Positive Energy

After a bit of a hiatus...

Sun, 21 Sep 2008 17:42:32 -0700

It’s been a few weeks since I’ve posted - I think I wore myself out with my Olympic blogging. (… or, more likely, my Olympic watching.) Things have been busy in the 4 weeks since, too. Hopefully, I’ll get back to posting every few days.

I never did get around to writing my “favorite Beijing moments” post, and it may not end up happening, but an article by Bill Simmons demanded referencing. (Bill Simmons is perhaps my favorite sports columnist, though I haven’t followed him as closely in the last couple of years as I used to.) He wrote about the gold-medal game in men’s basketball between the US and Spain, which I mentioned as a final-day highlight on a previous post - but it was such an amazing game that it deserves a month-later lookback.

Bill calls it “one of the 10 most dramatic games” of his lifetime. I’ll go further and say that it merits consideration as the highest-quality basketball game of all time:

Which teams in history were better than this year’s US team? Probably the 1992 Dream Team, perhaps the 1996 Dream Team , and maybe the 1960 Olympic team. I’m sure some people might argue for one of the great Celtics or Lakers teams, but I won’t.
None of those teams ever played a close game. Well, with one exception - the 1996 Dream Team, in its first exhibition warmup before the Atlanta games, was down 17 at the half before edging the “USA Select” college all-star team 96-90 (Mike Montgomery was the coach, and Brevin Knight played point guard for USA Select).
Thus, you’ve got one of the best 5 teams in history, playing in the gold-medal game, and an excellent Spain team gives them all they can handle.

From a purely aesthetic perspective, too, the game was a joy to watch. As Bill points out, the 118-107 score came in 40 minutes - the equivalent of a 142-128 NBA-length game - and it wasn’t because the defense was terrible; it was because the pace was fast and the offenses were skilled. Again, to quote Bill: 65% FG, 55% 3FG, and 85% FT in the first half (combining both teams).

Bill also accurately characterized the performance of Ricky Rubio - amazing not because he dominated the game, but because he stepped in for the injured starter and played well enough that you forgot that he was a high-schooler was playing against the best players in the world. His physical talent is incredible, but just as impressive was his mental approach: he wasn’t scared and he didn’t do anything silly to prove himself - he simply ran the offense, played decent defense and generally filled his position on the court with a high degree of competence. In the previous Spain-US game, he was a little flashier but more out-of-control; in the gold-medal game, he played calmly within Spain’s system like a seasoned veteran. Biggest stat: only 2 turnovers in almost 30 minutes. Incredible.

Bill nails the officiating, too: “…three incompetent FIBA refs speaking different languages … providing an I-hope-this-doesn’t-turn-out-like-the-last-three-seconds-of-the-‘72-Olympic-gold-medal-game edge.” The thing is, the referees in the gold medal game were better than those earlier in the tournament. I suppose that I should appreciate the NBA refs in comparison. (Pac-10 refs are still terrible, though.)

One quibble with Bill: he slams Coach K for “starting a washed-up Jason Kidd”. Look, Kidd’s well past his prime as a basketball player, and he didn’t add a lot to the USA team on paper. … but that’s clearly not why Kidd was there: Jason’s role on this team was to be a leader, as much off the court as on, more from an emotional and maturity perspective than from a basketball one. Kidd may not have contributed a lot on offense or defense, but I think he was important part of helping the team keep its collective head on straight, and that more than justifies his place on the team and his role as a starter. In fact, it’s a bit reminiscent of Mike Eruzione on the 1980 Olympic hockey team (minus the dramatic final goal against the Soviets, of course).

I’ll end with another quote from Bill: “We wanted a selfless team that cared. We wanted a team to come through when it mattered. We wanted one unforgettable game. We got all of it—well, those of us paying attention, anyway.”

Olympics: sympathy

Tue, 26 Aug 2008 21:50:21 -0700

Since I’m an Olympics nut, I can’t just let them go when the Closing Ceremony ends - I need a few days afterward to ramp down. So, I’ll be posting a few closing thoughts over the next few days - about the Games in general, favorite moments, NBC’s coverage, etc.

Today’s is the “downer” post. Proverbially, defeat’s agony must accompany victory’s thrill, and every Games produces sadness. Now, let’s be clear: I’m not talking about senseless tragedy, like the murder of Todd Bachman, or frightening accident, like the weightlifter who dislocated his elbow. I’m talking about athletes who experience incredible disappointment - athletes like Mike Powell, who had, by any measure, an amazing career: three Olympics, two silver medals, a 34-meet win streak in 1993 and 1994, and, of course, the long jump world record, which he set in 1991 and still stands today.

