Web sites we like

By TOM ZUCCO

http://www.olympics.com

http://www.specialolympics.org

http://www.sportslegends.about.com/sports/sportslegends/msub21.htm

Ah, the Olympics. The 2000 Summer Games are less than three months away -- as NBC so kindly reminds us every day -- and unlike the 1996 Games in Atlanta, these Games will be half a world away in Sydney, Australia.

Leave it to the Internet to wrap its tentacles around the event; more than 30 sites are devoted to the Sydney Games. Many of those sites either have little to do with the Olympics, or they're trying to sell something. Or both. But there are several stops you can make, including these four, that are informative and useful, even fun.

Olympics.com is the official site of the Games. Here you can follow the Olympic flame, order tickets and find out about the Paralympics. The site is complete -- from the time of day in Sydney (it's 15 hours ahead of us) to the best athletes from some of the smaller countries competing. The site has some flaws. For instance, you may not be able to access the page that shows the Olympic Stadium being built. (Let's hope it's finished by now.) But if you had to score this site, give it a 10.

Specialolympics.org is a far smaller site than Olympics.com, but it's worth a visit just to remind you what sports is all about -- and that winning isn't always everything. Founded in 1968 by Eunice Kennedy Shriver, the Special Olympics is a non-profit program that gives tens of thousands of mentally handicapped people a chance to compete in both Olympic sports and other events. The site lists when and where local and national competitions will be, and shows visitors how they can become volunteers.

Sportslegends.about.com uses history to put today's Games into perspective. Bob Beamon's world record pole vault, Jesse Owens' dash to victory in front of Adolf Hitler at the 1936 Games, the very first Olympic Games in ancient Greece: You'll get these stories and more, including articles from the Washington Post and New York Times. This site is a good companion to Olympics.com.

Letsfindout.com provides the fun. This is a list and brief descriptions of some of the discontinued Olympic events. These are actual Olympic sports that apparently someone thought just didn't meet Olympic standards. How bizarre are we talking here? How about Olympic live pigeon shooting (1900)? Or a 100-meter freestyle swimming event that was open only to members of the Greek navy (1896)? And then there were the events that never should have been canceled -- the dueling pistols (1906), the plunge for distance (1904), underwater swimming (1900) and the tug-of-war (1900-20). These events make the X Games look like a bridge tournament.

-- If you'd like to nominate a site, drop me an e-mail at zucco@sptimes.com

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