Olympics News and Info

Michael Phelps To Host Season Premiere of ‘Saturday Night Live’

Filed under: USA

When you win eight gold medals at one Olympics, you get to do a lot of neat stuff when you get home. SI covers, Corn Flakes boxes, Speedo deals and media demands.

Michael Phelps will do just that, as he will host the season premiere of “Saturday Night Live”. The show kicks off its 34th season on September 13th with Lil’ Wayne as the musical guest.

Of course, it is always dicey when an athlete hosts SNL. Some do really well (Peyton Manning) while others have come off bland (LeBron James). Some just stunk up the joint (Lance Armstrong).

Others have had iconic appearances. There was Michael Jordan hanging with Stuart Smalley … Tom Brady in “Sexual Harassment and You” skit … and Joe Montana as a chronic masturbator. Let’s see what the writers can come up with for the great Olympian.

Michael Phelps is a bit of an unknown. Aside from the fact that he’s a ridiculous swimmer, we don’t too much about his personality. I guess we’ll find out in a few weeks.

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Spanish Player on Losing to Redeem Team: ‘We Deserved to Win’

Filed under: Europe, USA

All in all, Spain should be proud for taking a team of NBA All-Stars to the limit. There’s no shame in losing to perhaps the most talented team to ever step foot on a basketball court … right? That’s not how Spain’s starting center Felipe Reyes (pictured, getting demolished by Kobe Bryant) team sees it. From SportsYa.com (via HoopsHype)

“I think we deserved to win the gold medal because we did an incredible job. If it hadn’t been for the officials, we’d have the gold instead of the silver,” center Felipe Reyes said.

“If they had blown the whistle for the steps they take, the defense with the hands they use and had blown the whistle on everything, it’s clear that we would have won. We got to within three points in spite of the referees, and if they’d been good, we would have won, pretty clearly,” Reyes said.

“If the referees had followed FIBA rules, we would have won, but we are very satisfied with the silver,” Reyes, who scored 10 points, said.

To be fair, Reyes does have a point: the referees were bad. That said, the only thing consistent about the refs was that they made questionable calls on both sides of the ball. Kobe Bryant and LeBron James were in foul trouble for much of the game, but the difference is that when Team USA had to sit someone, they had someone like Dwyane Wade or Deron Williams to take their spot. It was the Redeem Team’s depth (and the short international three-point line) that won this game, not the refs.

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U.S. basketball team beats Turkey in Macau

Turkey were never going to be the toughest competition for the United States basketball, but it took them a little while to get going - final result: 114-82 for their first game in China.
“We love defense as a team because we have a lot of guys who can get at it defensively, cause some havoc [...]