We’ve already been pretty extensive in breaking down the top 10 games of the decade in the NBA, NFL, Major League Baseball, college basketball, and college football. But we haven’t yet addressed all those other wonderful sports out there that don’t quite provide us with enough memories for a whole top 10.

Our Top 5 “Other” Games considered events from sports such as golf, tennis, soccer, hockey, the Olympics, college baseball, volleyball, the WNBA, lacrosse, and even the Little League World Series. To trim it down to five, however, we had to cut a few memorable events, most notably Usain Bolt’s victory in the 100m dash at the Olympics (or his 9.58 a year later), Syracuse’s last-second comeback against Cornell in the 2009 Men’s Lacrosse Championship, Texas’ 25-inning 3-2 win over Boston College in last year’s College World Series, the Flyers’ five-overtime win over the Penguins in 2000, the Hurricanes’ buzzer-beater against the Devils in last year’s Stanley Cup Playoffs, and two marathon tennis matches involving Andy Roddick–the first in his quarterfinal victory in the 2003 Australian Open over Younes El Aynaoui (4-6, 7-6, 4-6, 6-4, 21-19), and the second in his 2009 Wimbledon final loss to Roger Federer (5-7, 7-6, 7-6, 3-6, 16-14).

5. 2006 World Cup Final

(N.B. I don’t like soccer. Don’t expect any new insight here.)

The contest between France and Italy was already a classic, tied at one (a high-scoring affair!) into overtime, when what just might be the most infamous sporting moment of the Aughts (globally…certainly not domestically) occurred: Zinedine Zidane’s much-ballyhooed headbutt of Marco Materazzi. Zidane was ejected from the game—giving us one of the decade’s great images—but France survived the final 10 or so minutes despite playing a man down.

In penalty kicks, however, David Trezeguet missed for France and the Azzurri netted all five, giving Italy its first World Cup title since 1982.

4. 2008 U.S. Open

“How does one guy come up with so much of that? It’s just amazing,” NBC broadcaster Dan Hicks—as underrated as they come—said on Saturday night of 2008’s U.S. Open, right after Woods one-hopped a birdie chip out of thick rough on 17 and just before he eagled 18—his second eagle in seven holes—to take the lead. The final round on Sunday, with Lee Westwood and Rocco Mediate sticking right with Woods, lacked the sense of inevitability that had pervaded so many of his major triumphs in the Aughts, largely because Tiger was limping around on what was later revealed to be a torn ACL.

Even without knowing the true extent of the injury, the back-and-forth between Woods, Westwood, and Mediate on Sunday was thrilling, with each player representing a different realm of the golf landscape: Woods was the greatest ever, Westwood a rejuvenated veteran seeking his first major title, Mediate a journeyman unexpectedly adept at handling the stage. With Mediate in the clubhouse with the lead, Woods and Westwood headed to the 72^nd hole needing a birdie. Westwood’s long putt just missed, setting the stage for Tiger.

“Expect anything different?” Hicks shouted in as good a golf call as you’ll ever hear.* In a decade full of remarkable Tiger Woods moments, this one may be the best.**

*The pickings are slim.

**I don’t think it is, but it’s definitely top three. We’ll discuss the other two later.

I had long criticized the 18-hole playoff format of the U.S. Open, precisely because of situations like this. Mediate’s chances—slim enough in a sudden death or four-hole playoff—were practically microscopic in an 18-hole playoff: How could he possibly stick with him for a fifth day? And for much of Monday, that was the story: Woods was pulling away through 10, his lead three en route to another major title.

But just when you thought there was no more drama left, Mediate quickly made up the deficit, following Woods’ back-to-back bogeys on 11 and 12 with birdies of his own on 13, 14, and 15 to take a one-shot lead. Woods again birdied the 18^th—this time less dramatically—to send the Open to a 91^st hole, where Mediate finally cracked with a poor tee shot and eventual bogey.

3. 2008 Summer Olympics: 100m Butterfly Final

Two precursors here: 1. I hadn’t really bought into this Michael Phelps deal. It was swimming after all (which George Carlin affectionately tells us isn’t a sport, but rather a way to keep from drowning), and I’ve never liked the fact that an athlete can win as many as eight gold medals in the same sport at a single Olympics (it’s not like you get multiple medals for being good at basketball). 2. It seemed a shame that the defining moment of Phelps’ record-breaking performance was going to be of him celebrating the remarkable last lap of a relay teammate.

The 100m butterfly kinda changed that. Phelps’ defying comeback (it defied, roughly in order, physics, logic, and Milorad Cavic) dumbfounded everyone watching: How was it possible to make up that much ground in such a small amount of space? How did Cavic not win? He was at the wall, and Phelps was a full body-length from it! What just happened???

It was the aquatic equivalent of Duke’s Miracle Minute, whittled down to a hundredth of a second.

2. 2000 PGA Championship

(Many apologies for the music on that video. I don’t know what “junkprunk” was thinking.)

If I wanted to betray all my claims to objectivity here, this would be No. 1. Most people like Woods’ 91-hole showdown with Rocco Mediate more, but in terms of excitement, historical magnitude, and absolutely jaw-dropping golf, nothing compares to the 2000 PGA Championship.

Woods’ reputation has taken a little hit recently, and I just mean on the golf course. As good as Tiger Woods is now, it’s almost impossible to overstate how much better he was in the summer of 2000. Entering the PGA Championship, Woods had won three of the last four majors. He had won the U.S. Open in June by 15 shots, which is the biggest blowout victory in any sport this decade.* A month later, Woods won the British Open by eight. His scores in both tournaments were records, meaning he held the scoring record in every major tournament except the PGA. Tiger Woods was so good in 2000 that the Tiger Woods of any other year this decade wouldn’t have a chance against him. 2000’s Tiger Woods would have beaten Mediate by 10, won two more majors on that torn ACL, and avoided that fire hydrant.**

*Winning a golf tournament by 15 shots is like winning a basketball game by 100 or a soccer game by 50.

**I couldn’t resist!

Bob May, on the other hand? To compare May even to Mediate is unfair: I had heard of Mediate; Mediate had won tournaments. Even fairly close followers of golf had no idea who Bob May was, and that was even after he fired back-to-back 66s to earn a spot in the final pairing with Woods on Sunday, one shot behind.

So to say that Tiger Woods was probably going to win the 2000 PGA Championship on that Sunday morning is akin to saying Michael Jordan could probably take me off the dribble.

An early two-shot swing on the second hole, however, gave May the lead, and the former junior star—indeed, I learned during the course of that day that Woods looked up to May as a youngster—never backed down. The final round quickly boiled down to a two-man duel where each was shooting darts at the pin.

May briefly held a two-shot lead but was caught by Woods by the eighth hole. They each birdied 10, May birdied 11 for the lead, and they each birdied 12. They matched birdies again at 14, May now at -17 and Woods at -16. The second major swing of the day happened on 15, when Woods buried a 12-footer for par and May pulled a 4-footer for birdie. What could have been a three-stroke lead remained at one. Woods tied it at 17 with another birdie—his sixth in 11 holes.

May had had the honors all day on the tee, so it was only fitting that on the 72^nd green, he had to knock in a jelly-legger of a 15-footer for birdie—a downhill, double-breaker—to put the pressure back on Woods, who was six feet from the hole for his own birdie. May’s putt wobbled down toward the hole, entering through the side door to prolong the drama again. And then Woods answered, as he had done all day. Woods and May had each shot 31 on the back nine in breaking the scoring record in this major championship.

On the first of three playoff holes, Woods gave us what in my mind is his signature moment (on the golf course): a 20-footer for birdie that he followed to the hole, pointing emphatically as it fell into the cup, almost confirming our beliefs that he did in fact possess the ability to control of the ball well after he had hit it.*

*P.S. Here’s the other member of the top three Tiger moments.

On the final playoff hole, with Woods nestled tight to the cup for par, May’s long birdie putt—up and over a ridge from the wrong level of the green—looked perfect up until its final turn left.

It was the greatest golf tournament I will ever see.

1. 2008 Wimbledon Final

I will readily admit that I like golf more than tennis; this is because I have played golf since I was a kid and have played tennis a grand total of four times. But what makes tennis such a tantalizing sport is the simple mathematics of one-on-one. It is the most individual sport.

And while tournaments pitting the best against an unknown underdog can be astounding, it is still hard to equal a match between the two best at the top of their games in the sport’s most awesome venue. By the summer of 2008, the rivalry between Roger and Rafa had fully blossomed: Nadal was proving tougher and tougher outside of his domain at Roland Garros, testing Federer with a five-setter in the ’07 Wimbledon Final. It was clear that the two embodied different tennis sensibilities, with Federer’s timeless game foiled by Nadal’s new-age spin techniques and snap forearms. It was clearer still that nobody else in the game even approached these two at their best. If Federer or Nadal were on their game, it was going to be a quick straight-setter. Except when it happened on the same court.

That’s why it is difficult to conceive of a better tennis match than the one played by Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal on July 6, 2008 at the All England Club. It is not only one of the tightest matches ever, but maybe the highest-quality match the sport has ever seen. It gave us the kind of rallies the men’s game hasn’t seen in decades, each player hitting would-be winner after would-be winner, only to have to chase another exquisitely placed return.

Nadal raced to a hard-fought two-set lead, proving beyond all doubt that he could play with Federer on grass. Federer came back in the third and fourth sets, overcoming a 2-5 deficit in the fourth and winning consecutive thrilling tiebreakers that recalled the epic match between Bjorn Borg and John McEnroe in 1980—long considered the sport’s zenith.

There are few things more exciting in sports than fifth-set tennis, and that’s before you throw in a second rain delay, diminishing light, and a level of play that somehow through it all seemed to exceed the already astronomical standard set in the previous four sets. Nadal finally broke Federer at 7-7 and closed the deal, not without a little drama, on a Federer unforced error into the net—a mistake so common to the sport but not hitherto to this match.

It was the greatest tennis match I will ever see. It was the greatest anyone ever will.

Dara Torres Beijing

I was excited to see her again and to hear what she had to say about swimming in her 40’s, her trek towards the 2008 games, training hard, and having a child just a year or so before the Olympic Games.  Overall impression: Her drive towards swimming, racing, and life are even a little more intense than what I remember from our college days at Florida.  Maybe it’s the age!  

Dara talked about getting back in the water when she was pregnant, racing the Masters swimmers (or the Masters swimmers racing her rather) and even vomiting as a result of the pregnancy but still continuing to train. She also talked of an ever-present problem for professional athletes of minor sports:  finding money to fund her trip back to the Olympic Games—by the way it helps to know the mayor of New York, Michael Bloomberg, who hooked her up! She also talked of the coach finally letting her train with his National Team…..geez!   She has been busy!

One thing I want to share with my swimmers is a key idea she shared that really stuck with me.  She said she hates to lose…..period!  She explained how when she was asking Michael Bloomberg for money, the first question out of his mouth was, “Aren’t you too old to do this?”  That really motivated her!  She really got focused then! 

As far I’m concerned, her performance was pretty studly; probably the most amazing thing I’ve seen in the Olympics games or for anyone at the age of 41! You do realize she missed the Gold medal by only .01 seconds!  24.06 compared to 24.07.  Not only that, she broke her own American Record! (Something no other American woman has done in twenty years!  That’s crazy!) 

So do you think that .01 has motivated her to try yet again?  Oh yea, she said she is still a little ticked off at getting Silver, so I bet she goes again.  All she is waiting on is her knee to recover from knee surgery and she will be back at it!  Hating to lose is a huge motivator!

So, swimmers, do you have that will, effort, desire and extreme WANT to get better and improve to your best ability?  Do you HATE to lose?  I certainly do!   

Don’t ever go with the flow; be a leader and you create your own history.  Dara always has! Be a leader and have a specific goal. Maybe it’s to break Dara’s records!  Dara would be the first one to tell you go for it. She has always been in charge of her own success.  Not following, but leading!  She has done that for as long as I’ve known her.  

Last tip: Surround yourself with other motivated swimmers, and people who believe and support your goals.  If someone is taking your focus away from your dreams, get away from that person!  Oh yeah, and learn to hate to lose…it might be the one time that HATE serves a good purpose!

Jerry Colangelo interview

Jerry Colangelo is one of those old school sports figures who you know has a thousand stories, all of which are probably interesting as hell.

I wish I could’ve chatted it up with Colangelo as he was smoking a cigar after a few glasses of scotch. Instead, I had to settle for a 10-minute Q & A as he signed copies of his new book (about how he assembled the 2008 Olympic men’s basketball team) in a private room inside the NBA Store.

There is new information on some changes he’ll make to the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame now that he’s been named Chairman.

Tune into Elevation Radio this Friday afternoon to hear my interview with internationally renowned swimmer, and 2008 Olympic Gold medalist Cullen Jones. Cullen will be on the program to discuss being a part of the Gold Medal winning 4×100 relay team with Michael Phelps, Jason Lezak, and Garrett Weber-Gale, being a hero to the African-American community, and his new foundation devoted to promoting swimming within minority communities.

Cullen was a part of the amazing 4X100 relay race, where USA had the amazing comeback to nose out the French. Listen in!

I’ll also be discussing all the latest news on Brock Lesnar, UFC 105, NFL, and anything else going on.

We’ll be on from 12 to about 1 something. Cullen is joining me at 12:30. Its a really huge get, so enjoy the show.

Elevation Radio with Cullen Jones

Your calls welcome at 646 716 5746.

Cullen prepares for his huge appearance on Elevation Radio

The words leftover and condoms are not typically combined to start a sales stampede, but one Chinese collector of Olympic memorabilia is hoping he will be able to unload his 5,000 condoms from the 2008 Olympics at an auction.

Source:
http://www.sportsrubbish.com/2009/11/05/other-sports/olympics/want-to-buy-5000-leftover-2008-beijing-olympics-condoms-look-no-further/

Saturday, October 10, 2009

Today is a sleep-in, restful day.  I slept till 7:30 and then had a leisurely breakfast with Mom and Grandpa in the hotel.  We are now editing pictures and waiting to have lunch with Wang Ning, whose law office is a couple floors down and in the next tower from our rooms.  Last night, Joe came in with a graduation gift of 500 yuan from Wang Ning, which I will use to buy presents without regret.  Now I have to go back two days and write out all that’s happened.  Deep breath.

Two days ago, we woke in time for our usual 6:30 breakfast and organized our day with list-making and map-marking.  We decided to take the morning to wind down a bit, so Grandpa and I headed down to the pool.  We signed up inside the spa lobby and were handed towels and locker keys – neat little plastic stretchy wrist bands with a magnetic disc that magically clicks open the locker upon contact.  I changed into my suit and rinsed my feet in the little foot bath on my way into the pool area.  I was testing the water with my toe (frigid) while waiting for Grandpa, when a little Chinese woman ran over all in a panic and asked where my bathing cap was.  Now, I have dealt with picky German swimming pools bent on ridiculous rules, but I had never been in a hotel pool where I was forced to wear a swimming cap.  In fact, I’ve never put on a swimming cap in my life, because… I don’t swim, I wade.  From my quick observation, this pool was most definitely designed for wading – no lanes, steep grade, asymmetrical shape.  I tried a short protest, but she insisted that I buy one (and Grandpa too, as he had just arrived and gotten the same demands), so we pulled on our caps and took some quick splashy laps before deciding it was time to get a move on with the day.

On the way to the subway station, we took a walk around the back alleys to look for some street food snacks.  We bought some moon cakes at a bakery and then Mom and Grandpa found a street vendor selling roasted sweet potatoes off the back of his bike.

Grandpa chows down on a freshly roasted sweet potato.

We took the subway to a terminal where we thought we could transfer to the airport line, but it turned out that the Airport Express line is a whopping 25 yuan (sure, that’s like $3, but when you’ve been paying 2 yuan per entrance, it’s an outrage), and we were not falling for that.  Instead, we went outside to hail a taxi to take us to the art district I’d been aching to see.  It took a while to find a guy who would go by the meter, as most wanted to charge us 150 yuan for a short distance that cost 20 yuan by the meter, but finally we climbed in and drove out to Factory 798.

Mom and I pose next to the sign for the new art district in Beijing - an old factory area where the old warehouses have been turned into studios and galleries.

The trip was well worth it – the set-up along the streets of galleries and museums in what used to be old factory warehouses, was very well done.

Alleyways leading between old factory buildings are dotted with tiny studio spaces and larger warehouse galleries.

I even found some new Fanta flavors (a favorite activity of mine when visiting new countries – my favorite being Fanta Limon in Spain) – apple and peach.

The old factory ceiling is left intact, but bright windows provide nice light for the paintings on display in the large gallery area

We had a lot of fun visiting different art media – photography, paintings, sculpture, installations – and ate lunch at the Timezone 8 bookstore.

Mom and Grandpa stand in front of an art installation in the CCCA museum.

A mom yells something in her daughter's ear over the roar of wind machines blowing on painted flags depicting sick and orphaned children.

After wandering around the complex for several hours, time was running out to visit the Olympic Village before dark as we had planned, so we hailed another cab.  During the drive, the driver’s cell phone rang to the tune of “As Long as You Love Me” by the Backstreet Boys and Mom and I shared a little chuckle at the American pop culture that the Chinese deem worthy of importing – even ten years later.

Mom ponders the architectural soundness of all the Olympic structures that were thrown up almost overnight. They seem to be fine - and visually impressive to boot.

I take the lead in the torch-carrying procession of Olympic-color clad wire women.

The Olympic Village was packed – I imagine with people still on vacation – and I got my first modeling offer.  An eager, giggling teenage Chinese girl approached me waving her camera, so I went to take it out of her hand – thinking she wanted me to photograph her with her boyfriend in front of the Bird’s Nest.  Instead she waved her arms saying “No! Picture!”, which I eventually interpreted to mean that she wanted her picture taken with me.  I smiled complacently as she held tight to my arm and kicked myself later for not taking a picture with our camera as well.

The entrance to the Olympic National Stadium - affectionately nicknamed "The Bird's Nest"

Mom and Grandpa dodge photoshoots and starry-eyed tourists to walk over to the Bird's Nest

The subway ride back to the hotel was an adventure.  Not realizing at this point that subway tickets are station-specific, we had bought an extra one, which Grandpa attempted to use at the entrance gate.  The angry little cartoon X beeped obnoxiously for several tries until he went to the booth to complain, while we waited on the opposite side.  During his hand-gestured discussion with the ticket booth operator, which lasted a good 10 minutes, it seemed that the entire Olympic Stadium emptied itself into our little subway station, all pouring through the gates no problem.  They proceeded to smush themselves against the sliding glass doors along the platform, making sure to keep us at a two-train wait.

At the hotel, I took some much-needed Zyrtec and closed my eyes for a bit before hitting the streets for supper.  We started out down Wangfujing Street – the big shopping street somewhat reminiscent of Time’s Square with its towering neon signs – and searched down side streets for a make-shift food vendor market, which both Grandpa and Uncle Joe remembered.

Walking down Wangfujing Street at night in search of food.

In the few years that had passed since their last visit, it seems that the “snack street” had given way to chain restaurants and shoe stores, but we did eventually find a side street with some outdoor stalls, selling assorted insects, dumplings, skewers, wraps, etc.

Crispy, crunchy grasshoppers and caterpillars on skewers await customers braver than me.

We walked past the scorpions and snakes to pick up a more palatable mu-shu pork wrap.  Joe was disappointed in the touristy set-up and walked on to eat at the post office again.  We, on the other hand, made the mistake of stopping at an even more touristy restaurant and paying too much for bad service and mediocre food.  That’s what we get for being sucked in by lights and glitzy decorations.

After dinner, we walked a block over to our much-anticipated foot massage.  Grandpa left to go explore the area, and Mom and I treated ourselves to a 70-minute massage by some very talkative, but not English-proficient, Chinese men.  They started by massaging our shoulders and backs while our feet soaked, then spent the next 60 minutes stuttering out questions about our origin and purpose in Beijing while rubbing our feet.  They asked us if we’d ever been to Las Vegas.  We laughed, shook our heads, and drank our Oolong tea.

Grandpa came and sat with us near the end and tried to explain his family history, but I think they ended up thinking his father was an assassin rather than a minister.  Our rejuvenated legs took us back to the hotel and to sleep.

Yesterday morning was another early start.  A car had been arranged to meet us at eight – Jing-Jing’s driver would then take us to the Great Wall at Badaling.

The bathroom is the first necessary stop after the long drive out of the city to the Great Wall

Mom takes a breather hiking up the super-steep steps to the first guard tower on the Great Wall.

A Great Wall paraphernalia vendor leaves his tea to steep in a guard tower window.

The wall really does stretch on forever in all directions and it’s extremely steep.  It is, of course, a photographer’s playground and I blamed my frequent stops along the climb on the need to take a picture instead of admitting to my seizing leg muscles and stinging lungs.

The Great Wall at Badaling

We went up and down one side out of the “base camp,” enjoying the interesting translations of warning signs along the way.

... what?

After the equally long hike to the parking lot, we finally found our driver and car and piled in to drive to the Summer Palace.  On the way, we stopped at a restaurant outside of Beijing and had the best food yet – corn soup, scallion pancakes and delicious tender juicy Jaozi.  I ate my heart out and practically rolled into the car, only to walk it all off at the Summer Palace – the imperial retreat stomping grounds.

Lotus grows rampant on the lake at the Summer Palace.

Musicians strum out some traditional tunes in the Long Corridor of the Summer Palace

We walked around the grounds, enjoying the tourists and breathing in some more fresh air.  People throughout the park were playing cards and eating corn on the cob, as if it were any old park where you would spend an afternoon before running errands and making dinner, instead of a tourist trap that charges an entrance fee to everything they can get away with.

At one side of the park, steps descend into a replication of the town of Suzhou – a watery village that hugs a canal.  There were a few people wandering in and out of shops, but compared to the rest of the park – and Beijing in general – it seemed like a colorful ghost town.

A young couple walks along the canal in the miniature "Suzhou" village at the Summer Palace.

We decided to take the boat across the lake to exit from the other side.

A dragon-shaped ferry boat crosses the lake from the Summer Palace grounds to an island in the middle of the lake.

A girl looks into the water from the bridge over the Summer Palace lake.

A quick break at the hotel and then we met Grandpa’s old Merck pal, Zhou for our ping-pong outing!  We went in the basement of what resembled a Chinese YMCA and watched sweaty, middle-aged men whack a tiny white ball at each other with amazing speed and accuracy.  They were all dressed in sporting clothes of course.

A member of the SB Table Tennis Club practices with a partner in the basement of a community ping-pong club.

Dinner was eaten across the street at a Mongolian Hot Pot restaurant, which was an adventure in chopsticking for me.  A hot pot is placed in the middle of the table and filled with boiling water, which stays heated from a hot coal brick burning in the middle of the metal pot.  An array of raw meats, vegetables and spices then fill the rest of the table space, and each person dips the raw stuff into the boiling water, making sure to twirl the meat or veggie with his or her chopsticks until thoroughly cooked.

Huo Guo - A pot filled with boiling water, in which meat are dipped and cooked, creating a broth. Meat is eaten as it is cooked. After the broth is fully-flavored, vegetables and Tofu are added and eaten like a soup. We were directed to this restaurant by Yongdong Zhou, a friend of Grandpa's from Merck.

We had great dinner conversation, and I learned that everyone really does hold my grandfather in just as high a regard as I do, as Zhou recounted happy and complimentary memories of the time he spent with Grandma and Grandpa when they lived in China.  We went to bed happy and exhausted from a day of marathon walking and eating.

Shawn Johnson • Des Moines, Iowa • 2009

At this time, this is all I can display publicly. However, more will be added here as soon as possible! Keep checkin’ back! CiG

(Editor’s note: this is a 9-part series on Linda Raymer’s experiences in Hong Kong and China last September. Linda is President, Vacation Division of Travelink. Though this trip happened over a year ago, this is an amazing adventure we’re very proud to share. This was a luxury vacation but we can help you create an adventure in China on many different budgets.)

Xao Shang Hao! (Good morning!) or Wan Shang Hao (Good Afternoon!)

After arrival at the amazing futuristic new airport and meeting our cute little guide, Sunny, our group of 12 had a surprise welcome at the lovely Raffles Hotel with a private reception hosted by the hotel General Manager and several of his key staff members.

Beijing is really quite a grand entrance of China. Amazing history! Awesome beauty! Lovely, warm people and fascinating culture in this capital city! We began our tour at Tiananmen Square and into the Forbidden City. Nothing we read prepared us for the size of the Forbidden City and the number of buildings. The scale of everything is enormous. The park which is the site of one of landmarkʼs of Beijing, the Temple of Heaven, is even larger that the Forbidden City and yet we were able to find our Tai Chi Master for our lesson in the ancient form of exercise which they refer to as “playing Tai Chi”. Perhaps if we thought it was play, we may all be more in for exercise! The fact that all men have mandatory retirement at 60 and women at 55 means folks in our age group have lots of time to play Tai Chi, checkers, ballroom dancing, etc. in the park. You only see seniors most days as the young people are in the same rush to “make it” that career minded young people are everywhere in the west.

All in all we were completely overwhelmed by this first glimpse of China. At the same time we are really perplexed by the current economy. A new Gucci store opens every 6 weeks in China. There seems to be an insatiable appetite for luxury goods, but prices of things we know and can compare are at least 40% higher than they cost at home.

We walked though a new mall in Beijing and priced things like a Bose radio which at home would be $350 and found it cost more like $800 in China. Stuart Weitzman ladies shoes that at home would be about $250-$275 – the same shoe is about $850 in Beijing.

If the average Chinese makes $400-$1000 (tops) per month, we cannot figure how they are buying these goods and tourists know they can get things much cheaper in Hong Kong or at home, so they aren’t buying here. Wonder what gives?

Turns out it did seem smart to come just after the Olympics as everything still looks fresh and new! Even with so many people, it is all on such a grand scale, nothing felt crowded and it is all so clean you would not believe it. Of course that has been helped by limiting the number of cars allowed in the city during this period and the massive amounts of money spent putting on a pretty face for the world to see this capital city of 12 Million people. We found ourselves in Beijing on the day of the mid-Autumn festival when everyone gathers with family and has “Moon Cakes”. These are little cakes (not like Moon Pies) are filled with meats and bean curd and some odd kind of sweet substance! The full moon was beautiful that night over the glimmering modern city!

Walking through the Forbidden City and on the Great Wall seemed like being in a dream. We took a Pedi cab around Old Beijing and visited a private home in a Hutong which is a group of four houses in a quadrangle that share a garden. Pretty basic compared to much of the new high rises, but prime real estate, so they say. Nice areas for sure but we could not help but wonder if it was truly worth $1M! Then, the next day we used my Blackberry cell phone on the Great Wall! The impressive old and new contrasts were everywhere and really hard to put into words.

Our 29 year old Guide said it best when she told us in the 1960s if your family had the “3 big” you had a great life. Those were a bicycle, a sewing machine and a watch.

Then in the 1980s, if you had the second “3 big”, you had a good life, and these were a refrigerator, a washing machine and TV. In the 1990s, the new “3 big” were a private apartment, a private car and a computer.

Today, the current “3 big” include luxury goods (such as designer clothes, shoes and purses), a large 3 bedroom apartment and the ability to take vacations outside China. We cannot imagine the next “3 big”!

Air quality in Beijing was surprisingly good due to the government closing all factories within a 400 mile radius effective July 1st and reducing the number of cars on the roads by 50%; telling people on which days they could drive during this period when the rest of the world would be watching! Can you just imagine our government telling us we could only drive every other Tuesday?

Touring the Grand National Theater (The Egg) was an amazing treat including the opportunity to talk with the chief engineer of the project. Like the airport, it is so futuristic, you do not believe your eyes; especially if you had an impression (like we did) that China might in many ways have been behind the west. We did get to see the Olympic Village and the Bird’s Nest is even more impressive than on television.

Interesting that the government could simply relocate thousands of people to build the complex and yet remain committed to preserve the parts of the ancient culture they want outsiders to see like the Hutongs.

We were surprised to see all the cars looked new and very clean as we traveled all over the city. Taxis were new and clean. We were told that cars typically cost about 40% more than in US; and even at that, 1000 new cars are sold every day. Parking in the city runs about $400-$500 per month. Mass transit is clean and efficient and very cheap so it would seem to discourage private car ownership, but remember since the 1990s, one of the “3 big” has been to own a private car.

Apparently those who work in private (and especially international companies) make salaries in the range to be able to live a very good life at least in the big cities. We agreed it would be interesting to see the differences in rural China.

There was lots of extra airport security due to the Olympics and it seemed like at all of the tourist sites there were multiple tickets required and multiple people appeared to be doing the same work. In fact, Sunny said that on her first trip to America she was surprised to see so many automated things like pumping your own gas and drive through fast food places. Her initial thought was that they could learn much from us! But when she got home, she realized that in China with 1.3 billion people, everyone needs a job!

People seem happy and very proud of Beijing and delighted to see and talk to Americans. We are liked and admired there much more than in other parts of the world where we usually travel. The yuppies of China pay expensive tuition ($10K a year) to send their young children to American type kindergartens. Kids begin learning English now at 3 years of age and young people want to stop Americans to practice their English and they love having pictures taken with us. They call all foreigners “big noses”. Also funny that when they were growing up they were told if they would dig and dig, eventually they would get to US and we were all told if we would dig and dig we would get to China! They were told to eat all of their food because there were starving children in Africa. We were told to eat everything on our plates because there were starving children in China. The more differences we explored, the more similarities we found!

Since the Cultural Revolution, the one child per family rule has been modified, but still in rural areas, if the first child, and especially if the second child is a girl, families often drop off the baby at police station so they can still try to have a boy. That is the reason there are still many girls to adopt. Turns out this is not the exact same story we got later in the trip by a different guide! The modification of the policy is if you and your spouse are only children, you then may have two children. We also learned that if your first child was a girl and you wanted to pay a fine, a couple could have a second. This was the situation within the family of our female guide in Shanghai who had a brother that apparently cost her parents about $10,000.

One thing I did not mention before was the bizarre rules (or, lack thereof) of the road. Our driver simply honked and went where he wanted to go including sudden U turns in busy traffic! They make lanes wherever they want to, much as drivers in Italy do. Of course, they are selling 1,000 cars each week to people who have never before driven so you just imagine what conditions that might create!

We were daily surprised about prices of things as we were told there would be bargains and never found them except in some street markets. We went to a couple of local “craft” places but all seemed to be of high quality jade, etc. so we did not buy much.

After the Cultural Revolution in 1976 the Chinese were given more holidays and encouraged to travel so airports were full of locals and their internal flights all appeared to be full. This looked pretty much like at home.

One third of population works for private companies now and the rest for government. The government owns all the land. Employers, government and individuals contribute toward retirement out of each paycheck: 40%, 40%, 20% Government workers make less money, but are fully covered with health and retirement benefits. Everyone gets the same holidays, no vacation. However, if you are required to work on a holiday, it is mandatory that you are paid 3 times your salary.

This is a very good group of 12 travelers. All are grateful for this amazing opportunity. Our eyes were truly opened wide and our minds expanded with new impressions of China and there was still much to discover between Beijing and Shanghai!

See photos of this part of the trip at our Facebook Fan Page.

Interested in a trip to Asia? Click here to see current travel opportunities with us.

(Editor’s note: this is a 9-part series on Linda Raymer’s experiences in Hong Kong and China last September. Linda is President, Vacation Division of Travelink. Though this trip happened over a year ago, this is an amazing adventure we’re very proud to share. This was a luxury vacation but we can help you create an adventure in China on many different budgets.)

Xao Shang Hao! (Good morning!) or Wan Shang Hao (Good Afternoon!)

After arrival at the amazing futuristic new airport and meeting our cute little guide, Sunny, our group of 12 had a surprise welcome at the lovely Raffles Hotel with a private reception hosted by the hotel General Manager and several of his key staff members.

Beijing is really quite a grand entrance of China. Amazing history! Awesome beauty! Lovely, warm people and fascinating culture in this capital city! We began our tour at Tiananmen Square and into the Forbidden City. Nothing we read prepared us for the size of the Forbidden City and the number of buildings. The scale of everything is enormous. The park which is the site of one of landmarkʼs of Beijing, the Temple of Heaven, is even larger that the Forbidden City and yet we were able to find our Tai Chi Master for our lesson in the ancient form of exercise which they refer to as “playing Tai Chi”. Perhaps if we thought it was play, we may all be more in for exercise! The fact that all men have mandatory retirement at 60 and women at 55 means folks in our age group have lots of time to play Tai Chi, checkers, ballroom dancing, etc. in the park. You only see seniors most days as the young people are in the same rush to “make it” that career minded young people are everywhere in the west.

All in all we were completely overwhelmed by this first glimpse of China. At the same time we are really perplexed by the current economy. A new Gucci store opens every 6 weeks in China. There seems to be an insatiable appetite for luxury goods, but prices of things we know and can compare are at least 40% higher than they cost at home.

We walked though a new mall in Beijing and priced things like a Bose radio which at home would be $350 and found it cost more like $800 in China. Stuart Weitzman ladies shoes that at home would be about $250-$275 – the same shoe is about $850 in Beijing.

If the average Chinese makes $400-$1000 (tops) per month, we cannot figure how they are buying these goods and tourists know they can get things much cheaper in Hong Kong or at home, so they aren’t buying here. Wonder what gives?

Turns out it did seem smart to come just after the Olympics as everything still looks fresh and new! Even with so many people, it is all on such a grand scale, nothing felt crowded and it is all so clean you would not believe it. Of course that has been helped by limiting the number of cars allowed in the city during this period and the massive amounts of money spent putting on a pretty face for the world to see this capital city of 12 Million people. We found ourselves in Beijing on the day of the mid-Autumn festival when everyone gathers with family and has “Moon Cakes”. These are little cakes (not like Moon Pies) are filled with meats and bean curd and some odd kind of sweet substance! The full moon was beautiful that night over the glimmering modern city!

Walking through the Forbidden City and on the Great Wall seemed like being in a dream. We took a Pedi cab around Old Beijing and visited a private home in a Hutong which is a group of four houses in a quadrangle that share a garden. Pretty basic compared to much of the new high rises, but prime real estate, so they say. Nice areas for sure but we could not help but wonder if it was truly worth $1M! Then, the next day we used my Blackberry cell phone on the Great Wall! The impressive old and new contrasts were everywhere and really hard to put into words.

Our 29 year old Guide said it best when she told us in the 1960s if your family had the “3 big” you had a great life. Those were a bicycle, a sewing machine and a watch.

Then in the 1980s, if you had the second “3 big”, you had a good life, and these were a refrigerator, a washing machine and TV. In the 1990s, the new “3 big” were a private apartment, a private car and a computer.

Today, the current “3 big” include luxury goods (such as designer clothes, shoes and purses), a large 3 bedroom apartment and the ability to take vacations outside China. We cannot imagine the next “3 big”!

Air quality in Beijing was surprisingly good due to the government closing all factories within a 400 mile radius effective July 1st and reducing the number of cars on the roads by 50%; telling people on which days they could drive during this period when the rest of the world would be watching! Can you just imagine our government telling us we could only drive every other Tuesday?

Touring the Grand National Theater (The Egg) was an amazing treat including the opportunity to talk with the chief engineer of the project. Like the airport, it is so futuristic, you do not believe your eyes; especially if you had an impression (like we did) that China might in many ways have been behind the west. We did get to see the Olympic Village and the Bird’s Nest is even more impressive than on television.

Interesting that the government could simply relocate thousands of people to build the complex and yet remain committed to preserve the parts of the ancient culture they want outsiders to see like the Hutongs.

We were surprised to see all the cars looked new and very clean as we traveled all over the city. Taxis were new and clean. We were told that cars typically cost about 40% more than in US; and even at that, 1000 new cars are sold every day. Parking in the city runs about $400-$500 per month. Mass transit is clean and efficient and very cheap so it would seem to discourage private car ownership, but remember since the 1990s, one of the “3 big” has been to own a private car.

Apparently those who work in private (and especially international companies) make salaries in the range to be able to live a very good life at least in the big cities. We agreed it would be interesting to see the differences in rural China.

There was lots of extra airport security due to the Olympics and it seemed like at all of the tourist sites there were multiple tickets required and multiple people appeared to be doing the same work. In fact, Sunny said that on her first trip to America she was surprised to see so many automated things like pumping your own gas and drive through fast food places. Her initial thought was that they could learn much from us! But when she got home, she realized that in China with 1.3 billion people, everyone needs a job!

People seem happy and very proud of Beijing and delighted to see and talk to Americans. We are liked and admired there much more than in other parts of the world where we usually travel. The yuppies of China pay expensive tuition ($10K a year) to send their young children to American type kindergartens. Kids begin learning English now at 3 years of age and young people want to stop Americans to practice their English and they love having pictures taken with us. They call all foreigners “big noses”. Also funny that when they were growing up they were told if they would dig and dig, eventually they would get to US and we were all told if we would dig and dig we would get to China! They were told to eat all of their food because there were starving children in Africa. We were told to eat everything on our plates because there were starving children in China. The more differences we explored, the more similarities we found!

Since the Cultural Revolution, the one child per family rule has been modified, but still in rural areas, if the first child, and especially if the second child is a girl, families often drop off the baby at police station so they can still try to have a boy. That is the reason there are still many girls to adopt. Turns out this is not the exact same story we got later in the trip by a different guide! The modification of the policy is if you and your spouse are only children, you then may have two children. We also learned that if your first child was a girl and you wanted to pay a fine, a couple could have a second. This was the situation within the family of our female guide in Shanghai who had a brother that apparently cost her parents about $10,000.

One thing I did not mention before was the bizarre rules (or, lack thereof) of the road. Our driver simply honked and went where he wanted to go including sudden U turns in busy traffic! They make lanes wherever they want to, much as drivers in Italy do. Of course, they are selling 1,000 cars each week to people who have never before driven so you just imagine what conditions that might create!

We were daily surprised about prices of things as we were told there would be bargains and never found them except in some street markets. We went to a couple of local “craft” places but all seemed to be of high quality jade, etc. so we did not buy much.

After the Cultural Revolution in 1976 the Chinese were given more holidays and encouraged to travel so airports were full of locals and their internal flights all appeared to be full. This looked pretty much like at home.

One third of population works for private companies now and the rest for government. The government owns all the land. Employers, government and individuals contribute toward retirement out of each paycheck: 40%, 40%, 20% Government workers make less money, but are fully covered with health and retirement benefits. Everyone gets the same holidays, no vacation. However, if you are required to work on a holiday, it is mandatory that you are paid 3 times your salary.

This is a very good group of 12 travelers. All are grateful for this amazing opportunity. Our eyes were truly opened wide and our minds expanded with new impressions of China and there was still much to discover between Beijing and Shanghai!

See photos of this part of the trip at our Facebook Fan Page.

Interested in a trip to Asia? Click here to see current travel opportunities with us.

Having anti-2010 Olympic signs during Vancouver games could mean $10,000-a-day fine, six-months in jail

CBC News
October 10, 2009

Read Full Article Here

Update (05/10/2009): It seems it was a joke as the wikipedia page has been updated to remove the reference listed below.

This has to be a joke surely!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2028_Summer_Olympics

With plans already in place to build a 100′000 capacity sports stadium in Eastern England, championed and proposed under the Labour administration of Gordon Brown, either of these two Cities [Peterborough or Norwich] will be expected to bid as part of that process. However, with the 2012 games having been held in London only sixteen years earlier, the bid is expected to fall short. However, officials backing the bid have already cited the close gap between the games being held in the USA in 1984 and 1996-a gap of only twelve years. Norwich is the favourite at the present time, with additional facilities including a revamped Carrow Road, home of the football club, as well as those at the UEA. Water based events will be held at Pensthorpe, near Fakenham.

Here’s a picture of Pensthorpe…

…and Carrow Road as Olympic Stadium?

Hmmm, wonder if I can sub-let our house to an Arab Prince…

Read the debate intro, Sports Geek’s argument, and Loyal Homer’s argument about whether or not Jamaican sprinter Usain Bolt is the most dominant athlete in history.

At what point do you stop saying that an athlete ‘had a dominant performance’ and begin simply saying the athlete is dominant? Does quantity take precedence over quality? Is it a question of accumulated accomplishments versus consecutive accomplishments?

Also, does the unique context of each competition dictate a unique set of standards?

Lord Byron Nelson won 11 consecutive PGA tournaments in 1945. More than 60 years later, the closest anyone has ever come to matching that mark is Tiger Woods, who won seven consecutive tournaments in 2006-2007. Is the simple fact that Nelson won those tournaments enough to declare him a dominant golfer? What if he won each of those tournaments by only one stroke, and in playoff situations? Would that be perceived differently than if he had won them all by ten strokes?

In the NFL, running backs Emmitt Smith and Barry Sanders both played during the 1990’s. During their respective careers, Smith played for a longer time, rushed for more yards, and scored more touchdowns than Barry Sanders. Does that automatically mean that Smith was the more dominant running back?

In the conversation about Usain Bolt’s relative dominance, both Loyal Homer and Sports Geek raise very valid points. On one hand, as Sports Geek points out, Bolt has not yet shown an ability to sustain his dominant performance over an extended time. His period of “dominance” consists of six gold medals in two different world class tournaments, which pales in comparison to athletes like Michael Phelps, Edwin Moses, or Carl Lewis who all won multiple medals over much longer time spans. That is not to say that Bolt will NOT continue his dominance, but it may be a bit premature to classify him as the most dominant ever.

On the other hand, as Loyal Homer writes, Bolt is not just winning average races against average competition. During the 100m finals at the World Championships, Tyson Gay turned in a time of 9.71s. With that time, Gay officially became the fastest man in history… EXCEPT for Usain Bolt, who actually ran .13s FASTER than the person who WOULD HAVE been the fastest man ever. Usain Bolt is not just defeating average competition. The bar he sets is so high that even the fastest men in history cannot match his speed!

But, does that make him the most dominant athlete ever?

Based on the arguments presented by Loyal Homer and Sports Geek, the answer to that question is no, it does not… Winner – Sports Geek

While I do not agree with Sports Geek on several points (specifically regarding technology and youth), the points made about longevity and competition cannot be overlooked. In order to make the argument that Usain Bolt is the most dominant athlete in history, it needs to be proven over an extended period of time against a broad range of competition. When you consider the scope of all athletes in all sports, Bolt has done little more than defeat the same athletes two different times, first in the 2008 Olympics and then at the 2009 World Championships. While the manner in which he won those events was extremely impressive, it does not yet qualify him as one of the greatest ever.

If Bolt is still setting world records 5-10 years from now, and is doing so against the “next generation” of competition, perhaps then he will be considered the greatest of all time. Until then, we’ll just have to settle for watching the fastest man alive.

Read the Sports Geek’s and Loyal Homer’s arguments on whether or not Usain Bolt is the most dominant athlete in the world.

According to Doc Brown, 1.21 “Jigowatts” was the amount of energy produced by a BOLT of lightning, the same energy required to reach the speed necessary for time travel. That is also about how fast you need to run in order to beat Usain BOLT in a race!

Usain Bolt shot onto the scene at the Track and Field events at the Beijing Olympics of 2008. Since then, people can barely talk or write fast enough to keep up with his accomplishments! Last week at the IAAF World Championships in Berlin, Germany, Bolt continued to prove his dominance in the sport by winning gold in the men’s 100m, 200m, and the 4×100m.

Proudly displaying once again on Thursday why he is known as the “World’s Fastest Man,” Bolt’s time of 19.19s in the 200m set a new world record, surpassing his own record of 19.30s which was set at the Beijing games. Bolt earlier in the week also broke his own world record for the 100m with a time of 9.58s.

What impressed me most was not Bolt’s times, or even his world records. Instead, I was most impressed with the distance between his finish, and those of his competitors. In a distance of only 200 meters, Usain Bolt was able to create almost a full second of separation between himself and the next fastest runner, who is also considered a world class sprinter!

In response to Bolt’s performance at Berlin last week, writer Tim Lemke of the Washington Times posed a very interesting question that we here at The Sports Debates are very happy to tackle:

Is Usain Bolt the most dominant athlete in history?

His dominance makes him appear to be unbeatable, but how does that dominance rate in terms of all sporting history?

In his article, Lemke cites other athletes who dominated in their respective eras. Some examples that he mentions are – Lance Armstrong, Edwin Moses, Tiger Woods, and Michael Phelps. Each are examples of athletes who were/are considered by many to be unbeatable. It is prestigious company to keep.

Loyal Homer will argue that Usain Bolt not only deserves to be included among the names mentioned by Tim Lemke, but that Bolt actually deserves to be the name on top of that list.

Sports Geek will argue that Usain Bolt, whose performance in recent years has been undeniably impressive, still has not done enough to be considered the most dominant of all time.

Take your mark – Get Set – Go!

Usain Bolt - Olympics 2008

There are very few athletes in my opinion as gifted as Usain Bolt, the man is a freak of nature. He is one giant explosive, white fibris machine. While not many of us were gifted with such a cool name and none of us are as fast, the explosive workouts are just that explosive to the muscles. I have been running a bit more distance of late on soft and hard surfaces and have neglected my white fibris muscles and it truly showed today on my track and field day workout. I was slower than I was just 4 months ago and as I am writing this, every muscle in my body feels!

The importance of keeping the workouts fresh is not only for the mind but also to keep shocking your muscles. Today I am going to take you verbally through an explosive workout and next week I will take the video camera out there and demo some new and fun workouts. (did not want to do that this week, have to prep myself a bit, so I’m able to actually speak to the camera)

So the plan is to go to your local track, almost every high school, junior college or university will have one you can use, I have been blessed to have the use of the UCLA track and field…it is free and makes for an amazing workout.

Bring with you a workout band and a workout partner.

To start, do some ballistic stretches such as leg kicks and round house leg kicks as seen on back to basics video, 10 minutes of warm up should get the muscles warm. Then go to the stadium stairs and get started with intervals of single step sprints to double step sprints 10 sets of each.  Next we go to stair hoppers, jumping as many stairs as possible (As seen on hoppin to fitness) for one set and then do single leg hops staying on your right leg for one set and the left for the other, doing 5 sets of each. Now we move to the track for 50 yard resistance sprints, hopefully you brought your workout partner for this. Have your workout partner wrap the band around your waist and tow him or her at full speed for 50 yards, rest for 1 minute and switch having your partner run 50 and repeat for 5 sets. We move to 100 yard sprints racing with your partner or have them time you for 5 sets with 2 minute breaks in between sets. Finish with 5-10 minutes of static stretching, drink some water and go home and eat a chicken (or just a 6 oz. chicken breast spinach and a yam.)

Usain Bolt

White fibris workouts are great to lean out and give you more A to B speed, if you add this into your workout regime twice a month, you will see the results, I can gurantee you. While I don’t promise that you will run like Usain Bolt, I do promise that you will improve your speed and feal leaner and meaner, toning your calves, quads, glutes, hamstrings, abs and muscles you never knew you had, and as promised I will be back next week with a video and new track and field workout.

A few days ago, I realized what a square mind riding has given me.  I’m not an eventer, so I don’t get the thrill of galloping around a course of huge jumps that don’t move when you hit them.

Something like this:

The 2008 Olympics. The equestrian events weren’t held in Beijing, mind you, but in Hong Kong. Yes that is a golf course.

Back on subject, the non-eventers among us tend to become a bit closed minded to places to ride.  We ride in an arena at all times, square or rectangular in shape, sometimes an oval in rare occasions.  At rare times, such as a few days ago, we venture out of the shelter of our arena filled with colorful obstacles to the wide open world around us.

On this particular Thursday, I rode down the road near my barn to where it dead ends at a square field. We seek out square areas. They comfort us. They remind us of home. They feel safe. Especially when bordered by brush or forests or other borders, such as this one was. There was even a deer in it when I arrived. =] It ran away. But my point is, our minds have been changed to seek out areas such as these with parallel borders.

And upon reaching these areas, we do not just ride through the center, of course not! We stay to the outside edge, just as in any arena, so that the only difference is the rolling topography and two foot tall grass.

But I must admit, galloping through a huge field is more fun that cantering circles in an arena, no? The ponies certainly agree.

Can you believe a year ago today the Olympics opened in Beijing?

I remember the energy. The contagious excitement.

The Torch Relay. The Fu Wa. The countdown clock.

Listening to Beijing Welcomes You. Yes, at times, that song still starts spontaneously playing in my head.

We know exactly where we were at 8pm on 08.08.08 . We ended up at a friend’s house for supper and to watch The Opening Ceremony, but we came home early and had to find the rest of the opening ceremony on the internet via live broadcast. Thus, we watched Team USA enter the Bird’s Nest with Macedonian commentary. Hubs complete recap is here.

Fear not. In China, copy right basically means right to copy, so within 48 hours NBC’s coverage of the Opening Ceremony was available at DVD alley for 6rmb (88 cents). We bought a copy and watched the entire ceremony again…in English. (The Chinese thought that NBC had a more thorough commentary than their own CCTV which was why the DVD was available.)

Where were you on 08.08.08?

Police given powers to enter homes and tear down anti-Olympics posters during 2012 Games

Daily Mail
July 22, 2009

‘The measures will only apply to areas within a few hundred metres of the London 2012 venues. The Government is currently developing detailed regulations for advertising during the Games which will enable these powers to come into effect. The Government will be consulting on the regulations in 2010.’

Read the debate intro and Sports Geek’s opinion.

For the first time in history, a United States Men’s Soccer team reached the final game of a major international event. That was not by accident.

Last week, the U.S. Men’s team defeated #1 ranked Spain by a score of 2-0 in the FIFA Confederations Cup Semi-Final match. A Spanish team, by the way, which was coming off of a 2008 UEFA Euro Cup Championship, and came into the semis riding both a 35-game undefeated streak and a win streak of their past 15 international games. Once again, it was no accident that the United States won.

In no way is the U.S. Men’s team considered a top-tier program. In fact, they came into the FIFA Confederation Cup as the 14^th ranked club in the world. What Loyal Homer is asking, though, is whether or not their performance at the FIFA Confederation Cup was enough to build momentum for men’s soccer. I think the very clear answer to that question is – YES!

Soccer has never been mistaken as America’s national pastime. That does not, though, mean it is destined to an eternity of obscurity. You see, American sports fans are a relatively easy-to-please group, especially when it comes to international competition. All we ask for is drama and an opportunity to tell the rest of the world that we have maybe found something else we are better than you at. You may call it arrogance, I call it national pride.

Loyal Homer noted the fact that 2.1 million viewers watched the FIFA Championship. I am happy to say that I was a part of that group, sitting on my living room floor with about 20 other people, all cheering for the Red, White, and Blue!

What the U.S. Men’s team proved by reaching the FIFA Championship was that the nation they proudly represent DOES care about them, and WAS proud of what they accomplished. Moreso, the nation whose colors they wear was eager to cheer them on to even greater heights. They proved that American sports fans only need a reason to watch.

Does that mean that the troubles of poor viewership and support for US soccer are gone? No. The U.S. team will still be considered an underdog in many of their matches, but they have proven they deserve to compete on the same field as the international best.

Consider their recent results internationally:

• They reach the 2009 FIFA Confederation Championship by defeating #1 Spain 2-0, and playing a VERY close Final against a Brazilian team which, on paper, was far superior.
• They are two-time defending CONCACAF Gold Cup Champions.
• In the 2008 Beijing Olympics, they defeated Japan and played the Netherlands (ranked #2 in the world) to a draw, before losing to the eventual silver medalist Nigerian team 2-1.

That’s not the resume of an overrated team.

The critics, like Sports Geek, will argue that the CONCACAF is a second-rate league, lacking of any serious competition. I wonder if Sports Geek would also argue that the Memphis Tigers college basketball team is overrated because they play out of Mid-Major Conference USA, or the Gonzaga Bulldogs, who plays out of the West-Coast Conference? Just because you play in a weak division/league does not mean you are a weak team. The CONCACAF is an international league, and the United States dominates it… that is a fact.

The nay-sayers, like Sports Geek, will argue that luck, not talent, brought the U.S. team to the FIFA Championships, and that they are overrated because of American hype. I wonder, though, if Sports Geek would argue that the 2008 Super Bowl Champion New York Giants got lucky in their game against the then undefeated New England Patriots, since they were only a wild card team, and that they, too, were overrated. Or the Orlando Magic, a lowly three-seed, who SCHOOLED the #1 seed Cleveland Cavaliers in the 2009 NBA Eastern Conference Finals… are they overrated, too?

The evidence shows that the United States is demonstrating a legitimate ability to successfully compete on an international stage against the best competition the world has to offer. American sports fans are responding in kind, showing that they are ready to get behind a U.S. team, and cheer them on as they try to slay the international goliaths of the game.

A video on a projection screen showed footage of a memorable swim race of the 2008 Olympics at the clubhouse of the Harbor View Swim Team Monday.

An announcer was heard, “And, Jason Lezak is going to have to make up some ground.”

Just then children’s heads swiveled toward the corner of the room where Lezak himself was there, unassuming in shorts and a T-shirt. The kids became excited as the drama unfolded in the 400-meter freestyle during the video.

The buzz around the room continued to build, even more than when Coach Ted Bandaruk first introduced the Olympian. Everyone in the place knew the outcome, but still they cheered as Lezak gained on Frenchman Alain Bernard, the world-record holder in the 100-meter freestyle.

Lezak had trailed by a full body length before his anchor leg. But he came back to win amid the cheers, even during a video.

After the video ended and the room quieted, Lezak asked, “Did you guys like that race?”

Everyone shouted, “Yes!” And, with that Lezak delivered his message of perseverance, accomplishing goals and reaching dreams against great odds. Lezak, who grew up in Irvine, shared that he struggled as a swimmer during his youth, and even again when he was part of the Americans’ first loss in the 400 relay at the 2000 Games in Sydney Australia, and then a bronze finish in the event at the 2004 Athens Olympics.

But he helped USA get back on top in 2008 and he won his first individual Olympic medal, a bronze in the 100 free.

In his quest to qualify for the 2012 London Games, Lezak, 33, trains daily. He also mixes in motivational speeches and visits to swim clubs at least twice a month, he said.

He also talks about his glory day in the 400 free relay.

“How does it feel to watch that video again,” a kid asked.

“I still get goose bumps,” Lezak said. “I can’t believe that’s me and I can’t believe that happened. Every time I watch it, it’s like the first time I’m watching it.”

He also explained that he thought he had started his leg too early and that he believed Team USA would be disqualified, but he kept on swimming. He even peeked once, a no-no in swimming, and saw that he was far behind with a little more than 50 meters remaining.

But he told the group he kept the negative thoughts out of his mind. He finished in a 46.07 split, faster than anyone had swam before, as the Americans finished in a world-record time of 3 minutes, 29.34 seconds for the gold medal.

That gold medal, Lezak said, was in his pocket, while he spoke to the children.

He spent nearly four hours with about 60 young swimmers, telling them of his stories. He then changed into his speedos and instructed the kids on various aspects.

Before an autograph and photograph session, Lezak had already captivated the group, especially 13-year-olds Charlie Rodosky and Charlie Coffman.

“Now I believe I can be a champion,” Rodosky said. “He was very interesting and inspirational.”

Coffman also came away motivated.

“That video was very inspiring,” Coffman said. “And to see him there made it better. Usually when I’m behind in a race, I don’t think I can come back, but Jason Lezak has inspired me that I can come back.”

The swimmers’ parents, especially the mothers, appeared starstruck to have an Olympic hero visit their neighborhood pool. Cameras flashed and home video recorders zoomed in as Lezak spoke, and again as he jumped in the pool to teach the swimmers.

“This is a phenomenal opportunity for them to have [Lezak] speak to them,” said Julie Browman, the mother of swimmers Ford Secrist, 11, and Siena Secrist, 9. “The things he said were just great and it’s stuff we tell our kids all the time. But to have him say it, makes all the difference.”

Via: Daily Pilot

Doing ‘The 10′ for OSM was like being asked on Desert Island Discs – recognition! stardom! how long I have yearned! and all that. Unfortunately, rather than delving into the past, as is customary, I was required to shine a shiny light into the future. In the event, I produced four golds and three silvers, proving myself more Beijing Bell-End than Olympic Oracle. I left out Chris Hoy. I left out Rebecca Adlington. Instead, I went for Shanaze Reade, who fell off her bike not once, but three times. Not only that, but I rather painted myself as both a pervert and a charlatan by fixating on her thighs. It’s like writing about Andy Murray: “Murray gripped the racket in his hands – his strong, manly hands, with just a wispy coating of hair denoting the shedding of adolescence and the decaying veneer of his innocence. Then came his forearms, toughened and tautened by the months and years of labour on his father’s lathe…”

NOTA BENE: Eurovision will return tomorrow or possibly tonight. I calculated the days wrong, which worked out quite well, as I had to work late tonight and am thoroughly cream crackered.

From Observer Sport Monthly, 27 July 2008

1 Bradley Wiggins
Cycling (individual/team pursuit & Madison)

Even Steve Redgrave, that serial gold medal hoarder, won them only one at a time; Wiggins will go to Beijing in serious contention for three. Like many of his team-mates on the GB cycling team, Wiggins, an Observer Sport columnist, collects medals as if they were cereal box tops and this year completed a hat-trick of world championship golds in the disciplines he will compete at in the Olympics. Can anyone stop him taking the top spot on the podium? We doubt it. If he wins all three, they may as well knight him at trackside.

2 Katherine Grainger, Debbie Flood, Annie Vernon, Fran Houghton
Rowing (quad sculls)

Britain’s male rowers have their own suite in the Olympic hall of fame, but this year it’s the women who are the most likely to make Garry Herbert well up in commentary. Grainger is the most successful female British rower ever and her women’s quad have picked up three consecutive world championship titles. They finished third in the World Cup event in Lucerne in June, but we suspect that won’t stop them taking gold when it counts.

3 Katy Livingston and Heather Fell
Modern pentathlon

Britain has a strong tradition in this sport, winning half the medals since the women’s event was introduced at Sydney in 2000. This year, such was the wealth of talent that Athens bronze medallist Georgina Harland failed to make the team. In her absence, both Fell and Livingston (above) have the all-round strength to mount a formidable challenge. Livingston’s main strengths are fencing and running, while Fell will look to her excellent riding and swimming skills. A possible one-two finish.

4 Victoria Pendleton
Cycling (200m sprint)

Pendleton must be the most recognisable cyclist in the country, except perhaps for Boris Johnson. Hers has become the charismatic face of Britain’s super-achieving cycling team and Pendleton is a magnificent athlete, technically gifted and with a drive that has yielded six world titles. There is, though, only one Olympic sprint event for women and, in a sport this ruthless, a little mistake is all it takes to sink a cyclist – or at the very least, to make her regret doing a naked photoshoot …

5 Frankie Gavin
Boxing (lightweight)

Britain’s Olympic boxing record is abject: just one gold in 40 years. Audley Harrison was almost 29 when he won in Sydney; his subsequent professional career has been as forgettable as his nickname. But in Chicago in November, the 22-year-old Gavin was the first British boxer ever to become a world amateur champion. If the Birmingham southpaw surpasses the silver won by former sparring partner Amir Khan in Athens, expect him to turn pro before you can say Audley ‘A-Force’ Harrison.

6 Phillips Idowu
Triple jump

It wouldn’t be Olympic year without pinning a nation’s wildly optimistic expectations on an unpredictable track-and-field athlete. This time round, Idowu fits the bill. His jump of 17.58m at the British trials in early July was the longest in the world this year, offering a thrilling glimpse of what he can do. Though he generally finds a way of making a mess of major championships – posting three no-jumps in the final in Athens – he nevertheless represents a modest oasis of hope in British athletics’ desert of despair.

7 Tim Brabants
Canoeing (K1 – 500m and 1,000m)

Every Olympics produces someone who will in later years trigger the question: “What did he win it in again?” With any luck, this year it will be sprint kayaker and qualified doctor Brabants, a man who has been near the top of his sport for several years but who has only recently started to make the most of his talent. In Athens four years ago he set a world record in the heats only to slump to fifth in the final, but he will arrive in Beijing as world champion in the 1,000m and a serious contender.

8 Sarah Ayton, Sarah Webb, Pippa Wilson
Sailing (Yngling class)

The tortured genesis of Britain’s Yngling trio is like a nautical soap opera: first, Ayton and Webb shed double Olympic champion Shirley Robertson, then pipped Robertson and her new crew to Olympic qualification, causing the Scot to seethe very publicly. Ayton and company have proved head and shoulders above the field – they won the world championship this year with a day to spare. Failure would also make compelling viewing: Robertson will be commentating on her erstwhile colleagues for the BBC.

9 Tom Daley
Diving (10m platform)

It’s a bit much to place the bulging hopes of Great Britain on the shoulders of a 14-year-old, but if any teenager can handle the hype, it’s Daley. Described by his coach as being “as good as anyone I’ve seen in the world for his age”, the European champion supplements his talent with level-headedness (witness his bemused look on Inside Sport when Gabby Logan came to pick him up from school). He might have his sights fixed on 2012, but he’s easily good enough to cause a shock in Beijing.

10 Shanaze Reade
Cycling (BMX)

“My goals won’t be complete until I become Olympic champion,” says Reade, who could be at a loose end by the evening of 21 August. The Crewe teenager is strongly favoured to win the Games’ inaugural BMX event – she has five consecutive world titles at junior and senior level, as well as thighs like bollards: crucial for an explosive event that lasts barely half a minute.

Jonathan Liew defends his selection

Tempting as it was to pick a list of 10 cyclists, I thought it was worth shining a bright light on some of Britain’s less well known hopefuls. If rower Katherine Grainger were, say, a tennis player, she would easily have won BBC Sports Personality of the Year by now, having been at the top of her sport for nigh on five years, and won four world championships and two Olympic silvers. The sailors are also reliable sources of metal, as ever – it must be the island heritage – while Idowu and Daley are more romantic choices: a talent unfulfilled, and a talent unconstrained. Injury and lack of form have inhibited, respectively, Paula Radcliffe and Christine Ohuruogu, which leaves us with no runners (and there are no swimmers, either). But you never know what will happen if they make it to the start line. Whatever China might think, with their biometric testing of schoolchildren, picking Olympic winners is far from an exact science.