oh boy, do i have stuff to talk about

with the so-called "redemption" of US basketball, michael phelps beastly domination in swimming, shawn johnson's gymnastics, and a stolen arrangement of the star-spangled banner, just to name a few things, the games of the XXIX Olympiad in Beijing come to a close. This is just the opening topic of this weekends blog.

starting off with the first us men's basketball team not to be called the "dream team" since i've been alive...the "redeem team," as they are called this year, dominated spain in the gold medal game last night (us time). now we get to go back to calling them the "dream team" again...and i expect "dream team V" to medal, probably, as the rest of the country thinks, win it all, again in 2012.

next up, 12,000 calorie phelps. not only are his eating habits ridiculous, it helped him win a ridiculous 8 gold medals this summer, going 8 for the 8 events he participated in, setting at least 6 world records on his amazing run. now, next year, someone, probably phelps himself, will break all those records in different competitions, but it was a very dominating summer that he enjoyed. my 2012 outlook for michael phelps: look for him to not only win 9 golds in swimming, but also to win the triathlon and several other events (maybe even ping-pong)...beast.

i don't normally watch gymnastics, but i still like to know what's going on. so when i heard about paul hamm, and then his brother, i wasn't expecting much from men's gymnastics. then i saw that they got bronze for the team gymnastics...that was pretty cool. can't remember if any of them medaled in all-around, but i seem to think at least one guy did. women's gymnasts, on the other hand, were out of this world for the US. the team just barely missed the gold, and then got gold and silver in all-around. then shawn johnson later in the week got another gold medal. in 2016, there will apparently be a member of the men's gymnast squad by the name of jacob hamilton...if he makes it, i'll be proud of my schoolmate, and i hope elf the best, even if we have to agree to disagree about notre dame.

so, apparently in the tennessean, there was an article describing how the rendition of the star-spangled banner used at most of the olympic medal ceremonies was a direct copy of an arrangement by a certain american composer/arranger. the exact name escapes me, but he argues that the chinese used it without his permission, or acknowledgement, or any of the normal stuff. so there's that story for you.

all in all, this year's olympics were very good. i'd give them, in david slate terms, four and a quarter out of five footballs.

i'll cover the nfl and mlb in my next blog, and maybe some of how my life's been recently...

spanning the globe in five minutes

the top news story of today is of course brett favre being traded from the packers to the new york jets for a conditional draft pick. i'm glad that after today the nfl will be back to normal as far as favre talk is concerned. as soon as he reports to jets camp in a couple of days and falls into normal practice time, it will all be in the past.

next we have a report, as found on http://www.nfl.com/news/story;jsessionid=51CBB4A5D656E8D1B95B8AA8E5AEA4B0?id=09000d5d809c28f9&template=without-video&confirm=true, that all 32 NFL teams have agreed on a fan conduct policy. in my opinion, this is a stupid move on the NFL's part. Fans will start saying, "hey, they say i can't drink excessively...well there's so many people here there's no chance i'll get caught anyway...so i'm gonna get absolutely wasted tonight!" or stuff along those lines. i've had enough experience of "don't do that" situations, where "that" is exactly what people proceed to do, just because they're not supposed to. so all in all i'm not sure about this conduct policy...maybe if it turns out to work for the nfl, i can be more accepting.

next, another report, this one from the bengals: http://www.bengals.com/news/news.asp?story_id=6928. The story talks about first-round draft pick keith rivers, a linebacker selected out of USC with the ninth overall pick, signing with the team. however, i don't care about rivers as much as the other name mentioned on the first line of the article. Jordan Palmer, a QB out of UTEP was selected in the sixth round of last year's draft by Washington (pick #205). if you look at his picture on http://www.nfl.com/players/jordanpalmer/profile?id=PAL445384, it's easy to tell that he's carson's little bro. i don't think that he'll make the cut for the bengals (he's their fourth-string qb currently), but if he does, it might be the first time two brothers played quarterback for the same team at the same time in nfl history. So, while cincinnati is hyped about keith rivers, i'll be keeping my eye on the palmers.

