Halfway Home - Team USA Stock Up/Stock Down

Where has the time gone? Unbelievably, one week of the 2012 Summer Olympics is already in the books, and what a week it's been. We've had highs and lows, triumphs and tragedies, winners and losers, and I'm just talking about the jokes I've tried to make in this blog... < Case and point. Anyway, as we move into the second week of the Games of the XXX Olympiad (yes I'm including this this Sunday in the first week, don't kill me), it's necessary to look back at the week that was. It's time for a new and unique sports writing ploy! Yep, you guessed it, its time for a little stock up/stock down.

Stock Up:

• Missy Franklin: I have not talked about Ms. Franklin at length in these virtual pages because I honestly wasn't sure the 17 year old deserved the massive hype she was receiving. I talked about Phelps and Lochte, made definitive one liners about Dana Vollmer and led one of these posts talking about how awesome Allison Schmitt. I even had a paragraph dedicated to Yi Jianlian. The Chairman!  The truth is, Franklin deserves all the praise her 6'1 frame can absorb because she is a phenomenal swimmer. Four golds as a 17 year old Olympics rookie is a remarkable achievement and nobody would have blamed her if she wanted reaped the immense financial rewards. However much to the chagrin of Kelloggs, "The Missile" wants to go to college. I'm not going to get on my high horse and mark this as some win for amateurism because its not, and I don't really care. With that said, it's cool that Missy Franklin wants to compete in college. Join the party, Missy, we'd love to have you.
• The Future of American Swimming: Franklin's obviously in this group, but the rest post-Phelps era clan looked really exciting over the last week. Katie Ledecky, all of 15 years old, looks to be the long awaited heir to Janet Evans' American distance swimming throne. 19 year old Elizabeth Beisel gator chomped her way to two medals in her second Olympics. Check the day five post (in blog, blog plug!) for all the superlatives I threw Schmitt's way and then contemplate that she's just 21. Nathan Adrian looks to be America's new sprint star and Tyler Clary backed up his big talk to win a surprise Gold. Olympians Lia Neal, Caitlin Leverenz, Conor Dwyer, Alyssa Anderson, Lauren Perdue, Shannon Vreeland, Ariana Kukors and Rachel Bootsma are all under 23. If even half of them improve, combined with the new blood constantly being produced by the US of A, our high places in the pool will be secured for the foreseeable future.
• USA Gymnastics: While I'm still reeling from McKayla "Swag" Maroney's loss in the vault final today, I will pull myself together long enough to note what a great Olympics this has been so far for @USAGym.  I don't really need to say anything about the Women's team (you know what I think about that group), although it will interesting to follow how many of these five stick around for Rio. I think all of them will in some capacity, and that's something I hope to get into in more detail at some point. The "Fab Five" won't have any shortage of challengers, with Sarah Finnegan, Lexie Preissman, Simone Biles and Katelyn Ohashi being some names you should to know going into the next quadrennial.  The men are in good shape as well. John Orozco and Danell Leyva are not going anywhere, and they're numerous talented guys behind them. All and all, USA Gymnastics is on the up and up. Get excited, Bela is.
• Carmelo Anthony: MELOOOO (shout out to TBJ) has to be loving life right now. His reputation suffered this last NBA season after he was deemed a coach killer (partially deserved), selfish on the court (deserved) and the destroyer of Linsanity (unforgivable). He's the second worst defensive player on this team behind Kevin Love and he really doesn't fit in to the whole, "be unselfish" thing that USA Basketball is trying to champion. None of that matters though, because all Carmelo has to do on this team is score, and he's fantastic at that. He lets better defenders defend, better passers initiate the offense and more suited leaders, lead. 37 points in 14 minutes? No big deal, because that's all this team requires of the former Towson Catholic (Baltimore!) star. When he goes back to being an offensive black hole on the Knicks, you'll forget about this, which sucks, because this version of Melo is fun.
• USA Judo: When you win the first gold medal in your program's history, you're getting a big "stock up" from me. Kayla Harrison's story was incredible and her bouts were very fun to watch. I don't how much judo is ever going to permeate the American sports landscape, but if there was ever a time, this would be it. The rise of MMA has put niche martial arts in a spotlight they didn't enjoy before. I can tell you that I wouldn't have watched nearly as much Judo this Olympics had I not been a huge MMA fan. That's a fact. With Strikeforce Women's Champion Ronda Rousey being a former Olympic judoka, along with being marketable as hell, Judo could see at least a little jump in popularity. For a sport that probably hasn't received this much attention in it's history in the US than it's gotten in the last week, that's pretty cool.

Stock Down:

• USA Boxing: Look up the phrase, "jumping the gun" and you'll find the statement I made about USA boxing last Monday. I mislead you all and I'm sorry. What can I say? I love boxing and just wanted it to get some positive press in a time when it's only relevance occurs when one of two guys fight (because they won't fight each other), or the release of a good boxing movie. At this point, you know that the USA has one boxer left on the men's side going into the second week of competition, the worst result in forever. That's just pathetic, not to mention the entire tournament has been marred by bad scoring, boring fights and just general confusion. My last effort on behalf of USA Boxing is to  shamelessly promote female fighters Marlen Esparza and Clarissa Shields. Esparza has a great smile, with the skills to match and Shields punches with bad intentions, with a story that is made for NBC fluff pieces. Ladies, please represent your sport well, because it needs you now more than ever.
• USA Field Hockey: Look, I didn't want to put them here. I understand that this is a program on the rise and that the win over Argentina was one of the biggest wins in USA Field Hockey history. I really wouldn't have put them here either, until they got popped 7-0 against South Africa today. That's a scoreline that screamed, "we gave up". When your goal is to advance to crossovers and perhaps even medal, winning one game and losing some tough close ones is fine with me. Let's be honest though, many times they just didn't look up to the challenge, and losing 7-0 in a game where your playing for pride is just disappointing. Sorry USA Field Hockey, I like you, I really enjoy your sport, but your stock is down.
• Hope Solo: Great goal keeper. Fun personality. I love when athletes speak their mind. Would root for Hope to the ends of the earth. However, this act is getting old.
• NBC: As the only broadcaster that allows us televised access to the Olympics, they are an honorary member of Team USA. I'll go into all my complaints about NBC's coverage later. If I did it here, this would become way to long. Let's just say their stock is down. 

There are many other USA Team/Programs that will get their due in my final review of the games. Many of their stories are just not complete enough to determine whether they have succeeded or failed at these game. Don't worry USA Equestrian, I will get to you! 

Follow me on Twitter @TaylorSmyth10 unless you are still trying to watch Primetime without spoilers. Don't worry, Samuel L Jackson is trying to do the same thing, with varying success. Give that guy a follow, he's hilarious. Might have to write something about him. Hmmmm. Until next time, happy Olympics!