If politics makes strange bedfellows, what do sports make?

The Washington Post has a column by Lee Carpenter about the war between Russia and Georgia. No, not that war, the one in the sand in Beijing: "Revenge pranced on the sand in bare feet and matching teeny red and white bikinis on Wednesday morning. Over and over the ball fell and Christine Stantana and Andrezza Chagas sprawled across the ground, their arms flying, voices shrieking. They had lost the first game but were winning now, winning for Georgia, against two players from battlefield-adversary Russia."

Rico says this is a lot better than that real war they're playing at home. But the best joke? They're not Georgians: "Santana and Chagas do not speak Georgian. They were not born in Georgia nor raised in Georgia nor have any relatives in Georgia. They, in fact, have barely been to Georgia. Santana and Chagas are from Brazil. They are in Beijing because the president of Georgia, Mikheil Saakashvili, asked them to play for his country in the Olympics. Upon learning that Saakashvili's wife Sandra was once a volleyball player, they agreed. For this they have been granted dual citizenship. At the end of Wednesday's victory, Santana hugged Shiryaeva and Uryadova. When asked why at a news conference she said: "I wanted to show that the Olympics are above politics and I wanted to show a sign of peace." Next to her sat her two Russian opponents, appearing bewildered over how a beach volleyball match had become a metaphor for sport over war and uncomfortable at suddenly being cast as some Cold War-era Soviet villains. "We are not playing the Georgian team, we are playing against our Brazilian friends," Shiryaeva finally said through an interpreter.

Rico says great, now they're hiring sports mercenaries in the Olympics. What's next? Cuban players on the US baseball team?