Last football note, i finished Quiet Strength by tony dungy today...it's really a good read. i recommend it for everyone, if you are a football fan or not a fan of sports at all. Because it's not just about football, it's about life. i'll wrap up my blog with a quote from his book that i found really pertinent to my summer, especially the choir tour experience.

but first, got to say something about the olympics!

olympic soccer's already begun with a 1-0 win for the US over japan. ceremonies begin tomorrow night, so i'm looking forward to that!

Also, here's hoping for a seattle win over tampa tonight!

And as we begin the nfl preseason tonight, i shall leave you with this from Quiet Strength:

"Jamie's death [Coach Dungy's oldest son, James, committed suicide in 2005 at the age of 18] will never make sense to me, and the pain of losing him will never go away. But in the midst of it all, I truly believe that hope is available to all of us--for joy in today and peace in the certainty that heaven's glory awaits us."

-cth

football picks!!!

again, anyone interested in my nfl predictions for the 2008 season needs to let me know by wednesday, as well as your favorite nfl team

thank you

-clayton

favre, friday, and fantastic fun

well...brett's been reinstated much to my chagrin...as i said before i'm not quite sure why this irks me, but it does...that's all i'll say at this point about him

friday looks like it's gonna be real fun...there's a big missions type event at the northeast church accross from glenbrook in hendersonville. i really want to attend...it sounds real fun...but i would love it if someone would be able to go with me (especially if that person has a driver's license...so i don't have to make my parents have to drive me...or just so they don't have to get in the car if i was to drive myself) so if you want to go...send me an email, call me, however you are able to get in touch. it's pretty much an all day thing (at least for the pm hours) but you don't have to go to all of it...i think this would be an eye opening experience for everyone...so if your able to...come!

also friday is "registration day" while most other public high schools have to go a half-day...i don't have to attend class at all!!! that's one of the perks of a k-12 school. but i'm going to school to see friends that i haven't seen in a while all the same...and to get my yearbook...

the big thing for the entire world on friday is called the OLYMPIC OPENING CEREMONIES!!! now...if i go to the northeast thing for the entire thing...i'll have to watch a recording...but i will be watching at some point...go US!!!

other than that, never the same at blakemore umc sunday the 17th...not sure what time...but if you can come...it's an amazing show...so COME!!!

badeebadeebadeedat's all folks!

-cth

what else but sports?

ok...those that know me know how big i am into sports...so for my first blog...what better for me to discuss? those that are myspace friends have probably read my blogs over the past week on the sox and various other things, and most all of my friends know i don't want brett favre to come back
so, for those that don't know...here goes

RED SOX

so...manny's out, bay's in...not too bad a debut for jason...1-3, 3 walks, and two runs...that's all we scored, and all we needed to win. manny on the other hand has taken his antics to the capital of all characters, and i hope him the best. also, just got done reading papi's memoir...good book...and he talks about how it's never over till its over (thank yogi for that line) and how the red sox and yankees don't hate each other as fans do, but rather respect each other...i think that's a really important aspect of life...don't hate, appreciate! so best of luck to the sox...hope we start winning as much as we've been losing recently!!!

FAVRE

oh boy...don't ask me why, i can't rightly tell you...but brett favre needs to stay retired! i've never really had a problem with people coming out of retirement, but something about all the media attention he's gotten the last three offseasons has gotten to me...i think that since he's made the decision he should make it final...i'm tired of hearing only about favre during the offseason...btw...the preseason's crept up on me so fast that i'm worried i'm going to miss it. for those of you that know my email btw and want my "prognostications" as it were, for the upcoming season send me an email w/ your favorite team...or just tell me in person if you don't. anyway back to brett...i sincerely hope he never plays another professional football game...and just like my detestation of miley cyrus...nothing you say can change my opinion...and that's that

just checked the score...sox up 10-2 on oakland...now that's what i like to see!!!!

any other issues you want to discuss let me know!

until next time...