Yet, he never won the Olympic long jump (even as the favorite in 1992), and, after failing to medal in 1996, he told an interviewer, “I trained my entire life for one thing, and I came up short”.

Dan Jansen was almost in this category - before winning his final Olympic race in Lillehammer, after 10 years of slips and near-misses.

So, my heartbreak list from Beijing 2008:

1. Tyson Gay. Expected to compete for three gold medals and possibly a 100m world record when the Olympic Trials started in June, he didn’t make a single Olympic final. When interviewed, he looked… lost in a fog, as if he just couldn’t understand what was happening to him. He didn’t make excuses (though his injury from the Trials was clearly affecting him) and he tried to represent himself well, but it just didn’t happen for him - at all. That’s disappointment of the highest magnitude.

2. Alicia Sacramone, the US gymnast who, after inopportune falls during the team competition, executed a pair of pretty good vaults during the event finals but came a close fourth to a Chinese gymnast when the judges failed to deduct for a crucial, clear mistake early in the vault (in addition to deducting for the fact that she landed on all fours). Alicia, you deserved a bronze medal.

3. Lolo Jones. Like Tyson, she refused to make excuses and comported herself admirably, but she was crushed by her stumble on the second-to-last hurdle when she was clearly leading the 100m hurdles final. Her disappointment is of a different flavor than Tyson’s - she came oh-so-close, whereas he plummeted far short of expectations - but surely similar in depth.

Honorable mention:

Christine Thorburn, US women’s cycling - 5th in the time trial, missing bronze by less than 3.5 seconds, after placing 4th in Athens. (As mentioned before, she’s a doctor for my wife Melissa.)

The US women’s softball team, shockingly upset by Japan in the final game before softball takes at least a 8-year Olympic hiatus.

Lu Xiang, the defending gold medalist in the 110m hurdles. Only honorable mention because my gut says that he had known for a while that he was too injured to compete, and only showed up at the starting line to honor his country, before scratching on the first false start.

The US men’s soccer team, 1-0 and leading the Netherlands 2-1 on their way to the medal round, before giving up a crazy equalizing goal with about 30 seconds left and eventually not making it out of pool play.

Aleixis Vastine, a French boxer who, in a close semifinal match, had 4 highly questionable points given to his opponent on warnings from the referee - the biggest screw-job in a boxing competition utterly rife with screw-jobs of the highest order.

Matt Emmons, a US shooter who for the second Olympics in a row was clearly leading with one shot left in the 50m rifle, 3 position event. In 2004 he fired his last shot at the wrong target; in Beijing, his rifle accidentally went off as he was lowering it into position. He’d be a lock for the top 3 if it weren’t for the fact that he did win a silver in Beijing and a gold in Athens in other events, and he met his wife (a Czech shooter, who won a gold and a silver in Beijing) in the Athens Olympics.

Olympics highlights, Day 16

Sun, 24 Aug 2008 22:29:47 -0700

Top highlights: with not much competition left, there were still two. First, the Redeem Team (a name I said I refused to use - but, upon reflection, they earned the moniker) beat Spain for the gold medal in one of the more exciting basketball games I’ve seen in a long time. Spain ran with the US, shot the ball well, and - despite missing their starting point guard - was within 4 points with 2.5 minutes left. Why can’t NBA games be this fast-paced and fluid? Though Kobe’s 4-point play got the most press, I think Wade’s 3-pointer was the most crucial shot. The US can be proud of their gold medal: they earned it.

In addition, they were ambassadors of the game and of our country. Their support of other athletes and their general spirit throughout the Games has been well-documented, but they continued it in the aftermath of their victory - congratulating Doug Collins, putting their medals around Coach K’s neck, and so on. The difference between 2008 and 2000 (c.f. Vince Carter’s post-game interview) was stark: this is a program to be proud of.

Second highlight: the US men’s indoor volleyball gold medal in a 4-set win over Brazil. The emotion surrounding the team’s perfect run through the Olympics following the murder of the coach’s father-in-law at the beginning of the Games is well known, but also dramatic was the meaning of the victory for 4-time Olympian - but never medallist - Lloy Ball.

Other notes/highlights:

The US men’s water polo team concluding their odyssey by falling short in the final against Hungary - a result they can still be very, very proud of.
In keeping with the rest of the boxing competition, a screw-job against Irishman Kenny Egan. The boxing scoring system is completely broken, and has been since its Olympic debut in 1992. (The system it replaced was also broken, but seriously, folks - what we have now is terrible.) I remember watching the Olympic Trials in ‘92 and seeing a fighter win by a score of, say, 45-38 to make the team. That same fighter then went to Barcelona and won by a score of 5-4.

