- For the first time ever, (with the exception of the Games we boycotted in 1980) the USA will have no medal in men's boxing. (Women's boxing was added to the Games this year. American boxer Claressa Sheilds still has a good chance to medal.)
I thought I would avoid the sport of Boxing and the Olympics, but, after yesterday's fiasco, I just can't.
Last year, the BBC uncovered a plan in which officials from the country of Azerbaijan attempted to buytwo Gold medals at he London Games for $9 million. It didn't work. But, evidently, they were not finished. Yesterday, despite the fact that Japanese fighter Satoshi Shiamizu knocked down Mogamed Abdulhamidou six times, the judges decision originally went against the Japanese fighter. Ultimately, the decision was reversed.
This is only the, oh....three hundredth time there's been a problem with men's boxing in the Olympics. in the first London Games, in 1908, only one non-British boxer medaled. When "Snowy" baker got silver, h complained that the ref was not on the up-and-up. he probably had a point, because the referee was his opponent John Douglas' father.
In '28, there were brawls in the stands to go along with the fights in the ring, the results were so controversial. the list goes on, through '84, when Evander Holyfield was disqualified for alegedly throwing a punch on a break - but if he did so, why did the Gold winner pull Holyfield up to the top step of the podium when awarded his medal?
In 1988, American Roy Jones, Jr. was breezing through his matches, including the Gold medal dust-up, but the judges saw the one-sided bout differently, and awarded the win to Park Si-Hun. how could this happen, you ask? Well, the '88 Games were held in Seoul.
I hope readers can understand why I initially chose not to cover the sport in the blog.
Coubertin's Rings - A fan's blog for the Olympic Games, Summer and Winter.
Wednesday, August 8, 2012
Tuesday, August 7, 2012
Play Misty for Me
The torch burns in London, but the torch passes in Buffalo.
As stated before the Games opened, I toook from my father, or my father gave me, a love of the Olympic Games. Yesterday, one of my daughters bemoaned the fact that a friend would be next to impossible to talk to at an upcoming social gathering because he would be "immersed in track and field." The other daughter asked me for an update on beach volleyball. Pretty cool stuff. I get the feeling there will be another generation of family members who will share the love of the Games with their own progeny.
Brigid's request was for news on the famous pair of beach volleyballers, Misty May-Treanor and Kerry Walsh. Until just a couple of days ago, the pair had not lost a set in Olympic play, and, to this day, remain unbeaten in match play. The defending Gold medalists defeated Italy in 33 minutes. They are 19-0 in Olympic matches, when the string began at the Athens Games.
Misty and Kerri play China today in one of the semi-final matches. The other USA women's pair of April Ross and Jen Kessy has also made it to the semis, they will play Brazil.
As stated before the Games opened, I toook from my father, or my father gave me, a love of the Olympic Games. Yesterday, one of my daughters bemoaned the fact that a friend would be next to impossible to talk to at an upcoming social gathering because he would be "immersed in track and field." The other daughter asked me for an update on beach volleyball. Pretty cool stuff. I get the feeling there will be another generation of family members who will share the love of the Games with their own progeny.
Brigid's request was for news on the famous pair of beach volleyballers, Misty May-Treanor and Kerry Walsh. Until just a couple of days ago, the pair had not lost a set in Olympic play, and, to this day, remain unbeaten in match play. The defending Gold medalists defeated Italy in 33 minutes. They are 19-0 in Olympic matches, when the string began at the Athens Games.
Misty and Kerri play China today in one of the semi-final matches. The other USA women's pair of April Ross and Jen Kessy has also made it to the semis, they will play Brazil.
A Response To A Reader
Several days ago, blog reader D. Hulser suggsted that I had the badminton controversy all wrong.
To reset, four teams of badminton playing pairs wwre sent home from the London games for "conduct unbecoming." To cut to the chase, they had their shuttlecocks clipped for trying to throw their matches. the video evidence of this is incontrovertible. Even D. Hulser would not argue they were trying to tank.
Where the astute reader and I differ is this: Hulser feels the problem is wit hthe format of international badminton play, and that the players shouldn't be punished. In his note to Coubertin's Rings, Hulser states, "
To reset, four teams of badminton playing pairs wwre sent home from the London games for "conduct unbecoming." To cut to the chase, they had their shuttlecocks clipped for trying to throw their matches. the video evidence of this is incontrovertible. Even D. Hulser would not argue they were trying to tank.
