OlympicsThe Cheat SheetBy Kevin McGuire on

Enjoy one last full week of the Olympics

I don’t know about you, but I am a little bit of an Olympics junkie. Like many, I do not follow the large majority of the sports in the Olympics on a regular basis. I am much more consumed with the major sports in the United States; football, college football, Pokemon Go and Mario Kart. But whenever the Olympics come around every two years, I’m all in. I try to soak in as much as possible in an attempt to learn more about individual sports and the athletes starring and competing in them. Few have captured the moments quite like Michael Phelps and Usain Bolt. As Phelps brought his swimming career in the pool to a close, allegedly, we quickly turned the page to the land where Jamaica’s Bolt continues to dazzle and put on quite the show. Bolt will not be in action as often as Phelps, but Bolt is already one-for-one in his gold medal pursuit this week. With the last full week of the Olympics here, I highly encourage you to check them out and maybe find the next star in the making in a sport you may only pay attention to once every four years.

Usain Bolt is STILL the fastest man alive

Screen Shot 2016-08-15 at 6.58.35 AM

For the third straight summer Olympics, the title of fastest man alive belongs to Usain Bolt of Jamaica. Running a 9.80 in the 100m final Sunday night in Rio, Bolt once again showed the world why he is the most electrifying man in track and field. After a substantial amount of buildup to the possibility of Bolt being dethroned by Justin Gatlin of the United States, Bolt quickly dismantled that idea. Gatlin won the silver, but Bolt did what he did best and found a way to finish with authority as he pulled ahead of and away from the pack to win his third straight gold medal in the men’s 100-meter race. Amazingly, Bolt’s gold medal time of 9.81 was mighty slow compared to the best Bolt has run.

Whatever the case, Bolt was still incredibly fast and needless to say, the Internet ran with it.

https://twitter.com/CorkGaines/status/765012129325977600

Of course, the photo most people seemed to have fun with came from an earlier race, the semifinal that qualified Bolt for the final race. During this run Bolt pulled ahead, checked to his left, checked to his right and realized he was in great shape to qualify for the final run without much of a threat. You could see that with the smile on his face as he realized he was still unbeatable.

 

I’ll spare you with the Crying Jordan memes that popped up, but here’s one for you NBA fans anyway.

The DC cinematic universe’s new adaptation of The Flash has already appeared in two films, but it’s never too late to re-cast the role.

https://twitter.com/GordoCabronCine/status/765001843411910656

After winning the gold medal, Bolt even provided some expert photography advice to a fan in the stands.

https://twitter.com/Reno_Boyd/status/765004701427531777

Just for good measure, Bolt also posed for a selfie with the medal winner sin the women’s heptathlon.

Ryan Lochte held up at gun point, IOC says This is Fine (.gif)

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL - AUGUST 12: (BROADCAST - OUT) Swimmer, Ryan Lochte of the United States poses for a photo with his gold medal on the Today show set on Copacabana Beach on August 12, 2016 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. (Photo by Harry How/Getty Images)
RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – AUGUST 12: (BROADCAST – OUT) Swimmer, Ryan Lochte of the United States poses for a photo with his gold medal on the Today show set on Copacabana Beach on August 12, 2016 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. (Photo by Harry How/Getty Images)

This one is amazing to me. Ryan Lochte and three other American swimmers were held up at gun point over the weekend by thieves posing as police officers, as confirmed by Lochte himself.

The IOC, on the other hand, must not have believed his story for whatever reason, because they must have been there to witness the incident.

Heading into the summer games we have pointed out time and time again there are serious security issues to be concerned about in Rio. The threats to Olympians has been an ongoing issue as well, including one judo medalist getting mugged. How the IOC can just turn a blind eye to an instance like this is incomprehensible. At least it would be unfathomable if not for the shattered integrity of the IOC to begin with.

Quick Hits

Check out this awesome helmet that will be worn by Air Force's football team on September 10 against Georgia State. The helmet is a tribute to the "Flying Tigers" of World War II. Awesome.
Check out this awesome helmet that will be worn by Air Force’s football team on September 10 against Georgia State. The helmet is a tribute to the “Flying Tigers” of World War II. Awesome.

– This play by Kyrie Irving is still fun to watch 24 hours later.

Meanwhile, the United States men’s basketball team has now had two games where they have actually had to try to win. Should fans be worried about a possible upset to ruin a shot at another gold medal? Nah, probably not. At least the United States women will waltz their way to a gold.

– Speaking of United States basketball, the star of the one and only true Dream Team sent some fresh gear to one of his biggest fans on the playground.

– Are the Olympic ratings down for NBC this year? Yes, but things are not quite as bad as some might think.

– The United States has won, like, a lot of medals. And of course, only in the United States will we honor such a goal and achievement without pointing out the fact we have a ton more athletes than just about the rest of the world. But hey, we also increase the size of our extra value meals at McDonald’s, so we more than counter-balance our athletic achievements as well.

– What happens when you bring a horse into a Taco Bell? You ask for an extra order of cinnamon twists, that’s what.

– If you thought Pete Rose was liberal with the memorabilia signing, future minor league baseball bust Tim Tebow is now signing baseballs for fans.

– And while on the topic of Heisman Trophy-winning busts, not even the Dallas Cowboys are willing to offer a phone call to Johnny Manziel, if you believe anything Jerry Jones’ son.

– Jonathan Papelbon wants to be released by the Washington Nationals, in case you forgot Papelbon played for the Nationals.

– You couldn’t possibly have thought anything related to attending an NFL game in Los Angeles was going to be cheap, right?

– Look for more Big 12 expansion rumors to be fired up this week. This happens when the conference decides to open negotiations with 18 potential candidates.

– R.I.P. Kenny Baker, the man behind our favorite little droid.

One last gratuitous bit of procrastination

About Kevin McGuire

Contributor to Athlon Sports and The Comeback. Previously contributed to NBCSports.com. Host of the Locked On Nittany Lions Podcast. FWAA member and Philadelphia-area resident.

View all posts by Kevin McGuire