Phelps tries to tie Spitz

They're showing a replay of Nastia/Shawn's routines from last night; not nearly as exciting when you know what happens. Some fake drama from Al since everyone already knows what happens, he says by the time Liukin does her floor routine her lead had been taken away by Yinlin. Well, of course--the Chinese gymnast had gone first, even if she's fallen on every move she'd technically have been ahead of Liukin.

Bob has got them in the studio now, it's great fun, Bela Karolyi's there too, they show his craziness again. Odd, Shawn hasn't had a chance to call her parents yet, Bob is disturbed, says he's embarrassed that she's talking to him before her folks. At the end they get applause from the studio crew, which very rarely happens.

And suddenly, they're showing track and field! Awesome; swimming, gymnastics, and track and field, all in one day. Men's 1500M heats, including the flagbearer, Lopez Lomong, who was one of Sudan's Lost Boys. Says watching Michael Johnson run in Sydney inspired him; it's an unbelievable story, really.

Hmmm, a Brit who's got an aeronautical degree from Cambridge and didn't start running full-time until he was 25 is one of the faves. Lomong is at the back of the pack, needs to do something soon; and here he comes, up the outside, just passing everyone; whoah, almost gets tripped. Now top three, last lap; hmm, he's not really running free and easy, powerful and muscular more than anything. Oh oh, he's getting passed; finishes fifth exactly, the Brit totally raced past him; all three Americans make the semis Sunday. No U.S. man has won this race since 1908!

Beach volleyball again; ugh. I really don't care about this sport; why now show some of the sports that never make primetime, instead of another stupid sand fest.... Dalhausser/Rogers against Swiss team Laciga/Schnider. It's tight early, funny; the veteran Swiss guy is sniping at his younger partner for a couple of dumb mistakes. Hmmm, I think the playlist is the same as from the other night.

The non-Karch announcer is dumb, has gotten the score wrong twice now. Americans up 17-15, key point here. They get it, they'll win this set. And then hopefully we'll continue the streak of 2-set matches, and get to swimming that much sooner. They win, 21-16.

17,000 tons of sand, costing a million dollars; they show video of two 'sand bonis' cleaning the sand from last night. Meanwhile play goes on, they nearly miss a point. Filters the sand, rotates, and levels the sand. Hmmm, Swiss grabbing a little lead here, 9-8. Americans respond though. Man, Dalhausser is so tall when he jumps to serve, it's coming nearly straight down.

And they show Michael Phelps arriving at the water cube; and Dara Torres right behind him, in the 50M free. That must've been a cool bus to ride over on. Whoah, suddenly Swiss near set point; then U.S. ties at 19-19. But we missed some pretty key points while at commercial, no acknowledgement of that. And now set point for the Swiss. Fun point, Swiss win, again set point for them, Laciga exulting. Back to 21-21. Ace on set point, now one apiece. Sheesh; 23-21.

Whoah, we come back and the U.S. is down 6-0 in the third set. A bizarre collection of unusual plays, they tell us; glad we saw it. Only to 15 too. Hmmm. 6-2. If you lose you're out, so this could be a big upset. Swiss call their timeout, early says the announcers. 6-3, they're coming back. Phelps coming up in 9 minutes, they're gonna bail on this pretty soon; now 6-4. Another block from Dalhausser, now 6-5. 7-5; this is tight, pretty exciting.

This team apparently payed the U.S. tight last time they played; suddenly it's 7-7, Dalhausser blocks it; Karch says the Europeans are always screaming at their partners. 8-8; U.S. just needs a break, the Swiss are ready to crumble. Big point, Siwss win though. 9-9; the Swiss look foolish a lot, yet this is so tight--and yeah, they cut to swimming, will show us the rest, later.

Women's 200M backstroke, Margaret Hoelzer against her ex-roomie Kirsty Coventry. Go USA! Elizabeth Beisel the other American. Rowdy says Coventry likely to be out front early; and sure enough, leads after the first turn. Hoelzer is falling back a bit, Coventry is out by herself, very fast; leads after the second turn too. Wow, Hoelzer is totally fading, Coventry is about a body length out front, going into the last turn; I thik Kirsty will win. Hoelzer is in trouble even for a medal; now she's fighting for second, Coventry is gonna win, Hoelzer gets silver; new world record for Coventry, seven medals altogether--Zimbabwe has only ever won 8.

