This wasn’t the martial order of Beijing, but rather a fantastic blend of everything Danny Boyle thought was worthy from British culture and then some, making the London Olympic games a success, at least on the first day, going by the brilliant (yet a bit long) opening ceremony.

There was no minute of silence for the Munich XI, but no one was surprised. David Beckham had his moment in the sun, the huge American and British delegations stole the show and the cheers and there was no one Olympic torch bearer to take the spotlight from everyone else. Picking one individual just doesn’t seem fair anymore, even if this is a capitalist world trying to find a new direction.

Arctic Monkeys, Paul McCartney, Mr. Bean, Mike Oldfield. The British don’t have an empire anymore, but it’s hard to beat them at music. Or children’s books. Or in Cycling. Not the perfect, too perfect unity of China from four years ago. This time, different colors, different faces, different styles from different eras meshed wonderfully in a somewhat orchestrated mess. Just planning for this kind of event probably took two years, before we even try to wrap our heads around the rehearsals and practices for the thousands of participants.

Now it’s on to Phelps’ chase after more immortality or rather relevance, with Ryan Lochte aiming to become the new Olympic king of the pool. The Dream team, better or not than the one in 1992, or even the one in 2008. Great Britain, with all of its hopes to match the medal count in Beijing and dominate in more than just cycling. Usain Bolt and his attempt to fend off critics, fitness worries and show he truly is a legend. More than anything, it’s time for just over two weeks of a hectic schedule and a variety of sports, and hopefully wonderful Olympic games.