by Charles Hitchens

With the closing ceremonies on Sunday we have witnessed a full gamut of emotion.  We watched the heartache of a young world champion gymnast miss the cut in all-around, only to come back and help lead the US to the team gold.  We watched an Olympic hero swim into the record books with a record setting 22 all-around medals.  We watched 2 women battle the sand to win the gold for the third straight time.

We’ve journeyed with them from making the team to standing on the podium. Our unseen guides on this Olympic journey are the men and women behind the cameras, in the control room and out in the field catching all of the emotion and action.  Thousands of dedicated people work tirelessly for years to make sure the games go off without a hitch, at least on TV. 

In 2002 I was lucky enough to be one of those people, My first job out of college was working for the NBC Sports Communications department during the Salt Lake City Winter Games.  I arrived in Salt Lake only 2 weeks after I graduated from the University of Arizona, I literally packed my car and headed north.  I spent all of January 2002 getting ready for what can only be described as a marathon.  I copy edited our media guide and got to know all I could about the city and venues where the games would be played.  Most of my time was spent in the International Broadcast Center, think the UN but with Media, dealing with broadcasters from other countries and outlets that wanted to know about NBC’s coverage of the games.  And I got to know the people I was working with.  

One guy’s job was literally to find locations to shoot from for each Olympic site and figure out the logistics of getting our equipment there.  He told me that as soon as the Olympic flame went out he had two weeks off and then was off to Athens to start all over again for the 2004 games.  For me, when February 8th 2002 and the Opening Ceremony got underway the real work began.  I had 12 to 14 hour long days for the entire length of the Games. My job ranged from fielding phone calls, getting guest from one place to another, to helping a National Geographic crew do a shoot on new cameras for the games.  I would like to say at some point I slept, but I don’t think I had time to.  The entire atmosphere of the Games and broadcasts was electrifying.

But it wasn’t all work, I got to meet some of the athletes such as skaters Sarah Hughes and Apolo Anton Ohno.  I also met Canadian Hockey player Theo Fluery.  But the highlight for me was getting to see the USA versus Russia hockey game, the only event I got to enjoy strictly as a fan.

Back at the IBC we called our two control rooms JAWS 1 and 2.  Putting on an Olympic event isn’t that easy for the host city or the broadcasters, it takes coffee, lots and lots of coffee, with a heavy dose of dedication from everyone to get through the long hours.  But in the end it’s all worth it and I would not have changed a single moment of my Olympic experience.  My hats off to all the everyone in London

by Charlie Hitchins

I'm 33 years old.  I've lived through 18 Olympic games between summer and winter.  I've always loved watching the Olympics.  I even got to be a part of them when I worked for NBC Sports at the 2002 Salt Lake Games.  

But, these 2012 games might be the best I've ever experienced.  It's not because of the opening ceremony, though Arctic Monkeys killed their cover of "Come Together." It's not the events themselves or the drama surrounding badminton.  

It is watching my 3 year old daughter experience the Olympics for the first time. Watching her and my wife get excited to see the gymnasts.  and watching the awe on my daughters face when divers flip through the air and as she screams: "They went under!  Yeah!".

Hearing my wife explain the difference between Beach and Indoor volleyball, and telling her that no it's not boys and girls, some girls just have short hair and some boys have long hair.  It's her asking me if Micheal Phelps is a diver.  It's the innocence in her eyes.  It all reminds me what these games are supposed to be about.  

The game are not my country versus yours, it's about striving for a goal.  These games have been described as passing the torch to the next generation, and when I look at my daughter I see that torch already burning brightly in her eyes.  So thank you to all the Olympians from every country for putting that fire into my daughter.

by Traci Oshiro

Like the rest of the world over the past few days, I have been glued to the TV watching the London Olympics. However, as a photographer, there is nothing more awe-inspiring than seeing a photo capture an Olympian in a state of pure athleticism and raw emotion.  The ability to capture a myriad of emotions in a millisecond is something only the magic of photography has the ability to do. While there are countless photos which I've come across in recent days, these four photos were taken at moments when I was watching. Yet, these snapshots leave me completely taken aback by the athletes’ strength and determination. All I can do is revere.  

Phelps swims the final leg in the men's 4x200-meter freestyle relay swimming final at the Aquatics Centre in the Olympic Park during the 2012 Summer Olympics in London, Tuesday, July 31, 2012. (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill)

USA's Angel McCoughtry (8) drives to the basket against Angola during the first half of a preliminary women's basketball game at the 2012 Summer Olympics, Monday, July 30, 2012, in London. (AP Photo/Eric Gay)

Great Britain's Sarah Barrow and Tonia Couch compete during the Women's Synchronised 10m Platform Diving Final on the fourth day of the London 2012 Olympics. Picture date: Tuesday July 31, 2012. Photo credit should read: Julien Behal/PA Wire.

