why was tony blair at the olympics?

i know this is a little late in coming, but it just hit me this morning, like a bolt of lightning from my thesis days. in england, unlike america, their government divided the ceremonial head of state (queen) from the powerful head of government (prime minister). the reason for this is so that the prime minister, who should be attending to the country's business does not end up having to do things like land on an aircraft carrier or pardon turkey's every thanksgiving. in america, of course, we expect our president to do all of this and get upset when he becomes too ceremonial or too government focused. so it begs the question, what was tony blair doing at the olympics - a largely ceremonial role? is this a sign from english royalty that they will be stepping down?

on a side note - as expected the As trounced the Os last night, 11 to 0. Hudson pitched the entire game - we do really have the best pitching staff in baseball right now. we're still number one in AL west - .5 ahead of texas . . . go As!

i'd also like to make a point of saying how many A's fans there were in baltimore! i really thought it was just going to be me - but there were dozens of us! how's that for people believing oakland only has a fan base in the bay area . . .hah!