Closing Olympics & Fantasy Football

Picture courtesy of the Los Angeles Times.

Started school this week, but I wanted to wrap up some thoughts I had regarding the Beijing Olympics. Overall, the Beijing Games were very successful, but one could get the sense that there was a sheen to it all. The Chinese government did not ease restrictions to international media and arrested protesters despite having protest zones, which made the Games' slogan, "One World, One Dream", untrue. We all desire peace and we are one world, that is true, but my "dream" is different than someone in China or Iran. It was sad to see the media restrictions and even worse worldwide PR (what else will journalists write about if you restrict their access?) Not to mention the controversy over the Chinese gymnasts' age...

That being said, the athletic competition was first-rate. From Phelps' domination to Dara Torres' silver medals to Usain Bolt's world record sprints, athletic prowess was on display. The facilities looked great (especially the Water Cube with the ever-changing color schemes on its exterior), though the Bird's Nest name was a bit overused by the time the Games were over. Mary Carillo's travelogues did exactly as they were designed to do: to show people in America various aspects of China. Stereotypically, our culture thinks of China as red, Communist, kung fu, and pandas. Carillo highlighted some other things (she did a particularly good one on Chinese writing with the guy who designed the Beijing Games logo).


Picture courtesy of CNN/SportsIllustrated.

Last Saturday, a yearly ritual continued in our house: the Fantasy Football draft. For the first time, we're doing individual defensive players and I drafted first pick overall. For those unfamiliar with fantasy football, the essential point of the game is that you draft real-life players and their stats in real-life dictate how your team does. So if LaDainian Tomlinson, running back for San Diego shown above, has 100 rushing yards and two touchdowns, that's about 19 points for my team, a pretty good day. So here's my starting roster:

QB Ben Roethlisberger, Pittsburgh
RB LaDainian Tomlinson, San Diego
RB Jonathan Stewart, Carolina
WR Larry Fitzgerald, Arizona
WR Anquan Boldin, Arizona
WR Greg Jennings, Green Bay
TE Chris Cooley, Washington
LB Ernie Sims, Detroit
DB Champ Bailey, Denver
DL Trent Cole, Philly
DEF Indianapolis Colts
K Nate Kaeding, San Diego

Dad's team is also very good this year. Any team with Brees at QB, Houshmandzadeh at WR, Joseph Addai at RB, and Jared Allen at DL should rightly scare the pants off opponents. As for Robert's squad, it's mostly Cowboys but I can't fault him for that.

Since school has started, I do not know how consistent the blog posting will be. I am intending to put fantasy updates on here, along with the usual headlines, but we'll see. To whet your appetites for quality sportswriting in these down periods, I added three more columnists to the links page. Sean McAdam of the Providence Journal-Bulletin, Mitch Albom of the Detroit Free Press, and Michael Wilbon of the Washington Post. McAdam is a very good baseball writer. Albom, better known as the writer of "Tuesdays With Morrie" and "The Five People You Meet in Heaven" started as a sports columnist for the Free Press and still writes for them. Wilbon hosts of the ESPN debate show "Pardon the Interruption" and is a nationally recognized columnist. I intend to feature more columnists from different cities (Chicago, New York, Atlanta) and different regions (still looking for good columnists in the Southeast and more out West).

Domination

Picture courtesy of the Los Angeles Times.

As I'm sure you've heard, Michael Phelps has completed his quest for 8 Olympic gold medals after participating in the 4x100 medley Saturday night and a way-too-close-for-comfort duel Friday night. 7 of his 8 gold medal swims were world records and the eighth was an Olympic record. If that isn't dominance, I don't know what is.

Michael Phelps has joined Tiger Woods as athletes who single-handedly defined a sport. While team sports can have standout players, everything they do as a success is defined by teamwork. In other words, players like Randy Johnson and Peyton Manning have had hall-of-fame careers, but their success at times is determined by other people. What if Peyton's defense blows a lead or Randy's teammates can't score any runs the day he pitches? Michael Phelps and Tiger, for the most part, don't have this problem. It's mostly an individual effort for them.

