It’s July Fourth! Happy Birthday America….

On such a day as this, I hope you all enjoy some BBQ, warm sunshine, and a more than satisfactory time with friends and family. Oh yea, and these things too:

So, be safe, but have a good time.

Since it’s the fourth, it seems to be appropriate to give a rundown of some of the happenings around the world of Olympic qualifying. So, without further ado, here’s a list of the most recent and important occurrences on the road to Beijing:

• Michael Phelps is steamrolling his way through the swimming qualifying. At Athens in 2004, he won eight medals (six gold and two silver), and is attempting to win as many as 10 gold medals this time around. If he only wins four gold medals in Beijing (which seems almost a lock), he’ll break the record for most gold medals by any single Olympian. The current record is nine, held by Mark Spitz, Paavo Nurmi, and Larissa Latynina.
• Tyson Gay ran 9.77 seconds for a U.S. record in the 100 quarterfinals and followed up with a wind-aided 9.68, fastest ever under any conditions, in the final.
• Also at the Track and Field Qualifying meet in Eugene, Oregon, the men’s 800m final was an incredible spectacle. You can see it in its entirety here: http://youtube.com/watch?v=hcVN5PjmaDs.
• The men’s and women’s gymnastics teams are taking shape. You can see the entire men’s roster here: http://gymnastics.teamusa.org/news/article/2177. The women’s team has two members thus far; the insane Shawn Johnson and Nastia Liukin finished first and second respectively in the Olympic Team Trials last week. The rest of the team will be named after a few weeks with Martha Karolyi in Texas.
• The US men’s basketball team is ridiculous. I can’t help but feel like they’re going to be beating teams by close to 30 or 40 points.