Nick Maggio and Joe Surgan were among the tens of millions of  Americans watching on NBC as a series of mis-steps cost U.S. women gymnasts a chance for a team gold medal at the Beijing Olympics.

The most star-crossed of the Americans was 20-year-old Alicia Sacramone, a sophomore from Brown, who slipped off the balance beam, then stumbled during a tumbling run in her floor routine. Fox News did offer solace, sensitively putting matters in perspective in a web headline: “Gymnast Alicia Sacramone Internet ‘Hottie’ Despite Screwups.”

For the pair of Duke placekickers, Sacramone’s very visible struggle hit a responsive chord. “Absolutely,” said Maggio, a sophomore named yesterday as Duke’s primary field goal and extra point kicker. “Definitely. You’ve been there.”

Surgan, a senior currently relegated to kickoffs and long field goals, said: “That’s athletics – you’re

The summer recruiting period in men’s basketball, which grows ever shorter, ended this year on July 30. On August 1 North Carolina head coach Roy Williams and wife Wanda left for London. Then, with daughter Kimberly, son Scott, and his wife, Katie, in tow, they flew on to Johannesburg, South Africa, to go on safari.

Original plans called for a foray into Zimbabwe, and a visit to Victoria Falls on Zimbabwe’s northern border with Zambia. But that aspect of the journey was eliminated. As the U.S. State Department warns on its web site, “Because the political situation in Zimbabwe remains fluid and subject to change at a moment’s notice, American citizens should carefully evaluate the need to travel to Zimbabwe at this time.”

So the Williams clan stuck to South Africa for a big game hunt of an unfamiliar variety. “It’s probably going to be a poor man’s evaluation of a safari, but I think we’re going to have some

The Olympics feature so many flavors, shapes and textures it’s hard to pick a single aspect to savor. But if you’re into sweets, few confections match the occasional series of commercials shown early in the Games in which American athletes engaged the camera lens and, seemingly without script, warmly thanked mom for all her support through the years.

The bond between parents and children is integral to American fans’ experience of the Olympics, certainly as packaged by NBC. Thus the network’s gaze repeatedly focused on Debbie Phelps, the mother of superlative swimmer Michael Phelps, as he racks up gold medals and world records. Her son is getting so much air time, and so thoroughly justifying the exposure, his long face and lanky frame will be instantaneously recognizable for years to come.

With fame comes fortune -- the money started flowing for Michael Phelps with a little-mentioned, $1 million medal-count bonus from Speedo, manufacturer of the LRZ

Knees may be about to emerge from hiding.

The Speedo LZR Racer will garner most of the attention to apparel at the Beijing Olympics, and rightly so. By mid-June those wearing the swimsuits in pre-Olympic competition had established 38 world records. Star U.S. swimmer Michael Phelps, one of the record-setters, said the first time he wore the new Racer and pushed off on a turn he “literally felt like a rocket coming off the wall.”

The Speedo suits, which will reportedly retail for $550, are a prime example of applied technology, a remarkable fusion of function and fashion to set records and make money. That same thinking is creeping ever-deeper into more familiar sports. The Olympics offer a prime opportunity to unveil such attempts, including the latest “Swift System of Dress” basketball uniforms designed by Nike for the U.S. Olympic men's squad.

Which is where the knees come in, or rather come out, as we’ll discuss in a

The blue and white looked out of place on Mark Phelps, a man given to red and white for the past dozen years, mostly at N.C. State. Equally incongruous was the name emblazoned in flowing script across his shirt front, a word that began with “D” and ended with “e” and conjured images of Blue Devils.

But closer examination revealed the name was not Duke but rather Drake, signifying freshened opportunity for a genial, long-time laborer in basketball’s trenches. “If you were alive, you knew about Drake basketball this year,” Phelps said when he was hired as the private school's head coach in late April.

First-time head coaches rarely get another chance if they stumble, and Phelps confronts instant jeopardy. Expectations remain high at the Iowa university, coming off one of its most successful seasons ever. Changes in sideline leadership in such circumstances tend to produce painful periods of adjustment, as Duke women’s coach