What they're saying

By Compiled by Times staff writer

On NBC's Jim Gray

I nominate the following for the Couch Potato's Olympic Idiot Box Hall of Fame:

Jim Gray (Lifetime achievement award): Moments after the Australian swimmers had smashed the world record in the men's 800 free (relay), Gray tried to revive the already tired U.S.-Australia rivalry angle, even though the Americans were no threat in the race. Aussie Michael Klim handled Gray's questioning diplomatically but gave him a "You gotta be kidding, mate" look first.

Good on ya, Jimbo: Now the Australians can't stand you, and they don't even know who Pete Rose is.

Sean McAfee, Albuquerque (N.M.) Tribune

On NBC's coverage

In keeping with NBC's approach to covering the Olympics, we'd like to offer this juicy tidbit: Mark Spitz won his seventh gold!Paola Boivin, Arizona Republic

On weightlifting's drug woes

For a place that is ground zero of the sports doping universe, Darling Harbor isn't so rotten.

See? There's a fine view of Cockle Bay, a small patch of meadow called Tumbalong Park, several good restaurants. ... And, as a bonus feature, there's a whole lot of steroids going on. Not in the bay or the meadow. Across the street. At the weightlifting venue.

You can almost smell the anabolic odors emanating from the concession stands. I even walked up and checked it out.

"I'd like a Diet Coke," I told the vendor. "But do you also have any androstenedione? Diuretics? Human growth hormone?"

"No, mate," he said. "Just meat pies."

If only the Bulgarians had stuck with the meat pies.

Mark Purdy, San Jose Mercury News

On life in Sydney

I have seen flying foxes. I have sung Waltzing Matilda. I have sat in a gourmet restaurant in a trendy part of town and asked in a sincere voice while looking over the lunch menu, "Is the crocodile on your pizza fresh?"

And when told by an equally sincere waiter ... that it arrived "this very day," I then said, "I'll have a half-crocodile, half-kangaroo pizza."

It was good, too. It really was. (But) like most everything else in Sydney, any wonderful oddity you stumble across can be topped by your neighbor.

The Australian at the next table, for instance, was eating emu. "Ever had dingo?" he asked.

Dave Hyde, Fort Lauderdale Sun-Sentinel

On memories of Atlanta

Over the years, the perceived failures (of the Atlanta Games) have gained a permanence in the way the words "former White House intern" will forever precede the words "Monica Lewinisky" even if she goes on to medical school and discovers the cure for cancer.

It is now accepted truth that the Atlanta Games were a mismanaged disaster in an unpleasant city. This is what Europeans hear and read every day.

Bert Roughton Jr., Cox Newspapers

Olympics chat

Before the Olympics, I was reading articles about how indifferent the Australians were about the Games. Now I'm reading about how hyper they are. It caught the journalists by surprise, but maybe now they know that under that laid-back manner beats a heart that is just as passionate about its athletes as Americans are.

Chris Cole, Tampa, Australia native

Ask us

Q: "How painful is it for gymnasts to flop on their stomach during the floor competition, and why do they have to do it?"

Gerry Grass, Tarpon Springs

-- Keith Niebuh

On television

TV COVERAGE: Noon-6 p.m., 7 p.m.-midnight, 12:30-2 a.m., Ch. 8; 9 a.m.-4 p.m., MSNBC; 4-9 p.m., CNBC.

HIGHLIGHTS: Ch. 8 features the 100-meter finals, likely including Marion Jones and Maurice Greene, in prime time as well as Amy Van Dyken seeking to defend her 50-meter freestyle title. On MSNBC, the U.S. baseball team takes on rival Cuba. Both MSNBC and CNBC will feature men's soccer quarterfinals.