Where the astute reader and I differ is this: Hulser feels the problem is wit hthe format of international badminton play, and that the players shouldn't be punished. In his note to Coubertin's Rings, Hulser states, "
Is what they did so bad? How many times have we seen baseball players tank it in the bottom of the 9th down by 8 with a flight to the west coast looming in the distance?"
I have little problem with, or recourse from a ballplayerr jogging out a ground ball in the ninth inning. i get it. That isn't what the badminton players did. they were not cashing it in, saying, "We'll get 'em tomorrow." The badminton players were attempting to manipulate the draw. Since, at last check, there isn't round robin play in the American League, the comparison just does not work.
When China's number two team lost, shockingly, to Denmark in their opening match, they understood that the only way to get two Chinese teams into the Gold Medal match would be to deliberately lose and get to the bottom half of the draw.
Yes, the system is inherently flawed, and the Chinese, Koreans and Indonesians more or less colluded to get to the Medal round an paly the opponents they wanted to, when they wanted to, regardless of talent level, true ability or the 38th parallel.
Does the sytem need to be fixed? absolutely. Does the fact that the system is broken meanthat we condone absurdist behavior in an effort to stock up on Olympic medals? No way.
And by the way - thanks, loads, to Mr. Hulser for contacting us and sharing his thoughts. We may not agree, but we're thrilled to have gotten the feedback. Thanks!
Monday, August 6, 2012
Wow, Day 10!
If you had argued that the ninth day of this Summer Olympiad could be considered the best, it would have been easy to agree. Bolt blazed through the final 50 meters of the dash, there was both indoor and beach volleyball, the Brits were beginning to take real advantage of home court.....
But then, there was Monday. Day Ten was, as the kids say, killer. Jenn Suhr lined up for what may be her last shot at her rival, Isinbayeva. The men's hoop team had another challenge coming. The women's 400 was on tap, and there was a serious semi-final in women's soccer between the United States and Canada. This day started, for me, on the way to work, listening to Summer Games radio on Sirius. The now omnipresent Missy Franklin gave a bubbly interview where she remained humble and impressive.
I try to grab some results at work, but there are always events I want to see, whether that means on the web or on one of the NBC outlets. The DVR has been working overtime. Monday I watched while Buffalo News columnist Jerry Sullivan blogged and tweeted from Olympic Stadium during the women's pole vault. Yes, The local angle drove the story, but the competition itself was compelling. Each vaulter has a specific plan in mind to follow, to conserve energy, to conserve misses, to keep the pressure on the other vaulters. As the misses add up and the bar itself goes up, the best laid plans get blown up. All the while, the vaulters wait. And wait. And wait. During the qualifying round on Saturday, the vaulters actually complained of a cross-wind, which, in a one hundred fifty foot tall, 80000 seat stadium sounds absurd, but was true. The vaulters got serious at 4.50 meters, then the bar went to 4.70, 4.75 and so on. Try doing the conversion in your head, to feet and inches. google is no help, by the way, it converts to feet and decimal fractions. Wanna tell me what .634 of a foot is, in inches?
Ultimately, Suhr won the Gold on fewer misses, in a war of attrition. Her plan worked, she beat Isinbayeva and every other competitor, and richly deserves the win.
What made this even more fun was that while the vault was going on, Abby, Carli and the girls of USA Soccer were doing their best to getto the Gold Medal game by beating Canada. After Seventy minutes or so, the game was tied at 1. In the twenty minutes it took me to drive home, Canada scored, the US equalized, Canada scored again, and then the craziness ensued. In the second of two fifteen minute overtimes The UnitedvStates earned a free kick when, I think, theCanada keeper held the ball for longer than the allowed six seconds, or for delay of game. Regardless, the Canadians set up the requisite wall of defense in front of their own goal. The free kick glanced off the elbow of a defender and then hit a Canadian player squarely in her hands. And in soccer, you just can't do that. The Americans were awarded a penalty kick, and won the game. One Tweeter called it the "Tim Horton's - Dunkin Donuts" game.
I ramble on. It was a really full day, a really fun day. And there are still six more to go.
But then, there was Monday. Day Ten was, as the kids say, killer. Jenn Suhr lined up for what may be her last shot at her rival, Isinbayeva. The men's hoop team had another challenge coming. The women's 400 was on tap, and there was a serious semi-final in women's soccer between the United States and Canada. This day started, for me, on the way to work, listening to Summer Games radio on Sirius. The now omnipresent Missy Franklin gave a bubbly interview where she remained humble and impressive.
