Saturday, September 4, 2010

Useless Speculation Time

Gotta love useless speculation for gymnastics world championships!

Unless they get injured, Rebecca Bross, Alicia Sacramone, and Mattie Larson are virtually locks. Bross should compete on bars, beam and floor in the team final. She is usable on vault, but I think she has one of the sloppier DTYs on the National Team. Sacramone should compete on beam and vault in the team final and Larson is usable on floor, vault and bars.

I would be surprised at this point if Aly Raisman didn't make the team. Though she did not look as good at Classics and Nationals as she did during the spring season, she is still very usable on beam, floor and vault in the team finals. If she actually manages to get her Amanar down, that would also be quite helpful.

A healthy Bridget Sloan should also make the team. While she's the defending World All-Around Champion and a fantastic vaulter, maybe a better strategy for her would be focusing on bars and floor. She would probably be in the team finals line-up in both of those events. While her DTY would score well, so should Larson's and Raisman's.

Macko Caquatto and Cassie Whitcomb have been mentioned extensively as "bar specialists" for the last spot on the team and both have good shots at that role. Caquatto has a higher start value and therefore higher scoring potential, but has been a "headcase" in the past. As good as her routine can be, I'm not convinced she can hit in a team final. Though Whitcomb has a lower start value, she has room to upgrade and tends to consistently hit her routine. However, her Gienger is wonky and she had recently been injured. I'm really not sold on either of them currently.

I actually kind of prefer Chelsea Davis for that "bar specialist" spot. She currently has the same start value as Whitcomb and also has room to upgrade. I think she tends to have cleaner form and that her miss on her Jaeger on day two of Nationals was more of a fluke than anything.

Kytra Hunter also still probably has an outside shot. She is a great tumbler and maybe could get an Amanar, which boasts team start values a ton. I doubt Amanda Jetter, Morgan Smith, or Sami Shapiro will make the team. Honestly, sometimes I'm just sad that Vanessa Zamarripa is no longer in contention and that Kyla Ross, Katelyn Ohashi, McKayla Maroney and Gabrielle Douglas are not age eligible.

Friday, August 13, 2010

Gymnastics Nationals

Halfway through the women's competition at the US Championships, one thing is fairly certain: finishing in the top 6 AA will be very important. I have a hard time believing that Alicia Sacramone, Jordyn Wieber, Cassie Whitcomb, Amanda Jetter, Bridgey Caquatto, and Ivana Hong won't be named to the National Team. There go six of the eight discretionary spots...

In other news, Maria Sharapova looked the best I had seen her in a while tonight. Now, if only she'd stop double faulting.

Tuesday, August 3, 2010

Olympics 101: Ice Hockey

The other night, I was reading the Ice Hockey section in my copy of The Complete Guide to the Winter Olympics by David Wallechinsky and Jaime Loucky and came across some interesting (and not particularly well known) information I thought I'd share.

Canada was a leader in the debate on professionalism and the Olympics. The country withdrew from international ice hockey competition in 1969 because it objected to having to play professionals from Communist countries. The issue on what made a hockey player a professional was a fairly complicated one. The IOC said that any hockey player who had signed a professional contract was a professional while the International Ice Hockey Federation said that a player had to play in a professional game before being considered a professional. Furthermore, these definitions applied only to the NHL; minor league players and players in European leagues were considered eligible. Athletes on Communist national teams received paychecks from their governments as opposed to privately-owned clubs and were therefore still eligible. Sweden joined in this boycott in 1976 and both countries returned to international competition in 1980.

One has to wonder how much these "definitions" had to do with the USSR's dominance in hockey. Would more of their players have defected or refused to play if they weren't receiving paychecks? If Canada and the US had been allowed to use paid players, would they have been more of a factor in the international hockey scene?

The 1928 Canadian team, comprised of players from the 1926 Toronto University team, was so good that Olympic officials advanced them to the medal round after seeing them practice. The team went on to beat Sweden 11-0, Great Britain 14-0, and Switzerland 13-0 in the medal round, justifying the decision.

Canada also produced the first male black gold medalist at the Winter Olympics when Jarome Iginla won a gold medal with the 2002 Canadian hockey team.

Perhaps the most impressive feat of the Soviet Union in ice hockey was not their record, but their ability to bounce back from tragedy. A plane crash killed all but one member of the national team in 1950. The government kept the crash quiet and went on to win the 1954 World Championships with a completely new squad as well as the country's first ice hockey gold medal in 1956.

After losing to the USA in the medal round in 1960, Nikolai Sologubov, the captain of the USSR team, actually helped the American team defeat Czechoslovakia for a gold medal. Down 4-3 after two periods, Sologubov came into the locker room and said that the American players should take some oxygen. The US went on to win 9-4. That never would have happened in 1980!

Sunday, August 1, 2010

I'm Back

Hi readers (if any are still out there)! Sorry for my absence; I just moved and that whole process was quite time consuming. Anyway, hopefully I will be able to do a better job of updating over the next several weeks. I will be attending a couple of professional tennis tournaments soon, so I should have fun reports from those.

The CoverGirl Classic was last weekend and the US's juniors showed much more promise than the seniors (though neither Sloan nor Bross competed the All-Around). As of right now, I would say that Bridget Sloan, Rebecca Bross, Alicia Sacramone, Aly Raisman, Mattie Larson, and Mackenzie Caquatto are the front-runners for the World team (though, let's be honest, this could change about a million times between now and then). With this team, Sacramone would be off bars and floor (obviously), Caquatto would be off beam, and either Larson or Caquatto would be off vault in the prelims. In the finals, I would probably put Sloan, Raisman, and Sacramone on vault; Caquatto, Sloan, and Bross on bars; Raisman, Bross, and Sacramone on beam; and anyone but Caquatto on floor (that's training).

Assuming Larson stays healthy, I'd assume Macko's spot is the least secure because she will be heading to the NCAA in January will probably not factor into the international scene for the rest of the quad. Though I would love to see Cassie Whitcomb get the "bars" spot over Macko, she really did not look particularly great at Classics. Bridgette Caquatto could also very much be in the mix depending on how she looks at Nationals. Honestly, if she looks good on bars, I think she will get the sixth spot on the team as she will probably be around for the rest of the quad. Kytra Hunter, Amanda Jetter, and Chelsea Davis are also probably still in the mix. I would love to see Sami Shapiro and Vanessa Zamarripa be major factors, but the former will probably be too injured and the latter really needs to upgrade to have a serious shot.

I love the budding Contador/Schleck rivalry. Not related to Olympic sports news, but get ready for the union of T.O. and Ochocinco. The Bengals will be the most entertaining team in the NFL this year.

Thursday, July 1, 2010

Wimbledon

Life has been slightly crazy, hence my lack of posts (this seems to be a recurring theme; sorry about that).

I'm not terribly surprised that Federer lost and thought that Venus losing was much more surprising. I really think Murray is playing the best out of those left; we'll see if he can handle the pressure and bring the Wimbledon title back to the UK. I would love to see a Murray-Berdych final.

Check out John Isner reading the Top 10 list on Letterman.

Friday, June 25, 2010

Isner Wins

In the match that wouldn't end, John Isner beat Nicolas Mahut 6-4, 3-6, 6-7 (7), 7-6 (3), 70-68. The match lasted 11 hours and five minutes and spanned three days; the last set alone lasted 8:11. Isner will now play Thiemo de Bakker in the second round. who was pushed to the usually grueling score of 16-14 in his final set. In another interesting side note, Mahut won his second round qualifying match by a score of 24-22. Isner even found time to look like the late Touchdown Jesus after winning.

In other Wimbledon news, according to an article written by Kamakshi Tandon, leggy blonds are more likely to play Centre Court matches than Serena Williams and Dinara Safina. Many seemed perplexed that third-seeded Caroline Wozniacki was scheduled to play on Centre Court today for the Queen over Williams. While they both seem equally deserving this time around, if the most attractive players on the tour are really given court preference, the All-England Club might want to encourage their spokespeople not to mention it.

Thursday, June 24, 2010

What a Day



I don't know if I have anything particularly insightful to add, but what a day. First Landon Donovan scores in the 91ST MINUTE off of a Clint Dempsey, allowing the US to advance to the knock-out round of the World Cup. John Isner and Nicolas Mahut are tied at 59-ALL in the fifth set at Wimbledon. The match has lasted 10 hours total; the fifth set has gone on for 7:06 alone. The second longest match in tennis history was only 6:33. And I think the guys only took one bathroom break today.

I'm excited. I'm exhausted. And I didn't participate in any form of international sport today. Let's hope tomorrow is just as fun.

Sunday, June 20, 2010

International Skill Level

Should there be a cut-off for major international gymnastics competition? A couple of bar routines, Sarah El Dabagh from Denmark and Meenakshi from India, have made me think about that question.

Those routines, along with the floor routines performed by gymnasts from Sri Lanka at the 2003 World Championships, help to facilitate an interesting discussion in the gymnastics world: Should their be a skill-level cut-off? Compulsories (which I really do miss) used to take care of this question. While the elimination of those exercises might have expanded the number of countries that can compete internationally, when is the skill level just too low? Are these girls benefiting from representing their countries and competing on a large international stage (which is undeniably a huge honor)? Or do they feel embarrassed to be competing at this skill level when their routines are being compared to those of gymnasts such as He Kexin?

This issue affects other Olympic sports as well, most famously, Eddie the Eagle and Eric the Eel. Though Eric the Eel was undeniably inspiring, should the Olympics be the showcase for these types of performances? Or should they only show the best in the sport?

Personally, I think it is great to see athletes from non-traditional countries compete internationally. I do question at times if the World Championships and Olympics are the right place to showcase these routines. However, if competing in those events is what motivates the athletes, then I support it. I would love to hear your thoughts on the issue, so please comment below!

Sunday, June 13, 2010

ESPN for 2014

I know I have blogged about this before, but I really hope ESPN gets the rights to cover the the 2014 Olympics in the United States over NBC. After two days, I am already very impressed by their World Cup coverage and think they are handling the time difference very well. I would love to see this type of packaging for the Olympics.

I live in the Mountain Time Zone. Games are broadcast live at 5:00am, 7:00am, and 12:00pm. They are then re-broadcast at 4:00pm, 6:00pm, and 1:00am. Everything is also online. This gives die-hard fans the opportunity to see everything live while allowing those of us the prefer to sleep a chance to see the games as well.

ESPN has seven TV stations to work with as well as internet broadcasting. Even if they decide against re-broadcasting events, they could still easily show everything live, put everything on the internet, package something easily digestible for prime-time, and sell lots of advertising. This is how I want to experience the Olympics. NBC needs to wake up and realize that people know what happens in the sports world before they tell us what happens.

Thursday, June 10, 2010

Death of the All-Around Gymnast

I miss true All-Around gymnasts. By this I mean gymnasts that were competitive in both the All-Around and in all event finals. It was fairly common for the top All-Around gymnasts to be threats to qualify for all event finals in the past.

Let's take a look at the routines of the lovely Mighty Mo (yes, I know that she never pulled it together enough to dominate competitions, but I still love her, her routines, and her potential).











She could do everything and do it well.

I know that changes in the sport have facilitated the demise of All-Around gymnasts beyond what the gymnasts can control. The 6-6-5 format has not been around since 1992. The fact that not everyone has to compete on every event has led to the specialist movement. While this is advantageous for gymnasts with a particularly glaring weakness, it hurts the heart of the sport, the All-Around.

The last time a gymnast was really a threat to make every event final was in 2000. Jiang Yuyuan probably had the most potential to do this in 2008. Let's make everyone train two vaults again. Let's have a code that encourages looking awesome while preforming, as opposed to throwing the hardest skills you can kind of do. The winner of the team final should truly be the best, most well-rounded team instead of the team that messes up the least. Let's go back to 7-6-5 or 6-5-4 instead of 6-3-3 or 5-3-3. I want to see more gymnasts that can do it all and look clean and confident while doing it.

Wednesday, June 2, 2010

Stress Management

It's the 89th minutes. The score is 0-0. The whistle blows! A foul was committed just five yards outside and slightly to the right of the 18 yard box. You have about 30 seconds to prepare. First, you run to the right goal post and begin yelling furiously at four of your teammates to line up in a wall. Second, you are exact about where you want them set up. So exact that you will tell them to move half an inch in the direction you want. "Hold there!" 15 seconds gone. Quickly you must move to where you want to set up in the goal mouth. Favoring slightly more to the left of the goal, leaving the right side wide open, you hope and pray the wall stands their ground, protecting the right side. Six players from the other team plus the same amount of your team line up just inside the 18 yard box jostling for position, anticipating the shot, and ready to crash the goal. You're blind due to the all the traffic in the box.


You must be ready, bouncing on your toes, knees slightly bent primed to pounce in any direction. The ref blows his whistle signaling the player to shoot or pass. The players run up to the ball, he's going to shoot! A split second before he shoots you notice twelve players running hard in your direction, ready to capitalize on any mistake you make. But you can't pay attention to them. Right now you have less than a second to react to a ball flying in your direction at over 70 MPH. For this split second all eyes are focused on you. 60,000 fans in the stadium staring at you, millions watching television are fixated on you and what you do now. The ball clears the wall it looks like it will be coming right at you, but there is so much spin it curve and dips 4 feet to the right. You spring to the right diving four feet off the ground lying almost perfectly horizontal in the air and stretching your arms as far as you can. Two of your fingers get under the ball just enough to tip it away from the net.


You crash into the ground and get up, you heart is pounding and you're in the middle of an incredible adrenaline high. That split second just felt like running a 50 yard sprint. You did it! You stopped them from scoring! The game is still tied. But wait! No time for a breather or a silly celebration. Instead, there's another 30 seconds of stress as you set up your defense for a corner kick. Oh yeah, and that amazing save you just made? The save that required almost every muscle in your body? The save that may have won the game for your team and your nation? That save will be forgotten shortly, because someone will score. Whether you get scored on or one of your teammates scores someone will and that is what will be remembered. Only goals and goal scorers are remembered. Goalies don't do it for the fame and fortune. Goalies are slight masochists in my personal opinion. But they have to be for the constant blame and stress that is put on them. The best goalies in the world will feed off the stress and anxiety that comes from being the last line of defense.

