadful in the game against Indy, however, I was able to attend the highly coveted Governor's Cup Game (you can roll your eyes here) against Kansas City this past weekend and I have to say, was quite impressed with my St. Louis Rams. Bradford looked sharp, SJax was a beast, and the defense looked pretty good. Plus, we won the Governor's Cup. Hell yeah!
But, it's preseason. Blaine Gabbert has looked amazing lately but can that translate into the regular season? Highly debatable.
I had someone ask me recently what do I do when the Colts and Rams play, being I have been a fan of both teams.
I'm going to be brutally honest here.
My home team, is, and has been since they arrived in St. Louis, the St. Louis Rams. I cheered them on when Chris Miller "the concussion king" was QB. When Tony Banks was leading the helm and they were just...awful.
In the fall of 1999, I shared this joke with a friend of mine in the newsroom at DePauw University:
A man from St. Louis dies and goes to hell.
The devil turns the heat up to 85 and the St. Louis man says, "no big deal. This is StL June heat."
Annoyed, the devil turns the heat up to 95 and the St. Louis man takes his shirt off and says, "no biggie, this is a typical July St. Louis heat."
Still annoyed, the devil turns the heat up to 105 and the St. Louis man says "wow, this is hot but it's no different than August in StL."
The devil, completely enraged, changes the temperature to tundra setting and everything freezes.
The St. Louis man starts jumping up and down and screaming.
"The Rams have won the Superbowl! The Rams have won the Superbowl!"
Oddly enough, the Rams DID win the Superbowl that year. And that's the love of sports.
But point being, those who are true fans stick by their teams no matter what. I admire Cubs fans for their loyalty, for instance. They haven't won a pennant since 1945. World Series since 1908. Yet the Chicago Cubs franchise is one of the most well known and consistently has fans despite the previous statement. That's a love of baseball but also a strong love of a team.
So back to football.
I've also become a Colts fan in recent years. This was mostly due to Peyton Manning. I admired him as a college QB, and admired him as a Pro QB. I went to college in Indiana and lived in Indianapolis for about 3 years after graduation. It was hard to not follow him and acknowledge his greatness.
And it's no secret that the Rams went on a decline from about 2003 onward. Still followed both teams, but it was easy to focus on the team that was winning more, and that was Peyton Manning and the Colts.
And I did. And I still have a lot to love about the Colts franchise. But, I have admitted to myself that I am more of a Peyton Manning fan than I am a Colts fan. The Rams are my team - they are the team I have spent the most time cheering for, and when I look deep down? It's the Rams that hold my highest team loyalty.
I wish Peyton well in Denver. But I'm not going to become a Broncos fan because of him. I will still cheer for him, but not in the same way. I also still appreciate the Colts franchise and what they have brought to football. There are players from the Colts that I love will never forget: Reggie Wayne, Dwight Freeney, Pierre Garcon, Bob Sanders, Dallas Clark, etc.
But, I am making a statement here for all of you: my team is the St. Louis Rams. And while I will still follow the Colts and hope the best for them, my #1 team will be the Rams.
And the Rams will do well this season, I think. Does that mean Superbowl contender? No, probably not this year. But with Jeff Fisher at the helm and the talent they have...they can turn things around quickly. I'm looking forward to a great 2012 season.
More insights and info later, including my Fantasy Football tips/guide soon!
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