I think these Olympics have been generally fabulous (post-mortems to come later), but I’ve been somewhat disappointed with the closing ceremony. The whole initial segment, plus some of the later segments, felt like Cirque du Soleil meets Buck Rogers - I know the closing ceremony is supposed to 1) be informal and 2) look toward the future, but this was just weird. … and what was up with the London presentation - the unfolding double-decker bus, the weird dancers? About the only thing I can say for it is that it wasn’t as bad as the monster-trucks-and-cheerleaders in Atlanta 1996. The Memory Tower was cool, though (making it look like the torch, symbolizing both continuity and the notion that the Olympic spirit is composed of people? Nice…), and the fireworks were impressive. The Phelps piece from London was useless fluff.

Good coverage by NBC - commercials in the right places (more precisely, not in the wrong places), key highlights from the competition, and light on the content-free interviews of popular athletes. Strong grade for NBC overall in this Games.

As always, it’s sad to see the Olympics come to an end. I’ll probably have my usual post-Olympic blues for a couple of days. My consolation? Only 536 days until the Vancouver 2010 Winter Games start.

Olympics highlights, Day 15

Sun, 24 Aug 2008 21:45:44 -0700

Top highlight: the US winning both men’s and women’s 4x400 relays. The men’s victory was a foregone conclusion, barring some freak occurence like a cramp, and they didn’t disappoint, winning in Olympic record time - Jeremy Wariner’s anchor leg was stupid-fast.

The women’s race was incredibly dramatic, with Sanya Richards catching and passing the Russian anchor with maybe 30 meters to go in an act of sheer, desperate willpower (and redemption for her disappointment in the 400m).

Other notes & highlights:

The US women’s 4th consecutive basketball gold with a dominant victory over Australia - also putting grande dame Lisa Leslie in the class of athletes like Al Oerter and Carl Lewis who have four consecutive golds in the same event. The US women now have a 16-year, 33-game Olympic winning streak.
Aussie Matthew Mitcham’s come-from-behind-on-the-final-dive gold, the only diving event not won by China (and, even more incredibly, the only event in which there was a Chinese diver who didn’t medal).
Samuel Kamau’s studly marathon win (the first for Kenya), smashing the Olympic record under conditions assessed by most as too humid and hot for a fast time. Honorable mention goes to Jaouad Gharib of Morocco, who was dropped by the leader(s) no less than three times and fought his way back each time, eventually winning the silver. (When the medals were awarded during the closing ceremony, Gharib was barely able to step up on the podium.) US runners employed the same strategy as in Athens, letting the lead pack go out fast, and maintaining a disciplined pace - only this time, Kamau was able to keep it going, and the US runners finished a few minutes back.

Olympics highlights, Day 14

Sat, 23 Aug 2008 16:24:49 -0700

Top highlight: American Brian Clay winning gold to extend a strong US tradition in the decathlon. His performance in the first 9 events was so dominant (building a lead of more than 500 points) that even a last-place finish in the concluding 1500m still left him 200 points ahead of the silver medalist.

Other highlights, most of which involve US teams:

Jamaican men winning the 4x100 relay and absolutely shattering the world record in the process, even after some poor passes. (The Jamaican women fell victim to the ridiculous stick-dropping epidemic that’s swept these Games and failed to complete their final handoff.)
US winning bronze in baseball. As with softball, I sincerely hope that the sport returns in 2016. Hockey has figured out how to let the best players in the world participate in the Olympics; why can’t baseball do the same?
A red-hot first quarter for the US against Argentina in men’s basketball. The Argentines fought back gamely and cut the lead to six late in the first half, but the US was never really threatened in the second half. It’s a shame Ginobli was injured in the first quarter.
A gritty win by the US men’s indoor volleyball team in 5 sets against Russia. One test remains, against Brazil.
A respect-demanding 10-5 destruction of Serbia by the US men’s water polo team, after the Serbians intentionally lost their final preliminary game so that they could face the US in the semis. Be careful what you wish for! The US men face Hungary in the final, in what might be the best Cinderella run among any Olympics team sport.

Olympics highlights, Day 13

Fri, 22 Aug 2008 15:31:19 -0700

Top highlight: Definitely two of them, the first being US women winning gold in women’s soccer. I won’t claim to be a soccer expert, so I can’t refute some of the after-match reports that Brazil dominated play, but my view was that the Americans had a clear game plan which they executed well: play a very disciplined defense, and send lots of long balls forward with the notion of getting occasional chances for the speedy US forwards against the less-disciplined Brazilian defense. For a team that lost its best player right before the tournament (and was missing another starter), and then allowed two goals in the first 4 minutes of the first game, this was an amazing result.

