THE FRANZ KLAMMER MOMENT

Moreover, these events and these athletes have profound effects on the children witnessing them, a fact that we adults too often forget. First of all, so many events here at the Games are simple enough for a five year-old to comprehend. How fast can you run? How high can you jump? How far? Betcha I can swim to that end of the pool before you can. Everyone who ever had field day in kindergarten can grasp those concepts.

(On the flip-side, I'm 41 and I still don't quite understand Team Eventing. But maybe that's why you never see it in prime-time on the NBC)

Compound the ease of comprehension with the "no tomorrow" aspect of the Games that their being held once every four years provides, and you have an ineffable event. And so that young boy or girl bears witness to an ethereal sports moment that will remain with him or her for a lifetime.

Which brings me to the Franz Klammer  moment. The Austrian downhill skier, taking his final downhill run in Innsbruck (that's Austria) in the '76 Olympics. Whenever I'm asked the most exciting moment in sports I can recall, I put Klammer's run atop my list. Why did I care? I wasn't Austrian. The closest I'd ever come to Austria was "You are 16/Going on 17." I didn't even ski. So why was I so nervous for Klammer?

Because you only had to be old enough to know the lyrics from "Speed Racer" ("Go, Speed Racer/Go, Speed Racer, Go Speed Racer, Goooooo!") to understand the race, and what was at stake. You could taste the drama.

For you it may be something else. Abebe Bikila running barefoot through the streets of Rome in 1960. Bob Beamon's otherworldly long jump in Mexico City in '68. Sugar Ray Leonard in Montreal. Laura Wilkinson's final dive in Sydney. Hicham El Guerrouj's 1500-meter finish in Athens. Eric Heiden. Nadia Comaneci. The Miracle on Ice.

The Olympics, especially for a child, opens up worlds they've never seen before. Sure, the world is smaller today than it was in my preadolescence of three national channels and no internets. And children are exposed to more. But not all of it is educational. Bear Grylls can't be everywhere, after all (though he gamely tries). What other televised event serves a child better as a travelogue, as a class in world cultures, as a lesson in what hard work and dedication can bring someone?

And, yes, not all the lessons learned are positive. Hearing that an Iranian swimmer pulled out of a heat that also included an Israeli, citing "illness", is a sobering lesson. As is hearing that a Spanish cyclist, Maria Isabel Moreno, departed China shortly after being drug-tested on July 31, not even waiting to hear what the test results would reveal. Moreno tested positive; she must have known that she would.

Still, I still marvel at the mellifluous moniker and indomitable running style of Cuba's Alberto Juantorena, even though it's been three decades since I've seen him in action. I spot NBC analyst Dwight Stones in our hotel lobby and I'm restraining myself from asking him if he still owns a Mickey Mouse T-shirt. I wonder how many other events could expose a kid to the graceful strides of Lasse Viren  (who won gold in both the 5,000 and 10,000 in 1972 and '76) and the brute strength of Vassily Alekseyev? To supremely gifted people of all nations, all colors, all shapes and nearly all ages (the Olympics have featured both a 10-year-old boy and a 72-year-old man)?

All united by their love of competition, of athletics, and the inherent human quality to reach their greatest potential. The ol' citius, altius, fortius deal.

You watched Michael Phelps, Garrett Weber-Gale, Cullen Jones and Jason Lezak swim into history on Sunday evening. But imagine if you were 8 years old and watching it. Watching the expression on Michael Phelps' face as Lezak swam those final 10 meters, then that moment of doubt as to how his team finished, then that unabashed shout of joy. Imagine seeing that and being not even in 3rd grade yet. How much more does that moment cave a niche in your psyche?

For a generation of kids born after the clock struck 2000, Sunday night was their Franz Klammer moment. A decade or two from now we'll begin to see how that moment in time paid dividends, not just for the U.S. Olympic teams, but for all endeavors in which individuals realize the value of never ceasing to strive for your best.

And yet ...