Tiger Woods has won 14 major championships in his career, along with 65 PGA Tour wins. He has made golf a sport worth watching and made it more accessible to the general pubic. Phelps has done that with swimming. Across the country, people have turned on their TV's all week to see Michael's latest race. In the workplace, Phelps' name has been the only one explicitly mentioned. Seeing Michael's mom all tense before the race, knowing all of America was feeling the same thing. Woods surely has had an effect in terms of kids wanting to play golf and surely more kids will swim because of Michael Phelps' influence.

Is Phelps the greatest Olympian of all-time? I cannot say for certain because I never saw Jim Thorpe or Jesse Owens compete and Carl Lewis and Jackie Joyner-Kersee were in the very twilight of their careers when the 1996 Atlanta Olympics occurred, the first Olympics I saw (and barely remember). However, there is no doubt that Phelps is the greatest Olympian of my generation, just as Tiger is the best golfer of my generation. Both will be remembered for their dominance in their respective sports and perhaps, inspire a new generation to follow in their footsteps.

Military Olympians & New Links

Just a few quick notes for today...

For a good weekend read, I'd recommend this blog tracking all the US Olympians who are also members of our Armed Forces. The blog's main site, MilitaryTimes.com, highlighted one of the quietest stories of the Games has been Glenn Eller of the Army winning the gold medal in the double trap shooting finals.

On another note, I adjusted some of the links here on the main blog page. Instead of having media outlets like the Arizona Republic and the Boston Globe featured, I'm going to start linking to the columnists that are what make those papers such good reads. The first batch features award-winning journalists Bill Plaschke of the Los Angeles Times, Tim Cowlishaw of the Dallas Morning News, Dan Shaughnessy of the Boston Globe, and Terry Pluto of the Cleveland Plain Dealer. Cowlishaw and Plaschke are regularly featured on ESPN's Around the Horn. Shaughnessy gives a lot of insight to the Boston Red Sox and other Boston sports area, though the Sox are his specialty. Pluto, in addition to writing regular columns on the Cleveland area teams, also writes on subjects of faith for the Dealer and has quickly become a favorite of mine even though I hold no affinity for Cleveland sports teams. He is also occasionally featured on Hugh Hewitt's nationally syndicated talk radio show.

I've also added the mainstream media links like FOX Sports and the Sporting News, but may end up replacing them with a sports news gadget available from Blogger.

Swedish Foolishness in Beijing

Picture courtesy of The Telegraph (UK).

Earlier today, Swedish wrestler Ara Abrahamian won the bronze medal in the 84 kg competition in Beijing. In appreciation of winning the bronze, he threw it on the floor of the gym, walked out, and announced he was quitting the sport. He later said, "I don't care about this medal. I wanted gold." During his semifinal bout with eventual gold medalist Andrea Minguzzi of Italy, he had to be restrained by his teammates when the judges determined Minguzzi the winner. After the medals ceremony, he announced "This will be my last match. I wanted to take gold, so I consider this Olympics a failure.”

Abrahamian's lust for a gold medal consumed him. Most people would be okay with a silver or bronze and while they'd prefer the gold, they usually take it with grace and return four years later for another try at the gold. But not this Swede. He wanted the gold so bad that he convinced himself he had won it,even before the competition was over. He thought the gold medal was rightfully his. A preacher named C.J. Mahaney once spoke a sermon about conflicts and cravings, essentially saying that conflicts result when we crave something and we don't get what we want. Abrahamian is a perfect example of this craving.

As of this writing, the United States team leads all other countries with 15 bronze medals at these Games. Think they're going to give up their medals? While we all want the athletes to win gold medals, the silver and bronze are also worth having. After all, by having one of the three medals, you're considered one of the top three athletes in the sport. But Abrahamian isn't the only athlete with this behavior.

If we hold Abrahamian in disdain, shouldn't we hold major league managers like Lou Piniella and Ozzie Guillen who quarrel with umpires and throw tantrums in the same contempt? What about players who commit flagrant fouls on the opposing team in basketball and football? One can speculate as to how these players' pride swells up. Perhaps they grew up in an insulated environment (i.e. baseball games with no kept score) or were told from childhood they were destined for greatness (as some speculate the Chinese have done with their athletes). The world may, and rightfully so, hold utter disregard for Abrahamian, but he isn't the only one that considers everything but the gold, "a failure".