The REAL campaign for the November elections begins Today on The Cycle!

We've divided the remaining 124 days into a 9 inning baseball game. Consider today until the conventions as the first three innings. The time between the conventions and the October debates are innings four, five and six. October becomes innings seven and eight with the Presidential and VP debates. And Inning 9 lies in the first week of November. Make sense?

Every Thursday from here on we will be assesing the race. We will look at the campaign focus, the polls, and preview the week ahead. 

Today President Obama kicked off a two day "Betting on America" bus tour through Ohio and Pennsylvania. President Obama is visiting:

To kick off our Campaign Race we talked to Former Governor Ed Rendell who is here to answer all the questions. 

It’s July 4^th week which means both the House and the Senate are in recess. But last week both bodies of government surprisingly got some work down. So, why is it that the lawmakers can only work together when they are on their way out of town? In the sake of the 4^th of July patriotic spirit it is time for us to focus on the positive reform rather than partisan rhetoric.

Today we spoke with Former U.S. Comptroller General David Walker who says it is time for us to put our differences aside and have “an adult conversation”, which David believes can happen as follows

The Cycle hosts wanted to further explore the costs of both Obamacare

And they also explored the costs of the Affordable Care Act. Check out the full conversation and let us know your thoughts

Below you can find Touré's recap of The Cycle's first week where nothing was off limits during the hour. We also created a top 7 list for Luke Russell who wants to be part of the group. Tweet us your name for luke @thecyclemsnbc using the #lukethecycle. The final name will be revealed LIVE Monday when Luke pulls up a chair.

President Obama will speak again today, but this time not about healthcare. Rather, the president will spend his afternoon traveling in Colorado, taking in the impact of the state’s most destructive fire yet and thanking responders.

The Waldo Canyon fire began on June 23 and has burned through 18,000 acres of land to the north and west of Colorado Springs and destroyed 340 homes. The fire killed one person, left two missing and dozens unaccounted for.

The Cycle will have NBC News Reporter Jinah Kim on to give an update live from Colorado Springs.

Be sure to tune in at 3pm for a full update

Per usual when a political decision is announced the social media world goes crazy. Today was no different. After the Supreme Court upheld the health care law the twitter universe up in arms with comments. Some of the trending words for today were:

#HCMSNBC

#ObamaCare

#Healthcare

#SCOTUS

#Medicaid

#SupremeCourt

#Constitution

MSNBC was no different. Using the #HCMSNBC we received some very interesting tweets. See below for a few and check back on leanforward.msnbc.com for more information on this decision.

@ehronpratt This decision proves that ‪#SCOTUS does not get into partisan politics. Well done and great example Justices. ‪#HCMSNBC ‪#ACA‪#fb

@Pastorlmdew: now all 50 states can move forward and start putting in place all aspects of the affordable healthcare act ‪#HCmsnbc

‏@JoshWolderufael: Health Care is a fundamental right of the people and never should an individual be without Health Care. ‪#HCMsnbc

‏@_iAmMandi_: Health care is a human right. ‪#HCMSNBC

While the main topic of conversation today was the Supreme Court decision about health care, they also upheld the Law’s Medicaid expansion. The ruling was that the law can withhold some but not all Medicaid funds if the state does not agree to the expansion.

Former Medicaid Boss Dr. Donald Berwick joined the team to discuss, in his opinion, what this means for Medicaid. Check out what he had to say:

The Supreme Court has made its decision! ObamaCare will stay on the books, but not in the exact way it was originally written.

Over the course of the next five months President Obama and Mitt Romney will be battling out the Supreme Court Health Care Decision which broke down as follows:

During today’s show we talked to our supreme team!  NBC News Justice Correspondent Pete Williams and Huffington Post’s Mike Sacks. Here is what they had to say:

What is your opinion on today’s decision?

by Nicholas Tuths

Today’s segment on our justice system with Philip Howard took on the notion of American’s “right” to lawsuits. He goes head-on with the idea that Judges aren’t supposed to be “activists” – saying it’s their duty to be activists for maintaining the boundary between the lawful and unlawful.

Of course, everybody is in favor of doing away with frivolous lawsuits. For example: You shouldn’t be allowed to sue a Little League ball player for an errant throw, because that’s what little leaguers are supposed to do! I can’t help but agree with Howard, it seems like those who are supposed to protect the legitimacy of the justice system have become paralyzed by this idea that they’re supposed to be completely neutral. How much time, effort, money, and anguish could be saved by having judges that speak up when something is clearly out of bounds?  Nobody is asking them to legislate or be the jury – just do what’s right.

That’s my take – check out what the team had to say.