And now, how about a rousing verse of the cheer that can sum up 2010 in sports?
"Ole! Ole Ole! Ole!"
It's the Summer of Spain, from the World Cup to Wimbledon. Pau Gasol ... Rafael Nadal ... Alberto Contador ... the soccer guys. Nobody has been better, on two legs or two tires. Compared to Spain, the rest of the world has been one big bowl of paella. Even the bulls of Pamplona looked faster.
Matter of fact, with another title over the weekend going to the Spanish Armada — Contador in the Tour de France — it seemed the right moment to compare what has been happening here in the new world this summer to what has been going on with King Juan Carlos' juggernaut.
Them in futbol:
Spain put together enough 1-0 wins to win the Cy Young award, and captured its first World Cup in history, as the whole country partied from the Mediterranean to the Bay of Biscay. Who cares if the final over the Netherlands had all the esthetics of a back alley rumble?
"I cried like a little boy," Nadal told a Spanish soccer website, Marca.
Us in football:
Apparently, the college game is infested with so many agents, they are starting to resemble ants at a picnic. It's a mess. The coaches, who make millions, sometimes sound hypocritical on the issue. The NCAA is hampered by bureaucracy. Some of the athletes want to be paid like men, but excused from following rules like children.
The voices who moan that players ought to get a piece of the action for their labor totally dismiss the value of a scholarship, while regular students sacrifice to carry the growing financial burden of going to school. What does it say about a culture where free education is considered worthless?
Them in cycling:
Contador won his third Tour de France in four years, making him the new dynasty of the pedal set. If he wore pinstripes, he'd remind you of the Yankees.
Us in cycling:
Floyd Landis is so eager to get the word out on his allegations of Lance Armstrong's supposed doping past, it wouldn't be surprising to see him on a tour of state fairs.
As for Armstrong, this certainly doesn't feel like a happy ending to a fairy tale career. Plus, with him no longer a threat to win — nor any other Yank — the Tour is devoutly ignored again by many Americans, forgotten back on channel 156.
Them in men's tennis:
Nadal not only proved he could sweep up the world on clay (French Open) and grass (Wimbledon), he has shoved aside old rival Roger Federer as the king of the courts.
Us in men's tennis:
It is hard to believe a country that racks up so many minivan miles driving to weekend youth tennis programs can't produce more names in the quarterfinals of a major.
Them in the NBA.
Gasol capped a terrific NBA Finals for the Los Angeles Lakers with 19 points and 18 rebounds in Game 7, and the case could be made he should have been the series MVP. "I can't say enough about the Spaniard," Kobe Bryant said when it was over.
Us in the NBA.
The moment LeBron James and his trained pet ESPN came on the air with The Decision, nothing could save this summer.
It's not that everything has always been as sweet as churros and flan for Spain. In the 2008 Olympics, its athletes won fewer medals than Belarus. Plus, recession has hit the bullrings. But still, we know a hot hand when we see one, right?
"We are in probably the best moment of our history in sport," Nadal said after winning at Wimbledon. "We have to know how difficult it is to be there, and enjoy these moments, because (it's) going to be difficult to repeat another generation like we have now."
True, in Spain's glorious summer, it's only the bulls who lose.
Contact Mike Lopresti at mlopresti@gannett.com.