Do Young People Care About the Olympics?

I've been asking around (co-workers, friends at church, etc.) who has been watching the Olympics and the answer isn't good. Most have said they don't care about the events or don't know when it's on. One of my co-workers even asked why I only root for the American athletes!

However, according to NBC and Nielsen's early numbers, the Beijing Games have more people in the 18-34 demo watching (22% increase over Athens, 14% over Sydney.) In addition, the Games' median viewing age has been going up from 38.7 in 1992 (Barcelona) to 47.1 in Athens.

One could speculate that the median age increase is due to aging Baby Boomers, but the fundamental question remains the same: Isn't patriotism and rooting for your countrymen universal? Do we not want to see our fellow Americans triumph like the men's swimming team did in the 4x100 relay Sunday night? Do we not want to root for Michael Phelps' attempt for eight gold medals? Most of these athletes (namely everyone besides the basketball players) have day jobs that don't involve their sport or are student athletes (like Phelps', a student at University of Michigan).

Weekend Olympic Roundup

From left to right: Michael Phelps, Garrett Weber-Gale, Cullen Jones, and Jason Lezak. Picture courtesy of the Daily Mail.

Over the weekend, the Olympics got off to a terrific start amid political tensions Friday night in a fantastic opening ceremony. Of the past two Olympics (2004 Summer in Athens and the 2006 Winter in Torino, Italy), the Beijing opener blew both of them away. From the fireworks to the lighting of the cauldron to the impressive choreography of the performers, but it was Yao Ming and little Lin Hao, a survivor of the earthquake that hit China in May, that stole the show.



When Yao plays basketball during the NBA season, he plays in a very strict manner. I have hardly seen the guy smile or laugh on or off the basketball court, much less show any exuberance. Friday night, guiding Hao around the stadium and later holding him in his arms, he showed a compassion and tenderness I've never seen from him.

Swimming phenom Michael Phelps won his first gold of the Games in the 400 IM. There were some great volleyball matches (womens' indoor: USA vs. Japan; mens' beach: USA's Gibb/Rosenthal vs. their Dutch nemesis Boersma/Ronnes during a steady downpour) with both USA teams winning. Both American basketball teams soundly defeated their opening opponents. The volleyball news was particularly good as the American volleyball teams were reeling from the death of Tod Bachman and the injury to his wife, Barbara. Both were stabbed by a Chinese man Saturday who committed suicide by jumping off the Drum Tower before police could arrest him. Further investigation is ongoing, but it's looking like an "isolated" incident.

But the greatest moment of the weekend was the Men's Swimming 4 x 100 meter freestyle relay late Sunday night. It was a three-way battle between the Australians, French, and the Americans. The French anchor swimmer, Alain Bernard, boasted that the French would "smash" the Americans. Phelps started off and kept pace with the leading Aussies, Garrett Weber-Gale and Cullen Jones kept the Americans in the hunt, looking like the silver medalists. Then it came down to the final 50 meters with the two anchors, USA's Jason Lezak and France's Alain Bernard, and Lezak just turned on the motor (Lezak would later say he got a "supercharge") and beat Bernard by .08 of a second, shattering a world record in the process. It was easily the most thrilling swimming match anyone has ever seen. A link to watch the video is here.



A couple of observations as to the broadcasting of the Games:

1) Does NBC need to have flashy graphics all the time? Specifically, the peacock logo which at times looks as if it has a super bright spotlight on it that fades on and off. It's been incredibly distracting, especially during the Opening Ceremonies.

2) After watching the swimming coverage, I now cringe when NBC poolside analyst Andrea Kremer opens her mouth. It's not so much in how she asks questions, it's in what she asks. In last night's coverage, she repeatedly asked stupid questions akin to, "You just won a gold medal, how do you feel?" On her Wikipedia page, it says she has "been critical of efforts to minimize side line reporting during games." Gee, I wonder why. But that's a story for another post.

3) What is it with commentators calling games before they finish? NBC commentator Rowdy Gaines practically called the relay for the French last night with 100 meters left!

