Hey, We Have Olympians* Too

It's so nice to see college campuses write releases about the number of Olympians that each school has ties to. Most of these Olympic athletes are, of course, former student-athletes. It's very self-indulgent of them.

Of course, the West Coast universities have a plethora of current, former and future students who are heading to Beijing for the 29th Olympiad. There are also a number of coaches with ties to schools like California (disclaimer: I went to Cal), UCLA and Stanfurd all going to coach various Olympic teams.

Stanfurd (47), Cal (45), UCLA (37) and UofA (30) are sending a bunch of athletes and coaches to Beijing. These are schools that have a heavy focus on Olympic sports, with some of these schools that have an Athletic Director specifically for Olympic sports.

But of course, some smaller schools will be sending people to the Olympics, just not to compete in any athletic competition.

UC Davis has been touting the fact that a couple of its veterinarians will go to Beijing to look after some horses. OK, maybe they'll be there to look at all the horses. Actually, Jack Snyder and Sharon Spier have been going to the Olympics and representing the Aggies ever since 1988, just out of the reach of Dara Torres' range.

Not to be outdone, the band director at Washington will be one of the directors of the 2,000-piece Beijing Olympic Orchestra. Brad McDavid will also be bringing 62 of his UW Husky Band members to Beijing.

*So technically, they're Olympians too, because we wouldn't have an Olympics without horse vets and pregame entertainment. They just don't get the opportunity to get one of those fancy medals.