Olympics viewing on a Sunday afternoon

I have been watching two remarkable events at the Olympics today. The first is the USA v. Puerto Rico in men's basketball. We absolutely got spanked by Puerto Rico. The game is noteworthy because 1) our team--the overwhelming favorite to win gold--has not played well, and 2) Puerto Rico--a team not even expected to contend for a medal--has played brilliantly. Which leads me to the second event, the men's soccer match between Costa Rica and Iraq. Iraq, a team whose nation has been and still is at war, who has no home field, who had to get outside money just to function, not only qualified for the Olympics, they beat Portugal--a finalist in the recent European championships--in their opening match. That was a HUGE upset. They won by two goals, a big margin in soccer, and one of the goals for Portugal the Iraqis accidentally kicked into their own goal. I missed that match, but now am getting to witness them play. The score is 0-0. If the Iraqis win, they move on to the next round. A tie still keeps them in contention to move on. It is amazing. The energy and joy with which the Iraqis are playing is inspirational. Regardless of how anyone feels about the war and what is happening in Iraq now, I fail to see how anyone could do anything but cheer for these athletes.

As I am writing this Iraq just scored!