For the Olympic ball players, the Closing Ceremonies marked more than the start of a four-year hiatus.

It was announced last week that baseball and softball would not be included in the 2012 London Games.

At a secret conference in Singapore, the International Olympic Committee voted on the twenty-eight existing Olympic sports, only baseball and softball failed to garner a majority approval.

These are the first sports to be eliminated since polo in 1936. We knew baseball’s days as the American pastime were gone, but to be compared to polo, this is just sad.

But I can see what the IOC is saying about baseball. We see NBA players and NHL players at the Olympics, but we don’t see MLB all-stars.

The Olympic games are intended to showcase the world’s greatest athletes. If participation by the world’s finest is less than unenthusiastic, the sport loses some serious clout.

But I have to disagree with the IOC’s decision to drop softball from the Olympic roster.

The IOC felt that the sport was “too American,” and did not have a global appeal.

Since its arrival on the Olympic scene in 1996, the US women have dominated, triggering some sentiments that softball is controlled too much by one country.

After all, in the 2004 Athens Olympics, the US women outscored opponents 51-1 on the way to their third Olympic title.

But do they want the world’s best or not? It also should be noted that in Beijing, the US team finished as the runner-up to the world champions, Japan.

In an interview with Bob Costas, IOC president Jacques Rogge expressed that softball has suffered due to an unfair affiliation with baseball and with it, doping:

“Outside of the United States and regions where softball is popular, there was this belief that softball was the women’s version of baseball, which is absolutely not the case.”

Wait. I am pretty sure that’s exactly what softball is. In fact, you are just proving it by eliminating softball based on the shortcomings of baseball.

I wonder why Rogge hasn’t made a push for men’s softball or women’s baseball.

I am a little surprised that softball got the boot before a “sport” like racewalking. Racewalking is even more ridiculous than it sounds. But at least it’s ridiculous globally and equally.

Softball and baseball will be eligible for reinstatement in 2016, but they will have to compete for the two open spots against golf, rugby, karate, squash, and . . . ahem . . . roller-skating.

Yes, even roller-skating is challenging the return of softball to the Olympics.

So as of now, it’s safe to say that softball and baseball may be shunned from the Olympic scene for-ev-er, for-ev-er, for-ev-er.

–Gordy Jenkins, RED U.S. Editorial Staff.

So that was Beijing 2008. The Games where the host nation dominated the medals table while Michael Phelps swam, Usain Bolt ran and Chris Hoy pedalled into the record books.

Hoy’s three golds in track cycling were the pinnacle of a marvellous Olympics for Great Britain.

The team claimed 47 medals including 19 golds, in cycling, rowing, athletics, sailing, canoeing, swimming and boxing.

That represents a huge achievement for a relatively small nation and bodes well for the next Games, in London four years from now.

Despite the rich entertainment and sporting excellence, however, nobody could remain cocooned from the ugly side of the Games.

It was particularly hard to stomach the use of Tiananmen Square, with all its grim associations, as part of a showcase of Beijing and a celebration of athletic endeavour.

China underlined its status as a sporting superpower with a huge haul of 51 golds, 15 more than the US.

But, not for the first time in Olympic history, a worrying level of pro-host nation bias could be detected among the judges in certain competitions.

Anybody who saw Britain’s Sarah Stevenson and Aaron Cook fight Chinese opponents in the taekwondo will know what I mean.

Pity the poor Chinese competitors who were just trying to be the pride of their nation.

Men’s football still seems a little out of place as an Olympic event, perhaps because of the involvement of privileged multimillionaires like Brazil’s Ronaldinho, whose lives are so different to those of other athletes.

The male and female finals were both decided by a single goal as the holders retained their titles.

In the women’s final, Carli Lloyd’s injury-time strike gave the US victory over Brazil as grit and organisation triumphed over flair and technique.

Argentina’s men beat Nigeria thanks to Angel Di María’s cute finish.

It was a disappointing final – inevitably so because of the crazy decision to play it at midday, in searing temperatures of up to 42°C.

Nevertheless, Argentina seem to have discovered another golden generation of talent, and Lionel Messi cemented his reputation as one of the world’s finest attackers.

All the brilliant Barcelona forward need now do is cast off the shackles of being labelled the ‘new Maradona’ and inspire Argentina to glory at the 2010 World Cup.

–Rob Wightman, RED U.K. Sport Writer.

Only one more game and there won’t be any redeem left in this team.

Right after Spain barely outlasted Lithuania 91-86 to advance to the gold medal game, the United States exploded out of the gate against Argentina, taking a 19-point lead after one quarter.

