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.

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?