For a brief two weeks every four years, the eyes of the world turn to the Summer Olympic Games and watch in awe as the best athletes in the world compete against one another.

Yet a peculiar thing happened these last two weeks. America lost the enthusiasm and frenzy it displayed just four years earlier during the 1996 Games in Atlanta. NBC's ratings for these Games were among the worst ever, partly because of the time difference and partly because the games were held in the middle of American autumn.

Despite this, thee Sydney games were among the most competitive ever.

Below is my own list of the top ten moments that characterized the 2000 Sydney Games, both good and bad.

10. US women's soccer team loses gold medal match to Norway while the women's softball and basketball teams defend their gold medals from 1996.

The women's soccer team, which had won the Olympics in 1996 against the same China squad that it beat for the 1999 World Cup at the Rose Bowl, loses a thrilling 2-1 overtime match to its rivals from Norway, the last team to beat the USA in major international competition. Women's softball rebounds from losing three straight matches, after winning 112 consecutive games prior to the slump, and avenges each of the three losses en route to the gold medal. Women's basketball withstands a hostile home crowd and dominates Australia in the gold medal match to repeat as Olympic champs.

9. Drug scandal hits track and field as well as the Romanian women's all-around gymnastic champion.