They would more or less hold this margin for the rest of the game, but what happened in the next three quarters is evidence that the U.S. can ill-afford to rest on its laurels or come out tired or under-prepared against the seemingly overmatched Spaniards on Sunday.

Many of the problems that have plagued the team in Beijing, if you can say they’ve been plagued by anything, were out in full force on Friday.

After the first quarter’s onslaught, which included remarkably few turnovers and some timely three point shooting, the Redeems got sloppy; once again missing a barrage of three pointers while allowing Argentina to shoot them at will.

They committed silly fouls, had numerous lapses on defense and even committed a high amount of turnovers.

Their smallest halftime lead of the tournament, nine, could have been even smaller if not for a terrible offensive possession by Carlos Delfino and an inane foul on a three pointer by Juan Gutierrez in the quarter’s last seconds.

On the back of a 16-3 run, the Argentineans outscored the U.S. 29-19 in the second, even without team heart and soul Manu Ginobili.

The Redeems built up the margin again in the second half, but never again pulled away like they did in the first quarter.

The Argentinean zone changed the game’s entire complexion, goading the Redeems into attempting many hopeless threes and bad passes on fast breaks.

If Argentina had not lost Ginobili and had gone to the zone even earlier, perhaps in the middle of the U.S.’s first quarter run, the outcome could have been decidedly different.

Even without Ginobili or an early zone, Argentina still found itself in the game midway through the third quarter until their own mental lapses, notably Andres Nocioni’s disastrous technical foul at the six minute mark (giving Carmelo Anthony a four point play and an 18-point lead for the U.S.), did them in.

So despite the U.S. having already overwhelmed Spain once, Friday’s botched execution and oftentimes lazy play have given Coach K and company plenty to work on going into the gold medal match.

The odds of another blowout are slim, and it is evident that team U.S.A. has to prepare for Sunday as if it were game seven of the NBA finals.

Everything that has happened so far in these Olympics has re-enforced that these international games are no longer won before the teams even take the floor like they were in 1992.

To win on Sunday, the U.S. will have to put together its most complete game yet.

Staying home and not being overly aggressive on defense, not forcing the fast break and not settling for jumpers will be paramount.

The Redeems will never be the Dreams, but as long as they execute the simple things on Sunday, they will be gold medal winners.

–Patrick Daugherty, RED Editorial Staff.

–The world of sport has a new superhero: Usain Bolt. First the Jamaican jogged to gold, and a new world record, in the 100 m. A few days later, the 6ft 5in sprinter pushed himself all the way to break the 200 m world record while claiming gold. An adoring crowd at the Beijing Bird’s Nest then sang him Happy Birthday.

–However, the way Bolt eased up and began to celebrate before the end of the 100 m final earned him a public rebuke from Olympic boss Jacques Rogge. “That’s not the way we perceive being a champion,” complained Rogge. Some people are never happy.

–Britain’s success at the Olympics has surpassed all expectations. There have been gold medals in swimming, cycling, rowing and athletics, among others. But there should be no awards for whoever decided to label the British athletes ‘Team GB’. Surely British national identity doesn’t need this sort of marketing makeover.

–So, what has happened to all those dissenting voices that were so negative about London’s hosting of the 2012 Olympics? They seem to have gone rather quiet in the wake of Team GB’s (agh!) fabulous showing in Beijing. Funny that.

– One of the reasons for the enduring popularity of the Olympics is that sports fans get the chance to see non-mainstream events. And swimming 10 km in open water is nobody’s idea of mainstream. So serious respect and congratulations to Britain’s David Davies, silver medallist in the men’s race, and Keri-Anne Payne and Cassie Patten who collected silver and bronze respectively in the women’s.

–Be honest, had you heard of Tim Brabants before he became Briton’s first-ever canoeing gold medallist? No, nor had Red Sport. But some quick research revealed he is a doctor by profession and helps promote a children’s charity in his spare time. Now, that’s living life to the full.

–The final word has to be about Britain’s cyclists, whose dominance of the track events was simply stunning. A fantastic haul of 12 medals included an astonishing seven golds. Leading the way was Chris Hoy, the first Briton for a century to win three golds at a single Olympics. Class.

–Rob Wightman, RED U.K. Sport Writer

The key word during Team USA’s spotless (so far) Olympic run in Beijing has been “humility,” a frame of mind that I’ve tried to adopt as my contribution to the Redeem Team bringing the gold back home again.

And I’m shocked at my own self-restraint. I’m shocked that I haven’t, at least, in some vacant corner of my mind, been thinking, “In your FACE, punks! What? What ‘cha got? No game! That’s what!” But I haven’t. And the reason why I haven’t is because the 10-year old kid in me still believes in the jinx.