I believe the words of Arsenal coach Arsene Wenger sum it up best. "Goalkeeper is a position that is guided by fear more than any other. You have only negative stress. A striker has a positive stress. He thinks, 'I can be a hero,' but the goalkeeper thinks, 'I don't want to be a villain today.'"

So who will handle the stress of protecting the goal for the largest sporting event in the world? There are some amazing keepers in this World cup. My top 5 to keep an eye out for are...in no particular order:

Iker Casillas-Spain

In 2008-2009, FIFA named Casillas Goalkeeper of the Year. He holds the record for most appearances for a goalie with Real Madrid at 454. He was captain of the 2008 Spanish team that won the 2008 European Championship. I think he is the best goalie in the 2010 World Cup. If you want to see quick acrobatic saves watch Spain.

Tim Howard-USA

The United States has a knack for producing world class keepers. Tim Howard is no exception. In 2003, Howard signed a contract with top English Premier League team Manchester United, an amazing feat for any U.S. born player. In 2004, Howard made a stunning save against Arsenal to help Man U win the Community Shield. Howard also collected a Winner's Medal making him the only American player to do so. He currently plays with Everton. Howard has been the USA's top goalie since Casey Keller's retirement from international play in 2006. Howard will be tested a lot this World Cup. Not only is he capable of making acrobatic saves, but he is one of the smartest goalies out there. He knows where to be and has a commanding presence inside the 18 yard box.

Gianluigi Buffon-Italy


Buffon has been playing for the Italian national team since the age of 19. Now 32, he is an experience keeper who is looking to repeat as the world champion. In the 2006 World Cup only 2 goals were scored on him. He posted a 453 minute scoreless streak. One of the goals scored was an own goal while playing the USA in group stage play and the second came from France on a penalty kick in the final match.

Julio Cesar-Brazil

Fresh off winning the UEFA Champions League with his club team Internazionale (Inter Milan). Cesar is now ready to take the reins as Brazil's number one goalie. Like Casillas, Cesar is known for making breathtaking acrobatic saves and has some of the fastest reactions among goalies. Brazil is known for their flamboyant style of play; however, that is not the case for Cesar. He is a mature goalie who has played in many big games and will be ready to help Brazil compete for their 6th world title.

Oswaldo Sanchez-Mexico

This was a tough decision. I wasn't sure who to add for my final position as top 5 goalies to watch. While I definitely believe the first four goalie mentioned are the four best in the 2010 World Cup, I can't say that about this one. That being said, if you want to see some amazing Superman diving saves and quick reaction saves then watch Mexican goaltender Sanchez. He has a style of goalkeeping I personally am not too fond of. He is very flashy. He will dive for balls he doesn't need to. One reason a goalie is forced to make an amazing save is because he is in the wrong position and Sanchez is known to be in the wrong position a lot. But if you want to be entertained then he is the goalie for you, just look at the picture. That guy can fly!

World Cup Tidbits



This is the official song and music video for the FIFA World Cup 2010. K'naan is a Somalian singer/songwriter; he has quickly become the leading voice for the World Cup.

Team USA officially arrived in South Africa yesterday in order to acclimate to their surroundings and hopefully perform at their best. England has had roughly a 66% winning average in international play. Fabio Capello announced his 23 man roster yesterday and we have a good shot at beating England. Yes, I just said we could beat England. My fingers are crossed and I'm nervous, but we can do it.

http://www.cnn.com/2010/SPORT/football/05/31/football.world.cup.terror/index.html?hpt=Sbin
South Africa is playing down the latest World Cup terrorist threat. Plus they absolutely smashed Guatemala 5-0. Well done Bafana!



The stunning visuals inside rolling leopards sent shivers down my spine in this World Cup commercial. 8 more days!!

England's final 23 man roster was announced yesterday. Surprisingly Theo Walcott was NOT included, not surprisingly David Beckham WASN'T included, and VERY surprisingly Emile Heskey was included. England's squad is similar to ours in that they have core players like Gerrard, Terry, Lampard, Rooney, Wright-Phillips, Ferdinand, and Crouch. Yet their defense lacks on the wings other than Ashley Cole. Ferdinand is like Onyewu in terms of international performance (though Ferdinand is more consistent and has more sparked when compared to Onyewu). The difference between our two squads is that even though Landon Donovan can be deadly, Rooney, Crouch, Lampard, Gerrard, Terry, Barry, Carrick (my FAVORITE player of all time), AND Defoe can all score their little butts off from ALL over the pitch. The midfield could border on the surreal even with Joe Cole fairly off form this past season at Chelsea. The keeper David James has experience, but he's not as good as Tim Howard.

Now this isn't an impossible squad to beat. In fact, the experience of England at the World Cup is one where almost all of the players are outstanding on their own, but asked to play on a team together, things get very interesting. It will be a good first group stage match on June 12th. Go USA!

Tuesday, June 1, 2010

History of the World Cup trophy and the ball

Ok so you may be reading this and thinking to yourself, um, what's so cool about a trophy and a ball? Each ball is constructed specifically for each World Cup and the trophy has a mysterious past of its own...

The trophy is officially named the Jules Rimet Cup after the FIFA president who served the longest term, 33 years and was president for the very first World Cup in 1930. Curiously the first Cup was named Victory, made of lapis lazuli & sterling silver, and contained the goddess of victory, Nike. The original trophy was awarded to Brazil in their 1970 victory, later stolen in 1983, and never recovered. Starting in 1974 a new trophy was commissioned, The FIFA World Cup Trophy. This trophy is officially in the possession of FIFA. The winning team receives a replica made of gold plating instead of the solid 18-carat gold of the original. Italy must give it back to FIFA before the start of this year's World Cup. The bottom of the trophy contains the dates and winners of each World Cup winner. The plaques will not be filled until 2038 so who knows if the trophy will be retired at that time....


As German legend Ure Sweeler said about the Beautiful Game, "The secret of football is the ball." He couldn't be more right. Adidas has been in charge of manufacturing the official match balls since 1970. In the very first World Cup in 1930 a different ball was used each half because the countries insisted on using their own football. After 1930 the host country was allowed to supply the match balls. The ball generally consisted of 12 or 18 parts until 1966. For each cup after 1970 people tried to invent the perfect ball. Various names were given such as "Azteca" "Fevernova" "+Teamgeist" and this year's "Jabulani." Construction pushed the ball to be more round, more accurate, and more durable. Ok does all this work pay off? Yes, the 1998 World Cup saw the most goals ever scored in a World Cup at 171 all thanks to the little sphere. The least goals scored in a World Cup? Yep, 1930 and 1934 with 70.

Hungry for more records?
Enjoy!

USA 2-1 vs. Turkey!

Yay! Finally some exciting news about the US men's national team! After being down 0-1 at halftime by a very, we're talking VERY, fast Turkish side, we came back to win it 2-1! Thanks to the efforts of Clint Dempsey and Jozy Altidore (my two favorite players) we were able to contain the speed of the Turks. Now you may be asking, well what happened on that first goal? I'll tell you. Thanks to the lack of mental preparation by Jay DeMerit and his inability to shift over when Jonathan Spector made his spectacular streaking run forward, Turkey scored. Ok ok I admit maybe Spector shouldn't have shot up field, but being a defender myself for 5 years I can tell you I love it when defenders take chances like that. How was Spector supposed to know that his teammates including Bocanegra wouldn't shift over for him? He wasn't. Also um, hellllooo DeMerit, any 14 year old girl can tell you that when a defender runs up you pull your midfielder back and you SHIFT OVER. It's called the "banana." Or the boomerang, depending on who taught you. And who was in the right midfield spot that should've come back? Yep, Donovan.

