After watching the dazzling level of athletic excellence, the gracious good sportsmanship that invariably accompanied it and the heartwarming camaraderie that cut across national boundaries during the 16 days of the Beijing Olympics, here's one question:

Why can't athletes in the major sports in this country behave in such a manner?

And here's another:

After watching fans from all over the world display a high level of sportsmanship in close and ultra-important competition, why can't fans or our major sports teams, pro and college, at least approach that behavior?

What a joy the Olympics have been. My intention was to watch the swimming, say goodbye to NBC and have no part of the International Olympic Committee's bi-annual greed-fest. But I was hooked, and not just by the historical excellence of Michael Phelps or the astonishing performances of the gymnasts. That was great stuff, and the track athletes added to it in the second week. But what kept me coming back just as much as the performances was the behavior of the athletes and the people who watched them.

Courtesy and good sportsmanship prevailed on the field and in the stands. Oh, there was an occasional slip, but for the most part the level of sportsmanship displayed was on the highest plane. This is opposed to major sports in the United States, where sportsmanship often is found in the gutter. My favorite example of that is in college football where we've seen football teams brawl near the 50-yard line before the game starts.

Taunting, showboating and dirty play permeates our games but it was mostly absent from the Olympic Games. It was almost as though the athletes knew they were on the greatest sports stage and behaved accordingly. Although being at the Super Bowl, a pretty big stage, never seemed to clean up the behavior of some football players.

In the stands, the spectators of all nationalities cheered for the Olympians. There appeared to be no booing and no attempt by the fans to take over the competition, which often happens in games in this country.

Booing is a traditional right of fans to show displeasure and we're not talking about that. We're talking about the total lack of civility and decency in the stands at major American sporting events.

Civility and decency were there in abundance at the Games although the greatest individual prizes in sports were at stake and often with them the chance for instant wealth.

Usain Bolt did some showboating when he won the 100-meter race but it had more the tone of good-natured celebration than the mean-spirited demonstrations that often are found in some of our major sporting events.

What also stood out was the good grace with which many of the athletes accepted defeat. Perhaps they understood that being second best in the world, or even 10th best, was still an honor.

America's track athletes were particularly gracious. If they had been tutored by the Olympics public-relations people, so much the better. Some of our pro athletes could use similar tutoring.

Hurdler Lolo Jones and runner Sanya Richards, two Americans who were headed for gold medals before faltering, conducted themselves superbly in defeat.

Even the U.S. men's basketball team, with some of the most famous athletes in the world, conducted itself well. The players seemed aware they were representing their country and behaved accordingly.

Why can't they be aware they're representing their teams and their cities and behave the same way at home?

Even the media, usually cutthroat after any hot story, was on its good behavior. Hard to believe no one dug up a story on Phelps' father. It seemed like a natural. Who was the man who disappeared from Phelps' life when he was a young boy? And what's he doing today? No one touched it.

The print media, which had limited access to Phelps, might have tried but NBC stayed away. It probably was a case of Phelps' people telling NBC that if it wanted the full cooperation of the biggest name in Beijing, it would not press the issue of the father. Likewise, Phelps' two sisters, also good stories, were kept out of the news. We never knew anything about them but their names.

It was a triumph for decency, if not good reporting.

The Olympics end tonight, which means, particularly with the football seasons set to start, we go back to taunting and brawling on the field and anything goes in the stands.

It was nice while it lasted.