WOW; Good luck, London.

The odds of you -- or any other city on earth --matching these 2008 Olympics in the future are roughly equivalent to Prince Charles making the cover of People's Sexiest Men issue.

The Chinese have run their Games --- which is different from running their country -- just about perfectly. The buses were on time. The security lines were greatly reduced. The tickets were sold.

The volunteers were plentiful and enthusiastic. The venues were spectacular. The food and accommodations were excellent. The populace was excited. The athletes were ecstatic.

This nation's Olympic recipe -- take 1.3 billion people, unlimited resources and add an authoritarian government that can stop traffic, close factories or level neighborhoods with a wave of its magic wand -- can't be copied.

As one of the men involved with the memorable opening ceremonies noted, perhaps the only other nation on earth that could stage a ceremony and a Games like these was North Korea.

Think about it.

Imagine if Philadelphia or New York ever got the Games. Imagine the concerns the organizers would have about traffic, overtime, work-rules, construction overruns, etc. Not a problem here.

There were roughly 20,000 people involved in the opening ceremonies. If they needed to rehearse an extra four hours, who was going to argue? They did what they were told. Period. Just like the factory owners who shut down for three weeks, the drivers who would have wanted to go out on days when their license-plate numbers wouldn't allow it, the residents of the neighborhoods that were razed to make way for venues, highways and subways.

There were a few who didn't go along with the Olympic mania, like the two Beijing grandmothers -- 77 and 78 -- who were arrested and sentenced to a year of re-education  because, during the Games, they dared protest the price they paid for their destroyed homes.

Now every Games will be measured by these. London probably will manage a splendid Summer Olympics in 2012 and still come up way short in comparison.
 
MORE HAIKU: Back by popular demand, Olympic haiku:
 
European voices.
Booming as cathedral bells
Shaking the Great Wall.
 
Chinese miracle
Seek assistance from just one
Six more will appear.
 
Usain the lightning Bolt
Green-and-gold speed unmatched
Except by the ego.
 
U.S relay teams
Legs like steel, style like great stars
Hands like cement.
 
Beijing bus rides.
Packed like a sportswriter's shirt
Horn never stops.
 
Food at Bird's Nest
Pinky-sized hot dogs look ill
Like me ten later.