Some writers out there have mentioned that Team USA is more than unbeaten after their 116-85 thrashing of Australia; they’ve said Team USA is also “unchallenged,” and that, dear readers, is exactly the kind of attitude I’d like to avoid.

Only five minutes ago I received an email from one of our other sportswriters, Patrick, about last night’s game. “Did you see the beat down this morning?” he wrote. “It is beginning to look like we might actually not have to worry.”

I almost fired him for saying that.

Folks, Team USA didn’t run away with the game against Australia. Sure, we ran away with the second half, but we didn’t run away with that whole game.

The first quarter had me worried. In fact, the whole first half made me as nervous as Isiah Thomas at a “Sensitivity in the Workplace” seminar.

And it wasn’t because Australia was threatening to take the lead and widen a gap. Australia hanging out within striking distance is one thing, but the reason why they were in striking distance to begin with is another.

For the better part of the first 20 minutes Australia’s zone worked very well. Plus, Team USA had a comparatively meager number of assists (2) in the first half while shooting only 50 percent from the line and going 3 of 13 from beyond the arc.

3 of 13. That’s 23 percent shooting, folks.

Do you have any idea how far Bob Knight would throw his chair if he were coaching that game? It would probably nail some poor kid way out in Tokyo.

That’s why I need to send Deron Williams a thank you card for simultaneously draining a three point shot and Australia’s spirits right before the half. After that, there was no looking back for the Redeem Team.

So yes, Patrick, I saw the “beat down this morning,” but I saw more than that. I also saw Han Solo telling Luke Skywalker, “Don’t get cocky.”

On paper, the methods of holding Team USA to the level of mere mortals are as plain as the age of a Chinese gymnast, and until Kobe and Co. get off that plane and set foot on American soil with gold medals in tow, let’s all just take the high road and assume the worst.

Better safe than silver, I always say.

–Joey Alfino, RED Editorial Staff.

There’s got to be something in that Adriatic water.

As the Closing Ceremonies of the Beijing Games inch closer, this year’s water polo tournament starts to take shape and an interesting theme emerges.

Of the remaining teams that have advanced to the quarterfinals and semifinals, three come from the same region in southeastern Europe, and less than two decades ago, the same country.

As odd as it appears to have such a specific area producing the top-notch water polo programs of Serbia, Croatia, and Montenegro, it’s nothing new.

Before dissolving into independent countries in 1991, Yugoslavia had won seven Olympic medals in water polo.

As the countries have continued to settle and grow as their own nations, the tradition of world-class water polo has been preserved.

In the 2000 Sydney Olympics, Serbia and Montenegro won the bronze medal playing as the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia.

By Athens in 2004, the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia was no more, and Serbia and Montenegro captured the silver medal.

This year, things are a little different.

In 2006, Serbia and Montenegro became two independent nations, thus splitting up the silver-medal team. Serbia’s team especially felt the blow, as over half the team now plays for Montenegro.

So far in the tournament, the Serbians haven’t looked as good as they have in the past. But it’s really not a big surprise.

In addition to the loss of half the team to Montenegro, the star Serbian player, Danilo Ikodinovic, was critically injured in a near-fatal motorcycle accident in June and is not playing.

But through it all, Serbia has remained in the hunt for an Olympic medal, but not without a little controversy.

There is speculation that Serbia threw its last game against Italy to secure a more favorable matchup in the next round. A win would have put them in the same bracket as European champion Montenegro and the two-time defending gold medalist Hungary. With the loss, Serbia is put in the same bracket as Spain and the United States.

The Serbian coach has denied the rumors, blaming the inconsistency on fatigue due to the inability to sub as much as they would like with the loss of Ikodinovic.

On the other side of the bracket, Montenegro gears up to play the Croats. Croatia has shown vulnerability this year, especially after an upset loss to the United States.

Montenegro shouldn’t have too much trouble against Croatia, but in order to win gold they still have to go through Hungary.

In the past, when the ruthless ethnic conflicts between the countries were fresh in the players’ minds, you could expect to see some epic battles in the water. I don’t know if we will see quite the intensity this year in Yingdong Natorium.

But hey, once that whistle blows, there’s no telling.

–Gordy Jenkins, RED Editorial Staff.

And then there were four.

Cuba and Japan were obvious favorites to make the medal round. The United States seemed a shoo-in also, though their 4-2 record might be a bit of a surprise.

But the real powerhouse in Beijing thus far has been the Koreans.