4) What is with the IOC and NBC's crackdown of Olympic footage on YouTube? The video player on NBC's main Olympics website is very selective of what systems it supports, essentially excluding a portion of the population that may not have the most up-to-date computing systems. I understand the crackdown is for copyright purposes, but isn't there a way to allow all users to see footage of the Games if they missed their broadcast?

The Olympics Begin

Photo courtesy of Top News in India.

Just a quick note for today. The Opening Ceremonies of the Beijing Olympics begin tonight. As the Games progress, I will attempt to cover as much as possible, with particular emphasis on basketball, swimming, track and field, and maybe even some beach volleyball. As the results are known ahead of time due to the time difference between here and Beijing, so I'll play it by ear or I will put up spoiler warnings when necessary. Will the USA reclaim gold in basketball? Will Michael Phelps claim the record 8 gold medals he seeks?

These Olympic Games are also the most politicized Olympics I have seen. While I will mostly focus on the sports side of things, I may take a post or two to blog on the politics of the Games (i.e. China and Darfur, Chinese censorship, etc.). These will no doubt be a most interesting Olympics.

The Great Favre Debacle...Ends

Picture courtesy of CNN/SportsIllustrated.

Last night, the Green Bay Packers traded Brett Favre to the New York Jets, ending his 16-year tenure with the Pack. When Brett Favre was reinstated by the commissioner's office on Sunday, he reported to the Packers training camp in Green Bay, but was sent home to Mississippi early Wednesday then traded to NY (for a conditional pick in next year's draft) at about 11:15 pm.

This will be a very interesting challenge for Favre. He clearly loves the game, but New York is notorious in sports circles for the unrelenting media coverage and pressure to perform at an elite level. Plus, his stated desire to play for a playoff-caliber team wasn't met in this transaction. The AFC is much, much more competitive because more teams are playoff contenders than the NFC (home of the Packers). However, the Jets schedule is pretty easy with the exception of a few games, particularly games against New England and San Diego back-to-back early in the season when Favre could still be getting used to a new offense. He'll have to learn a whole new system of plays within a month's time.


Picture courtesy of WNBC 4 TV in New York.

This season will prove a test for Brett's passion for football. Will his love for the game hold up under media pressure, intense competition, and the possibility of not making the playoffs? Will his body hold up (he is 38 after all, ancient for a quarterback)? Either way, Favre just made the Jets a whole lot more interesting and he'll be a story to watch all season.

For more coverage on Brett Favre, SportsIllustrated's Peter King, arguably the best football columnist in the country, has been writing about this story for weeks. I highly recommend his columns and he has had some great insight into this story. His latest is here.

Deliberate Hits - Part 2

Image courtesy of TheBaseballZealot.com.

Continuing yesterday's story of the brawl between the Chicago White Sox and the Kansas City Royals earlier this week, suspension for the players involved were announced today. Royals catcher Miguel Olivo, who started the brawl by charging the mound after he was hit by a pitch from D.J. Carrasco, was given a 5-game suspension. White Sox manager Ozzie Guillen (featured above) was given a two-game suspension for pushing the umpire during the scuffle and for comments made during postgame interviews (for more on those comments, see Part 1). The Royals manager will serve a one-game suspension while Zack Greinke, a Royals pitcher who drilled Sox hitter Nick Swisher with a pitch, will serve 5 games. Greinke hit Swisher in the 7th inning while the fight occurred in the 5th. In regards to the suspensions, all are appropriate amounts. Olivo should have realized that the moment he charged the mound, the benches would clear (which they did). Likewise, Greinke shouldn't of hit Swisher in the 7th after both teams were warned.

In baseball, when a pitcher hits a batter, the other team will usually return the favor (the "eye for an eye" idea). In this case, though, after a major fight happened, there is no support for Greinke to hit Swisher. What if he charged the mound? When suspensions occur as they have here, appeals usually follow. Naturally, Olivo and Greinke are appealing their suspensions (5 games each). Olivo was reported as saying, "We are appealing it because I think that is too much for me. Their pitcher [wasn't] suspended at all, nothing. I'm disappointed because I'm hurt. I got [my] left hand hurt and my right hand. I know I'm going to get suspended, but not like for five days, maybe three or two games. I agree with that, but five games I think is a lot." Greinke wasn't surprised Carrasco received no penalty because "[T]eams weren't warned. He didn't really try to fight Olivo really or anyone." Though Ozzie Guillen is known for a fiery temper and arguing with umpires, he told reporters, "I let my club down for two days." No kidding, Ozzie. But at least he took responsibility for his actions, unlike Olivo and Greinke, especially Olivo.