I try to grab some results at work, but there are always events I want to see, whether that means on the web or on one of the NBC outlets. The DVR has been working overtime. Monday I watched while Buffalo News columnist Jerry Sullivan blogged and tweeted from Olympic Stadium during the women's pole vault. Yes, The local angle drove the story, but the competition itself was compelling. Each vaulter has a specific plan in mind to follow, to conserve energy, to conserve misses, to keep the pressure on the other vaulters. As the misses add up and the bar itself goes up, the best laid plans get blown up. All the while, the vaulters wait. And wait. And wait. During the qualifying round on Saturday, the vaulters actually complained of a cross-wind, which, in a one hundred fifty foot tall, 80000 seat stadium sounds absurd, but was true. The vaulters got serious at 4.50 meters, then the bar went to 4.70, 4.75 and so on. Try doing the conversion in your head, to feet and inches. google is no help, by the way, it converts to feet and decimal fractions. Wanna tell me what .634 of a foot is, in inches?
Ultimately, Suhr won the Gold on fewer misses, in a war of attrition. Her plan worked, she beat Isinbayeva and every other competitor, and richly deserves the win.
What made this even more fun was that while the vault was going on, Abby, Carli and the girls of USA Soccer were doing their best to getto the Gold Medal game by beating Canada. After Seventy minutes or so, the game was tied at 1. In the twenty minutes it took me to drive home, Canada scored, the US equalized, Canada scored again, and then the craziness ensued. In the second of two fifteen minute overtimes The UnitedvStates earned a free kick when, I think, theCanada keeper held the ball for longer than the allowed six seconds, or for delay of game. Regardless, the Canadians set up the requisite wall of defense in front of their own goal. The free kick glanced off the elbow of a defender and then hit a Canadian player squarely in her hands. And in soccer, you just can't do that. The Americans were awarded a penalty kick, and won the game. One Tweeter called it the "Tim Horton's - Dunkin Donuts" game.
I ramble on. It was a really full day, a really fun day. And there are still six more to go.
Thursday, August 2, 2012
When Third Is Fourth
** SPOILER ALERT - WOMENS ALL AROUND FINAL INFO FOLLOWS **
Today I learned that 59.566 does not equal 59.566.
In the women's gymnastics all-around competition, a tie for third does not necessarily earn you a bronze medal. It does if your name is Aliya Mustafina of Russia, but it does not, if your name is Aly Raisman of the United States.
FIG, or the Federation Internationale de Gymnastique, determined some time ago that they did not like ties, and so, institiuted a tie-breaker system. In the all-around competition, the women compete on four different aparatuses, (aparatae?) and the scores from each discipline are totaled to deterine a champion.
When two competitiors complete the four events with exactly the same score, as did Mustafina and Raisman today, the tie is broken, thusly:
Each competitor is allowed to drop their lowest score, and then the three highest remaining scores are totaled and the person with the new higher total wins. Today, that winner was Mustafina. What makes this especially galling is that fact that Mustafina was able to drop her horrific balance beam score - she actually fell off the beam. Her remaining three scores totaled, were just enough to edge out Raisman for the bronze.
Our condolences, Aly Raisman. In our book, you won bronze today.
Today I learned that 59.566 does not equal 59.566.
In the women's gymnastics all-around competition, a tie for third does not necessarily earn you a bronze medal. It does if your name is Aliya Mustafina of Russia, but it does not, if your name is Aly Raisman of the United States.
FIG, or the Federation Internationale de Gymnastique, determined some time ago that they did not like ties, and so, institiuted a tie-breaker system. In the all-around competition, the women compete on four different aparatuses, (aparatae?) and the scores from each discipline are totaled to deterine a champion.
When two competitiors complete the four events with exactly the same score, as did Mustafina and Raisman today, the tie is broken, thusly:
Each competitor is allowed to drop their lowest score, and then the three highest remaining scores are totaled and the person with the new higher total wins. Today, that winner was Mustafina. What makes this especially galling is that fact that Mustafina was able to drop her horrific balance beam score - she actually fell off the beam. Her remaining three scores totaled, were just enough to edge out Raisman for the bronze.
Our condolences, Aly Raisman. In our book, you won bronze today.
The Villians
I may be being a bit premature, but...
I believe we have identified the villians of the London Games. True, it is only Day 6, but I can't imagine anything happening the rest of the way that will make this situation seem even remotely OK. So, here they are folks, the Forbidden Eight:
Wang Xiaoli
Yu Yang
Jung Kyung Eun
Kim Ha Na
Ha Jung Eun
Kim Min Jung
Meilana Jauhari
Greysia Polii
In the sport of badminton, China, South Korea and Indonesia have dominated world play since the seventies. The likelihood that the United States, Germany, Canada, were going to medal in this sport, or even compete at a high level is ludicrous. It is more of a mismatch than the US women's basketball team against Angola - I believe that one ended 90-38.
In badminton, competition is structured in a round-robin format, where multiple (deliberate) losses in the early rounds would put a team into the bottom half of a knockout draw. Simply put, if you set up your losses, you'd get weaker opponents to face later.
The second seeded Chinese team lost, unexpectedly to Denmark, and so, would have, all things considered, met their countrymates in the semis, instead of the final. It isn't good enough, eviently, to play for bronze, when you can lose and perhaps end up locked in a final, and take gold and silver - even if it means cheating to get there. And yes, cheating includes playing to lose, which the Chinese, Koreans and Indonesians all did.
Evidently, this has been going on for some time. The Chinese have done it n International play before. I'm only slightly sympathetic to the notion that the structure is to blame, that if play weren't round-robin, and the draw could not be manipulated this way, this would not happen.
I know the Olympics have a sorry history of blood doping and performance enhancing drug use. To me, the one thing that you simply cannot do at the Olympics is tank. You just can't deliberately lose. It's a bad thing to do anywhere, but, at the Games, where the sport is the thing, it is, as the IOC rightly stated, "not aceptable."
And so, the eight were disqualified and sent home. Yu Yang blogged to her more than one million followers, "Farewell, my dear badminton..."
Really, Yu? You offer a fare thee well to the sport you just dishonored? How exactly, do you think, the sport could fare with players like you in it?
Good riddance.
I believe we have identified the villians of the London Games. True, it is only Day 6, but I can't imagine anything happening the rest of the way that will make this situation seem even remotely OK. So, here they are folks, the Forbidden Eight:
Wang Xiaoli
Yu Yang
Jung Kyung Eun
Kim Ha Na
Ha Jung Eun
Kim Min Jung
Meilana Jauhari
Greysia Polii
In the sport of badminton, China, South Korea and Indonesia have dominated world play since the seventies. The likelihood that the United States, Germany, Canada, were going to medal in this sport, or even compete at a high level is ludicrous. It is more of a mismatch than the US women's basketball team against Angola - I believe that one ended 90-38.
In badminton, competition is structured in a round-robin format, where multiple (deliberate) losses in the early rounds would put a team into the bottom half of a knockout draw. Simply put, if you set up your losses, you'd get weaker opponents to face later.
The second seeded Chinese team lost, unexpectedly to Denmark, and so, would have, all things considered, met their countrymates in the semis, instead of the final. It isn't good enough, eviently, to play for bronze, when you can lose and perhaps end up locked in a final, and take gold and silver - even if it means cheating to get there. And yes, cheating includes playing to lose, which the Chinese, Koreans and Indonesians all did.
Evidently, this has been going on for some time. The Chinese have done it n International play before. I'm only slightly sympathetic to the notion that the structure is to blame, that if play weren't round-robin, and the draw could not be manipulated this way, this would not happen.
I know the Olympics have a sorry history of blood doping and performance enhancing drug use. To me, the one thing that you simply cannot do at the Olympics is tank. You just can't deliberately lose. It's a bad thing to do anywhere, but, at the Games, where the sport is the thing, it is, as the IOC rightly stated, "not aceptable."
And so, the eight were disqualified and sent home. Yu Yang blogged to her more than one million followers, "Farewell, my dear badminton..."
Really, Yu? You offer a fare thee well to the sport you just dishonored? How exactly, do you think, the sport could fare with players like you in it?
Good riddance.
Wednesday, August 1, 2012
What's Happening
In what many consider the signature event of any Summer Games, the American women's gymnastics team captured Gold in their team competition yesterday in London. Following the "disappointment" of Jordyn Wieber's inbility to reach the individual all-round fnals, the U.S. outpointed rivals from Russia, China, Romania and Japan, among others.
The U.S. team was truly led by Gabby Douglas who performed in al four disciplines. To me, the team needed to get off to a good start and did, when McKayla Maroney's flawless vault sealed a win in the opening round. Maroney's score did reflect .267 points deductions, and, even in slow motion, this untrained observer could not see any mistakes. On the all-important landing,Maroney simply did not move - it was "stuck", as the jargon goes. maroney made her single contributuon to the team really count.
Michael Phelps became the most decorated Olympian ever, notching his 19th medal of any color. He is now, if he was not already, in the discussion as "greatest Olymoian of all time." Phelps may not be the dominant force he was in Beijing, but he does continueto perform at an extremely high level. I had a conversation with a Lochte supporter, to my mind, the guy who is not living up to his blling is Lochte, not Phelps. Lochte himself stated, "this is my time." Both men still have several events yest to swim, we'll see where they both end up.
If you haven't gotten to see any water polo, take the time. It is an exciting, hard-fought high-scoring game. The U.S. women's team beat Gold medal favorite Hungary in pool (!) play on Monday. the game ended at 14-13, in favor of the Americans who were led by an amazing performance by Maggie Steffens, one of two sisters on the team, who scored 7 of those fourteen goals! The 19 year old Stanford student took 8 shots, and scored 7 times. That's .875, people. Kobe doesn't shoot that, but then, Kobe doesn't have Hungarian women trying to drown him while he shoots, so that probably makes a bit of a difference.The women continue play against Spain today.
I've been remiss in not mentioning Kimberly Rhode, who took Gold in women's skeet on Sunday. Of 75 shots taken by Rhode, she hit 74. She won her competition by eight points, which, in skeet is a huge margin.
Rhode, another Californian, has now participated in the last five Summer Games. She has medaled in skeet in all five. Rhode has an interesting back-story, to include a degree in veterinary science from Cal State Poly, she says shooting has been in her family for several generations. Her cometition shotgun was stolen in 2008, and the gun was recovered four months later. Rhode's response was that she was happy to have "Old faithful" back, so that she could pass it on to her kids. She will compete again beginning Saturday in women's trap. Her teammate on the men's side, Vincent Hancock, alsowon gold in skeet.
The stories keep on coming.....
The U.S. team was truly led by Gabby Douglas who performed in al four disciplines. To me, the team needed to get off to a good start and did, when McKayla Maroney's flawless vault sealed a win in the opening round. Maroney's score did reflect .267 points deductions, and, even in slow motion, this untrained observer could not see any mistakes. On the all-important landing,Maroney simply did not move - it was "stuck", as the jargon goes. maroney made her single contributuon to the team really count.
Michael Phelps became the most decorated Olympian ever, notching his 19th medal of any color. He is now, if he was not already, in the discussion as "greatest Olymoian of all time." Phelps may not be the dominant force he was in Beijing, but he does continueto perform at an extremely high level. I had a conversation with a Lochte supporter, to my mind, the guy who is not living up to his blling is Lochte, not Phelps. Lochte himself stated, "this is my time." Both men still have several events yest to swim, we'll see where they both end up.
If you haven't gotten to see any water polo, take the time. It is an exciting, hard-fought high-scoring game. The U.S. women's team beat Gold medal favorite Hungary in pool (!) play on Monday. the game ended at 14-13, in favor of the Americans who were led by an amazing performance by Maggie Steffens, one of two sisters on the team, who scored 7 of those fourteen goals! The 19 year old Stanford student took 8 shots, and scored 7 times. That's .875, people. Kobe doesn't shoot that, but then, Kobe doesn't have Hungarian women trying to drown him while he shoots, so that probably makes a bit of a difference.The women continue play against Spain today.
I've been remiss in not mentioning Kimberly Rhode, who took Gold in women's skeet on Sunday. Of 75 shots taken by Rhode, she hit 74. She won her competition by eight points, which, in skeet is a huge margin.
Rhode, another Californian, has now participated in the last five Summer Games. She has medaled in skeet in all five. Rhode has an interesting back-story, to include a degree in veterinary science from Cal State Poly, she says shooting has been in her family for several generations. Her cometition shotgun was stolen in 2008, and the gun was recovered four months later. Rhode's response was that she was happy to have "Old faithful" back, so that she could pass it on to her kids. She will compete again beginning Saturday in women's trap. Her teammate on the men's side, Vincent Hancock, alsowon gold in skeet.
The stories keep on coming.....
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)