Who knew 3,600 hours of broadcast television and video streaming could fly by so quickly? Seems like it was only 17 days ago that the Summer Olympics began. But now Beijing is in the books.

Using the old gymnastics scoring system, we'd give NBC a 9.4 on a scale of 10. What the network did, it did well. The degree of difficulty was enormous. But major points have to be deducted for holding back live events for taped presentation.

Given China's fascination with the No. 8, we offer these eight undisputable points:

I.

Beijing prime time ratings exceeded ratings from Athens every night Michael Phelps was in the pool. On the seven competition nights that Phelps didn't swim, Beijing topped Athens once.

II.

When Mike Breen announced, "Dwyane Wade out, Kobe Bryant in" during a men's basketball game, it proved a subtle reminder how good Team USA really was.

III.

It is only a matter of time before Phelps and mom turn up on a Campbell's Chunky Soup commercial.

IV.

Never before have cameras been so eager to capture hand signals as when lenses continuously went up close and very personal on exchanges between Kerri Walsh and Misty May-Treanor.

V.

The U.S. track 4x100 relay teams will not be "Good Hands" endorsers for Allstate.

VI.

Ato Boldon did make sense when he said about Usain Bolt's world record time of 9.69: "The 100 meters is run in a straight line, but he just turned the corner, and the line starts behind him."

VII.

When was the last time an American (Bryan Clay) winning the men's decathlon drew so little attention?

VIII.

NBC broke the U.S. event record Saturday when it surpassed 211 million viewers served. That topped the mark of 209 million set at Atlanta's Olympics. Of course, the Super Bowl does spot the Olympics 16 days.