Michael Hoover:

With apologies to Roone Arledge and his ABC Sports network that immortalized the phrase "The Thrill of Victory and the Agony of Defeat," the above headline is no mistake. Just ask United States gymnast and medal winner Paul Hamm if he feels the agony of a victory tainted by a bunch of officials and judges who want him to give up his medal to his South Korean competitor that the officials are now saying deserves the medal instead of Hamm. In truth, had I been Hamm's advisor, I would have said to him, in the early stages of this contretemps, "Paul, tell everyone that as far as you're concerned, it would be cool if my competitor got a gold medal too." At the early stage of this controversy, this altruism may have worked and have spared the world the agony of the Olympic officials' second-guessing. But for them to have gone so far as to belatedly have put the onus on Hamm to make it all right is tantamount to a high school teacher who committed a terrible injustice asking a ninth grader to take responsibility to

set the record straight.

In spite of this extreme example of the frustrations attendant upon the games, I thought the Olympics were fantastic and the following are a simple fan's observations:

• Women Rule! Women excelled in the 2004 Olympics like never before and the American women were exceptional examples of women's athletic progress. My generation witnessed women who once had to play basketball with part of the team remaining on one side of the court because, I guess, people felt that women, bless their fair sex, didn't have the stamina to go full court. Now, I'm not that old, but society's progress is that young. What were we thinking? If you read the interviews with the US champions in women's basketball, soccer and softball, you understand just how pure and exciting the women's game still is and how much old-fashioned teamwork and dedication count. Now why can't American fans get behind the women's professional franchises?

• Men's Basketball Isn't So Bad! Early on in the competition, I was almost happy to see the supposedly arrogant and richly smug U.S. men's basketball team take it on the chin by the likes of Puerto Rico and Lithuania. That was before I actually watched them in action and realized that coach Larry Brown had really reached many of them and that his players were diving to the floor for loose balls and doing everything in their power to uphold their country's tradition and reputation in basketball. Unfortunately for them, they hadn't thought to bring enough pure outside shooters with them to make it work against the international teams who can shoot the eyes out of the basket. Somehow, the final game, a nail-biter for a bronze medal, seemed more important than if it were for gold. Watching the men's basketball competition was just one example of many that burst my preconceived beliefs about certain players. You need only read the post-game interview with Allen Iverson, a player whose dedication I've always been skeptical of, to possibly realign your opinions. He was as pro-team and pro-country as an athlete could be.

• Speaking of shattered illusions, look no further than Marion Jones who, at least to this observer, handled herself so well in the face of two devastating losses that resulted in no medals, that she earned gold for deportment and courtesy. Did you see Jones, instantaneously following the aborted 4 X 100 relay, seek out the young runner who had helped botch the baton paas and put her arm around her shoulder and assure her that life would go on? It was inspirational enough to make you hope that the drug charges against her were indeed fabricated as she has asserted.

• Greece is Awesome! The ultimate example of beliefs being shattered is the way in which Greece managed to pull the games off in spite of some of the worst pre-Olympic publicity imaginable. For a year I had read articles about how Greece was so behind in construction deadlines and security guffaws, that they could never do it. Every article ended with a rebuttal by a Greek official saying that they would be ready. Were they ever! From the inspired architecture of the venues to the sublime artistry of the opening and closing ceremonies, the games were exceptional. The world owes Greece an apology and you can't help but wonder if the myriad empty seats weren't partly due to the bad publicity.

• It's hard to pick a single most moving moment in the vast drama of competitiveness. From the grace of the bronze medal winner who was hijacked off his lead in the marathon by a deranged man to the haphazard Iraqi soccer squad upsetting teams early on, and from the final goal that put soccer veterans Foudy, Chastain, Wambach and Hamm on the gold medal stand to the Moroccan runner kissing the track, the inspirational moments were almost too numerous. But my personal favorite was watching the Greeks in the audience sing their national anthem along with Greek gold medalist in the 400-meter hurdles Fani Halkia, enshrouded in her beloved blue and white flag, fighting tears. Greece earned that moment.