THE MAGAZINE EDITOR'S BLOG: CARL EDWARDS IS A GOOD SPORT/THE OLYMPICS ARE FINALLY HERE

I spend most of my life trying not to look foolish. And this admission is not a self-deprecating-aren't-I-admirably-humble line, either. It's the truth, evidenced most recently by my reaction to an impromptu drop-in at The Mag's HQ by NASCAR star Carl Edwards (who, not for nothing, is having quite a Sprint Cup season). I've always liked Edwards, a senior member of ESPN The Magazine's Coalition of The Willing, because he's a great athlete who has a fantastic sense of humor. You can see what I mean in the accompanying video. Just before this video picks up, I asked Edwards if there were any photos of his girlfriend online (I was thinking Flickr, not something sleazy like TMZ, but still…). If he didn't have a sense of humor there's a good chance he would have decked me right there in my office. Thanks, Carl!

Meanwhile, I have to admit that I have a serious case of Olympics fever, not just because Michael Phelps is swimming the talk, but also because the longer you do this job the more impressed you are with athletes of all stripes and sizes, but especially the ones who labor in relative obscurity. The Olympics are FILLED with them. I've also been impressed with a lot of the technological tricks on the TV. For example, I love the little lane-filling thingy that tells you which swimmer is in the lead during races. But I have to say that I'd enjoy watching gymnastics a whole bunch more if they came up with something similar for that sport. If you ask me, aside from excellent slo-mo replays the quality of gymnastics broadcasts hasn't really advanced since, well, I don't know know when. And I'm saying if they figured out the floor-exercise (or uneven-bar or vault or rings) equivalent of the NFL first-down line (or even that lane-filling thingy) they'd get a lot more guys to watch. Not that anyone asked me.

Now on to my list of THE 27 BEST SPORTS IN THE WORLD RIGHT NOW, ACCORDING TO ME. It's a zippy ranking, though much less important than another list I keep: RETAILERS IN WHICH THE MAJORITY OF CUSTOMERS ARE EITHER BETTER LOOKING OR IN BETTER SHAPE THAN THE AVERAGE AMERICAN (Top 3: Apple, Whole Foods, Performance Bicycle). Anyway, here's this week's update, for Gilligan:

THE 27 BEST SPORTS IN THE WORLD RIGHT NOW, ACCORDING TO ME:

1. Swimming (Olympics)¹
2. NFL²
3. MLB (National League)
4. College Football
5. Basketball (Olympics; men's and women's)
6. Fencing (Olympics; sabre and foil; women's)³
7. Trampoline (Olympics)⁴
8. Rowing (Olympics, men and women's)⁵
9. MLB (American League)⁶
10. NASCAR (Sprint Cup)
11. Table tennis (Olympics)
12. Diving (Olympics; synchronized)
13. Hammer Throw
14. Modern pentathlon (Olympics)
15. Kayaking (Olympics; slalom)
16. Surfing
17. Mixed Martial Arts
18. Tennis (men's)
19. Fullbore target shooting⁷
20. NHL
21. Wheelchair archery
22. Judo (Olympics)
23. BMX (Olympics)
24. Goat racing (Tobago)⁸
25. Golf (PGA)⁹
26. Yoga
27. WNBA

1. Phelps is not only a miraculous athlete, he's an intense competitor. I loved watching his reaction on the last leg of the 4x100 relay. He looked like a kid. A very competitive kid.

2. Training camp is one of the still-not-quite-as-popular-as-it-should-be events in sports, although it's getting there. In DC, the Redskins camp can outdraw the Nats.

3. Not sure why, but women with swords is kinda cool. Plus, Richard Cohen, who has written for us, was recently in the office and he gave me an epee (I think) that he used in the 1984 Games. It's in my "sporting implements" collection.

4. It's trampoline! And it's a sport! In the Olympics! That's just hilarious. And cool. (Hi, Brittany! We miss you.*)

5. In the end, the debate about which athletes are the best in the world comes down to swimmers and rowers. And it's probably rowers. I can explain, but you should just trust me.

6. I cannot believe they're still using the DH. I thought my campaign to abolish it would have fixed things by now.

7. Because guns don't kill people—people who don't use guns solely for sport kill people.

8. Just what it sounds like, folks. And don't mock until you've seen it. (In other words: Hate the game, not the goat.)

9. Even with Padraig Harrington turning into Mr. Clutch, and even when a major is being contested, the sport just isn't the same without you know who.

* I write of Brittany Dircks, my new favorite athlete. We wrote about her in our Ryan Sheckler issue. In 2007 she earned the U.S. wildcard spot in trampoline. But she didn't make the team in 2008 qualifying. Which, to me, is just wrong. If you agree, feel free to join Justice for Brittany! I'm not sure how you join, but feel free.

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