17 days, 958 medals, 43 world records, hundreds of thousands of fireworks and countless tears. Never has a sporting event held the world at rapt attention like the games of the 29th Olympiad.

Oh, there were controversies to be sure: Fake fireworks, lip-synching children, age fabrication and the ever-present issue of Chinese censorship were all murmured about with varying degrees of intensity. For the most part, however, Beijing did nothing but charm us over the last two weeks — placing itself as the backdrop to a breathtaking stage of athletics.

Beijing gave us stories of gold: Lisa Leslie took home her fourth consecutive gold medal with the U.S. women’s basketball team in what will be her last Olympics; Kerri Walsh and Misty May-Treanor added volleyball gold to the medals they won in 2004 before they both leave the sport to have children; and U.S. women’s soccer coach Pia Sundhage’s team won the first gold medal victory she’s had as an international head coach.

"When I was six years old, I thought I was the only girl in the whole world who played soccer. I wasn't allowed to play because I was a girl," Sundhage said. "Back then, I could never imagine to be a professional player or a professional coach. Now I'm sitting with a great player, Christie Rampone, and looking at her gold medal. I am so proud."

Beijing gave us stories of silver: The U.S. softball team lost their first game since 2000, falling to Japan in the gold medal match up, and the U.S. women's volleyball team came in second behind Brazil in their final game. … continue reading

The U.S. women's basketball team scored their 29th straight Olympic victory today. Lisa Leslie went a perfect 7-7 from the field as the Team USA trounced Mali 97-41. They've also routed China and the Czech Republic, winning by an average of 47 points in each of their victories so far in the Beijing Olympics.

Leslie's perfect performance set a new Olympic record. When a reporter mentioned this to her, she simply said, "Another record? Oh well, records are meant to be broken. It feels good, but we just wanted to get the win. We wanted to come out and perform well."

When Mali started out with a quick lead, head coach Jose Ruiz turned to his assistant and said, "Maybe the lights will go out now and it could be over." … continue reading

Last Friday, one billion people tuned in to watch the Olympic opening ceremonies. One billion. That is 15 percent of the world's population!

Ever since I was a child I have been an Olympics junkie — one of those people who gets up at three a.m. to watch the USA women's basketball team live. I love it all: the events, the medal ceremonies, the musical montages, the athletes who have trained their entire lives for a 9.7 second sprint. I love that look an athlete gets at the very second she wins or loses; it's the most raw emotion in the world.

This year, the PR firms for various athletes have one goal in mind: they want us to see past the athleticism to the fact that these are — hang on, I'm going to quote the press release — "very sexy and beautiful people."

So, if you, like me, are glued to your television for the next two weeks, I admonish you: while you're thinking of these Olympians as athletes, try also to think of them as sexy. I know it will be hard.

Let's practice.

When watching softball, don't simply admire the 6-4-3 double play: allow yourself to think, "Nice smile!"

When watching swimming, don't concentrate only on the backstroke technique: consider the biceps! … continue reading

The WNBA All-Star game is July 15, less than a month away. Online balloting is now open. But how will you vote? Will you support your home team if you live in a WNBA city, or will you stick with your favorite college players, no matter where they ended up?

I live in L.A., so I love the Sparks, even with a retired Chamique Holdsclaw (bummer) and a pregnant Lisa Leslie on the sidelines.

It’s the first time I’ve been in a city with a WNBA team — it's a lot more fun to be able to go to the games. It's a little harder to be loyal to a team when you can only watch the games on TV or online.

My advice: Base your choices on stats, or pick them like I always sometimes do: Which player is cute? Do I hold it against her that she sort of looks like that woman who rejected me at that bar? What do her biceps look like? Can I pick her even though I hate that team’s uniforms? What if I don’t like the food in that state? How do I weigh that against her percentages? Being a sports reporter is harder than people think.

Here are my picks — although sometimes I think I curse things by picking them, almost like the curse of the Sports Illustrated cover. … continue reading