I turned on the telly yesterday hoping to see some coverage of the war in Ossetia, but all I could find was some California dude mourning “the greatest upset in the history of men’s beach volleyball” after Latvia had defeated the US.  Think about that one for a second.  What are the beaches in Latvia like? What do the members of the Latvian beach volleyball team do when they are not bouncing balls on the beach?  Are they professional Latvian beach volleyballers who do nothing but play beach volleyball? 

Yes, beach volleyball is an Olympic sport, and there’s a women’s version too.  One of those sports introduced no doubt to broaden the appeal of the Olympics, like snow boarding in the Winter Games featuring celebrity athletes with names like Peekaboo.  In my youth in the Winter we used to slide around on the ice on garbage can lids while in the Summer we would body surf to see who could get smashed farthest up the beach by a giant wave.  Are they Olympic sports of the future?  Soon there will be a sport that everyone can excel in and no one will need the Olympics anymore.  Just apply by e-mail.

Meanwhile, the Russians are reporting that 3,000 civilians in Ossetia have been killed.