Fred Bowen's "The Score" column,
August 21, 2008, Washington Post

During Olympics, All-Around Good Fun

Sometimes watching the Summer Olympics is like being at a birthday party where they have a make-your-own-sundae table. It is almost too much of a good thing. There are so many sports and more than 300 events, so it's hard to know where to begin. Here are some more thoughts about the biggest sports treat of the year.

· Michael Phelps's winning eight gold medals is so amazing that folks have barely noticed that fellow American swimmer Natalie Coughlin won six medals (one gold, two silver and three bronze). That's pretty amazing, too.

· Why isn't team handball a popular sport in this country? The game is an exciting, high-scoring combination of soccer and basketball. It's simple to play. All you need is a ball, a couple of nets and a gym. Team handball would be a great sport for all the kids who don't make the middle school or high school basketball teams.

· And another thing: Why don't boys play field hockey in this country? Field hockey in the Olympics shows the game is fun and super fast.

· Speaking of fast . . . can anyone actually see the fencers when they score a hit? Everything in that sport happens too fast for me.

· One more Olympic question: In equestrian, do the horses get medals, too? They should, because they do a lot of the work.

· It's a shame the Olympics is dropping softball as a sport in 2012. If the Summer Olympics wants to get rid of a sport, I say drop tennis. Who needs another tennis tournament? There are plenty of tournaments during the year, including the four majors.

· I know they are the best in the world and have won more than 100 consecutive matches, but every time I turn on the Olympics I see Misty May-Treanor and Kerri Walsh. Aren't there other athletes who play beach volleyball?

· The synchronized diving, where two divers perform the same dive at the same time, is a fun event. But why not have four-man or four-woman team synchronized diving? That would be even better.

· My favorite Olympic event is the men's 100-meter dash. The winner can claim the title of the "World's Fastest Human." Now that's an impressive title.

· Actually, I like all the track events. The medal winners in diving and gymnastics are determined by judges, so it's nice to have a big-time sport (besides swimming) where the athletes, and only the athletes, determine who wins the medals.

· I'll also give a special shout-out to Shalane Flanagan, the bronze medal winner in the women's 10,000-meter run. Why? Because Flanagan is from my home town of Marblehead, Massachusetts, and graduated from Marblehead High School. That makes me feel almost part of the Summer Olympics.

Fred Bowen writes KidsPost's sports opinion column and is an author of sports novels for kids.

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