Other than that hiccup and the tight, complex passing style that eased into simplicity when Torres was substituted into the match in the 2nd half, the USA looked like a solid and a formidable opponent. They need to use the entire width of the field, but that will resolve once Donovan and Feilhaber stop trying to drift to the inside. Donovan's problem is that he still thinks he's a central forward....oops.

As for defense, Oneywu may be in trouble with fast midfielders like Ashley Cole who love to make crazy runs and dribble straight at defenders. Oneywu's going to have to MOVE. Personally I'd prefer Spector, Bocanegra, Goodson, and maybe DeMerit. Bornstein does not need to be anywhere near that back line unless he chills out and fast. Oneywu does not factor into my lineup though Bradley seems to love him. And yes, he can body up when necessary. I think he's still playing scared, though a crucial injury can do that. We'll see.

Next game is vs. Australia on June 5th in South Africa.

Thursday, May 27, 2010

Quick Update




Just a quick post before I head out of town yet again.


Chinese gymnastics nationals are going on now. Check out Komova's Youtube Channel for videos. Canadian nationals are going on as well. Blythe at the Gymnastics Examiner is liveblogging the event.


Former USA Swimming national team director Everett Uchiyama was those named a list of lifetime bans. Uchiyama was banned for inappropriate sexual behavior.


Dinara Safina lost in the first round of the French Open to Kimiko Date Krumm who turns 40 this fall.


Caster Semenya's return to competition was delayed after the meet in which she was supposed to run was canceled.


TJ Lanning will skip the 2011 skiing world cup circuit as he recovers from a fractured neck suffered last November.


A good read on Jesse Owens being awesome can be found here.

Wednesday, May 26, 2010

World Cup Overload!!

So today is a special day in the world of soccer. It is the day that the United States announced the 23 man roster they will be taking to the World Cup ANNNNDDD it is the day that FIFA released their final rankings before the tournament begins in 15 days. So extra special goodness all around. And it kind of makes up for the US's defeat at the hands of the Czech Republic 4-2. Joy. Small rant: typical US soccer consists of 15 min of really good play and then 60 or so of playing back on our heels, crap play where we usually get scored on regardless of whether we're winning or not. All of this capped off by maybe, MAYBE the last 15 min of us playing hard. In the Confederations Cup last summer (the prequel to the World Cup) we amazingly outright beat Spain 2-nil and then went up 2-nil against Brazil only to let Brazil come back and win it in the last 20 min of the game. So yeah, the US has much to prove this year. "Endurance" is the key word as well as "depth" and "certain spark." Does the US have these qualities of winning teams? It's iffy.

Coach Bradley's 23 man roster:

Goalkeepers: Brad Guzan, Marcus Hahnemann, and the favorite Tim Howard. (All play in England's top league the Premier League. In my opinion the best league in the world.)

Defenders: Carlos Bocanegra (veteran), Jonathan Bornstein, Steve Cherundolo (veteran), Jay DeMerit, Clarence Goodson, Oguchi Onyewu (veteran), and Jonathan Spector. (Bornstein is the only one who plays in Major League Soccer, everyone else plays abroad.)

Midfielders: DaMarcus Beasley (surprise!), Michael Bradley (NOT surprising at all, he's Coach's son, but still a good player), Ricardo Clark, Clint Dempsey (veteran), Landon Donovan (MAJOR veteran), Maurice Edu, Benny Feilhaber (love him), Stuart Holden, and Jose Torres. (Donovan is the only one who plays in Major League Soccer, but it doesn't really count because this past season at Everton was in a word, breakout and crucial for him.)

Forwards: Jozy Altidore, Edson Buddle (small surprise), Robbie Findley, and Herculez Gomez (BIG surprise considering he came out left field and is tied for the most goals in the Mexican League, the only American to ever do this in a league outside the MLS.) Buddle and Findley play in the MLS.

Bradley's roster looks promising...except in the defense category.

Forwards are scrappy with speed and something to prove. After the horrific car crash in October that left Charlie Davie struggling with tough rehab and his remarkable recovery to being able to walk, run, and play again, Davies still wasn't included in the roster. That will put an interesting spin on things. With up-and-coming Gomez and outstanding, quick Jozy Altidore, we may have a shot at scoring some amazing goals. Edson Buddle's going to be an outside man. He has the ability, but can he perform considering his last international match with the US was in 2003...? This list could go either way.

Midfield is solid. Dempsey and Donovan will lead the charge, Beasley's experience will carry him only so far, and the work rates of Bradley, Feilhaber, Holden, and Torres will lend much needed coverage in the middle plus speed on the wings.

Defense is a sore subject with me. Onyewu has been a question mark since his knee injury 6 months ago (not to mention his less than stellar performance in the 2006 World Cup) and if last night was any indicator, our defense could be shaky. Look to Cherundolo, Bocanegra, and Onyewu to lead this back squad. DeMerit, Bornstein, and Spector haven't been completely consistent as of late, but they have chances to rise to the challenge. BUT, but, but, but we have one of the top 10 goalies in the world...Mr. Tim Howard!! Howard has experience, skill and fire that will save our butts. But he can only do so much... It's not the goalie's fault if you get scored on. It's the other 10 men on the field the ball went through to get to the goalie. It's like blaming your last batter for the strike out that lost the game or blaming your safety for the opponent's touchdown. Or something...

As mentioned earlier the words of this year's World Cup for the US are "endurance," "depth," and "certain spark." Overall it's a solid roster, our veterans are going to be heavily depended on, and the newcomers could pull some fantastic moves.

FIFA rankings!! No surprises...ugh.
Top 10:
1--Brazil
2--Spain
3--Portugal
4--Netherlands
5--Italy (defending champions)
6--Germany
7--Argentina
8--England
9--France
10-Croatia

*The top eight hasn't changed since last month. The US holds steady at #14.

Tuesday, May 25, 2010

World Cup 2010 Groups & Mascots

World Cup warm-ups started yesterday. England crushed Mexico at Wembley (England's home stadium) 3-1, the home team South Africa tied Bulgaria 1-1, and South Korea beat Japan 2-nil. Tonight the US takes on the Czech Republic at 6p MST on ESPN. 4 years ago the US fell 3-nil and lost 5-1 on June 10, 1990 during the World Cup in Italy, the US's first world cup match since 1950.

Continuing our journey to the World Cup it's time now to focus on the group stage for this year's event.


Group A--South Africa, Mexico, Uruguay, France (1998 champion)

Group B--Argentina (they have the arguably second greatest player right now, Messi), Nigeria, Korea Republic, Greece

Group C--England (1966 champion), United States, Algeria, Slovenia

Group D--Germany (has never won as "Germany"), Australia, Serbia, Ghana (killed the United States last year and advanced in 2nd place from their group)

Group E--Netherlands, Denmark, Japan, Cameroon

Group F--Italy (defending champion), Paraguay, New Zealand, Slovakia

Group G--Brazil (2002 champion and have the arguably greatest player in the world right now, Kaka), Korea DPR, Cote d'Ivoire, Portugal

Group H--Spain (2008 Euro champion), Switzerland, Honduras, Chile (like the US their best finish was 3rd place in 1962 when they hosted)

*2 teams from each group will move on to the Round of 16. Finishing in 2nd means you will play a team that finished in 1st from another group. So finishing 1st is crucial to set up a favorable Round of 16 game and the rest of your journey to the final.


