King for a lifetime, fool for a... lifetime...

All the controversy surrounding the events at the men's high bar competition last night make it exceedingly difficult to take this sport seriously. Any sport that is determined by judges is automatically at a disadvantage as far as credibility goes. Competition may be fierce, yes, but there is no objective winner. Even in the face of that, the big story of last night isn't that the Alexei Namov got screwed on his score. No, its that the judges folded to pressure from the crowd of all things and changed his score. Never ever ever has a football or basketball referee or a baseball umpire changed a call because the fans were booing. So absurd. So how must it feel to be Paul Hamm. You have achieved your wildest dream while at the same time being unwillingly caught in a scandal that invalidates any credibility your sport has? Craziness. It's just plain stupid. Reminiscent of skate-gate '02, only those judges were on the take. The ones in Athens just seem to be incompetent.

Also, looks like the Iraqi dream for gold is over. Their soccer team will play Italy for the bronze medal. Gold medal match is a South American affair. Argentina (mega-favorite) vs. Paraguay.Good run for the Iraqis.