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: