At 6-feet-4, 198 pounds — gargantuan for a sprinter — Bolt runs with a kind of joyful lope. In the 100-meter final, he came out of he blocks a bit behind, and at the halfway point started to put everyone in his dust. The last part of his run was pure euphoria.

If you haven’t seen the highlight, you should. I couldn’t get it on YouTube — just still shots set to music, mostly — but it is available through NBC (although you must have the right browser). I got blocked from posting it here, but this is the link.

I still hold to that position – if a little girl wants to watch Equestrian on Oxygen and I don’t, so much the better – but I must admit that all this choice has altered my viewing habits, and not always for the better. 

I have a full HD cable package, which means that on top of all the regular Olympic channels, I get a Korean and Chinese (Mandarin) channel. I was like a third-grader with a new video game the first weekend, but lately I’ve been noticing a problem: I’ve developed a short attention span. I tune in a little boxing, a little cycling, a little beach volleyball, a little softball, a little badminton, a little of everything, and don’t stay very long at any of them. It just occurred to me that I haven’t watched an entire contest in any of those above-mentioned sports.

I must be missing out on some good competition, some nailbiters. I’ve taken in a lot of swimming  — about a world record every few minutes last night – probably, precisely, because the races take just minutes (and because Phelps is an animal). The only thing I’ve watched buzzer to buzzer is the U.S.A. Basketball trouncing of China on Sunday. I even stayed for the post-rout garbage time, probably just to see if could watch one event all the way through. 

Part of this scattershot pattern is due to games being shown. The last couple of nights have been heavy on gymnastics, and no matter how hard I try I can’t get into watching prepubescent girls twist and tumble, nor well-muscled little dudes for that matter.

(I’ve probably missed a few good wipeouts, which I love – although not as much as figureskating wipeouts – and that’s because I can’t keep my finger off the remote.) Hopefully, my attention span will lengthen when the track and field starts and basketball gets into the medal rounds. Until then, my TV’s probably going to resemble a popcorn popper. 

By the way, the coolest unusual (to Americans) sport I’ve seen during these Olympics: team handball. It has nothing to do with hitting a rubber orb against a wall. Look for it. Here’s a video primer.

Yes, there was the assortment of spectacular dunks and amazing no-look passes, but the U.S. players didn’t come off as showboaters. It’s just how they play – frenetic and fast-paced. The Redeem Team, as they’ve been dubbed (because of recent failures by U.S.A. Basketball in international competition), shows good character and consummate teamwork.

They’re entertaining because they play fastbreak basketball, keying their offense off smothering defense (steals leading to highlight dunks). (Anyone under the preposterous notion that NBA players don’t play D should watch these guys.) It’s really refreshing to witness hoops being played by magicians in a wide-open style. 

The Chinese, geeked up in front of their home crowd, started out hot; the score was actually tied 29-29. But the Chinese faded under the withering, swarming American style. One of key assets of the U.S. team, of course, is the quality of its individual players. LeBron James, Kobe Bryant, Jason Kidd, Chris Paul, Carmelo Anthony, Dwight Howard. 

But an even bigger asset looks to be their depth. Dwayne Wade, Chris Bosch, Deron Williams off the bench? Hell, Carlos Boozer and Tayshaun Prince are mop-up players. And this whole crew is interchangeable. Unlike the recent all-star squads that made up U.S.A Basketball, these guys play together, have practiced together for three years, and have bonded together (and they’ve jettisoned hoops dickheads like Allen Iverson and Stephon Marbury). 

That means the U.S. can come at teams in waves, the idea being that they’ll ultimately wear their opponents down. That’s what happened to the Chinese. 

I understand people being cynical about guys making 8, 12, 20 million a year who play in the Olympics, but remember that the U.S. guys are playing against other pros. And thus far they have represented their country admirably, and shown ample character as both individuals and as a team (they showed up en masse to support the U.S.A. women’s basketball team and have been running around Beijing seeing different events).

The United States squad will likely be challenged along the way, but I expect this team to earn the redemption it seeks.  I suggest giving them a look. You don’t have to be a basketball fan to be entertained.

Garcia’s always been an underdog type — too small, not a great arm — so in one sense, he’s been through this sort of thing before; in another sense, he’s probably fuckin’ tired of it.

The question being posed is: Will his hard feelings about the Bucs courting [you know who] affect his play? I say, not a chance.

He and Jon Gruden are probably no longer chummy — maybe they never were — but I have no doubt the two will continue to communicate just fine on a football level.

Most of all, though, Garcia is not a Manny Ramirez or Shaq, players have a rep for tanking when they’re not happy about something. No way Garcia will let lingering resentment affect his performance. He’s 38 (so is [you know who]) and there’s not much career left. Garcia is one uber-competitive cat, and once he gets on the field, he knows no other way than to give it his everything.

Now, how the [you know who] imbroglio will affect his future with the team is another question.

I have no idea the level of Garcia’s resentment — pundits suggest it’s high — but he’d do himself a favor if he stepped back and looked at the matter rationally. This was [you know who]! This was Jon Gruden! Of course the coach was going to be interested.

The Bucs didn’t sniff around some stiff; they explored the possiblity of bringing in one of the greatest quarterbacks in the history of the game who had a great season last year. [You know who] is better than Jeff Garcia, and Jeff Garcia probably knows that. Would [you know who] be better this year with the Bucs than Jeff Garcia? Good question. One that will never be answered.

He crushed two Rafael Betancourt pitches deep into the left field stands, just foul. Longoria’s body language oozed confidence at the plate. I’m thinking, “You should just walk him, pitcher.”

Betancourt didn’t, and the Rays third baseman jacked one far into the leftfield seats, a fair ball this time, homerun. That bomb broke the game open, and the Rays won 8-4, ending a five-game losing streak to the Indians.

As a rookie, Longoria appears to have already become the most popular Ray, not to mention the frontrunner for this year’s team MVP (as well as AL Rookie of the Year).

• Jonny Gomes got sent down to the minors yesterday, as he should’ve been. The right-handed power hitter was batting .182 with eight homeruns as a platoon player. He was shaky in the outfield as well.

Gomes said he hopes to get called back up to the majors, but welcomes the chance to play everyday for the Triple A Durham Bulls. Good attitude. He’s always been a team guy.

The Rays should call Gomes up if they sense another impending basebrawl. Did you see him early in the season when the fight broke out against the Red Sox? Gomes was bustin’ heads. No fear. Dude’s a bulldog.

• The Rays’ 2007 No. 1 draft pick (taken first overall), pitcher David Price, is playing Double-A ball in Montgomery, Ala. He has an improbable 10-0 record in 14 starts, with a 1.97 ERA.

They say you have to handle young pitchers with kid gloves, but Price was a superstar pitcher at Vanderbilt for three years and is almost 23. How do you not bring him up to the Big League team and give him a taste, see what he can do?

Aside from that, the whole situation is more than a bit murky. The Buccaneers and Jets have been named in news reports as teams Favre might get traded to. And perhaps by the time you read this blog, a trade will have already been completed.

But for now, it’s all just talk. In a press conference this afternoon, Packers coach Mike McCarthy had this to say on his talks with Favre over the past two days:

We agreed to disagree. … The train has left the station, whatever analogy you want.

Apparently, not a single reporter could get clarification on the issue, as the report cited above quoted McCarthy as saying that Favre was not in the “proper mindset” to lead the team. I can only assume that means Favre’s feelings were sufficiently hurt that the Packers did not immediately welcome him back as their starting quarterback once he announced his desire to return to football, and that his appearance at the Packers’ training facility on Monday was little more than a formality in order to expedite a trade. Or perhaps it means that the Packers were not willing to give him his job back without competing for it against Aaron Rodgers, something Favre might not have been willing to do.

Regardless of who is being more intractable, it seems that Packers fans are on Brett’s side and holding the Packers’ brass accountable, if the comments on the Green Bay Press-Gazette are any indication.

I peeked this morning and saw that that Sox lost again, and the Yanks won. Not too bad. Rays have a three-game lead in the AL East.

But like I said a few days ago: There are more than 50 games left to play (55 to be exact). I think it’s counterproductive for Rays players to start a daily vigil on how the Sox and Yanks are doing.

I know it’s impossible to ignore those scores — the news is everywhere — but the St. Petersburg team has to do its best to downplay the day-to-day importance.

For fans, on the other hand, it just adds to the excitement.

The Rays fared pretty well on their road trip, going 4-3 and taking two out of three (close games) from division foe Toronto (although, collectively, the offense has yet to kick into gear).

The Rays play their next six games at home, three each against the increasingly dangerous Detroit Tigers (6-4 in their last 10) and then the Indians.

I like that Kazmir opens the series on Friday, not so much that the increasingly shaky Andy Sonnanstine pitches against crusty veteran Kenny Rogers on Saturday. Then again, L.L. Cool J performs after that game, and the Rays haven’t lost on concert Saturday nights.

I’m wondering if my bud Sean Daley of the St. Pete Times has started watching the standings? I’m also wondering if he’s excited about watching L.L. shirtless.

The Rays just split four games with the Royals in K.C. — not a disaster, but not the tonic the St. Petersburg team needed. The major problems persist, chief among them the offense. While the Rays are no longer in a collective hitting slump — Evan Longoria and Carlos Pena could even be considered hot — they can’t seem to come together at the plate.