As is the tradition, each world cup has a poster/emblem and a mascot specific to each contest and country. The mascot is especially important because it embodies the host nation and it is the nation's presentation to the world. This year's mascot is Zakumi.
Zakumi is currently 15 years old and he will turn 16 on June 16. His birth date coincides with Youth Day in South Africa and the home team's 2nd group match. His birth year, 1994, is when the 1st non-racial nationwide elections were held in South Africa. His name comes from "Za" the international abbreviation for South Africa, and "kumi" which means 10 in various African languages. His official motto is "Zakumi's game is Fair Play." The colors of yellow and green are South Africa's official colors. And the leopard is an important symbol to the Bafana (South Africa's team nickname, like the All Blacks for New Zealand's rugby team).


Next time: Fifa will release their most current world rankings tomorrow and I break down the top 10 memorable matches and players.

Sunday, May 23, 2010

Weekend Update


The London Olympic mascots were unveiled earlier this week. According to Seb Coe, they are meant to be a kid-friendly creation made by drops of steel from the girders of Olympic Stadium and are based on a story by Michael Morpurgo. The singular eye represents a camera lens. They are named Wenlock, for the town of Much Wenlock, who's Games inspired Baron Pierre de Coubertin to found the modern Olympics and Mandeville, for Stroke Mandeville, where the Paralympics were founded. I'm really not sure how I feel about their appearance, but I do really enjoy the names and what they represent. Share your thoughts in the comments section.

WADA lost an appeal that would have left breast stroker Jessica Hardy banned for two years instead of one. The world record holder tested positive for clenbuterol at the 2008 Olympic Trials. The steroid was mistakenly put in a nutritional supplement she regularly took, contaminating that batch, and received a one-year ban instead of the standard two-year ban because of this manufacturing mistake. She voluntarily withdrew from Beijing and her status for the 2012 Olympics is uncertain.

The Queen is going to Wimbledon for the first time in 33 years. Beach volleyball player Kerri Walsh gave birth to a second son, less than a year after her first son was born. The French Open starts today. Get excited!

Friday, May 21, 2010

World Cup History...and Nike attempts to beat Adidas via a commercial

And I'm back as your guest blogger for World Cup 2010! This time I'm going to give a brief history of past winners and some surprising facts. But first some tantalizing media to get your hearts pumping and minds racing. Nike has released a new, epic 3 minute commercial in which they use current soccer stars such as Wayne Rooney, Christiano Ronaldo, Didier Drogba, and Ronaldinho with guest appearances by Patrice Evra, Frank Ribery, Landon Donovan, Tim Howard, Cesc Fabregas, and even Kobe Bryant. Now with the controversy of Ronaldinho NOT included in the 30 man roster for Brazil, Drogba's questionable fame after his repeated outbursts during his seasons at Chelsea and no clear mention of the World Cup in the commercial Nike could be biting off more than they can chew. Also the lack of legends Lionel Messi and Kaka could take away from Nike's attempt to compete with Adidas (the official World Cup sponsor). You be the judge.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=idLG6jh23yE&feature=player_embedded


And now on to a brief history of the 70 years of World Cup. Play began in 1930 as Uruguay hosted and subsequently won the very first world cup. Things only got better from there.

1934 host Italy, winner Italy (US placed 3rd out of 13 teams--our best finish ever)
1938 host France, winner Italy
1950 host Brazil, winner Uruguay (US beat England in an epic, history-making game. Rematch Saturday, June 12, 2010)
1954 host Switzerland, winner West Germany
1958 host Sweden, winner Brazil
1962 host Chile, winner Brazil
1966 host England, winner England
1970 host Mexico, winner Brazil
1974 host West Germany, winner West Germany
1978 host Argentina, winner Argentina
1982 host Spain, winner Italy
1986 host Mexico, winner Argentina
1990 host Italy, winner West Germany (the Berlin Wall had fallen exactly a month earlier when the pools were chosen for the 1990 world cup, so its implications had not taken effect yet)
1994 host United States, winner Brazil
1998 host France, winner France
2002 host Korea Republic/Japan, winner Brazil (the only time a joint host was allowed)
2006 host Germany, winner Italy

*France and England are the only teams to have one World Cup title. Every other winner has won at least twice.
*Brazil leads with 5 wins
*Mexico and Italy are the only countries to host a World Cup more than once.
*The 1970 and 1990 World Cups are the only times where the final four were all previous World Cup champions.
*The World Cup is the most widely-viewed sporting event in the world. An estimated 715.1 million people watched the final match in 2006. (Fifa.com October 11, 2009)


Next time: 2010 groups and World Cup mascots

Wednesday, May 19, 2010

Go Bruins

Who'd want to dance with the stars when they could dance with Miss Val (and Stella Umeh's sister)?













Tuesday, May 18, 2010

Slovakia! Slovakia! Slovakia? It feels like the very first time.

Hello! I am your guest blogger for this very special once in every four years event, the World Cup! OlympicSportsNews blogger has graciously allowed me to post and so I will be giving you news, tidbits, updates, and lovely facts about this year's 2010 cup in South Africa which starts in 23 days. To kick things off Slovakia is making headlines today. As with Korea DPR in 1966, the Republic of Ireland in 1990, Nigeria in 1994, Croatia in 1998, and Senegal in 2002 first timers have a tradition of performing outstandingly, beating soccer giants such as Italy, France, and Argentina, and making it to at least the quarter finals. Slovakia could be 2010's team. Since splitting off from former tough soccer competitor Czechoslovakia in 1993 (runner-up to Italy in 1934, runner-up to Chile in 1962, and European champions over West Germany in 1976), the Czech Republic has faired quite well in international competition and now it could be Slovakia's turn. Slovakia beat powerhouses Poland and the Czech Republic to finish first in their European qualifying group; and they could steal some press coverage and fans from hometown favorites South Africa. As Slovak captain Miroslav Karhan puts so well, "qualifying for the World Cup is important for the identity of our young nation." They're going to need all the luck of first timers as they go up against defending champions Italy in their group stage as well as tough competitors Paraguay and New Zealand. Don't count them out yet, things could be very interesting and the World Cup doesn't disappoint.

For more information on Slovakia click here:
http://www.fifa.com/worldcup/news/newsid=1212824/index.html#slovakia+nothing+like+first+time

Sports Illustrated's World Cup preview edition hits newsstands today. Some of the more optimistic writers are now putting the United States higher in the rankings. In the World Cup anything's possible.
http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/vault/cover/toc/11423/index.htm


Next time: A breakdown of group stages and the list of past winners to give background to this amazing sporting event.

Carol "Lefty" Johnston

Lefty, a Disney movie about Canadian gymnast Carol Johnston, was recently posted on YouTube. Johnston competed for Cal State-Fullerton in the late 1970s and early 1980s and was a member of the 1979 undefeated National Champion team. More notably, Johnston was a collegiate All-American despite only having one arm. She did some impressive gymnastics and competed in the All-Around in college. He bar works highlights another advantage of old-school bars—that it is possible to put together a competitive routine on one arm. Watch the movie below!









