The Dream Team and the Other Dream Team

Dan Hanson told the story of the 1988 and 1992 Olympic Basketball games.

In 1988 in Seoul the USSR led by pro players (including Lithuanian NBA stars Arvydas Sabonis and Šarūnas Marčiulionis) defeated the US team of college players.

The rules changed and in 1992 the Dream Team of Michael Jordan, Larry Bird, Karl Malone, Magic Johnson and others defeated everyone to reclaim the gold.

By 1992 the USSR had fallen and Lithuania had its own team which captured the bronze in Barcelona.  They wore tie-dye uniforms in their flag color designed by the Grateful Dead.  They were the Other Dream Team.

Dan spoke at the ClevelandPeople.Com Passport Adventure to Lithuania at the Cleveland Lithuanian Club.  The Passport Adventurers visit traditional ethnic restaurants and showcases the food, culture, history of the country – in this case Lithuania.  


More on Lithuanians in Cleveland

London Calling - Summer Olympics

I love the Summer Olympics.  I have always felt that the track and field competitors -especially the decathletes - are the best  athletes in the world.  And there is usually no politics in track and field.  If you cross the finish line faster than everyone else, for example, you win.

Swimming is like that too.  We are fortunate to have an Olympic Gold Medal swimmer here in Cleveland.  Diana Munz won a Gold and Silver in Sydney and a Bronze Medal in Athens four years later.

Diana gave us the inside scoop on the swimming competition during the 2008 Beijing Olympics and now she is doing it again for London.  You can see her predictions and insights on the 2012 Olympic swimmers here where she talks about Missy Franklin, Dara Torres, Michael Phelps, Janet Evans and more.

 You can watch Diana do commentary on NBC as well.