Olympic Thoughts of the Banker

• I love the Olympics. Not only do I like to root for my home nation, but I legitimately enjoy watching all of the different sports that I rarely get a chance to see.

• The Olympics always remind me that the average person in any nation around the world is pretty similar at their core. Athletes from Russia, Iran, China, and a score of other countries have no problem hanging out with our American athletes. It reminds me that Americans don't have problems with Iranians, we have problems with the leaders and extremists of Iran. I assume that Iranians feel the same way.

• I love the sense of patriotism that the Olympics bring out. It is a good sense of nationalism because it is devoid of the typical negativity that accompanies nationalism. Everyone is proud of their country, their home, without disliking someone else's home. It is also great because the Olympics gives us a good reason to rally around the flag. People, I believe, are always proud of their country (unless they're Michelle Obama) but are not always outwardly expressing that pride. Normally we are only motivated to outwardly express our patriotism after a tragedy or during a war. The Olympics give us a positive reason to be loud and proud flag waivers.

• I wish they would institute an age limit for girls gymnastics. I have a problem watching 16 year old girls put on a stage like that. I watch them do these amazing things, and think they are amazing athletes, but I get the feeling that they missed out on being kids. I don't like hearing Natasha Liukin's dad say her whole life has been in preparation for Olympic gold. Her whole life should have been in preparation for the rest of her life. Supporting your kid's interests is great and I'm definitely going to have my kids in sports because it does teach you life skills, but pushing your kid, or letting your kid, into revolving their lives around a sport is wrong. I want to see those girls compete when they are in their 20s so they have had to make the personal choice to continue to chase their dream as adults. Not kids having mom and dad shuttle them to the gym every morning at the age of 5. And those are just the American parents. I don't want to imagine what it is like to be "chosen" as an Olympic gymnast in China or the old eastern bloc.

• I'm glad Kobe Bryant put Cris Collinsworth in his place for questioning whether or not it is "cool" to be proud of America. I liked Cris Collinsworth as an analyst before that question. Now, I am glad that we spell our first names differently.

• It is amazing how amazing you can make the Olympics when you don't have worker's rights and labor is cheaper than clean air. It will be interesting to see the differences between this Olympics and London's.

• Michael Phelps is amazing and the fact that he plans on swimming in the next games makes me respect him even more.

• The Redeem Team did more to boost the image of the NBA than anything David Stern can sell. I actually like Kobe Bryant, Dwayne Wade, and Carmelo Anthony a little more now. Watching those guys play like they did for nothing more than pride really humanizes them. The NBA turns these guys into a one man business, the Olympics make them American men.

• I have a problem with athletes living and training in America and then playing for other nations in the Olympics. They come here and use our freedoms and resources, then decide to compete for their nation of birth. I feel they need to show respect to the country that enables them to be the world class athletes they are by wearing our colors when they compete.

• Watching the opening ceremonies highlighted why America is such a successful and wonderful place. Diversity. The athletes from China all looked similar, the athletes from Russia all looked similar, etc. But our athletes are diverse. We are diverse and it makes us great.