This one's for Jon

... but all of you guys should watch this video too. it's highlights of the 2nd half of the 2008 Olympic gold medal game between USA and Spain. I remember watching this live, I hadn't jumped and cheered like this since I was in middle school. The game had so much tension. This was the "redeem" team because in 2004 the US failed to win gold for the first time. And Spain was out there to prove that they weren't going to be bossed around by a big nation (and hearing how racist Spaniards are, the fans probably had a racial motivation for wining).

Spain definately had better screens and passing, but the US had KOBE. I swear, even if you hate Kobe, you will have to admit the US had a good chance of losing without Kobe in the 4th. The plays in this game are so amazing that I had to do a rewind on almost half of them. You really don't know how Gasol got alley-oops watching live. A replay shows that there was two screens to set it up! So beautiful!

This game did much to increase basketball's popularity around the world. The two teams were from the Americas and Europe, and the game was in Asia (and alot of the players were African - oh hoh hoh yess!) I hope this inspired some kids to pick up a basketball over a soccerball.