I understand that the new bodysuits (what I call a..."Lazer") provide for faster times. And I've read the stories about how the Water Cube was specifically designed to inspire faster times than those at Ridgemont High. And I even get how 4 x 100 relays, with a nation's four best swimmers, are not common occurrences. Usually they're reserved for world championships and Olympics.

All that said, five different countries swam to a new world record in Sunday's 4 x 100 freestyle final. Five. Two countries broke the existing world record and failed to medal.

If that had happened in almost any event on the track, would the whispers of blood doping or performance-enhancing drugs not have been approaching a scream? You can't compare apples to Water Cubes, you cannot compare the men's 100 meter sprint in track to the 4 x 100 free relay. I get that. But five world records in one race?
I listened to Dan Hicks' and Rowdy Gaines' call of the race again this morning. Both of them, at one point, exclaim that France has "come out of nowhere" to become a force in this event in the last year or so. You wonder what they mean by that. Or do you?  

A Good Read

The first thing I do when I wake up each pre-dawn here is look under my door for my copy of NBC's in-house newspaper, The Daily Olympian. Published by our diligent, tireless (or at least sleepless) Research Staff here at the IBC, The Daily Olympian catches us all up on everything we need to know by the time we step off the bus and arrive here at the IBC.

The Research staff, headed by affable Brit Mark Young, is ever-helpful and cheerful, except when I wonder aloud how come their publication doesn't have "Funky Winkerbean". They don't laugh. This morning I approached Liz Robbins, who's moonlighting here as a Research associate (you can normally spot her byline in the New York Times) if anyone would mind if I began printing an underground in-house paper ... The Dali Olympian. Don't you have enough to do?, was basically her response.

From Clouseau to Federer

NBCOlympics.com sports producer Pam Barone sent me this Nike ad featuring Roger Federer and Murray ("Good band meeting!") from Flight of the Conchords. It's either an homage/rip-off of the hilarious domestic battles that Inspector Clouseau and his houseboy, Cato, used to regularly engage in. Good stuff.  

Oh, Bob

I understand where you're reading this, and so you are welcome to question my partiality. Still, I've been a fan of Bob Costas for a long time (since before Letterman stationed him at a New York City hospital to call the first birth of a New Year back in the late '80s) and, after interviewing him at length in 1996 for a magazine piece, a fan of his personally.

And so I gotta say that in the early stages of these Games only maybe Michael Phelps has performed at a higher level. Bob has remained loose without ever being flippant, and even when there's a Martzke-esque "dreaded glitch" as happened with the mics during the Bela Karolyi interview on our first night of prime time, Bob has handled it with aplomb and good humor.

I'm not at liberty to share everything that goes on behind the scenes, but suffice it to say that Bob (I call him Bob) has made us all laugh more than usual. Good-natured and good-humored.
I know, I know. Coming from an NBC staffer, that may not mean much to you. But if you've read me before, I think you'll agree I'm not a Kool-Aid guzzler. Bob is at the top of his game, performing like Manny Ramirez in the final year of a contract.  

Today's Question...

Wondering if American beach volleyballer Phil Dalhausser has ever met the Marty Funkhouser? And if Phil has decided to "go with Cheryl?"

Impolitic Thought of the Day (Just one?, you ask)

Sure, there's a monumental difference between invading hordes and immigrants seeking a viable economic future, but you wonder if some of those hard-line conservatives just tried to sell folks on a "Great Wall of America" if that might not make the idea go down easier? Simply from an environmental standpoint, can you imagine the backlash if the U.S. attempted to construct its own Great Wall (even if it was simply as a security measure)? Yet here the Great Wall is China's most popular tourist destination and a designated "wonder of the world". Different times, different climes.

And Finally ...

Last night I returned to our hotel and, duly inspired by what I'd witnessed in the morning, swam some laps in our pool. It was cool, yeah, but it's not quite the same when Michael Phelps isn't standing at one end fist-pumping you on to victory.