So far, the Redeem Team has blown away every team they've faced in the Olympics. But this morning they're going against the one team that gave them some significant trouble in their warm-ups just before the Olympics started - Australia.

Back on August 5th in Shanghai, Team USA won 87-76 over a determined Australian squad that was playing without Andrew Bogut. Now, we shouldn't be overly concerned, seeing as Australia played their butts off while Team USA was using the game as an opportunity to get everyone playing time and figure out their rotation.

But at the same time, today's game is essentially one-and-done. You lose this game, you're playing for the bronze, not the gold. So I'd expect Coach K to have spent the past few days dissecting everything Team USA did wrong during that August 5th game and drilling it into his players' heads that they have to step it up another level to put a game Australian squad away today.

While the addition of Bogut will certainly help Australia, I expect Team USA to be more focused than ever. They didn't come this far to suddenly collapse like the 2004 team did in Athens. I see a fairly comfortable 25-point victory.

Q it up here with us during the game.

Tropical Storm Fay is battering Florida as we speak, sending residents fleeing the storm's path. As always during these storms though, there will always be a few dumbasses who stay behind to go surfing and kite boarding, like this guy in Fort Lauderdale.

Yes, that's a person, and yes, that's him being flung into the side of a building as local news crews watch. The kiteboarder, 26-year-old Kevin Kearney, is in critical condition after the incident. A Darwin Award is pending.

Sure, these are fairly dangerous sports during any circumstances, but it takes a special level of intelligence to attempt to float in the air during a storm with 65 mph winds, which is near hurricane strength.


HT: [Gizmodo]

Suggested Team Slogan: Hi... do I know you?

What We Learned In 2007: Last years Va Tech team taught us a couple important things. #1: No matter what happens at the beginning of the season, you CAN redeem yourself and contend in the end. The Hokies got destroyed by LSU 49-7 in September, and still went to the Orange Bowl. If it weren't for a mid-season loss to Boston College, the Hokies would have undoubtedly been in the National Championship game. Which brings us to #2: Matt Ryan is a VERY good quarterback. And a great QB at a solid college team can accomplish anything. Va Tech was clearly a better team than BC, and outplayed them for about 58 minutes. But then Matt Ryan took over, and BC came away with the win. We also learned that you can never tell how emotions will play into a team's performance. The Va Tech campus experienced one of the most tragic events in recent history, and it seemed like it might bring them together to win, but didn't always translate to success on the field. Did it help them or hurt them? I don't think anyone can say definitively.

Expectations in 2008: Expectations are always high in Blacksburg. While they have been perennial National Championship contenders, they still haven't made it all the way. Hokies fans aren't (or at least shouldn't) be counting on it happening this year, but anything less than a top 20 finish will be considered unacceptable.

What could hold them back: They have had a huge turnover this year. They are only returning 6 starters on offense, and 4 on defense. They also have a bit of a quarterback controversy, with Tyrod Taylor and Sean Glennon both looking to get a lot of snaps this year. They play with 2 entirely different styles, and the Hokies' success depends greatly on Frank Beamer's ability to utilize each of them wisely.

Big Men On Campus: Greg Boone. Literally. The junior TE is 6'3", 280 pounds, and will be lining up as a WR as well. He has matched up well with another VT key player, returning All-ACC CB Macho Harris. Sean Glennon returns as the primary QB. He passed for 1796 yards and 12 TD's last year, and will definitely look to improve on that this year.

Cheerleader Grade: Suspect. There are a few good ones here and there, but not enough. And some are downright scary. Overall, they get a C-.


Schedule and Predictions:
8/30 @ East Carolina - W
9/6 Furman - W
9/13 Georgia Tech - W
9/20 @ North Carolina - W
9/27 @ Nebraska - L
10/4 Western Kentucky - W
10/18 @ Boston College - W
10/25 @ Florida State - L
11/6 Maryland - W
11/13 @ Miami (FL) - W
11/22 Duke - W
11/29 Virginia - W

11-2 (7-1 ACC)

That's right... I'm predicting a loss to Nebraska. Call me crazy, but I think there's a great chance that Beamer and the Hokies overlook this game, and underestimate a Nebraska team that will be very hungry, and very well-coached under Bo Pelini. It's a trap game for Va Tech, and as bad as Nebraska has been lately, they still have some talent here and there. And while I think that the Hokies could be the best team in the ACC, I don't see them making it all the way through their conference undefeated. While it could very well end up being Virginia, Miami or Boston College, I'm going to go with a resurgent Florida State for their lone ACC loss.

How do YOU think they'll do?  [Ultimate Preseason Va Tech Poll]

Awaiting Usain Bolt's semifinal 200m appearance tonight (pssst, he won) I'm reminded of my favorite live sporting event moment of my life.

Basketball and football are the sports I love the most, without question. I've attended a fair share of memorable Michigan State sporting events, but nothing in my life compares to my Atlanta Olympic Games experience in 1996.

My dad and I attended many random events, but of our time was spent at the Olympic Stadium (Turner Field) watching track & field. On our final day we decided to go big, before we went home. Michael Johnson was running for gold in the 200m dash and Carl Lewis would be going for gold in the long jump during the same evening session.

Johnson was the last Olympic athlete that galvanized our country in the same manner that Michael Phelps has during these games. You just weren't going to miss "The Man In The Golden Shoes" run, because you were going to miss a world record. And on that night, we didn't.

Sitting 15 rows up on the home stretch, one of the images that will never leave my mind is Johnson and his unique running style, curving around the corner at nearly a 45 degree angle in his golden shoes.

There's just something invigorating about rooting on your country live in a competition of this magnitude.

I was much younger at the time, but I don't think Johnson had the same affect that Phelps has had on our viewing schedule. But even so, his work in the Atlanta Olympic Games is worth watching a few more times, especially now that Jamaica has a superstar capable of crushing all of his records in the 200 and 400 as Usain Bolt grows more experienced.

I'm sure some of you remember the lovely Leryn Franco. She was the attractive Paraguayan picked up by NBC cameras during the Beijing Opening ceremonies. It took people a little while to figure out that she competes in the javelin, but it took people almost no time to figure out she has her own modeling calendar.

Anyway, there's not much debating her attractiveness, so how about we find out how she did in the javelin?

Uh, not so good.

As Fourth Place Medal informs us, Franco competed this morning and finished second-to-last in the qualifying round with a throw that was 12 meters short of her personal best. I don't know a lot about javelin, but I know that when you come in second to last, the only person worse than you probably comes from a country where javelins don't even exist. In other words, you suck.

But at least Franco made an impression on us and taught us all a valuable and important lesson: Don't be ugly.