U-S-A! U-S-A! U-S-A!

• Not to get all Lee Greenwood on you, but Wednesday night brought out a lot of American pride. Yes, the Olympics are too corporate, the athletes are no longer amateurs, and NBC's tape delays can be frustrating, but when we see magic moments, it still brings the chills. At least it does for me. 6 medals for the USA in one day; that's our best showing ever. The United States leads the medal count with 14.
• Among the 6 medals Wednesday, 3 golds. Lindsey Vonn rested her shin and lived up to the hype with a daring downhill dash. Her tearful interview after the win would melt anyone. And yes, she's good looking.
• Shaun White, the Flying Tomato, defies gravity on his board. This sport blows my mind. I can't believe how high White was (insert snowboarding joke here). And how 'bout the dude on the ipod. Just rockin' out during competition at the Olympics.
• Critics keep calling for more live coverage. They may pump the brakes after overhearing profanity following White's win.
• Shani Davis is a loner. He goes his own way, but man can he skate fast. Davis becomes the first man to win back-to-back gold in the 1000 meters.
• Stephen Colbert caused Bob Costas a laugh-lock when Colbert climbed inside the NBC studio's fireplace to warm up during late night coverage. Apparently the fire isn't real. Who knew?
• The Olympics are dominating TV ratings, but did finally lose a two hour time slot. I'll bet you know it was to American Idol. That show just dominates. My wife won't watch until the 24 finalists start singing live. I think that's next week.
• Iowa football star Adrian Clayborn agrees to plead guilty to something next month regarding the allegation he assaulted an Iowa City cab driver. Coach Kirk Ferentz didnt suspend Clayborn last year, said he'd wait and see what happened. Almost that time.
• Great to see Bobby Elliott coming back to our state. The former Hawkeye will coach at Iowa State for a third time. It's a home run hire by Paul Rhoads.
• The Iowa Barnstormers will play four times on the NFL Network, three live from Wells Fargo Arena. One big problem for most of us: Mediacom still doesn't carry the NFL Network.
• Tiger Woods will finally come forward and hold a news conference (Friday 10 a.m.), but it will be carefully controlled and orchestrated. Will that be enough? Much depends on whether he looks sincere.
• Shawn Terrell worked his butt off at state wrestling Wednesday. He even lost 7 pounds and made weight in time for the late news.
• It's easy for some to poke fun at the small town people coming to the "big city", but it's actually kind of cool.
• Iowa State needed that win over Oklahoma State in the worst way. It's hard to believe the Cyclones are now a .500 team.
• What a scrappy effort out of the Cyclone women. Alison Lacey can't play after suffering a concussion in practice Tuesday, Iowa State still comes within ten points of the #3 team in the nation at Nebraska.