News and Notes

Marion Jones is now officially a member of the Tulsa Shock. I hope she is able to take advantage of her athletic second chance, though she has not played much organized ball since winning a national title with North Carolina in 1994.

Top swimmers recently competed in the Charlotte UltraSwim, the first long-course race of the season. In the upset of the meet, Nick Thoman beat Micheal Phelps in the 100m back. I am a huge Thoman fan and am always excited to see him win. I hope that he is able to make the major world or Olympic team that has always eluded him. Peter Vanderkaay won two individual races and captured the overall Grand Prix series title. Rebecca Soni and Chloe Sutton also captured individual titles to secured second and third place finishes in the overall Grand Prix standings respectively. Another personal favorite, Dagny Knutson, also took home two individual titles. Her short course swimming is generally better than her long course swimming, but I expect that to change once she begins college in the fall and has access to better training facilities. Other winners from the weekend included Phelps, Natalie Coughlin, Elizabeth Beisel, Eric Shanteau, Emily Brunemann, Missy Franklin, and Ryan Lochte.

Lindsey Vonn was named the US Ski and Snowboard Association Athlete of the Year, while Nordic Combined Coach Dave Jarrett was named the coach of the year. Other athletes recognized include Alana Nichols (adaptive athlete), Kikkan Randall (cross country), Hannah Kearney (freestyle), Johnny Spillane (Nordic combined), Sarah Hendrickson (ski jumping), and Seth Wescott (snowboarding).

Tyson Gay set a world record of 19.41 seconds on a 200m straight track.

Bobsled gold medalist Curt Tomasevicz got to play on stage with Pearl Jam at concert in Kansas City.

Pairs skaters Brooke Castile and Ben Okolski officially retired.

A friend of mine will be guest blogging about the World Cup. Get excited!

Wednesday, May 12, 2010

News and Notes

American Sarah Hammer set a world record of 3 minutes 22.269 seconds in the 3,000 meter individual pursuit in track cycling at the Pan American Cycling Championships.

Bob Bradley announced the 30-man roster for the US's World Cup Team. Standout forward Charlie Davies is not on the roster following an October car crash.

Pacman Jones signed with the Bengals. He'll fit right in...

2008 judo Olympic gold medalist Tong Wen tested positive for Clenbuterol and has been suspended for two years. The IOC will decide if she will keep her medal.

Ice dancers Kimberly Navarro and Brent Bommentre officially retired.

Michelle Kwan, aka my favorite figure skater since she was a 14-year-old in 1994, gave a commencement address at Southern Vermont College. Videos can be found below.





Sunday, May 9, 2010

Weekend Update

At the USA Diving Grand Prix, Li Shixin won the men's 3 meter springboard while American Troy Dumais and Kristian Ipsen won the 3 meter synchronized event. Ma Sinou won the women's 10 meter platform and Wu Shengping and Zhu Jiaming won the synchronized event.

Veronica Campbell-Brown won the 100 meter sprint at the Osaka Grand Prix track meet. Michael Rogers won the men's 200, Ginnie Powell won the 100 meter hurdles, and Joanne Cuddihy won the women's 400.

Lena Schoneborn won the modern pentathlon Budapest World Cup.

Brady Ellison won two gold medals at the archery world cup stage one finals.

Saturday, May 8, 2010

TGIF

In gymnastics news, Chellsie Memmel is not retiring, Kayla Williams is now at Cincinnati Gymnastics Academy with Mary Lee Tracy, and the US will not be sending a female competitor to the Youth Olympics, ostensibly because the the Games are too close to US Nationals. I am intrigued by the Williams/MLT pairing. Vault tends to be a weak event for most CGA girls. Hopefully Kayla will get bar upgrades out of this, but I believe CGA's bar coach recently relocated.

Greg Louganis is going to mentor American divers. I have a ton of respect for him and hope he enjoys that role.

2008 Olympian Mary Wineberg received an elite development from USA Track and Field. We went to the same high school and she recently had her first child, so I am excited to see her get back into the groove.

Thursday, May 6, 2010

Olympic Controversy

Double Olympic gold medalist in short track speed skating Lee Jung-su of South Korea and Olympic teammate Kwak Yoon-gy have been suspended for three years each following a race fixing scandal. Lee failed to qualify for the national team try-outs in March. Though he cited a knee injury, it was later discovered that the national team coach had coerced Lee to give up his spot to Kwak. Lee has denied his involvement, but Kwak has admitted to being part of the fixing.

Countries will only be allowed to enter one racer in each event in track cycling in the 2012 Olympics. This decision is meant to encourage more track cycling development throughout the world, but I think it seems like another attempt to short-change a sport that was already forced to drop five events following Beijing.

Check out the third issue of the Couch Gymnast's magazine here.

Wednesday, May 5, 2010

News and Notes

Shawn Johnson announced that she intends to resume intensive gymnastics training in hopes of competing in the 2012 Olympics. She returned to the gym four days ago. I am really indifferent towards both her and Nastia. Please let me know when Miller, Lysenko, Onodi, Mo, Podkopayeva, or Silivas decides to return to competitive gymnastics shape. Or even Courtney Kupets from the "actually realistic list."

The New York Times published a great story on Kevin Pearce's return home following his traumatic brain injury suffered in December. It can be found here along with a video clip of Pearce's appearance on the Today Show. He has made an impressive recovery and intends to snowboard again. For the record, his dad is also a super talented glass artist.

Martina Hingis and Anna Kournikova will play doubles together in a Legends match at Wimbledon. Since when did Anna Kournikova become a tennis legend? She's attractive, but was not a particularly remarkable tennis player.

Monday, May 3, 2010

Iran's Women's Soccer Team Will Play in Youth Olympics

The Iranian women's soccer team will be allowed to play in the Youth Olympics after agreeing to wear "a cap that covers their heads to the hairline, but does not extend below the ears to cover the neck." I am happy that they will be allowed to compete in the tournament, though I think the dress restrictions were ridiculous to begin with. In this case, I do not agree that a hijab is a safety concern; they are not particularly loose fitting and tuck into a shirt. It is just as much of a safety concern as a ponytail.

FIFA's other argument for banning hijabs is that they do not allow any religious symbols on the field. This argument has more bearing in my mind, but it is more important to allow teams to play than to ban them over clothing. I am glad that a compromise could be reached.

Weekend Update

In a week of changing the results of Olympics past, Polish cross country skier Kornelia Marek was officially disqualified from the Vancouver Games after testing positive for EPO.

Justin Gatlin will return to competition July 24th following a four year doping suspension. The sprinter is a former world record holder in the 100m. In other track and field news, sprinter LaShawn Merritt accepted a provisional suspension following a positive drug after. He used an over-the-counter male enhancement product that contained a banned stimulant. Some people need to learn how to read labels...

The Bryan brothers won their 60th ATP tour title this weekend. With two more titles, they will hold the all-time tour record. Justine Henin won her first WTA tour title since un-retiring, winning the Porsche Grand Prix while playing with a broken finger.

Ian Thorpe is considering making a comeback to competitive swimming. I love the Thorpedo.

Sidney Crosby fails at growing a play-off beard. The joys of being a 22-year-old star...

