Marathon: I love the marathon. I’m not sure what it is about this sport that is so fascinating. There is nothing like the moment when the lead runner comes back into the stadium to soak in the adulation of the stadium crowd. There is something fitting about this sport coming at the end of the Olympics. Of random note, the tenth place american looks uncannily like my brother-in-law, who in no slouch of a runner himself. Not sure what to make of that.
Mens Basketball: I am not particularly impressed by winning the gold. It’s astonishing that we haven’t won it every time for the last twenty years. I am impressed by the number of players we have who have first names for last names.
Boozer, Carlos – No (but a great nickname)
Kidd, Jason – No (but a good nickname)
James, LeBron – Yes
Williams, Deron – No (but if you drop the “s”, William counts)
Redd, Michael – No (I don’t count Red Aurebach as legit)
Wade, Dwayne – Yes
Bryant, Kobe – Yes
Howard, Dwight – Yes
Bosh, Chris – No
Paul, Chris – Yes
Prince, Tayshaun – No
Anthony, Carmelo – Yes
That’s 6 out of 12, and a couple more borderline cases for bonus points. On the other hand, how many of them have normal first names?
Boozer, Carlos – Yes
Kidd, Jason – Yes
James, LeBron – No
Williams, Deron – No
Redd, Michael – Yes
Wade, Dwayne – Yes, but what’s with the spelling?
Bryant, Kobe – No
Howard, Dwight – Yes
Bosh, Chris – Yes
Paul, Chris – Yes
Prince, Tayshaun – No
Anthony, Carmelo – No
Only 7 out of 12! We almost have as many people with normal first names in their last name, than in the first name! (Got that?)