I appreciate Michael Phelps' accomplishments. Okay, he's the best swimmer in the world today. We got that. Meantime, there are a lot of other outstanding athletes we are not getting to see because the media is so focused on Phelps. Enough is enough.. I'll watch his races but I don't need to see the reruns. There are other swimmers I wanted to see but he's dominating the small screen. Again.. I admire him but I want equal time for others.

What's the matter, America? Are you so used to seeing Howdy Doofus every time you turn on TV or open a newspaper or magazine that you can't appreciate a REAL person? A REAL reason to be proud of our athletes in Beijing. Phelps: A person of modesty and humility. Not what we usually see strutting around D.C.

It's a treat to watch, listen to, and make our own decisions and judgments about the Olympics. For that, we don't have to listen to the media tell us what we are viewing, how to interpret it, and whether or not we should like it.

You can go ahead being brainwashed by the media and politics and Howdy Doofus heading us to war against Russia, and Edwards' latest affair, and the exploding inflation and big business profits, and Gore's Global War all you want. But not I. It's refreshing not to have someone tell me how to think.

How did Orwell know sixty years ago that our country would end up the way it has. And what a shame that it has. I want my America back!

Glad I live near Canada!

Well, in reading this post and the letters, I have to say I'm super glad I live in Seattle, near Canada. My cable carries CBC and I've been exclusively watching their coverage when I do watch the Olympics. What a difference!! Yes, I hear all about the Canadian results but they show a much broader swath of competitors and sports. They also show Michael Phelps each time, and they are so respectful of the effort all Olympians make to get where they are. They discuss Canadian records, best Canadian showing ever, etc. Not just "we didn't get the gold so we're moving on."

If you can find an international station, switch! NBC just, frankly, SUCKS.

Ouch, Lawrence Pelo and Czarina!

I probably wouldn't be so sensitive about this if I hadn't swum a bit in my youth, but reading your comments on the number of medals handed out for swimming and possible doping made me cringe.

Yes, they hand out a lot of medals for swimming. It's because those races are very different from one another, and mastering any one of them is incredibly difficult. The fact that they all take place in a pool makes it easy for people to lump them together, but the muscles, the timing and the pacing for each race differ dramatically, and it really is unusual for swimmers to excel at more than one or two. I see that analogy about running backwards or hopping fairly often, but it fails to convince me; if people want to make medals available in those categories, that's for the IOC or some similar organization to decide, isn't it? They don't have races for competitive doggie paddling, either, but I don't understand why people are so willing to devalue medals for the existing races simply because they all fall into the broader category of "swimming."

As for the doping issue, swimming has certainly had its share of abusers in the past and likely has at least some now. But the number of broken records we're seeing now shouldn't lead one automatically to conclude that the swimmers are doping. Advances in both the swimsuits and pool design do factor in quite a bit (drag and the amount of wake you have to swim through are significant), and a better understanding of how the human body moves in the water allows swimmers to train and tailor their techniques more effectively than they used to. The competitors take drug tests following every major meet (heck, after each event!), and doping is looked upon with great disfavor amongst the swimmers themselves; it's not merely winked at and accepted as something to try to get away with.

When swimmers people have never heard of burst onto the scene and win everything in sight, it's understandable that there will be questions about performance enhancing drugs. But most of the swimmers who have won big at the Games this time around are people who have been swimming at the elite international level for years, whose progress it's fairly easy to track, and whose extensive backgrounds in the sport have been clean. As such, I think we do them a disservice when we assume that they're cheating.

Sorry to lecture. In fairness, a lot of this is frustration at similar comments I've read elsewhere that's finally boiled over. But while I understand that not everyone wants to watch as much swimming as I do, I don't think it's right to minimize or otherwise question the legitimacy of these athletes' success, barring evidence of their having broken the rules.

It's pretty enjoyable, actually, but I'll save you time and summarize every tournament ever played in two words:

Brazil wins!

You wrote:

"...[Phelps'] exploits are threatening to suffocate these games, at least for those of us consuming them through American media, most notably NBC".

Well Gee Whiz, King, how about some critique aimed directly at the real culprits instead of Phelps, who's literally swimming in the context you mention (before going on the obliquely tag the athlete, not the media, as the problem)?

Truly, no good deed goes unpunished. We love turning exemplars into scapegoats. And guess what, I'd rather be watching Equestrian.

NBC proudly proclaims on their website that there are 5 top sports in the Olympics including Basketball, Beach Volleyball, Swimming, Gymnastics, and Track and Field. So guess what we're gonna be seeing a lot (more) of? Personally I think more breadth and less depth would be more interesting to watch. I've about had my fill of NBC's Big Five and will probably stop watching as soon as Phelps is done.

http://www.nbcolympics.com/sports/index.html