By JOE POSNANSKI | McClatchy Newspapers • Published August 22, 2008

BEIJING - The U.S. Track and Field folks sent out this quaint little e-mail Friday, moments after American Bryan Clay won the Olympic decathlon. The subject line was: "Clay claims 'World's Greatest Athlete' moniker."

Now, it just so happened that when I got the e-mail, I was in the middle of watching the United States men's basketball team pound Argentina by 20 in a semifinal game. Redeem Team has been a joy to watch this whole tournament. They have played hard, played together, carried themselves with dignity on and off the court. They really have lived up to everything they promised and then some.

But at this moment, it just struck me how whimsical it was to read about a guy name Bryan Clay from a semi-ancient sport staking his claim as the World's Greatest Athlete while, at the same time, watching the most modern of games, while watching basketball sensation Chris Paul slice between defenders, while watching Nike titan LeBron James suspend in the air for as long as he wants so he can get an open shot, while watching global icon Kobe Bryant clamp on the sort of defense David Copperfield could not escape.