Friday, June 25, 2010
Isner Wins
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
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 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
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
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!