Also: the US men sweeping the 400m dash. In a Games where the supposed-to-be-dominant US track team has been hugely disappointing, at least we still rule the quarter-mile. (Of course, Usain Bolt will probably start training in the 400m and win that in London.)

Other notes/highlights:

An incredible diving duel between Chen Ruolin from China and Emilie Heymans from Canda. Emilie made the women’s 10m platform the first diving event this Games in which the top Chinese diver(s) were tested, and Chen responded with a spectacular final dive to keep the Chinese streak (now 7-for-7) going.
Gold for the Professor and the Thin Beast on the beach volleyball court - the US duo responded well after a shocking opening loss to Latvia.
A shocking upset of the US softball team by Japan. It’s sad that softball is being removed from the Olympic program; I hope sincerely that it will be reinstated for 2016. Add to the softball loss the upset of the US women’s water polo team by the Netherlands, and the excellent performance so far of US team sports was slowed a bit. The dominating win by the US women’s indoor volleyball team over Cuba tempered this trend, however.
An impressive win for Cuban Dayron Robles in the men’s 110m hurdles. I wonder if his dorky-cool glasses will start catching on?

And now for the lowlight: how do both American sprint relays (along with several other teams) drop the baton? This is incomprehensible to me. I ran the 4x100 relay in middle school, and I wasn’t a great runner by any stretch, but we never dropped the baton. How can Olympic athletes fail to get the stick around the track - especially in the heats, where there isn’t any need to shave off hundredths of a second by making perfect exchanges? Sigh.

Olympics highlights, Day 12

Thu, 21 Aug 2008 20:43:38 -0700

Top highlight: in possibly the clearest “top highlight” of the Games, it’s obviously Usain Bolt’s 2nd gold and 2nd world record, coming in the 200m. In marked contrast to his showboating and suboptimal finish in the 100m, he went all-out this time, even leaning at the tape when he was leading by several meters.

Before seeing Bolt, I didn’t think Michael Johnson’s record would be broken for another 10 or 20 years; I thought it was one of the most amazing leaps forward in track history, clearly surpassed only by Beamon’s long jump in Mexico City. I was way, way wrong. (… and I’d love to see Bolt start training for the 400m.)

Other notes/highlights:

Walsh and May capping a perfect (no-sets-lost) run through the beach volleyball tournament. They’re an amazingly complementary pair of athletes. One question: what the hell does that kinesiology tape that Kerri wears on her shoulder actually do?
Shawn Crawford and Walter Dix took silver and bronze in the 200m after two DQs. How do runners at the Olympic level run out of their lanes? I estimate that giving yourself 6 inches of leeway probably costs you about 0.01-0.02 seconds, which doesn’t seem like enough to accept a serious risk of disqualification. This isn’t gymnastics, where increasing your risk also significantly increases your chances of a medal. Run in the middle of your lane, for Pete’s sake!
A close men’s basketball game between the US and Australia - for about 12 minutes. The US is playing incredible basketball right now. Also, I thought the officiating was solid in this game - it’s the first time I’ve seen in the tournament that it hasn’t been abysmal. Seriously, where do these guys come from? I complain loudly about Pac-10 referees, but they’re world-class compared to the international refs. I guess the boxing judges are worse (pick any boxing match, and you’re guaranteed to see about a 3-1 ratio of punches landed to punches scored).
The US men’s indoor volleyball team mirroring their female counterparts, beating Serbia in a come-from-behind, 5-set quarterfinal match. Again, the US continues to show strong team play and highly disappointing track results.

Olympics highlights, Day 11

Thu, 21 Aug 2008 20:16:23 -0700

Top highlight: seeing Natalie du Toit from South Africa, who is missing the lower half of her left leg, compete in the inaugural women’s 10km marathon open-water swim - amazing and inspiring.

Other notes/highlights:

Shawn Johnson finally winning a gold medal, on the balance beam. Of all events in gymnastics - and possibly all of sports - this may amaze me more than any other: how it’s possible to do blind flips and land squarely on a 4-inch beam, I’ll never understand.
Jonathan Horton winning silver on the high bar, after adding a hefty dose of extra difficulty to his routine. I loved this not just because of the aggressive mindset, but (even more) because it’s a strategic principle that’s so often not applied in competitions of any stripe. If you’re an underdog or behind, increase variance. In something like gymnastics, that means increasing your difficulty. In basketball, that means slowing the game to a crawl (reducing the total number of possessions) and shooting lots of 3’s. In the Amazing Race, that means choosing a different Detour than the teams ahead of you (ideally, a find-a-needle-in-a-haystack challenge). Of course, the converse applies if you’re ahead or the favorite.
The proverbial thrill of victory for Dawn Harper coupled with the equally cliched agony of defeat for Lolo Jones after she hit the penultimate hurdle. Tangential question: why do men run the 110m hurdles, while women run the 100m hurdles? This doesn’t make sense. The heptathlon at least has historical reasons for being different from the decathlon (e.g., women pole vaulting was very rare when the heptathlon was first introduced).
Henry Cejudo’s victory in freestyle wrestling. The match was exciting; his joy afterwards was heartwarming; and the cheesy, dramatic music they played in the venue as he celebrated his gold medal was actually really, really nice. It felt like I was watching a movie, complete with soundtrack. The venue announcers were good, too.
A clutch, come-from-behind, 5-set win by the US women’s indoor volleyball team in the quarterfinal against Italy, continuing the US’ strong performance in team sports.

Olympics highlights, Day 10

Tue, 19 Aug 2008 17:47:53 -0700

Top highlight: the US sweep of the men’s 400m. While their dominance of the sprints has faded, the US is still the leader when it comes to the 400 distance (with or without hurdles). Hopefully, this is a prelude to better performance by US tracksters for the rest of the Games.

Other notes/highlights:

US women win their soccer semifinal 4-2 over Japan after trailing early. They’ve improved their play throughout the tournament as they learn to live without injured Abby Wambach - but Brazil in the final will be a stern test.
A dominating performance by Kerri Walsh and Misty May in beach volleyball, annihilating a Brazilian team to reach the gold medal match. The other semifinal was a titanic battle between two Chinese pairs, with each of the first two sets going well past 21 points.
I won’t call it a highlight, but the US-China baseball game was brutally intense. Two massive collisions at home plate were a prelude to a beaning that gave an American batter a concussion.
Another world record for Isinbaeva of Russia in the women’s pole vault, who seems to be following the Sergey Bubka strategy of breaking the world record by the minimum amount each time. (His practice was clearly due to significant monetary incentives given by the USSR for each new world record; are similar incentives still in place?)
A gold medal for American Stephanie Brown Trafton in the discus - an extra shout-out for being a resident of Sacramento (where I grew up) as well as throwing the disc (which I did in high school).
Gold for the US equestrian team in team jumping, and Canadian Ian Millar’s first medal (silver) in 9 Olympics. Extra credit for being one of the Olympic events mixing men and women.

Olympics Highlights, Day 9

Mon, 18 Aug 2008 21:54:41 -0700

Top highlight: the Jamaican women sweeping the 100m dash - a powerful performance by the suddenly-dominant sprinting power. Jamaica has been a force in sprinting for several Olympics now, but this kind of performance is what we Americans used to aim for. Now, we feel lucky to have won a single bronze in the men’s and women’s 100m. Hopefully, the US team will perform better in the 400 and 400 hurdles.

Other highlights:

The US women’s eight winning gold in the premier rowing event. During the medal ceremony, the entire team was belting out the Star-Spangled Banner with inspiring joy.
A victory by the US men’s water polo team against Germany - incredibly,and against all odds, winning their pool (over Italy, Serbia, and Croatia) and earning a bye into the semifinals.
A gutty, come-from-behind win by the US women’s indoor volleyball team against Poland.

In general, though the US track team has been pretty disappointing during the first two years, the US has been performing well in team sports: men’s and women’s water polo, basketball, beach volleyball, and indoor volleyball; women’s soccer; and softball have all been good. Baseball is doing decently against tough competition, and even women’s field hockey managed a win and 3 draws to achieve a .500 record.

Also, heartfelt sympathy goes to Liu Xiang, who had to literally walk away from the starting blocks and was unable to defend his 110m hurdles title.

Olympics highlights, Day 8

Sun, 17 Aug 2008 22:57:54 -0700

Top highlights:

1) Seeing Phelps complete his perfect run, swimming the decisive leg in the 4x100 medley relay. It’s possible to argue that there are other athletic feats comparable to Phelps’ performance in the last eight days; it’s very difficult to argue that there any feat clearly superior to his.

2) A breathtaking sprint by Usain Bolt in the men’s 100m, breaking the world record by 0.03 seconds (a significant, if not huge, improvement), even though he slowed down in the last stride. The hand-waving and chest-thumping might have added a hundredth of a second or two to his time - but the clear deceleration on his last stride probably added several hundredths. Could he have gone under 9.6?

