Sunday Morning Links by The Who

The Closing Ceremony of the 2012 Olympic Games in London takes place this evening, and will feature a load of famous British musicians, including The Spice Girls, Fatboy Slim, Muse, and Ray Davies of the Kinks. Headlining the act is Pete Townshend and Roger Daltry of The Who — one of my most favorite bands of all-time. The artistic director of ceremony refers to the event as a “mashed-up symphony” of Britpop, which sounds pretty awful, to be honest. They say that if the Opening Ceremony was the wedding, think of the Closing Ceremony as the reception. I’m still getting bad images… Looking back, London, we hardly knew ye. Those two weeks of coverage of sports I hardly knew existed was awesome. But your time as the host of the Olympic Games has ended. We witnessed Michael Phelps dive into the pool for the final time, on the way to becoming the greatest Olympian ever. Missy Franklin swam her way into America’s hearts and became the next instant-icon to worship. Gabby Douglas took over for Shawn Johnson, continuing her country’s exceptional gymnastics tradition. And the USA as a whole continued its dominance over the world in total medal count. After tonight, the Olympic flame will be extinguished, and the rings packed up and shipped to Rio de Janeiro, Brazil where the 2016 games will be hosted. Thanks for the memories, London! ********** -- Joker Phillips was pleased with the team’s first real scrimmage of fall camp, and likes the competitiveness and intensity the team showed. If one thing became clear, it is that Maxwell Smith has separated himself from Morgan Newton for first on the depth chart at quarterback. -- For better or worse, Kentucky is relying heavily on youth this season. On offense, it’s Demarco Robinson, Daryl Collins, Darrian Miller, Maxwell Smith, Dyshawn Mobley, Zach West and John Clemons. On the other side, it’s Bud Dupree, Ashley Lowery, Miles Simpson, Kadeem Thomas, Khalid Henderson, and Malcom McDuffen. And let’s not forget true freshman Landon Foster who is likely to take over the punting duties. -- If you’re feeling impatient with Joker Phillips, just remember his predecessors. Both Guy Morriss and Rich Brooks found themselves on a hot seat before turning the program in a positive direction the following season. If history repeats itself… -- Olympic women’s sports saw sweet victory in basketball Saturday, with a fifth-straight gold in a rout of France. -- But frustrating defeat in volleyball, falling to silver for the second straight year. The U.S. lost to Brazil both in Beijing in 2008 and London 2012 by a score of 3-1. -- For LeBron James, Kevin Durant, Kobe Bryant and company, they meet Spain today, winner takes gold. The USA is averaging 116.7 points - just slightly off the Dream Team's record of 117.3 per game.