If the Sydney Olympics were not, as IOC boss Juan Antonio Samaranch declared at the Closing Ceremonies, "the best ever", they were at least the best ever not to be viewed live in the U.S. More than 10,000 athletes -- an Olympic record -- journeyed Down Under in September, but owing to a 15-hour time difference between Sydney and the east coast, NBC carried fewer than three hours of coverage live. What Americans missed (the network's 13.8 rating was the lowest of any Olympics since 1968) was a Games-high 97 U.S. medals, including 14 swimming golds to rival Australia's five, three golds and two bronzes won by world's fastest woman Marion Jones and, thankfully, an over-the-top, narcissistic celebration by the gold-medal-winning U.S. men's 4x100 relay team. They also missed doping scandals that led to the expulsion of the Bulgarian weightlifting team and all but four Romanian lifters, the stripping of 16-year-old gymnastics all-around champ Andreea Raducan of Romania's gold after she tested positive for a banned substance found in many over-the-counter cold medicines, and the revelation that U.S. shot putter C.J. Hunter (aka Mr. Marion Jones), out with an injury, had tested positive for nandrolone in July. But by the end of the Games, numerous highs -- native Aborigine and Olympic flame-lighter Cathy Freeman winning the 400 meters, Equatorial Guinea's Eric Moussambani dog-paddling to the finish in the 100 free, Aussie teen swimming sensation Ian Thorpe capturing four medals, Great Britain's Steven Redgrave taking home rowing gold from a fifth straight Olympics -- had overshadowed its few lows enough for peacock-blinded Americans to consider what could have been.

--Jamal Greene