Posted by Teddy Panos, Sun Staff

A few medal winning thoughts on the Summer Olympics:

Every four years, I approach the Games with the appropriate level of disdain a cynical, middle-aged sportswriter is expected to exhibit. Yet every four years, this cranky old coot gets sucked in by the drama and reminded why he’s spent far too much of his life watching, reading, writing and talking about sports: because when done right, there’s no greater theater in the world!

Considering the controversy surrounding the selection of Beijing as host site, the 2008 Olympics have been a smashing success thus far. You have to hand it to the Chinese organizers. Not only is the “Bird’s Nest” stadium a marvelous piece of architecture (amazing what paying a $1.50 an hour wage gets you these days), but the guy running in midair is the most memorable torch lighting these eyes have witnessed, edging out the moving sight of a trembling Muhammad Ali setting the flame in Atlanta.

Kudos to the sports fans of China as well, for their warm reception of all winning athletes, no matter which country they’re from. And kudos to the event schedulers for planning many of the climactic moments in American prime time, which often means early morning competition in Beijing. Though the casual viewer might find some enjoyment, a true sports geek avoids taped contests like Democratic Convention planners avoid John Edwards’ phone calls.

But it’s the competition itself which ultimately wins over even the most pessimistic Olympic follower. Was there a person watching the men’s 4 x 100 Freestyle Swimming Relay final who wasn’t going wild at the conclusion of that improbable finish? If you answered yes, check your pulse. You many no longer be with us, or you simply don’t have a heart.

I’m not sure which I enjoyed more; the sight of Michael Phelps’ and his teammates’ primal screams of joy, or the look of total disbelief on the French team’s faces. France hasn’t been this shocked since the supposedly impenetrable Maginot Line collapsed faster than Dennis Rodman’s nine day marriage to Carmen Electra.

The only people happier than the American swimmers had to be NBC’s advertising executives who still have Phelps’ “Spitz-ian” quest for eight Gold Medals as a ratings draw. They must have been smiling like President Bush in those photos with the beach volleyballers.

Yet what makes the Olympics truly special is that fantastic finishes like that improbable comeback against the favored French occur every single day, countless times a day. It’s just that we often fail to notice because they often involve competitors from other nations.

Barely an hour before the U.S.A.’s relay gold, the shoe was on the other foot when American Katie Hoff tired in the final meters of the Women’s 400 Freestyle and was overtaken for the gold by Britain’s Rebecca Adlington. I imagine the homefolk back in England celebrated the country’s first women’s swimming medal since 1984 in the same manner I celebrated Phelps and company’s victory: by jumping around their living rooms like idiots.

Moments like that are why I find myself waking up in the wee hours of the morning and then staying up to watch events ranging from Fencing and Field Hockey to Diving and Dressage. You never know exactly when that next great moment will take place. You just know it will. It’s the thrill of victory and the agony of defeat, played out over and over again, sleep be damned.

Besides, the older and crankier you get, the less sleep you require.