A quick, ugly cut back to volleyball, Americans up 14-13, match point after they blew at least one. And U.S. wins on a very nice touch hit by Rogers, Laciga is just devestated, throwing a little tantrum now.

Back to swimming, Mr. Phelps in the 100M butterfly. Wow, great timing. Phelps' second-to-last swim here. Phelps hasn't lost to Crocker in 3 years, when Crocker set the WR. Rowdy thinks Phelps has enough left to win this; I hope so. Again, will one of these other swimmers they're introducing beat Phelps? Cavic from Serbia could be the one, he's been fast here, top qualifier here. Hope nothing happens with his goggles. Crocker's shy, says Dan, spent the first 10 days here in his room, looking at 'no art on the wall'. Wow.

Phelps not a great start, as usual; Cavitch is out very fast, touches first at the turn; now coming down the end, Phelps gets a lot off his turn, Phelps is totally accelerating, Cavitch is tight with him, Phelps trailing a bit--and Phelps outtouches him at the wall, somehow! 1/100th of a second, that's just ridiculous; Phelps shows crazy emotion, my god, what a race.

Even on replay, not sure how Phelps won, Cavitch was in front at the wall; Cavitch took too long of a stroke, trying to glide in, Phelps took half a stroke and hit the wall first. My god, too close.... His mom's totally in shock, it's hilarious watching her on replay.

My gosh; 7 gold medals; his coach was screaming oh my God. Afterwards, Phelps says Cavitch said it'd be good for swimming if he won not Phelps, says that fired him up. Says he didn't know the race was that close, lucky he got his hand on the wall first. Andrea asks if he really believed he would be here with 7 gold, he says in his dreams, in the perfect circumstances.... No WR, an Olympic record though.

Now, Women's 800M freestyle, no Americans. A long race; some Brit, Rebecca Adlington, the favorite. Funny how poorly the Brits have been doing here; it's a nation that specializes in self-destruction, everyone's been failing and falling short of their potential. Can't wait to see what happens to their psyches at the London games; maybe some immigrants not raised in a culture of disappointment can help them overcome.

Janet Evans still holds the record in this race, from 1989. I still can't believe Phelps won by 1/100ths; thought his luck was used up in that relay. Crocker finished third, I think; not sure, though. Two swimmers are ahead of the WR pace, they take a break since this thing's so long; show Phelps again, he was 7th at the turn.

Back, 6 lengths left, Adlington has increased her lead. Dan says Evans' back half was so great, that's why the record has stood for so long; Evans is watching the race, I remember liking her, a great Olympian. Adlington's parents, here for the race, fell victim to an online ticket scam, lost 1100 pounds. Wow. Still well ahead of WR pace, Rowdy thinks she'll break it, is a good back half swimmer. Wow, Evans' mark finally falls, she's applauding, big smile.

Kobe-mania is sweeping Beijing, Chris Collinsworth and Bob tell us. David Stern's dream come true. Kobe talks about how this team understands the significance and importance of representing the U.S.; says when he first got the uniform, he got goosebumps, put it on the bed and looked at it. It's a good interview, Chris asks him about patriotism, Kobe says he's not ashamed to say it, this is a tremendous honor. Chris is a bit gushy/smiley with Kobe, truth through the side. Kobe loves soccer, has been watching Argentina, calls them cool moments. Show him speaking Italian with a TV crew, says his teammates never heard him speak another language, he also speaks Spanish.

Men's 50M freestyle, the final individual event; splash and dash. Andrea Kremer says the Serbians are filing a protest about the end of the race. Okay.... How about that for sportsmanship? Stupid Serbs.