Carl Crawford and B.J. Upton continue to underachieve, and for too long the Rays have not been able to spark that rally, that big inning. They don’t knock in runs at key times. They strand baserunners like they have leprosy.

Toronto is an American League East division foe, and the Jays know that dropping three to the Rays will be a major setback, and could effectively end their season. And in the next two games, the Rays face Toronto’s two top starters: A.J. Burnett and Roy Halladay.

With Boston one game behind and New York three down, the Rays simply cannot afford to lose three straight to Toronto. But the way they’ve been playing, that looks very possible. The Rays’ coaching staff, players and announcers all say that these doldrums can’t continue, that the hitters are too good and are due to get hot, but we’ve seen no evidence of it yet.

A few reasons for fans to feel queasy:

• The Rays have never, ever been close to the position of holding on to first place this far into the season. Try as they might to play day-to-day, the notion of the playoffs, of being in an actual pennant race, has to be creeping into their minds.

And yet — there are 58 games left. Crawford, Upton and several other players have never played meaningful games in late July, and it’s only natural they should press. (This is all Longoria has known, so, despite being a rookie, he seems the most relaxed.)

• The Rays have played a lot of close games, and while that makes for good drama and viewing, it may contribute to the sense of mental fatigue that surrounds the team.

• Baseball pundits have been bandying about whether Tampa Bay needs to make a trade before the Thursday deadline. I’m not enough of an expert to have a firm opinion on this, but I definitely don’t think the team should mortgage the future for a short-term fix. Most of the talk has been about adding a right-handed bat to effectively take over Johnny Gomes’ role as well as a late-inning relief pitcher.

But I also see a budding problem with the starting pitching (more so than the bullpen). Shields and Kazmir seem to have found their groove (although not yet on the road), and I think Garza has about come of age. But Andy Sonnanstine just looks like the kind of pitcher that hitters tend to figure out; he was very little margin for error. And I’m not convinced that Edwin Jackson has his head on straight. Two shaky starters in a five-man rotation can be a perilous situation for a contender. I hope I’m wrong about those two guys. It’s nigh impossible to land a quality starting pitcher at this juncture.

U.S.A. Basketball stunk it up in the last Olympics. The chemistry looked shaky; they didn’t play as a team. Finished with the bronze. The ’08 edition looks and feels better; more care seems to have gone into finding players to fill roles rather than just amassing a gang of gunners.

The U.S. squad begins pre-Olympic games tonight vs. Canada (8 p.m., ESPN). It sure seems like the American players are motivated to re-establish hoops dominance on the international stage. Most of the players made long-term commitments to get to this point.

Here’s a quick breakdown:

• Kobe Bryant, LeBron James, Dwayne Wade, Carmelo Anthony — This quartet of superstars can shine in all facets of the game. All are gifted scorers, but Bryant is also an ace man-to-man defender and James is a great assist man. Wade, coming off an injury-plagued down year with the Miami Heat and with something to prove, brings the whole package when he’s right. Anthony could be a defensive liability, but peer pressure should make him step up; and he plays more unselfishly with his fellow kingpins.

• Jason Kidd, Chris Paul, Deron Williams — The point guard position is especially strong, with Kidd’s veteran leadership (and otherworldly court vision) and two of the best young players in the game on board. These guys look to distribute the ball first, but each can score (especially Paul and Williams), and all are good at leading the fast break, which should be the U.S. team’s stock-in-trade during the Olympics. Bonus: Each is a committed defender.

• Dwight Howard, Chris Bosch, Carlos Boozer — Howard is the top rebounder in the game (and should get his share of thunderous dunks). Bosch can play the center position from various points on the floor. Boozer, while undersized, it a highly skilled low-post player. The U.S. lacks that pure center with a great low post game (a la Shaq), but this team will probably play more wide open anyway. There’s been some question about whether this troika has enough size to compete against the world. I’m not concerned.

• Tayshaun Prince, Michael Redd — Classic role players. The long-armed reed-thin Prince can defend any position other than center, and he has a competent offensive game. Redd is a sharpshooter, (although he can be streaky). U.S.A Basketball’s recent problems can be blamed in part on the inability to shoot the 3-point shot. Redd is a good buffer against packed-tight zone defenses.

Duke Coach Mike Krzyzewski has the respect and confidence of these NBA stars. Overall, there seems like a strong commitment to regaining the gold and worldwide supremacy.

The United States will field far and away the best collection of players in the Olympics, but, as the say, basketball is a team game. My gut is that U.S.A Basketball is a real team. I can’t see them coming up short. We’ll find out, starting tonight.