Other highlights & notes:

The oldest female marathon champion in Olympic history (admittedly, a relatively small sample, since the women’s marathon has only been around since 1984); also, a gutsy run by hard-luck-in-the-Olympics Radcliffe, only eight weeks removed from a femur stress fracture, and an incredibly close battle for silver vs. bronze.
The conclusion of Dara Torres’ remarkable journey, only 0.01 seconds away from winning the women’s 50m freestyle.
A sweep for Russia in the women’s singles tennis tournament.
Continued dominance by the British track cycling team.
US men’s basketball smothering Spain in surprising fashion. I hope they see Spain again in the final (remember, Spain was taken to OT by China), and I hope to see a better game then.

Olympics highlights, Day 7

Sat, 16 Aug 2008 18:32:33 -0700

Top highlight: Phelps’ amazing come-from-behind victory in the 100m butterfly, which almost defies explanation. Whereas the US victory in the 4x100 free relay was incredible, this one was… well, mystifying.

Other highlights:

The US women’s soccer 2-1, extra-time quarterfinal victory over Canada. I woke at 3am Pacific to see this live, and then endured a 90-minute lightning delay invoked 15 minutes into the match. (I set my alarm 45 minutes forward, slept, woke up, saw that it was still delayed, repeated the process, and woke up again to find the match late in the first half.)
Rebecca Adlington (from the UK) winning the 800m freestyle, breaking the oldest world record in swimming (previously set by Janet Evans in 1989).
Zimbabwean Kirsty Coventry continuing her outstanding Olympics by winning the women’s 200m backstroke and breaking the world record. She might be the star of the swimming competition if it weren’t for Michael Phelps.
A big upset for the US men’s water polo team, upsetting the top-ranked Croatian team 7-5.

Olympics highlights, Day 6

Sat, 16 Aug 2008 18:21:53 -0700

Top highlight: Nastia Liukin and Shawn Johnson winning gold and silver, respectively, in the women’s gymnastics individual all-around finals. Shawn was very good and Nastia was slightly better.

Other highlights:

Lochte and Piersol winning gold and silver in the men’s 200m backstroke. In a Phelps-dominated swim meet, it was nice to see Lochte earn a gold medal (and set a world record in the process).
Rebecca Soni winning the women’s 200m breaststroke.
A strong effort from the US men’s indoor volleyball team against Bulgaria, winning in 3 sets.
A fine defensive performance from the US men’s basketball squad (I refuse to call them the “Redeem Team”) against Greece. I was concerned about the US coach’s likely stubborness regarding playing man-to-man defense, especially against a Greek squad that’s had difficulties against a zone. Though I still think Coach K’s inflexibility is a weakness, in this case man D was the right call: even though they gave up a number of back cuts, they forced so many steals and got so many easy points that they were able to blow Greece out.

A lowlight: a Swedish wrestler’s demonstration during the medal ceremony, in which he received his bronze medal and immediately put in in the center of the mat and left the hall. I can only presume that he’s announcing his retirement (wrestlers often leave their shoes in the middle of the mat after their last match), since he’s likely to be banned after this display (he’s already had his medal stripped by the IOC). He was upset about officiating during the semifinal match, with which I can sympathize. However, his act was to the detriment of the other medal winners, and they don’t deserve that. (For an example of dignity and class following egregious officiating, see Roy Jones in 1988.)

Olympics highlights, Day 5

Thu, 14 Aug 2008 22:58:00 -0700

Top highlight: Kristin Armstrong smashing the field to win the women’s cycling road race. A special shout-out goes to Christine Thorburn, who finished 5th, only 3.2 seconds out of 3rd place - she’s a doctor for my wife Melissa.

Other highlights/notes:

Levi Leipheimer, in the men’s road race, winning the bronze
Kosuke Kitajima, defending his Olympic titles in both breaststroke races
A China sweep of the women’s 200m fly
An impressive 4x200m free relay by the Aussie women

Sort of a lackluster day, actually. Maybe I’m just getting a bit tired (which won’t improve after the USA-Greece basketball game at 5am and the USA women’s first medal-round soccer game at 3 am).

Also, a note on yesterday’s post and the magnificence of what Phelps is doing: the one other feat I can think of that’s possibly comparable (in addition to Jesse Owens’ 4 world records in 45 minutes and Spitz’ 7-gold, 7-world-record performance) is Eric Heiden’s 5 golds & 5 Olympic records at Lake Placid 1980.

Olympics highlights, Day 4

Wed, 13 Aug 2008 18:23:00 -0700

Top highlight: Phelps winning the 200m fly (with goggles full of water) and participating in the 4x200m relay to become the first Olympian with double-digit gold medals.