They highlight the swimmers, so far no mention of an American. Hmmm, last--Ben Wilman-Tobriner, reigning world champ, barely got in. Anyone could win, essentially. I hate this camera angle, can't tell; U.S. ain't gonna win; the Brazilian maybe; and he does win, Cielo; with two Frenchmen in 2nd and third. Wow, this is a huge celebration, he's amped up. Trains at Auburn, which apparently is known for great swimmers. Wow, looks like they hardly breath during this event; he's crying, means a lot to him; totally breaking down, it's actually very touching to see.

Hmm, Dan says Cesar Cielo Filho never took a breath; first time the U.S. hasn't won a medal in this event. So a gold and silver tonight for the U.S. in the pool. Too bad swimming ends tomorrow, pretty much all of our medals have come in the pool.

Milorad Cavitch's coach apparently is going to be the new U of M coach, succeeding Phelps' coach. Medal ceremony; big smile for Phelps on the medal stand, most emotion I've seen from him since the relay.

I wonder what percentage of the medals in swimming and track and field will be won either by Americans, or athletes who have trained here. I'm guessing it's well over 50%. The better for us, though; international athletes here push us, and help us learn new things too.

Afterwards, he's still got his mouth open in disbelief. He thinks about picking up an American flag someone threw to him from the stands that falls short, but decides not to; interesting.

The protest was rejected, the time operators from Omega reviewed the footage. High speed cameras placed above the pool record the touch as a backup to the touch pad, apparently.

Rowdy says the U.S. in good position for the relay tomorrow night, their top competitors haven't been swimming well. Now to semis for women's 50M freestyle, Libby Trickett in the first one. Kara Lynn Joyce qualifying near the bottom for this one, took 5th in Athens. Show Torres talking to an Aussie, say she's a motormouth. Nice start for Joyce; I think she's going to qualify; hmm, maybe not, fades. Steffen wins this heat, Rowdy says Torres has a shot at gold, nobody's done anything special here.

Torres comes out, I really like her; very genuine, just a free spirit. Something's wrong, she goes over to the side of the pool, talking to a judge or official or someone. Maybe something about splashing herself? Talking to competitors next to her, Rowdy says you never see that. Suit of competitor in lane 2 torn, Dara's trying to look out for her, a Swedish swimmer. Rowdy says amazing case of sportsmanship.

Now they're trying to figure out if this will affect her psyche. They talk about suprising not more problems with the suits, Rowdy says amazing she got a new one on that fast. Not a great start for Dara, but gets out good after that; and she wins the heat, after all that!

Dan talks about how she's racer, seizes the moment; people close to her say some transformation happens when the race gets near. Man, on the replay, as soon as she starts stroking, she pulls away from everyone. Did the Swedish girl qualify?! They show her again telling the other competitors we're gonna wait for the Swede; she really is like the mom. 10 medals, none individual; what a great story--and she does qualify first, and the Swedish woman didn't make it, but Joyce does.

Now they're going to show track and field that's, as they admit, from last night; holy tape delay batman! Also, it's ridiculous that they're showing everything on tape on the West Coast, including Phelps' relay tomorrow night. Crazy.

I like the announcers here, Tom Hammond and Ato Boldin; Boldin has good insight as a former top sprinter, says as the competition goes on form stays the same, intensity goes up. He talks about Tyson Gay, coming off his hamstring injury, who's form hasn't looked great apparently. He comes in second, looks like he limps a bit. Man, the guy who won though, Richard Thompson, looks really, really good. He's young, but if he runs smart, maybe he'll be the fastest man.

Usain Bolt, from Jamaica, the favorite; they have a great shot of him and all the other runners watching the heat on tv. Now his heat; wow, he's not as thin as some of the other sprinters. In his first heat he had a false start, so on the restart everyone was like a meter out before he got out, and still destroyed everyone.

Man, the physiques here are amazing, totally varied--some almost stocky, others tall and thin, some super build. Patton of the U.S. in this quarter finals as well. Nigerian false starts. Boldin says Bolt showing some flaws in his technique. Ah, Asafa Powell from Jamaica watching too; some great names here. Bolt is waaaay better than everyone else, announcers are amazed at how easily he ran and still ran 9.92. Oooh, tells the reporter he's hoping Gay will run himself into shape for the finals. Patton finishes second.

