Word of the Day - and then some!

Again, with the Olympics theme, today's word of the day is: Monopoly

Definition of Monopoly: Having exclusive control over a commodity or service in a specific market, or a control that makes possible the manipulation of prices.

In the particular case I am going to site as an example, it isn't *quite* the first definition of a monopoly, but rather it includes another definition of the word "something that is exclusively possessed or controlled." Now that I have probably completely confused you, let me explain my Monday morning.

* * *
"Did you see that race?" Bruce asked me when I got in to work that morning.

Slightly confused and still having a case of the Mondays I responded, "Did I see what?"

"The relay race!" He exclaimed, "it was incredible!"

I paused for a moment and thought about the race that I did see the night before... I knew we won, but it wasn't anything dramtic. Certainly not exciting enough for anyone to be overly excited about.

I chucked it up to Bruce having a good weekend and as a result him not getting enough sleep the night before. Then I realized I actually had missed the second men's relay race the night before because I had gone to bed.

"Did you watch the race last night?" my friend Sara asked me that evening.

"No. What is it about this race?" I responded.

"You just have to see it! Here, I'll send you the link to the video on YouTube." And so she did.

The link was to the men's 4 X 100 relay race on Sunday night. This much hyped race came only hours after the favored French team declared, “The Americans? We’re going to smash them. That's what we came here for.” The American's response? "You know what? We’re going to let our swimming do the talking."

And they did just that.

What else is there to say about the race other than, YOU JUST HAVE TO SEE IT! Yes, it was that incredible.

I went to show someone later that night when the link was out of order on YouTube. Hmm, that's interesting.

It turns out that NBC has very strict guidelines with their footage of the Olympics. Starting that evening, NBC found every video of this "amazing race" online and had the user/website take it down... even Sportscenter wasn't allowed to show the race!

That's right ladies and gentlemen, only NBC is allowed to show their footage.

I call THAT a monopoly.

For those of you who missed out, please click here to be linked to NBC's footage of this "amazing race."

-k