Pop culture, summer 2008 in a nutshell: the Olympics. Whether or not you want to admit it, whether or not you have completely avoided it, that's what it happens to be. The all-consuming nature that most Olympics have was magnified this year with the kind of drama that takes Hollywood two awards shows and three stints in rehab to muster up. From underage gymnasts to devastating losses to an otherwise awkward 20-something ascending to God-like status, the 2008 Olympics was the Breakfast Club of sports. Michael Phelps, now bestowed with the title of "greatest Olympian of all time" (though better known to me with the disclaimer "for best results, add water" not to mention goggles and no opportunity to smile) was the golden child of the event, racking up eight gold medals in a slew of competitive water activities. But even his victories weren't without drama. One of his wins was contested, and with good reason, considering he won by one hundredth of a second. Also, Mark Spitz, the golden child that Phelps succeeded, unleashed a hissy fit of Olympic proportion to everyone who cared to listen about leaving out the Mr. Popularity of the festivities. Don't they know who he is?! Well for those of you who don't know, he used to be Michael Phelps, Olympically-speaking.Aside from Phelps, there was gymnastics. From the female angle, there seemed to be filling in only the U.S. and China-a comforting notion for the other participating countries whose only purpose seemed to be between Nastia Liukin and Bob Costas summarizing what Nastia Liukin just did. Don't get me wrong - I was right there shouting for Romania to get off the stage so that Nastia Liukin could get back on.

Reports of China's gymnasts being underage sounded throughout the summer, prompting sports journalists to pretty much abandon any attempt at being unbiased. On the men's side, despite having no previous Olympian on the team and foreseeing no medal in their future, the U.S. gymnastics team somehow managed to pull off a bronze, accosting every camera that came their way during their wave of euphoria to proclaim their plans to toast their victory the American way: by jumping into a river. I hope Hollywood was taking notes.