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!

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.