Mark Cuban blogged today (someone shoot me for using that word as a verb) that this may be the Olympics that reinvigorated TV. His thinking: Folks with HD TVs really can enjoy the Olympics (it's true!). This is all well and good, except that when the Olympics ends TV will go back to the same old World's-Toughest-Job, Dancing-With-The-Stars drivel it usually shows. With all respect to Cuban, who is a very entertaining and insightful individual, I think these Olympics have reinvigorated the Olympics. Part of it is that the bulk of the competition is live. TV has such control that swimming events were held in the morning in China so it could be shown in primetime in the USA. No matter, Michael Phelps obliterated records. Another part is that NBC is doing such a good job, letting the compelling stories tell themselves without shoving them down our throat (thank you Bob Costas, the best Olympics host this side of Jim McKay). The final element is that there are great stories. Phelps is one. Dara Torres another (anyone see her tell that preliminary race to wait because one of her competitors had a torn suit — she did not have to do that). The gymnastics actually got interesting. The USA basketball team is compelling. Me, I like Usain Bolt best. I don't think anyone has ever run so effortlessly and so fast. Yes, the same thing was said about Ben Johnson. Let's just hope modern testing has not allowed Bolt to cheat. The guy just destroyed the field in the 100. Overall these games have been entertaining, compelling and far more interesting than I'd dreamed possible. China — and people like Phelps and Bolt — may provide the Olympics its greatest boost since the fiasco that was Atlanta.

I would imagine if Adriana Lima could swim, she would be pretty good. But not even she could match the excitement provided by Michael Phelps in these Beijing Olympcs. To win a seventh gold medal by .001 of a second? Are you kidding me? This internet site shows what can take place in various increments of time (proving again that you can find anything on the internet). It states that one-hundredth of a second is the length of time it takes for lightning to strike. So when Phelps won that gold, it was literally lightning striking. Trite, perhaps. But there are times when sports provides moments we all remember, when we see what the Olympics are about. This swim by Phelps was one of them. So, too, was the graciousness and class shown by Mark Spitz in the interview he and Phelps did on NBC. Just think … Phelps won in the strike of a lightning bolt.

I was watching the Olympics last night and noticed they now have synchronized diving. Two folks line up side by side on the board and dive at the same moment and do the same spins and twirls and flips and try to make the same splash in the water. Really now. Is this not the most ridiculous thing you've ever seen? Much less heard of? Synchronized diving. Now, before anyone gets their spleen in a bunch, let's make it clear: Nobody is criticizing the athletic and artistic ability of the people doing these things. They are amazing, and talented. Those of us who have trouble with belly flops can surely attest to that. But where is the limit to sports. Sychronized swimming is bad enough. Hand in the air … oops … two hands in the air .. a twist left, a twist right … flip and it's two feet … pointed up … And the Russian judge gave them a 7! Can they keep these sports at some kind of real level? Tell Bob Costas and all the rest of the Olympic gang to call when they have a synchronized 100-meter dash. Then I'll watch.

For those who do love synchronized stuff, here is the baby-pool team practicing for the London Olympics:

And here is Adriana Lima synchronizing herself.

If you want to see LeBron James talking about the Olympics, the "Redeem Team," and even politics related to going to China, click here.

"If we can win by 50 every game, we would love to," he said of the U.S. team, adding: "We want to destroy everybody." There's even video of him playing a pretty lame game of P-I-G with the reporter from Time. Yes, it's the interview where he guaranteed the gold medal.

My favorite moment was when a photographer said to James: "You're probably the tallest person I've ever photographed." Now that's the kind of behind-the-scenes journalism Time magazine can provide.

Jim McKay’s passing today touches us all. McKay was the ultimate professional, a quiet, understated man who was the voice of ABC Sports, especially Wide World of Sports. The tributes to him will be pouring in, and all will be deserved. ESPN and ABC Sports president George Bodenheimer released a statement that read in part: “There are no superlatives that can adequately honor Jim McKay. … Jim was the ultimate colleague, having helped generations of people who have now taken his mantle. He was also a warm and devoted family man.” McKay did not scream, yell or gesture like modern day talking heads. He simply reported the facts, clearly and precisely and often in prose we all wish we could use. “Jim was in his own right a poet,” longtime sports producer Don Ohlmeyer said on ESPN. “He always could see the humanity in sports.” Ohlmeyer pointed out that McKay hated the traveling associated with his job – it meant he had to be away from his family. Quiet, dignified, detailed, direct – and a good father.

All of us who were around for the terrible day at the 1972 Munich Olympics will never forget McKay’s work that day. It was one of those touchstone moments that are impossible to forget. Terrorists had attacked the Olympic Village and invaded the Israeli section, taking Israeli athletes hostage. McKay was there the entire day, announcing what was happening. When the German police tried to rescue the hostages at the airport, the terrorists turned on the Israelis, killing them all – actually slaughtering them as they were bound and tied in helicopters. McKay looked in the camera and told us “They’re all gone.” He nearly cried, usually a no-no on the air but impossible to avoid on that day. Those watching did cry. McKay’s broadcast did not involve histrionics, he did not yell or scream, he merely told us the horrible news, starting by saying our worst fears are seldom realized but that night they were.

Perhaps present-day broadcasters (including the screaming sportswriters who go on TV) should watch that broadcast, take a lesson from it. McKay was emotional yet understated. He was in the middle of a tragedy, yet he was calm. He did not bring on 10 experts to tell us what we should feel or how we should think about what had happened. He did not examine the incident politically. There was no back and forth banter, one side trying to outdo the other.

There was just one man, one kind man, one family man, telling us of tragedy and cruelty that was beyond words.

Here is Ohlmeyer’s interview on ESPN.

Here is a tribute to McKay following his death.

And McKay's achievements in television.

In this interview McKay talks about Munich.

Finally, McKay talks about the “the agony of defeat” opening to Wide World of Sports.