He's fine -- but would we be able to deal with that thing on his head? Betcha some of us would. He certainly wears it better than many of his opponents. And considering how well he pulls it off, we wouldn't be surprised to see four or five of those on people's heads at Folsom this year.

Those things are part of regulation uniform for olympic water polo, where Moraga resident Peter Varellas and the U.S. Men's team stormed into the preliminary medal round with a 7-5 win over top-ranked Croatia. They'll face Germany today in the medal round quarterfinals. Medal round quarterfinals, baby! Winners get neckwear, losers get dunked and held under in dressed in water sports fetish gear.

Apparently water polo is one of the more brutal olympic sports. Kicking, suit-ripping, and brawls are common, and the refs rarely catch the more egregious and blatant personal fouls committed underwater. Hot! That needs to be a 28-part porn movie series right away.

Peter Varellas (2) of the USA passes past Marc Politze (6) of Germany in a preliminary round men's water polo match at the Beijing 2008 Olympics in Beijing, Monday, Aug. 18, 2008. USA won 8-7. (AP Photo/Mark Humphrey)