Olympic drama runs rings around anything else on the tube

Watching Phelps and the Americans pummel world records isn't worth watching?

Phelps wins a gold, clears his gills, dusts off a fin or two, and then 50-something minutes later he's back in the pool earning another medal. What Phelps is doing is dramatic, eye-popping and head-scratching. Most of all you can't take your eyes off of it.

I'm as cynical as they come. I think half of all athletes use exotic performance enhancers we won't know about for years to come. There are probably Olympians who have grounded up elephant penis and mixed it with Jack Daniels and Nandrolone. Still, watching Phelps win his record number of gold medals likely melted away the crust from the hardest of hard-asses.

Even the controversies are entertaining. The Chinese pulled a Milli Vanilli and paired one little girl's voice with another's face as the lip-synching impostor sung Ode to the Motherland during the gorgeous opening ceremonies.

The Olympics have turned into Michael Phelps TV the way ESPN turned into The Brett Favre Channel. The difference is most people can't get enough of Phelps.

And I can't get enough of these Olympics.