....from Olympic withdrawal.  Okay, so they just ended and that's probably not enough time for the shakes and shivers to set in, but I am sorry they're over.  The TV stays on at my house all the time, but the TV watches me way more than I actually watch it.  However, I am a sports fanatic.  The Olympics gives me wall to wall sports, most of which are rarely seen on American television. 

These games wrapped up with what I thought were two terrific moments.  First, the USA Men's basketball team won gold for the first time since 2000.  Since I'm up all night whether I'm working or not, I was in front of the TV at 2:30am Saturday night/Sunday morning to watch the game, and it was a GREAT game.  So good in fact, that when it was replayed around 8am or so, I watched from beginning to end again.  Yes, it was that entertaining.  USA men's basketball has really been derided over the last 8 years; a ton of talk about spoiled millionaires who care more about the name on the back of the jersey than the one on the front.  Well, this group of millionaires proved that wasn't the case.  They rolled over the opposition on the way to the gold medal game and finally got tested at the end.  They hung together, played as a true team and won it all.  Good for them.

The second story (and probably, the most compelling) is of the US Men's Volleyball team.  You might remember that the in-laws of their head coach were brutally stabbed while touring Beijing just prior to the start of the games.  Their attacker killed Coach Hugh McCutcheon's father-in-law, and critically injured injured his mother-in-law before killing himself; all of which was witnessed by McCutcheon's wife.  Obviously, he was not with the team at the start of the games, choosing to comfort his wife and keep watch over his hospitalized mother-in-law.  Amazingly, when his mother-in-law awoke in her hospital bed and saw Coach McCutcheon, she asked him why he was there instead of coaching the team.  At her insistence, he returned to the team, and US Men won the gold in improbable fashion.  They defeated 3 teams (Serbia, Russia, and Brazil) who were all expected to beat the Americans.  Clearly, the team was not just talented, but inspired to win for the Coach and his family.  

I think what brings people to the TV for the Olympics, especially people who are not sports fanatics is that there are so many stories to be told that go hand in hand with the events.  Stories of struggle and heartbreak, of courage and inspiration; stories that make the Olympics about so much more than just a sporting event.  These games just ended, and I am already very much looking forward to 2012 in London.  

I spend some time surfing the 'net every day looking for interesting articles to share with Karen & Christine for the morning show.  While I was surfing this morning, I thought I should put a few of them up here from time to time, so here we go!

Ladies, have you ever wondered why men do some of the things they do?  Truthfully, I don't know why I do some of the things I do half the time! :-)  But I came across an interesting article by Laura Schaefer that takes a stab at explaining some of the things we do and say that drive you nuts:

http://lifestyle.msn.com/relationships/articlematch.aspx?cp-documentid=8860750&GT1=32023 


Eating healthy has become a big time issue in America.  This piece lists 10 foods that can help do everything from stabilizing blood sugar levels to prevent diabetes to slow the growth of cancer cells and suppress tumor growth:

http://health.msn.com/nutrition/articlepage.aspx?cp-documentid=100212809&GT1=31036


Here's one that's good for a laugh.  Normally, a story about a robbery would not be laugh out loud funny.  But it's not everyday that a crook is this absent-minded when committing a crime:

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/26232369/?GT1=43001