Baltimore, which had been among the top five markets for Olympic prime-time ratings through the first half of the Games, finished in a tie for sixth. Hey, Michael Phelps can't also run track and play volleyball. A look at the top 10:

1. Denver                23.1
1. Salt Lake City      23.1
3. Minneapolis         22.1
4. Indianapolis        21.3
4. San Diego           21.3
6. Baltimore            21.1
6. Oklahoma City    21.1
8. Nashville, Tenn.  21.0
9. Columbus, Ohio  20.4
10. Portland, Ore.   20.2

The final average overall rating was 16.2, or 27.7 million viewers. That's up 8 percent in rating and 13 percent in viewers over Athens four years ago. NBC promises final numbers for total viewers today, but it says the 211 million viewers who watched the Games through Saturday already have made it the most-viewed event ever in U.S. television, surpassing the 1996 Atlanta Olympics' 209 million.

Of course, that's not a completely fair comparison. Nobody ever tried running very special episodes of Blossom for 17 straight nights.