ha! Sporting life HAS gone on after the Olympics.

Why, evidence of that was all over the sports section of the Santa Maria Times this week. The U.S. Open has swung into gear, the San Diego Chargers went for the win - and got it - Monday night, the Los Angeles Angels keep rolling along, with the best record in baseball as of Wednesday, and the Los Angeles Dodgers, even with Manny Ramirez, keep losing.

They kept losing as of Wednesday anyway. They'd lost a season high six straight then. Even so, they're still in the mix for a playoff spot.

They are still in the mix because they play in the National League Less, er, West. If they were in most any other division they would have been out of the mix a long time ago. If they played in the NL Central, they'd be in fifth place, 17 games back as of Wednesday and pondering yet again how to get better - a lot better.

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Re Ramirez: I had lunch last week with a friend who's a die-hard Dodgers fan. At one point my friend said, “I hope Manny's a short-term rental.”

I wonder how many other Dodgers fans out there are thinking the same thing.

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Ramirez fits the Dodgers' needs for now, but who knows how long it will be before he declares he's unhappy, makes an outlandish salary demand and then says, “They don't deserve me.”

Stay tuned.

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“Thanks, TJ.”?

“Thanks, Dan”?

A while back, Los Angeles Times columnist TJ Simers wrote a column stating that Boston columnist Dan Shaughnessy had nailed it when Shaughnessy wrote that an Angels sweep of the Boston Red Sox had left Red Sox Nation unconcerned.

Why? Because, Shaughnessy wrote, the Angels didn't have enough offense to take the Red Sox in a short playoff series.

Since then the Angels have scored a wealth of runs in a wealth of games. They did it again in a 5-1 victory over the floundering Oakland A's.

Coincidence? Well, yes. Still, Angels Nation can take heart. The Halos' offense has taken off.

Speaking of the Angels, to me they're still members of Anaheim's team. I don't care what the franchise moniker says.

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Ah, the Olympics. For some, they pass unmourned. Not for me.

Fastest moving two weeks in sports - even with all those commercials. I couldn't even bring myself to watch the closing ceremonies. I thought the ceremonies would have depressed me too much, hitting home that these Olympics were, really, closed.

Congratulations again to Central Coast gold medalists Stephanie Brown-Trafton (women's discus) and Todd Rogers (beach volleyball). I heard that Galt, Brown-Trafton's hometown now - she starred at Arroyo Grande High School and then Cal Poly San Luis Obispo - threw a celebration in her honor and that Rogers will be the Grand Marshal of the Christmas parade in Solvang in December. Solvang is having an event in his honor today. They're both more than deserving of those honors.

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They weren't the only ones who were redeemed: Yes, the U.S. men's basketball players “redeeemed” themselves with gold at these games, but there was redemption for Sanya Richards also. The gold medal favorite in the women's 400 meters settled for bronze. Then she anchored the 4x400 relay squad to gold with a rousing come-from-behind anchor leg.

Humble pie: The 10,000 meters race is 25 laps around the track. A commentator noted during the men's 10,000 at the Olympics that if runners can't cover lap 25 in around 53 seconds, “They move up to the marathon.”

I was a distance runner in high school and college. My fastest open 440 (this was in the old days when they ran races in yards in the U.S.) was 53 seconds-plus.

That was for lap one, not lap 25. The winner's last lap in the men's 10,000 was 53-plus.

August 28, 2008