The South Korean team stands at a perfect 6-0 headed into tonight’s final prelim game against the Netherlands. A win will guarantee the Koreans home-field advantage through out the medal round as the tournament’s top seed.

Even more surprising than the perfect record is how they’ve done it and who they’ve done it to.

Korea opened the tournament against the U.S. last Wednesday and spoiled the States’ Beijing debut. With a 6-4 lead headed into the ninth inning Korean pitcher Han Kijoo gave up three runs and the lead. But Korea didn’t blink and plated two more runs in the bottom of the ninth for a walk-off 8-7 win.

Next Korea blanked Canada in a 1-0 victory. Then they downed their neighbors Japan 5-3, China 1-0 and Chinese-Taipei 9-8.

Next on the chopping block came defending gold medalists Cuba who also came into last nights game undefeated.

But Korea didn’t flinch and rolled on to down Cuba 7-4.

Korean manager, Kim Kyung-moon said his teams’ success is unexpected and very fortunate.

“Since we beat the U.S. in our opener the good luck has stayed with us so far,” Kyung-moon said.

Well, I do agree that the success of this Korean team is unexpected but I think there is a lot more happening here than mere “good luck.”

They have taken advantage of every opponent’s errors and slip-ups. They have scored when they needed to and held on to win the close ones. They are on top of the baseball world and for now the new international face of the sport.

And while these Olympic Games have been dominated with stories of lip-synching, Michael Phelps, under-aged Chinese gymnasts, and polluted skies, Korea has been quietly pushing ever closer to their first Olympic Gold in baseball.

Their recent success also says something about the sport’s growing international parity. If they win the gold this weekend it will be the first, and possibly last since the event’s dismissal from the 2012 London Games, gold medal in baseball won outside the Western Hemisphere.

And maybe, just maybe, the IOC will see their folly and reconsider the sport’s validity for the 2016 games. But let’s not hold our breath.

–Aaron Whitebread, RED Editorial Staff

Can lightning strike a turkey twice? Usain Bolt sure hopes so.

Coming off his historic 100-meter dash final, Bolt is looking to become the first man to win both the 100 and 200-meter dashes in the same Olympics since Carl Lewis did it in 1984.

The big question is: will he actually run the last one tenth of the race this time?

Bolt’s improbable lollygag across the finish line in his somehow-record-setting race Saturday night was simply par for the course at an Olympic meet that has been anything but predictable.

There have been devastating injuries (Liu Xiang), impossible misses (Tyson Gay), ill-advised trash-talk (Jenn Stuczynski) and fast-rising stars (Bolt) in a meet that has had everything except for well-planned coverage from NBC (tape delays, tape delays, tape delays. Hey NBC, people are up during the day you know).

But Bolt’s passive finish has trumped it all.

Despite breaking his own world record, he could have easily shaved a few more hundredths, perhaps tenths, off of his breathtaking 9.69 since he spent one second of a ten second race celebrating.

As he preened across the finish line, it was more cringe inducing than joyous to watch as he put his name in the history books.

So even after one of the most brilliant races ever run, we are still left wondering, “what might have been?”

In a sport where the baton is passed from one champion to another faster than a typical 100-meters and circumstance plays such a large role, Bolt may never again be in as good of race shape as he was Saturday night, and it’s a damn shame. We may never find out just how low he could have taken the record.

Emotion and youthful exuberance are to be expected, but dude, seriously? You couldn’t wait four more tenths of a second to puff out your chest?

Now we are left to wonder if Bolt will actually run like a champion in tomorrow’s 200-meter final.

Early indicators aren’t promising.

In his 200 semifinal Tuesday, Bolt slowed down in the middle of his heat before turning it back on again to barely edge past the seemingly helpless competition that included defending gold medalist American Shawn Crawford and fellow American Wallace Spearmon, who finished third. A third American, 100-meter bronze medalist Walter Dix, will join them in the final.

The disrespect is alarming even for a sport that is known for its tactless and over-exuberant athletes.

Perhaps Bolt will finally get his comeuppance Wednesday when he goes up against a certainly extra motivated field.

It probably won’t matter–you can’t teach speed, as they say–but just maybe someone can step up and teach the young Usain how to win with a little class.

It would be a more fitting end for Mr. Bolt to lose the race he’s been favored in after he danced all over the field in the race he was a mystery in.

I guess we will find out how karma is feeling in tomorrow’s 200.

–Patrick Daugherty, RED Editorial Staff.

I give up. I’ve tried and tried, but it’s truly impossible to cover Olympic Swimming without documenting Michael Phelps’s quest for 8 gold medals.

Need a refresher?

