By Paul Gotham
Time for a sampling of topics going on around the sports world.
Delivering on expectations
Considering how small their margin for error is in the Olympics, the United States athletes have gotten the job done in Vancouver. Shani Davis, Shaun White, Apolo Ohno, and Lindsey Vonn, to name a few, have done a great job.
Ohno’s Bronze medal performance in the Men’s 1,500 short track was special. He skated against teammates from Korea and brothers from Canada. As Ohno made his move, he was bumped and lost his balance at one point. All of his momentum was lost. Ohno gathered himself for the finish. It was great stuff.
Davis showed great sportsmanship. He finished second in Men’s 1,500 and was obviously sincere in his congratulations of Mark Tuitert.
Shaun White is a specatacle in and of himself. His work on the half pipe is out of this world.
Sure, it would have been nice had Vonn taken Gold in the Super-G, but her Gold in the Downhill was great.
I was cheering hard for J.R. Celski. After seeing his nasty injury just a few months ago and to see that kid competing at a world-class level is nothing short of astounding. I had him on POTW alert during the Short Track 1,500.
I love all the cross events. Snowboard cross is great race as is downhill cross.
Olympic Hockey
Hopefully, everyone is getting a chance to watch this tournament. What a great sport, especially in the Olympics. The larger ice surface and elimination of fighting does it for me. I would much rather see a guy get an opponent by laying him out with a hard check. All fighting does is stop the flow of the game.
Cheers to Upstate New York hockey – three players (Ryan Callahan, Patrick Kane, and Dustin Brown) grew up within 90 minutes of Rochester.
New York State Pride
Twenty-eight Olympic athletes call the Empire State home. Only Utah (47), Minnesota (39), and California(31) have more residents wearing the Red, White, and Blue.
Here’s a list of the athletes (a couple of these guys – Chris Drury and Brooks Orpik) now live within New York State.
Lowell Bailey, Biathlon
Tim Burke, Biathlon
Haley Johnson, Biathlon
Laura Spector, Biathlon
Sara Studebaker, Biathlon
Chris Fogt, Bobsled
Steve Langton, Bobsled
Steve Mesler, Bobsled
John Napier, Bobsled
Justin Olsen, Bobsled
Michelle Rzepka, Bobsled
Amanda Evora, Figure Skating
Dustin Brown, Ice Hockey
Ryan Callahan, Ice Hockey
Julie Chu, Ice Hockey
Chris Drury, Ice Hockey
Patrick Kane, Ice Hockey
Mike Komisarek, Ice Hockey
Brooks Orpik, Ice Hockey
Julia Clukey, Luge
Mark Grimmette, Luge
Erin Hamlin, Luge
Dan Joye, Luge
Brian Martin, Luge
Chris Mazdzer, Luge
John Daly, Skeleton
Ashley Caldwell, Skiing
Billy Demong, Skiing
Matt Depeters, Skiing
Peter Frenette, Skiing
Andrew Weibrecht, Skiing
Trevor Marsicano, Speedskating (LT)
I’ll have to do some research to see how many New York State residents have competed in past Olympics.
John Daly trained for the Olympics while attending Plattsburgh State. Go Cardinals!!!!!
Antawn Jamison: all in a day’s work
The former Washington Wizards spokesman found himself on the trading block this week.
In the wake of the gun fiasco created by Gilbert Arenas, the Wizards trotted Jamison out to center court to address the Wizard fans. It was Jamison who was responsible for restoring the fans faith in the team.
One month later, Jamison is a Cleveland Cavalier.
Maybe the trade was the Wizards way of thanking Jamison. After all, the 11-year veteran probably did not want to stay around Washington for the impending rebuilding period.
Jamison’s acquisition brings a couple of points into question. Now that the Cavs GM, LeBron James, has brought in another star, what does this do to Bron’s legacy if the Cavs do not win the title?
Got any rebounds or putbacks? Post them here.
Why did the team with the best record in the NBA need to “get better”? They were good enough to win the championship as was. I hated the move when I heard about it. They are missing Zydrunas Ilgauskus as a back up center. They are now using Verajow (sp.?) to back-up Shaq. Big Z gave them a change of pace and something different. Yeah, he didn’t score 20 points a game, but he didn’t need to. They were showing great balance, had a lot of role players, and only cared about getting shots for one player, LeBron. They were rolling and I think it was a big mistake that they made.
Anyone else find it difficult to watch the Olympics this year? With coverage on 3 different channels, I’ve been confused as to what is going on now, what happened yesterday, what matches I’ve already watched. It’s a bit confusing.
Speaking of Ohno, short track speed skating is one of the most exciting types of racing I’ve ever seen. Those late race passes and the runs they make around each other, with the contact, are great for drama.
Viewing the Olympics can pose some confusion. They want to provide three channels to get as much coverage as possible. Sometimes, they need filler. They have experienced scheduling problems because of the weather, bobsled track, luge track, and some problems with the indoor ice conditions. That only adds to the confusion. The Olympics are difficult for us as Americans because we have been catered to. That doesn’t always happen with the Olympics.