SUMMER OLYMPICS, U.S. AT THE TOP // NFL 2012, AFIELD 

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“SPORTS NOTEBOOK” posts its columns Tuesday and Friday of every week---Ed. & Publ., Marvin Leibstone.

OLYMPICS  ---   U.S. wins at track and field’s 10-event decathlon and the women’s 400 meter relay, plus basketball, swimming, women’s tennis, women’s soccer, so many other activities, all resulted in 104 medals, 46 of them Gold, 29 Silver, 29 Bronze, the most awarded to any of the 204 countries competing during the 2012 summer Olympics at London, U.K.

Though shy of the 110 medals won by the U.S. in 2008 at Beijing, the 2012 U.S. finish included 10 additional Gold over the 2008 total of Gold. Second place medal winner China finished with 87 medals, 36 of them Gold, equaling the number of Gold that the U.S. won in 2008. Russia finished third this year, with 82 medals, 24 of them Gold. Host country Great Britain finished fourth, with 65 medals, and Germany fifth, with 44.

We can take from the medal-winning totals that within most of the world’s major sports the U.S. is “best, perhaps the best ever.” Yet at London the track stars Usain Bolt and Yohan Blake of Jamaica proved that they are the fastest men on the planet, and Great Britain’s Mo Farah won the 5,000 and 10,000 meter races while Uganda’s Stephen Kiprotich won the marathon, suggesting that the U.S. isn’t best at long distance running and endurance; and, Great Britain’s Andy Murray picked up Gold in men’s tennis, and Mexico took Gold for men’s soccer, implying that the U.S. isn’t always best at solo and team competitions.

Another way to look at the U.S. accumulation of medals is to set aside words like “best,” which often implies separation from other nations and a desire to remain so, a kind of isolation. Why not substitute “best” with terms and phrases such as “leading edge,” “out front,” “first among many,” “ahead of the pack,” which underscores that the U.S. is indeed forward along the frontier of  athletic grace and physical accomplishments, setting examples for future athletes to follow “but not alone at the task, instead joined by greats from other nations.” With reason to celebrate its 2012 victories, it’s also of America’s heritage and of its grace to know and appreciate that the Olympics is forever a world happening, a U.S.-held knowledge and attitude that reflects what’s best about the red-white-and-blue and home of the brave.

NFL   ---    It’s here, professional football, just a few exhibition games before the regular NFL season begins, and so franchise leaders, players and fans are surely in question mode, of course starting with, “Which NFL teams will go to the Super Bowl come February, 2013, and will one of them be my team?” Here’s a take on other questions that ought to be asked about NFL games as autumn 2012 commences, none in any order of more importance than others---

(1) Will any of the teams that dominated in 2010 and 2011 be victory repeats in 2012, e.g., N.Y. Giants, N.E. Patriots, Green Bay Packers? Pittsburgh Steelers?  If none of these, which teams will comprise the top four as the season ends?

(2) Can Drew Brees and the N.O. Saints enact a comeback?

(3) Can QB great Peyton Manning raise the Denver Broncos quality of performance game after game?

(4) Will the N.Y. Jets QB-2 Tim Tebow have opportunities to shine before mid-season?

(5) To what degree will team secondaries prove their value as game-savers?

(6) How many running backs and wide receivers will be offsetting any vulnerabilities demonstrated by stressed QB’s, and which receivers will shine because of the qualities of superb QB’s? Relatedly, which QB/receiver teamings will be best in 2012?

(6) To what measure will pass protection be the saving grace for even the better among QB’s?

(7) Will we witness evolutionary changes in game strategy and tactics? And, how many games will be won from unplanned deviations from playbook requirements?  

(8) Will any of the teams that finished bottom of the heap in 2011 land in the top half of their conferences before December and remain there, and which will these be?

(9) Which 2011 and 2012 trades will prove to have made sense?

(10) Who will emerge as season MVP’s?

(11) To what degree will special teams be offsetting offense and defense weaknesses?

(12) Which records will be surpassed by teams and by individual players?

We could come up with an additional dozen questions, and more as the season progresses. Come to this site, and be with Mile High Sports commentary (see above re. web address and radio signs) “for takes on the answers as they unfold.”

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