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6111. marjoribanks - 8/11/2008 10:57:41 AM See, Wabbit (and Wiz), the thing is that Manny is actually Babe Ruth. And just like with that outsized, badly-behaved lug, Bawston just don't get it. In the end, Manny Ramirez will go down in history as one of the top handful of greatest hitters of all time. The Sux were lucky to have him - make no mistake, it was he much more than anyone else who delivered them the recent WS wins - and, just like with the Babe himself, they will stew in regret for a very long time now that he's gone.
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Olympics note. To the relief of one billion people, India won a medal today, the first ever individual gold.
Only two days into these Games, and the country had already gone to bits with anguish, as it does every four years, Olympic-time, convulsed in an emotional national debate on the topic "why we suck so bad at every sport but cricket." 6112. marjoribanks - 8/11/2008 11:37:10 AM Wiz,
That long and dramatic opening ceremony tableaux had some of those odd, distinctively Red, highly sentimental moments.
And there was also undoubtedly a 'shock and awe' kind of motivation at work in some of those eye-popping choreographed pieces with thousands of dancers, or in fact in the setting itelf, that amazingly sculpted, one-of-a-kind, digital-age 'Birds Nest'.
But for the most part the ceremony was very beautiful and evocative, and, dare I say, actually quite moving.
The magnificent sweep of Chinese history was referenced from the beginning, from the Mesolithic to the Space Age, one of the peerless achievements of humankind. This put everything into perspective.
Furthermore, there was no going after cheap propaganda points, even as the whole point was to express very great aspirations, and ambitious purpose.
I found it to be extraordinary theatre, of the very highest order, and on the grandest possible scale, yet conducted with taste and restraint (yes, I mean it, even with 20,000 performers and a budget that had to be close to half a billion dollars!).
6113. jexster - 8/11/2008 2:41:49 PM Surrender monkeys again 6114. wabbit - 8/11/2008 3:01:28 PM Banks, clearly you have spent no time in Boston, or really paying attention to anything to do with the Red Sox other than Manny. Trading Babe Ruth was strictly a poor management decision, had nothing to do with the fans or their appreciation of him. And Manny is no Babe Ruth, unless he can pitch and actually run the bases for the team paying his salary.
No worries though, he's back to proclaiming his need to play for the Yankees, which is something the sympathetic LA fans probably appreciate, unlike the lugs here in Beantown. And since we all know what a gift the Yankees have for appreciating and picking up great talent (no, not at all sarcastic), no doubt he'll be on their roster next season.
Enough of Manny.
 ...Jason Lezak pulled up next to the lane rope and set out after hulking Alain Bernard, like a NASCAR driver drafting down the backstretch at Daytona.
Only 25 meters to go, half the length of the pool. Every stroke brought Lezak a little closer, a little closer, a little closer, his body seemingly carried along by the Frenchman's massive wake. The two lunged for the wall together. When the result flashed on the board, [Michael] Phelps was still on course for his record eight gold medals.
By a fingertip.
Lezak, the oldest man on the U.S. swimming team, pulled off one of the great comebacks in Olympic history Monday morning, hitting the wall just ahead of Bernard in the 400 freestyle relay, a race so fast it actually erased two world records.
Few sporting events live up to the hype -- this one exceeded it. The 32-year-old Lezak was nearly a body length behind Bernard as they made the final turn, but the American hugged the lane rope and stunningly overtook him on the very last stroke... What a race!
6115. wabbit - 8/11/2008 3:13:59 PM  Katie Hoff of the United States has been upset in the 400-meter freestyle, losing the Olympic gold medal to Rebecca Adlington of Britain. Adlington overhauled Hoff down the stretch to win in 4 minutes, 3.22 seconds Monday. Hoff took the silver in 4:03.29. Adlington's teammate Joanne Jackson earned the bronze in 4:03.52. Defending champion Laure Manaudou finished eighth and last.
The U.S. women's volleyball team, playing its second match of an emotionally draining Olympics, fell to Cuba in three sets on Monday. Cuba, ranked third in the world, overpowered the U.S. women 25-15, 26-24, 25-17 and went up 2-0 in preliminary round play. The U.S. women were even at 1-1. USA Volleyball is reeling from the stabbing death of Todd Bachman, father of former Olympian Elisabeth "Wiz" Bachman McCutcheon and father-in-law of the U.S. men's coach, Hugh McCutcheon. Bachman was attacked by a knife-wielding man at a tourist site in Beijing on Saturday. His wife, Barbara, was seriously wounded by the assailant, who jumped to his death from a balcony of the Drum Tower, a landmark the Americans were visiting. U.S. Olympics Committee spokesman Darryl Seibel said Monday that Barbara Bachman's condition had been upgraded from critical to serious but stable.
The U.S. women's basketball team quickly dashes any hopes China had of an upset, avenging a loss in April with the second American drubbing of the Chinese in as many nights. Tina Thompson scores 13 of her 27 points during a 23-0 run in the first quarter of a 108-63 rout of China Monday night. Trailing by one midway through the first quarter, Thompson took over. She made two 3-pointers, a jumper from the corner, two layups, and three free throws during the spurt. The American men beat China 101-70 Sunday night.
In the first official doping case of the Beijing Olympics, Spanish cyclist Maria Isabel Moreno was kicked out of the games Monday after testing positive for EPO. Moreno, who had been due to compete in the women's road race and individual time trial, was tested in the athletes' village on July 31 and left China later the same day before learning the result, the International Olympic Committee said.
Beijing Olympics
6116. wabbit - 8/11/2008 3:54:55 PM btw, Banks, congrats on Abhinav Bindra winning the gold in 10M Air Rifle. The US managed only one medal in the shooting events, a bronze for Corey Cogdell in women's trap shooting.
Now that baseball and softball are being removed from the Olympics, what do you think about getting cricket in? I'd love to see one-day matches in the Olympics. 6117. marjoribanks - 8/12/2008 6:26:03 AM Check out the front page that greeted me this morning.
My personal hope is that the extremely ballsy Saina Nehwal somehow manages to win a medal in badminton, as she continues her run of upsets. That will alleviate the Bindra ballyhoo a bit, besides being a far more significant athletic achievement.
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Wabbit, I've heard some noises about cricket being included as a trial event starting at the London Olympics - the host has some leeway with this. On the one hand, even one-day cricket seems to me to be highly unsuited to the Olympics, what with taking a full day, long recovery times, etc. On the other, I would definitely get a kick out of seeing the cricket guys at the games. In the long term, I don't see cricket as an Olympic sport, I'm afraid...
6118. wabbit - 8/12/2008 2:25:21 PM LOL, that is a great headline!! And best of luck to Saina — I saw some of the men's badminton a couple days ago, it is surprisingly fast.
You are right about cricket, the time factor will be a problem, but I'm hoping the IOC gives it a chance. Preliminary rounds could be held well in advance of the actual opening ceremony, that already happens with other sports. So what if it isn't big here in the US, it is huge elsewhere. It won't get much tv time, but neither do many other events. I have my fingers crossed for cricket. 6119. wabbit - 8/12/2008 2:43:56 PM  I wonder if the depth of the pool is really making a difference for the swimmers. Records are falling left, right and center. Natalie Coughlin of the United States won the Olympic 100-meter backstroke, becoming the first woman to ever defend her title in the event. Coughlin finished in 58.96 seconds, briefly going under world-record pace at the 50. World record-holder Kirsty Coventry of Zimbabwe earned the silver in 59.19. American Margaret Hoelzer took the bronze in 59.34. Six of the eight finalists swam under 1 minute.
In winning the 200-meter freestyle Tuesday, Michael Phelps ran his career Olympic total to nine golds and avenged his only individual loss in Athens four years ago, when a 19-year-old Phelps took on the 200 free just so he could compete with Ian Thorpe and Pieter van den Hoogenband. Phelps etched his name with Mark Spitz and Carl Lewis among the winningest Olympians ever with his third gold medal and third world record in as many days.
Aaron Peirsol won the men's Olympic 100-meter backstroke, defending his title with a world-record time and extending the United States' dominance of the event. Peirsol touched in 52.54 seconds, lowering his old mark of 52.89 set at last month's U.S. trials. Teammate Matt Grevers earned the silver in 53.11. Arkady Vyatchanin of Russia and Hayden Stoeckel of Australia tied for the bronze in 53.18.
6120. wabbit - 8/12/2008 2:46:43 PM  Even the bronze was improbable. Two alternates had to replace the US men's gymnastic team's superstar Hamm twins. Both Paul and Morgan had injuries that kept them from competing. Raj Bhavsar, an Olympic alternate in 2004, on the 2007 World team, and again this year, was named to replace Paul Hamm. A second alternate, Alexander Artemev, was named to fill in for Morgan. There was never a question of winning gold. That medal, as expected, went to a dominant Chinese team, which finished first in five of the six apparatuses and easily outdistanced the silver medalists, Japan, by 10.275 points -- an immense margin. Silver was actually a possibility for the Americans, who led the Japanese by 1.70 points after five rotations. Unfortunately, the one remaining rotation was the pommel horse, the weakest event for the U.S. The Japanese, the defending Olympic champions, were finishing on the high bar, and outscored the U.S. by 4.95 points in the final rotation to easily earn the silver. But the U.S. held on to third-place over Germany thanks to a brilliant pommel horse routine by Artemev, who scored 15.35 in his first and only event of the day...
The US rolls along in basketball and softball, as expected. Montenegro routed Canada 12-0 in men's water polo Tuesday, Spain beat Australia 9-8, and the United States upset Italy in preliminary play. There are so many things going on at once, it is impossible to keep up.
From SI:
Indian media were unstinting in their praise of shooter Abhinav Bindra on Tuesday after he earned the world's second most populous nation its first gold medal in 28 years. Bindra, who Monday became the first Indian to claim an individual gold medal at an Olympic Games when he won the 10-meter air rifle event at Beijing, was described as "India's Goldfinger'' on the front page headline of The Times of India national newspaper. India's previous eight gold medals came in men's field hockey, the last of which came in 1980...
Beijing Olympics
6121. TheWizardOfWhimsy - 8/15/2008 6:15:17 AM This is one phenomenal ball girl . . .
Video From TooShocking.com
6122. jexster - 8/15/2008 4:42:19 PM Nadal and the Servian animal Jokervich...shaping up like Federer at Wimbleton in the second set 6123. wabbit - 8/15/2008 7:40:30 PM The story behind the ballgirl clip - it was originally meant to be a Gatorade ad. 6124. wabbit - 8/15/2008 7:42:12 PM  Michael Phelps has already passed Matt Biondi. With Saturday's final of the 100 butterfly done, Phelps goes after Spitz's record of seven gold medals at the 1972 Munich Olympics. Teammate Ian Crocker and Serbia's Milorad Cavic have the best chance of derailing Phelps. Crocker and Phelps had combined for the 17 fastest times in history in the 100 butterfly heading into the Olympics.
Even some questionable scoring couldn't derail the American women from gold and silver in the gymnastic all-around final. For Nastia Liukin and Shawn Johnson it came down to not only the last event, but the last two competitors… Liukin up first, Johnson up last, the gold medal hanging in the balance. Johnson was the favorite, but it was Liukin who ended up golden.
James Blake could shrug off the three match points he failed to convert, and even the misfire on an easy forehand that would have given him a berth in the Olympic final. What stuck in his craw was the notion his opponent didn't play fair. Blake came up one shot short Friday, losing in the semifinal to Fernando Gonzalez of Chile 4-6, 7-5, 11-9. Afterward he accused Gonzalez of failing to fess up on a disputed point two games before the finish. "I've spoken all week about how much I've enjoyed the Olympic experience, how much I love the spirit of it," Blake said. "That's a disappointing way to exit the tournament, when you not only lose the match, but you lose a little faith in your fellow competitor." Or maybe you would have lost anyway, eh? Eighth-seeded Blake, a first-time Olympian at 28, will play for a bronze Saturday as the last hope for a U.S. medal in men's or women's singles. Gonzalez, seeded 12th, will lose Sunday's final to Rafael Nadal.
Beijing Olympics | Results for 8/14 - SI
6125. TheWizardOfWhimsy - 8/15/2008 10:17:32 PM Snookered again by mass media! Thanks wabb. 6126. marjoribanks - 8/16/2008 9:14:08 AM Wabbit's link didn't work for me. But I saw that (awesome) ballgirl clip and immediately suspected tampering because the batter's swing and contact indicated ground ball to shortstop, not lined fly ball to the corner.
I wonder if anyone else here remembers Bo Jackson running at full tilt up a wall as though he had suction cups on his shoes? 6127. wabbit - 8/16/2008 5:00:26 PM Bo Jackson, I was just thinking about him a few weeks ago, can't remember why. I couldn't remember who that game was with, but I found it: ...On July 11, 1990 against the Baltimore Orioles, Jackson performed his famous "wall run", when he caught a ball approximately 2-3 strides away from the wall. As he caught the ball at full tilt, Jackson looked up and noticed the wall and began to run up the wall, one leg reaching higher as he ascended. He ran along the wall almost parallel to the ground, and came down with the catch, to avoid impact and the risk of injury from the fence... I wish I could find video of that catch online. He made some great commercials, too.
6128. jexster - 8/16/2008 5:10:03 PM As far as I am concerned Olympic Sailors Can Blow or Row 6129. wonkers2 - 8/17/2008 4:54:41 AM Dream Cruise 6130. wabbit - 8/17/2008 5:21:35 PM  Can someone explain why runners don't run through the finish line? I was watching the men's 100 meter and Jamaican Usain Bolt set a world record in the 100 meters, but I wonder how fast he would have been had he actually run hard for those final ten meters. If it was a marathon, I could see it, but in 100 meter? I don't get it at all. It isn't like anyone is going to pay him millions per year to run, and even endorsement money isn't going to last long. All he has is his name in the record books. You would think he'd want that record to stand as long as possible. He might have had a time a tenth of a second faster — even a twentieth would have been worth it, imho. Impressive as his win was, I think he lost an opportunity. Well behind Bolt, Richard Thompson of Trinidad and Tobago took the silver medal in 9.89, and Walter Dix of the United States was third in 9.91.
Kenenisa Bekele has successfully defended his Olympic 10,000-meter title in a competition record time, leading teammate Sileshi Sihine in an Ethiopian 1-2 again. Bekele hit the front 450 meters from the finish Sunday and crossed in 27 minutes, 1.17 seconds to beat the record he set four years ago. Sihine, who was second at the Athens Olympics and at the last two world championships, took silver in 27:02.77. Micah Kogo of Kenya won bronze in 27:04.11.
You cannot beat the Chinese in diving. Guo Jingjing of China won the 3-meter springboard title Sunday at the Olympics, becoming the most decorated female diver with her sixth career medal. Guo totaled 415.35 points to defend her title from four years ago in Athens and make China 5-for-5 in diving at these games. Guo and partner Wu Minxia teamed to win the women's 3-meter synchronized title last weekend. Having another gold medal around her neck made Guo back away from the retirement talk that swirled around her before the games. "I like the feeling when I stand on the springboard," she said through a translator. "I just can't give it up." Guo surpassed countrywoman Fu Mingxia, who won five medals during her Olympic career. Guo teamed with Fu to finish second on synchronized springboard at the 2000 Sydney Games, then Guo and Wu won the title in Athens. Guo was the silver medalist on individual springboard in Sydney.
Beijing Olympics
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