400m IM: Like a firework clearing the Beijing smog, Phelps’s quest for eight golds started off with a bang. In an event deemed to be the most challenging for swimming’s poster boy, Phelps obliterated the competition, including teammate Ryan Lochte, for his first world record in Beijing.

4×100m Freestyle Relay: Without a doubt the most exciting race of the Games. With the help of his teammates, Phelps stole the spotlight from the favored French relay like a lip-synching 7-year-old at the Opening Ceremonies.

200m Freestyle: After finishing third in Athens, Phelps let bygones be bygones on his way to his third gold medal and world record. Also, this marks the time during the Olympic Games, when Michael’s mother, Debbie Phelps, became the second-most televised person of the Olympics.

200m Butterfly: A terribly disappointing swim for Phelps—he didn’t break the world record by as much as he had hoped. If only his goggles hadn’t have leaked. I bet the bigwigs of Speedo were bawling their eyes out seeing Phelps blame the faulty goggles.

With the swim, Phelps became the first Olympian to win 10 gold medals. Immediately following the race, a Visa commercial congratulated Phelps on his accomplishment. Sincere.

4×200m Freestyle Relay: Phelps leads off the Americans’ best relay, which ends up demolishing the world record by nearly five seconds. At one point, the green, world record line was so far behind the American team that it was speculated its goggles were leaking.

200m Individual Medley: Another swim, another world record. Phelps has no trouble winning his sixth gold medal in Beijing. Phelps finished a body-length ahead of his closest competitors… so, nothing new.

100m Butterfly: The end of this race looked like something from Angels in the Outfield, as Phelps’ victory by .01 was nothing short of supernatural. For the first time in these Games, Phelps actually appears excited about the result of a race.

4×100m Medley Relay: In the final swimming event of the Games, anchor Jason Lezak held off the competition for Phelps’ record setting, eighth gold medal. In a post-race interview, Phelps told Andrea Kraemer that he was at “even more of a loss of words than before.”

Following these Olympics, there will be much discussion about where Phelps ranks among the greatest athletes of all time. In a sport that the general public only sees every four years, it’s going to be difficult for Phelps to garner a lot of hype in a non-Olympic year.

But nevertheless, what Michael Phelps has accomplished in Beijing should go down in history as one of the greatest performances of all time.

–Gordy Jenkins, RED U.S. Editorial Staff.

It was typical of Rafael Nadal’s acute sense of timing that he should claim Olympic gold just 24 hours before officially becoming world number one.

The French Open and Wimbledon champion overcame Chile’s Fernando González in straight sets on Sunday to continue his recent domination of men’s tennis.

Though González battled valiantly, it was hard not to feel the Spaniard had already won the real final by edging a compelling three-setter with Novak Djokovic two days earlier.

The Serb played well enough to beat anyone in world tennis. Anyone but Nadal, that is.

He was particularly devastating when on the offensive with his powerful forehand, but Nadal’s defence was so relentless he wore down even this opponent.

Djokovic’s tears were testament to the huge prestige of the Olympic tennis tournament–and, doubtless, the frustration of crashing against the brick wall that is the brilliant Nadal.

At least the Serb recovered to win the bronze by beating James Blake in straight sets.

In all likelihood, the pattern of the real final being one of the semi-finals will repeat itself in the men’s soccer tournament.

Hot favourites Brazil and Argentina renew one of sport’s greatest rivalries on Tuesday, as they vie for a place in the final against Nigeria or Belgium.

Both South American sides needed extra time to win their quarter-finals against obdurate opponents.

Argentina’s clash with Holland was a tense, cat-and-mouse affair, with the Dutch limiting their attacking ambitions in the hope of catching superior opposition on the break.

Argentina dominated and took an early lead through Lionel Messi, only to be pegged back when Otman Bakkal levelled just before half-time.

Messi and Co. were unable to break through again until deep into extra time, when the Barcelona forward released Angel Di María, who converted with aplomb.

Meanwhile, Brazil’s 2-0 defeat of Cameroon was a victory for skill and patience over sheer thuggery.

The Cameroonians showed little Olympic spirit, resorting to late tackles, rugby-style hand-offs and cynical shirt-pulling as means of breaking Brazil’s rhythm.

It was little surprise they were reduced to 10 men when Albert Baning was deservedly dismissed for two bookable offences early in the second period.

Even so, Cameroon resisted until Rafael Sobis and Marcello both struck within four extra-time minutes.

So, the encounter between Argentina and Brazil promises to be the match of the tournament. Let’s just hope it lives up to expectations.

–Rob Wightman, RED U.K. Sport Writer