I guess no men's gymnastics tonight. Asafa Powell up next; they profile him; Boldin says he's probably the most talented 100M runner ever, but he just doesn't put it together for the big races. Hmm, an American in this quarter final, wearing big blue aerodynamic sleeves. Funny, Chinese runner wearing a jersey where the CHINA letter looks like it's homemade. Clean start, Powell easily wins, not as fast as Bolt though; Boldin says he's the best starter in the world. Dix qualifies too. Need to see that bounce in the cheeks in the final, Boldin says, sign of relaxed, max running. All three Americans plus two Jamaicans qualifying for semis. Boldin has questions about Gay, his technique's not great.

Hey, they're going to show U.S. vs. China in men's volleyball, third set, U.S. up 2 sets to none. Hmm, picture is a bit fuzzy for some reason. Chinese aren't very good, had an upset of Japan though, making the quarters already great for them. Man, the Chinese are so small/weak-looking compared to the Americans. Again, Chinese uniforms look homemade, what's up with that? For some reason, their coach's shirt reads China volleyball team, in English.

Crowd's yelling jiao yo; wonder if that makes Mideast teams happy. U.S. is just literally pounding China. Hmm, from a commercial we find out that the U.S. women's volleyball team coach is Chinese, was a member of a famous team for them--and led the U.S. to victory over China in their opening match. Too bad I had to learn this from a commercial.

I do feel like NBC has been doing a horrible job keeping me updated on what else is happening at the games, outside of swimming/gymnastics/beach volleyball. Maybe they run all the updates early in their coverage, generally before I can start watching. Seems odd though that at the end of the night they wouldn't at least quickly run-down the list of all Americans who won medals that 'day'.

U.S. at 20-13, 5 points from the win, a total beatdown. 23-15 now, even with the U.S. playing with its 'second unit'. Match point now, goes for the ace, out of bounds. Beijing Institute of Technology, the secondary volleyball site. U.S. biffs on another match point. And they win, 25-18. Ranked #3 in the world coming in. Next up against Japan, haven't lost to them in 13 straight matches.

Next, Mark Spitz via satellite and Michael Phelps, live. Odd that Spitz isn't in Beijing. Weird quick commercial, they're replaying the butterfly race, with Dan saying I don't know if he's going to catch him, then, he gets it done again! Phelps says he thought he'd lost the race; says tomorrow's race will be tough with the Aussies. Hmm, Cavich grew up in California, but swam for Serbia. Phelps says he uses it as fuel, I always welcome comments.

Spitz tells Phelps it was 'epic', never thought you were out of the race; a tribute to your greatness, we're so proud of you here in America. It's a nice little moment, NBC giving him the chance to talk to Phelps. Phelps returns the compliment, saying what Spitz did was amazing, it's still incredible, shows you can do anything if you really put your mind to it. Bob asks Spitz if Michael's the greatest ever, Phelps starts to answer it, cracks up when he realizes it wasn't for him; he's still a bit like a kid. Spitz says it's hard to cross-compare, curious to hear Michael's answer but thinks it's harder now, can call him the best Olympian of all time, not just for the gold medals, but the way he's handled himself under the pressure, nobody knows that, but Spitz does.

It's interesting, Phelps is like talking to his peer, one of the rare times that happens; it's loosening him up, he's definitely a good kid; a very genuine interview, not just platitudes, stumbles, natural language. Wow, a commercial, then back to talking to them more.

Costas asks Spitz how would he do against Phelps; he says a common thread is the ability to win against your competitors, he says after tomorrow he'll say Phelps. Phelps says it's great watching the sport change, and grow. Spitz goes on with a long answer about something, says something about the magical seeds of personal creativity.

Last word to Phelps, he says he's at a loss for words, he's able to use his imagination and a lot of hard work; thankful to Spitz for all the help and support he's been able to give him.

Hmm, they finish with another look at Phelps' race, but no review of the medal tables. And holy cow, China's now at 26 golds, U.S. at 15; overall, 48 for us, 41 for China.