EDIT (11:31 am): I added two sites to the blog links, Deadspin and The Big Lead. These are the two sports blogs most often linked to online. I highly recommend The Big Lead.

Deliberate Hits - Part 1

Just a quick post for today with more on this topic tomorrow...

Chicago White Sox manager Ozzie Guillen told reporters on Sunday that he tells his pitchers to deliberately hit batters at times. While brushback pitches and retaliatory actions are common in baseball, a manager admitting that he orders certain actions like these is unheard of. It can potentially spark on-field brawls (like Chicago's game Sunday), the league can find and suspend players, etc.

The sportsmanship of the game is in question when a manager calls for an intentional hit on a batter and the action that usually follows (brawling) takes away from the game.

What do you think? Does brawling take away from the game? Do brushback pitches and hit batsmen?

60 Minutes Interviews Bill James

Last night, 60 Minutes did a piece on Boston Red Sox statistician Bill James, the man who invented "sabermetrics". James created the stats known as "slugging percentage", "on-base percentage", and "k/bb ratio (strikeout to walk ratio)". Sabermetrics has redefined baseball stats (even fantasy baseball players consider slugging percentage and k/bb ratio) and these stats helped shape the philosophy of Oakland Athletics general manager Billy Beane, known as "Moneyball". The following clips are from the 60 Minutes interview:

More Trade Deadline Thoughts

Picture courtesy of Sports Illustrated.

Yesterday's trade deadline brought up an interesting point amongst the sports community. Would you rather have "a clubhouse distraction who performs at an elite level" or "a good clubhouse presence who performs at an occasional All-Star level"? ESPN's SportsNation polling service asked this question and of the 78,900 people polled, 64% voted for the latter. SportsNation also asked how the Red Sox will do and there isn't a definitive answer. Of the 56,878 polled, 37% say the Sox will just make the playoffs, 31% say they'll miss the playoffs, and 14% say the Sox will win the World Series. The poll is an accurate depiction of Red Sox Nation's reaction to the Manny Ramirez trade in a sense that, no one knows what will happen for the Sox. The Dodgers are getting a marquee hitter, but they now have a crowded outfield and not a whole lot of protection in the lineup for Manny. In addition, Dodger Stadium is less hitter-friendly than Fenway Park is, so his home run total can and likely will go down. The Dodgers will likely win the NL West, but lose in the playoffs' first round due to their overall lineup weakness (Prior to tonight's game, their record is .500).

As for the Teixeira trade to the Angels, SportsNation asked 40,864 people how the Angels' season will play out. 44% say they'll win the World Series, 32% say they'll lose in the American League Championship Series (ALCS). Interestingly, they asked if Mark Teixeira will play for the Angels in 2009, with 61% saying yes.



Picture courtesy of the Northwest Herald.

Other trades made before the deadline included pitcher Rich Harden going from the Oakland Athletics to the Chicago Cubs, pitcher C.C. Sabathia going from the Cleveland Indians to the Milwaukee Brewers, pitcher Joe Blanton going from the Oakland Athletics to the Philadelphia Phillies, and outfielder Xavier Nady and pitcher Damaso Marte going from the Pittsburgh Pirates to the New York Yankees. Of these deals, the Cubs and Brewers made the best ones. Nady and Marte have made contributions for the Yanks, but Harden and Sabathia contributed immediately and instantly made their new teams better (much like Manny has done with the Dodgers).

I think the season will shape up like this:

American League:
West Champ: Angels
Central Champ: Chicago White Sox
East Champ: Tampa Bay Rays (the Cinderella story of the season)
Wild Card: Red Sox (barely; if not the Sox, the Yanks)
ALCS: Tampa Bay vs. Angels

National League:
West Champ: Dodgers
Central Champ: Cubs (by far the best team in the NL)
East Champ: Phillies
Wild Card: Brewers
NLCS: Cubs vs. Phillies

World Series: Cubs vs. Angels
World Champion: Angels