Mark Grimmette was named Sports Program Director for USA Luge, a nice way to begin retirement for the five-time Olympian.

Jordyn Wieber's much talked about new floor exercise from Pacific Rims:

Wednesday, April 28, 2010

China Stripped of Olympic Bronze

China's 2000 Olympic team was stripped of its bronze medal after team member Dong Fangxiao was discovered to have been underage. Members of team USA will now receive a bronze medal 10 years later. This decision furthers the disaster that was the 2000 Olympic women's gymnastics competition.

I am more or less against age limits in sports. While I understand the concern of keeping young athletes healthy, there are already junior gymnasts doing Amanars and gymnasts not even age eligible for London doing full-in beam dismounts. Setting an age limit for senior international competition does not stop young gymnasts from doing really difficult skills, making them still injury-prone, more or less defying the point of an age limit rule.

That being said, China did break a rule and is being punished for it. Why is this not being enforced across the board? In 2002, Alexandra Marinescu, a member of Romania's 1996 Olympic team, admitted to being underage. Nothing has been done to punish the Romanians. Is racism at work? If the FIG wants to keep a silly rule in place, the consequences should at least be enforced unilaterally.

Tuesday, April 27, 2010

Catching Up With Jessica Jerome

Jessica Jerome, a member of the Unites States' women's ski jumping national team, is a seven-time National Champion. She has notched 15 career podium finishes on the Continental Cup Circuit and finished 6th at the 2009 World Championships. Jerome was also one of 15 women from around the world to sue the Vancouver Olympic Committee in an attempt to add women's ski jumping to the Olympic program. I recently had a chance to talk with her about her ski jumping career and the future of her sport.

How did you first get into ski jumping?
I got into jumping when I was 7. The local club in Park City came to my school and handed out brochures. I started in a 1 day a week program.

When did you realize you could be an elite ski jumper?

Probably when I was 12. My mom sat me down and said you can do this and try to be good at it and take it seriously or just do it as a hobby. When I at the Junior Olympic age, my biggest goal was trying to qualify for Junior Olympics. I was training more frequently and competing in more domestic competitions. I competed overseas for the first time at 14.

What is competing on the Continental Cup circuit like?
I have been doing it for long time and want to see it improve. We have been coming to same hills for 10 years. They are too small and too outdated. It is the only international competition we have. It needs to be given a little bit of makeover, more up to date venues and bigger hills. Lots of the hills we jump in winter the guys don't compete on anymore, which is not good. There are three levels of competition for men and one circuit for women, meaning that it is one size fits all. It is hard for lots of girls to get better when jumping with the best in world. If there was another competition aimed at less advanced girls, they could improve and come onto higher level circuit once ready. Sometimes we get to jump hills that are great. However, lots of the hills don't even have clubs that jump at them. The hills are only prepared the one weekend the girls are there. If they don't use them ever, why are they used for us?

Is there a women's Nordic Combined scene in the USA or internationally?

No, though when we were growing up and joined a [Nordic] club, we, and everyone else, did Nordic Combined. We messed around and played games. When we got older, we dropped cross country because we liked jumping more. Maybe there is a Nordic Combined scene at a club level, but jumping has to be developed internationally before there can be international Nordic Combined.
It will for sure happen eventually because cross country for women is really far along and developed internationally. Jumping is there as well but not recognized. Nordic Combined will happen eventually; it will be something kids grow up doing. They won't take ski jumpers and teach them how to cross country ski.

How do you balance school with competing in Europe?
I am on the 10-year plan with school. I take spring semesters off and take classes in the summer and fall in the US. In other places, for example in Lillehammar, they have a school in the same town as the ski jump. When I go to Europe, I stay in Europe for 3 weeks while the Norwegians can go in and out of countries for the weekend. It is impossible to go to school full time in the winter [for American athletes].

What do you think is the future of women's ski jumping?

I think it will go in the direction of all winter sports. It will be in the Olympics at some point, participation will rise, there will be a World Cup circuit. It will happen in time.

Do you think the sport will be included in the 2014 Olympics? Why?

I have no idea honestly. I hope it is, it is more than ready to be [in the Olympics]. Only positive things will come [from having women's ski jumping in the Olympics]. I am not the person that makes those decisions. I don't know yet.

Do you think that the fact that boxing for women will finally be added to the Olympics in 2012 will help women's ski jumping be included or do you think it is a completely independent thing?
Both, they are completely separate because boxing is part of the Summer Olympics, but it could help though because the IOC wants to make men's participation levels more even. It is a step in right direction.

Do you think the IOC needs new leadership to give women's sports more equitable treatment?
There needs to be more women in the organization. It is lacking there. The leadership they have has been success on some issues but not others. New leaders would not necessarily be a bad thing but it won't happen anytime soon.

Wednesday, April 21, 2010

Update Time

Former IOC President Juan Antonio Samaranch was hospitalized earlier today in critical condition. Twenty minutes after checking into the hospital with heart trouble, he went into shock and is now on a respirator.

Russia, Ukraine, Belarus, Georgia, and Armenia are scratching from the men's European Gymnastics Championships due to travel difficulties following the volcanic eruption in Iceland. Since these countries are not members of the European Union, securing visas to travel across Europe by car or train was too costly. Russia is making every effort to send its women's team to Birmingham as the competition begins later.

The South African government will be issuing free visas to any foreigners holding World Cup tickets. Pretty cool if you ask me.

Ryan Miller signed 139 pucks to commemorate the number of saves he made during the Olympics. President Obama will get one of them.

I am heading out of town again and will probably not be able to post again for a bit. Until then,

Tuesday, April 20, 2010

News and Notes

Robert Kiprono Cheruiyot won the Boston Marathon. Ryan Hall finished fourth in the fastest American time ever.

Michigan won the men's NCAA gymnastics title while Wolverines Chris Cameron won the All-Around and Ryan McCarthy won high bar. Oklahoma's Steve Legendre won floor and Alex Naddour won pommel horse, Stanford's Eddie Penev won vault and Ryan Lieberman won parallel bars, and Ohio State's Brandon Wynn won rings. Pommel horse standout Daniel Ribiero failed to qualify for event finals.

Wayne Odesnik accepted a voluntary provisional suspension after pleading guilty to importing human growth hormone to Australia.

Misty May-Treanor and Nicole Branagh won their first beach volleyball tournament playing together. The past weekend's tournament marked May-Treanor's return to competition after tearing her Achilles and a calf muscle on Dancing with the Stars.

Undefeated Venezuelan boxer Edwin Valero committed suicide in jail after admitting to killing his wife.

Kevin McDowell and Kelly Whitley will represent the US in Triathlon at the Youth Olympics.

Contrary to popular belief, Shawn Johnson is not the only Olympic level athlete to attend normal school. Weighlifter Sara Cowles is a full time student at Northern Michigan University.

Sunday, April 18, 2010

Gender and the Olympic Games

South African middle distance runner Caster Semenya has been making headlines recently for all of the wrong reasons. Instead of being praised for her 2009 break-out year, in which she won the world title in the 800 meter run, her gender has been called into question. The muscular teen has had to undergo intensive gender testing and has not been allowed to race since the World Championships. Regardless of the outcome of the testing, her career is in jeopardy.

