I kind of feel as though I'm giving a speech and the audience is getting up and leaving. The Closing Ceremony is wrapping up and I still have more to say from Beijing.

So intend to keep blogging until they shut this thing down, or I get on the plane home.

It was a little disappointing, I'm sure, to Jazz fans to have Carlos Boozer hardly play for the U.S. basketball team in the Olympics, but those feelings should be balanced by two factors: First, Deron Williams played consistently well, making two key plays in the gold medal game after Spain had cut the lead to two points. Second, Boozer handled himself very professionally throughout this tournament, and he deserves a lot of credit for being so supportive of his teammates and accommodating to the media -- although it was a little funny to see him being interviewed on national TV after barely appearing in the game.

Actually, I believe that's why coach Mike Krzyzewski played him so little. It was almost a case of reverse favoritism, as Coach K wanted to make sure nobody accused him of being too kind to his ex-Duke player. And he also knew that Boozer was not going to complain about his coach's tactics.

What's more, Boozer ought to be fresh and ready for the Jazz season, don't you think?

-- Kurt Kragthorpe