Phelps’ performance so far is superlative - the only accomplishment I can think of that’s in the same class is Jesse Owens’ four world records in 45 minutes while at Ohio State. (Phelps’ 5 gold medals this Olympics have each been accompanied by a world record.) … and yet, I wouldn’t be shocked to see him not win both of his remaining individual races (the 200IM seems especially dangerous). Even if he doesn’t go 8-for-8, we’re seeing the kind of athletic achievement that comes along once every century or so.

Other highlights/notes:

A crazy flip-flop of fortune for the US soccer teams: the women go from allowing 2 goals in the first 5 minutes of the tournament to winning their pool (and avoiding Brazil/Germany until the finals), and the men lose 2-1 to Nigeria and are out of the tournament after being about a minute away from winning their pool before allowing a weird goal and settling for a tie against the Netherlands in their second game.
India wins its first-ever individual gold medal. Some journalists are speculating that India in 2020 will be like China today with regard to sporting prowess; I think that’s unlikely (India doesn’t show any signs of implementing state-commanded athletic programs on China’s scale, and that’s probably a good thing overall). Still, India’s almost-inexplicable lack of Olympic success seems to be coming to an end.
The Chinese synchronized divers are really, really impressive.
One thing that irritates me: when a gymnast stumbles, the explanation is always something along the lines of “she buckled under the pressure”. As far as I can tell, doing a backflip onto a 4”-wide beam, or doing a triple-twist-blind-backwards vault, or whatever else, is just really hard, and they miss sometimes! If you do 20 crazy things across 4 or 6 routines, and you miss a couple - that should probably be expected. If Kobe Bryant goes 9-for-10 from the free throw line vs. Greece tomorrow morning, did he “choke” on that missed free throw? No - sometimes, you just miss, and the harder the thing is that you’re trying to pull off, the more often you miss.

Speaking of basketball - the Greece game tomorrow morning should be fun to watch. The Greeks are going to try to make the game rough and slow. My biggest concerns: 1) lack of size (and depth in the post) for the US; 2) Coach K’s likely stubborness about sticking to a man defense (which the Greeks clearly prefer playing against); and 3) what the hell is up with the ball they’re using? The red-and-yellow pattern makes every shot look really lopsided and ugly. It’s like China’s equivalent to the old (red, white, and blue) ABA ball from the 1970’s.

Olympics highlights, Day 3

Tue, 12 Aug 2008 00:02:13 -0700

Top highlight is obvious: the men’s 4x100 freestyle relay. It was absolutely spectacular. If you’ve watched it, I don’t need to say any more. If you haven’t, go to the NBC Olympics video site and see it. It’s the current candidate for top event at the Olympics.

Other moments:

Several great performances in the rest of the swimming events - Phelps in the 200m freestyle, Coughlin and Piersol in the backstroke, Leisel Jones in the breaststroke.
A really, really gutsy performance by the US men’s gymnastics team to win the bronze medal. Their high bar routines were incredible. Even more incredible: the Chinese team on the rings and the vault.

A few other notes: first, Bob Costas is in good form here. He looked like he was sort of phoning it in in the last couple of Olympics, but when he’s on top of his game, he’s without peer. (I’m not old enough to really remember Jim McKay’s stewardship of the Games, so I’m not making a comparison to him.)

Also, I’ve seen a bunch of complaints about NBC’s online coverage (e.g., here). Many of the gripes are valid: the large version isn’t nearly as full-screen as it could be, the 4-in-1 screens aren’t large enough, and the finding experience is crappy (no organized directory, no good search, structured data is lacking). I’ve seen complaints that there isn’t any commentary, and complaints that the commentary isn’t perfectly synchronized with the action (so that the announcer talks about a home run in softball moments before it’s seen on video).

And yet: I’m really glad to have it. I’ve seen things I would have never seen without the online streams - detailed competition in fencing and judo, the entire cycling road races live and without interruption. I just watched the very exciting US/Italy men’s water polo match at the same time as the Phelps 200m free victory. I saw a crazy-cool dance/mock sword-fight performance right before the medal ceremony for women’s foil - the kind of thing that would never, ever make it onto TV coverage.

As is said sometimes in the Web 2.0 world: you’ve taken the first steps toward success when people complain about the details of your product. I’m glad for what NBC is doing, and I expect it to be better in Vancouver 2010 and better still in London 2012.

Not to give NBC too much praise, though: it’s still a bad, bad decision to hold popular event streams until after Pacific TV coverage. WSJ coverage has stated that 10% of viewers are watching both online and TV coverage, while only 0.2% are restricting their viewing to the internet. Concerns of cannibalization were grossly exaggerated.

Olympics highlights, Day 2

Sun, 10 Aug 2008 20:23:00 -0700

Top highlights:

Michael Phelps’ 400IM world record - an absolutely astounding performance. Phelps may or may not match or break Spitz’ record of 7 golds in one Olympics, but he seems highly likely to break the record for most Olympic golds in career (9). He’s the best swimmer in history.
The US/China game in men’s basketball. Notable not from a competitive perspective, but from a historical one - commentators estimated that it was the most-watched basketball game in history, with likely half-a-billion viewers. I wouldn’t be surprised if China wins gold in basketball at the Olympics or the World Championships within the next two decades.

Other moments:

A very good performance with a tough finish for the US men’s soccer team, who controlled the final 65 minutes against the Netherlands - until a last-minute Dutch goal in stoppage time produced a 2-2 tie. The US now needs at least a draw against a good Nigeria team to advance to the medal round.
A compelling women’s road race - here’s a personal shout-out to Christine Thorburn, my wife’s doctor and a member of the US cycling team; it seemed pretty clear that her role was to push the pace for the benefit of Kristin Armstrong. Unfortunately, Armstrong didn’t seem to be in top form.
A difficult and emotional victory for the US men’s indoor volleyball team against Venezuela, in the aftermath of the murder of the father-in-law of the head coach; they won the first two sets, Venezuela tied the score at 2-2, and the US regrouped to win the deciding set.e

Olympics highlights, Day 1

Sat, 09 Aug 2008 21:59:10 -0700

Top highlight: US women sweeping the sabre event in fencing. I’ll admit that I can barely follow, and certainly don’t understand, this sport. Basically, the fencers face off, then there’s a flurry of activity, then both fencers shout, and finally one of them is awarded a point. The referee even has to go to a video replay every third or fourth point to check that he made the right call. How on earth did they judge this in the days before video replays and even electronic sensors? (… and this was one of the original Olympic sports from Athens 1896.)

Other things:

Three “almosts” for the US in shooting - two fourths and a fifth in the men’s 10m air pistol and the women’s 10m air rifle
An incredible comeback for the South Korean women in handball against Russia, coming back from 8 down in the second half to achieve a tie
A big upset of the top US men’s beach volleyball team by Latvia
A gutsy prelim performance by the US men’s gymnastics team, given the loss of the Hamm brothers to injury (I don’t expect a team medal, but a few individual event medals would be very nice)
An incredibly dramatic men’s road race (in cycling), with a chase group catching the leading trio with about 1 kilometer left

On the other hand: the murder of the father-in-law of the US men’s indoor volleyball coach. Incredibly, terribly tragic.

Olympics highlights, Day 0

Fri, 08 Aug 2008 22:11:00 -0700

No sports today, but:

The Opening Ceremony: wow. (I’m watching the Parade of Nations as we speak.) Story, costumes, dancing, technology, fireworks - spectacular.

I loved the arrow-to-light-the-torch in Barcelona, and the ceremony in Athens 2004 had a wonderful connection to the ancient Games that no other country could replicate. For me, though, this is the most impressive opening ceremony ever.

NBC’s coverage: pretty good, I think. Good camera angles, short commercials. It looks like they’re preparing the transition from Bob Costas to Matt Lauer; that’s a big step down, but I guess Bob wasn’t going to last forever. (He’s generally been outstanding with the Olympics since Seoul 1988.) It also looks like they’re showing all 204 countries during the Parade of Nations - doing some editing to show countries in quicker succession, instead of skipping some during commercial breaks. Good choice.

NBC’s online coverage: I’m liking it, so far. Streaming quality is pretty good, and the ads aren’t too intrusive. My biggest complaint is that I’d like more metadata accompanying the directory (and better organization overall): when there are four Women’s Individual Sabre streams, it would be nice to see the country and/or athletes for each one. Still, I love the fact that I’m sitting here watching the men’s cycling road race during commercials. (… and it looks pretty smoggy, by the way.)

Olympics highlights, Day -1

Thu, 07 Aug 2008 22:05:06 -0700

Not much to report today either, as only men’s soccer pool play was in action. The US men started off well with a 1-0 win over Japan - crucial for their medal hopes in a tough group.

The Opening Ceremony starts in a little over 7 hours. Woohoo!

Other than men’s and women’s soccer pool play, competition starts at 8:30 AM Saturday morning (Beijing time) with the women’s 10m air rifle (shooting), whose finals start at 7:30 PM (before the broadcast of the OC starts) on the West Coast. The other notable event for tomorrow evening is the men’s road race in cycling, starting at 8 PM Pacific.