Semenya is not the athlete to have her gender heavily scrutinized and tested. That honor most likely belongs to Spanish hurdler Maria Patiño. According to Anne Fausto-Sterling's bookSexing the Body, Patiño, member of Spain's 1988 Olympic team, failed a gender test just before the competition began. It was later discovered that she had androgen insensitivity, meaning that, although she had testes and a Y chromosome, her body could not process testosterone. Therefore, the estrogen produced by her testes (which were hidden behind her labia) at puberty, allowed her to develop external female features such as breasts. Initially banned from competition, she was reinstated after fighting the ruling for two and a half years.

There have been other cases of gender ambiguity in Olympic competition as well, though none as high profile. Stanislawa Walasiewicz, better known as Stella Walsh, competed as a sprinter for Poland in the 1930s. Walsh was killed in 1980 during a robbery at a Cleveland shopping mall. Her autopsy revealed signs of mosaicism, namely male and female chromosomes and male genitalia. Brazilian Judoka Edinanci Silva was born with male and female sex organs and surgery in the mid-1990s to allow her to compete as uncontroversially as possible, going on to enter three Olympic tournaments.1964 Olympic track and field medalist Ewa Klobukowska of Poland was banned from competition in 1967 after failing a gender test.

Formal gender testing first began at the Olympics in 1968 after Capitalist countries began speculating that Communist nations were disguising men as women to win more medals (in reality, it was later discovered that many of these competitors were women that had taken large amounts of steroids). Before this, women had to stand naked in front of a board of examiners to confirm that they did in fact have breasts and vaginas.

Why do women have to go through such extremes to prove gender? Is it because men are considered to be faster and stronger? Would anyone care if a male competitor was found to be biologically a woman? (I have never heard of this occurring but would be interested to learn more if any of you have).

Androgen insensitivity gives competitors no advantage. Lying about gender has also pretty much been a non-issue in Olympic competition; the only documented case occurred in 1936 when Hermann "Dora" Ratjen, a member of Hitler Youth, competed in the women's high jump. For the record, he finished fourth behind three "certifiably" female opponents.

Friday, April 16, 2010

Today's News

The volcanic eruption in Iceland is wrecking havoc on the Olympic sports world. Two dozen runners including Moroccan elite Abdellah Falil are stuck in Europe trying to figure out a way to get to the US for the Boston Marathon. The European Gymnastics Championships, scheduled to be held in Birmingham, have been postponed a day.

A broken ring is causing havoc at the NCAA men's gymnastics championships. Follow the action live here.

Misty May-Treanor will publish an autobiography in June. It details her childhood, growing up with two alcoholic parents, and her life as an elite beach volleyball player. She also talks passionately about wanting to be a mother but does not mention wanting to make a comeback for 2012.

Love this mount sequence:

Thursday, April 15, 2010

News and Notes

World Cup tickets are selling for as little as $20 and are not selling as quickly as predicted. Now if only I had the time and money to go to South Africa...

Amy Palmiero-Winters, an amputee ultra marathon runner, won the 2009 Sullivan Award. On New Year's Eve, she beat all able-bodied men and women competing the Race to the Future, a 130.04 mile event. Read about her impressive accomplishments here.

China will be sending Zhou Qiaohong, Zeng Siqi, Tan Sixin, Huang Qiushuang, He Ning, and Jiang Tong to Pacific Rims. The US's nominative team is Bridget Sloan, Rebecca Bross, Aly Raisman, Kyla Ross, Jordyn Wieber, and Sabrina Vega. That team is rather meaningless though because the selection camp has not been held. I hope that Aly Raisman is not sent to three major international competitions in a row.

Russia is sending to Aliya Mustafina, Tatiana Nabieva, Ekaterina Kurbatova, Anna Myzdrikova, and Ksenia Semenova to Euros. Their junior team will include Viktoria Komova, Violetta Malikova, Anastasia Grishina, Anastasia Sidorova, and Maria Paseka. Their Pacific Rim team includes Anna Rodionova, Kristina Sidorova, Ksenia Afanasyeva, Ekaterina Kramarenko, Yuliya Belokobylskaya, and Ramilya Musina. Zamo will be a judge at PRC.

Wednesday, April 14, 2010

An Overdue Update

I'm back and kind of caught up. Think long and hard before taking any lengthy train trips no matter how much money it may save. Here is a brief rundown of the past several days in Olympic sports.

Piotr Nurowski, the head of Poland's Olympic Committee, was among those killed in Saturday's tragic plane crash.

UCLA looked great at regionals while Georgia failed to advance to nationals for the first time in 26 years. Missouri advanced for the first time since women's gymnastics became an NCAA sport. Vanessa Zamarripa is interested in trying elite gymnastics.

Nordic Combined athletes Billy Demong, Johnny Spillane, Todd Lodwick, and Brett Camerota are visiting troops in the Middle East.

Yelena Isinbayeva, the two-time defending Olympic gold medalist in women's pole vaulting, has decided to take an indefinite break. She has, however, vowed to return for the 2012 Games.

Canada won the men's curling world title, defeating Norway and their famed pants in the championship match.

In an effort to find the best synchronized diving pairs for the 2012 Olympics, American divers can now compete with more than one partner. This led to David Boudia and Nick McCrory finishing first, Boudia and Thomas Finchum finishing second, and Finchum and McCrory finishing third at the USA Diving World Cup Synchronized Trials.

Friday, April 9, 2010

Andre Inducts Steffi into Hall of Fame

I am heading out of town again (it's a really busy month). In the mean time, enjoy Andre Agassi being adorable.

Wednesday, April 7, 2010

News and Notes

The IOC has supported FIFA's decision to bar the Iranian women's team from the Youth Olympics because the IOC believes it is up to individual governing bodies to establish and enforce rules. Though I can see why they would be hesitant to set a precedent, I still find this to be a very disappointing decision. I plan on exploring the nuances of this issue a bit more when my life calms down a little (probably sometime next week).

Caster Semenya's lawyers told South African press that gender test results have shown that she can compete as a woman. A more contextualized look at this is also coming.

The official investigation into Nodar Kumaritashvili's death concluded that there was no one cause.

Send good thoughts to tennis great Martina Navratilova who was recently diagnosed with breast cancer.

Routine of the Day:

Tuesday, April 6, 2010

Gymnasts Update

Anna Li will be giving elite gymnastics another try following her graduation from UCLA this summer. This is great news because the US definitely needs bar workers. Kytra Hunter is apparently injured right now, as is Lauren Mitchell, so neither of them will be at Pacific Rim Championships.

The Australian team will be:
Georgia Wheeler
Emily Little
Larrissa Miller
Amelia McGrath
Georgia Rose-Brown
Emma Collister

The rumored Chinese team is:
Huang Qiushuang
Wu Liufang
Jiang Tong
Tan Sixin
Zhou Qiaohong
Zeng Siqi

The US's provisional team is:
Rebecca Bross
Bridgette Caquatto
Kayla Williams
Lexie Priessman
Jordyn Wieber
Sabrina Vega
However, this is pretty meaningless, as Marta will just choose whomever she wants a couple of days before the meet.

Caster Semenya has agreed not to run until the results of her gender test come back. Her first meet should be in Zaragoza June 24th. This is getting ridiculous. Let the girl run!

Finally, just because we all need humor in our lives: