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Monday, August 25, 2008

Five reasons that Sports Casters should calm down when it comes to Michael Phelps.

I know Michael Phelps is great and he has the most gold metals ever, both in a single games and overall. I will agree that he had accomplished a task that might never been seen again. I know that nothing can take away from how great of a swimmer.

I ask sportscasters and sportswriters one favor, please stop calling him the greatest Olympian ever. It is hard to compare Olympians over the last 120 years. Many of those athletes did not have the same chances.

1. The professional era of the Olympics is only 20 years old - In the amateur era of the Olympics it would be hard to see any American win ten metals. Paavo Nurmi could have won more, but they pulled his amateur status. What could have Babe Didrikson or Jesse Owens with more than one Olympics to compete in.

2. Swimming gives lots of chances to win metals - A boxer can only win one metal, but has a lot of fights in a single elimination tournament. Team sports only offer the chance for one metal. No matter how good at wrestling you are, you can still only win one metal.

3. More events than ever before - The Olympics have been adding sports every year since it started. Great Olympians of the past might have won more metals if they had more events.

4. Qualification rules have changed - The rules have changed over the years. To say someone is the greatest of all time is saying that everyone is playing under the same rules. This is the reason that baseball is easy to compare over the years. Babe Didrikson qualified for five Olympic events but was only allowed to compete in 3. Phelps did not have this limit.

5. Metal count is a poor measure of greatness - When it comes to the Olympics there are no stats. It is the best in the moment. Metal count is just a number on paper. It goes against why people love the Olympics.

I am not saying that Michael Phelps is not great, just be careful when calling him the greatest of all time. This is a bold claim with no good way to judge.

Labels: Babe Didrikson, list, Michael Phelps, olympics, Paavo Nurmi

- Rich, 3:22 PM |

Sunday, August 24, 2008

10 Favorite American Gold Medalist before my time

10. Tom Burke - At the first modern Olympics in 1894 he won the 100 meter and the 400 meter. No one else ever repeated that. I know that only 14 countries took part in the first modern Olympics. It is still cool to be first.

9. Mark Spitz - Seven golds one olympic, nine golds two olympics. This is just cool.

8. Dick Fosbury - Dick Fosbury changed the high jump forever. There are few other athletes who changed their sport all on their own. This is the biggest change to Track and Field in the Olympic era.

7. Bob Beamon - Talk about a historic records. Bob Beamon's long jump world record stood for 23 years. This just blows my mind. This is great.

6. Tommie Smith - There is a lot of ways to see Tommie Smith. Countries are often blamed for bringing politics into the Olympics. It took courage for Tommie Smith to make a statement on the gold metal stand

5. Cassius Clay - The Olympics is a great coming out party for boxers. This might have been the greatest case of that. Cassius Clay had a great public debut at the Olympics. It lead to a great career as Mohammed Ali.

4. Wilma Rudolph - She went from having polio as a child and needing leg braces to walk to winning three gold metals. That is just amazing to me. To me this will always be an amazing feat.

3. Babe Didrikson - The world had no idea what to do with Babe Didrikson. She could have won five metals at her Olympics if she was allowed to compete in that many events. She won two golds and a silver. The silver was just because of the rules being enforced only at the end of the match. She was the first female super-star athlete.

2. Jesse Owens - This is the point where world politics and sports collide. Jesse Ownes was not only a great athlete but he was a great athlete when every eye in the world was on him. He was a great athlete when the 100 meter dash was about more that just a race. It is hard to win when Sports carry deeper meanings. Remember that this was long before Jackie Robinson broke into the big leagues.

1. Jim Thrope - Jim Thrope won the pentathlon and the first decathlon in 1912 Stockholm Olympics. He was the greatest Athlete in the world. After the Olympics he played Football, Baseball, and Basketball. All this and he was striped of his metals after a bogus rules change. It was just a crime.

Labels: gold metal winner, list, olympics, tag overload

- Rich, 10:04 PM |

Saturday, August 23, 2008

Boxing at the olympics

There have been lots of controversy over Olympic boxing this year. People say the scoring system is broken and the refs are bad.

I wonder if the Olympics have to be handled differently. I wonder if they need to remove the headgear and have the tournament over the whole year. Only have the last two rounds at the city of the Olympics. Every one who makes the tournament would go to the Olympics to fight even if it is not for first place.

I think that boxing has changed a lot in the last 20 years or so. The Olympics also has to change. The problem is that changing the wrong way will kill the sport at the Olympics.

Credit has to go to NBC for not shying away from being critical of the Boxing. I think it is important to cover what is really going on.

Labels: boxing, NBC, olympics

- Rich, 1:39 PM |

10 Favorite American Olympic Teams

To match my list of my favorite Gold metal Winners is my list of my list of my favorite Gold Metal teams.

10. 1984 Men's Gymnastics - These guys were instant stars after winning the team metal. It might be because my sisters, but I wanted every minute of Men's Gymnastics. This team made Gymnastics look cool.

9. 1996 Women's Basketball - This Olympic win launched two different Pro leagues. These women where winners. they wanted to prove they were just as good as the Dream teams.

8. 2008 Women's Coxed eights Rowing - I watched this team win the gold. They lead the whole race. Even when other teams made runs at time, they kept their cool. They really wanted to win and they took it.

7. 1992 Men's 4x100 track relay - Michael Marsh, Dennis Mitchell, Leroy Burrell, Carl Lewis, at world record time. This is my favorite track relay race. This team came in over the hill. They still brought it home.

6. 1996 Softball - Softball finally get to the Olympics. The story of people like Dorothy Richardson who took time off from Med School to play in the Olympics. I love that once they got their, they cashed in on it. They did not let the chance get by them.

5. 2008 Men's 4x100 Freestyle Relay - This was a great race for the gold. The US won by catching the French team in the last leg. They won by .08 of a second. That is amazing. I did not think they could do it, but they did.

4. 2004 & 2008 Misty May-Treanor-Kerri Walsh Beach Volleyball - I could not stop watching this team. It is not only because they wear really skimpy outfits. They played great together. When things went against them they picked each other up. When the got ahead of other teams, they closed the door. Not only did they win every match, but also every game in 2008. They are the best Beach Volleyball team of all time.

3. 1996 Woman's Gymnastics - They were the Magnificent Seven, the best team America ever sent, and they were the home team. There is something to be said about winning when you are meant to win. It was not an easy win. They came, competed hard, and brought the gold home.

2. 1988 Men's Volleyball - Because of the 1984 team and the 1988 team Volleyball was the coolest sport when I was growing up. In 1988 not only did they win the gold, no one boycotted the games. They played the best in the gold and still won. I think this might be the coolest Olympic team ever.

1. 1980 Hockey - This is the greatest real life Rocky story. This team was a bunch of American College kids. They were playing a hockey team that was good enough to beat the NHL all-stars. It was amazing that this team won. I was 8 years when this happened. I did not realized how big that moment in was off the ice and in the cold war. It was still a great moment in sports even without the politics.

Labels: gold metal winner, list, olympics

- Rich, 8:45 AM |

Friday, August 22, 2008

10 Favorite American Gold Medalist of my life

Photo by Jarod_Uses_Film


I have been watching a lot of Olympics lately. Of course I have been watching a lot because in a couple weeks the whole thing is over. At that point I will have to wait for more year to watch it again. This has made me think of my favorite Gold Metal Winners.

Honorable Mention

Andre Ward
Mariel Zagunis
Cael Sanderson
Summer Sanders
Janet Evans
Bruce Baumgartner
Dave Schultz

Top 10

10. Dan O'Brian - Dan O'Brian is the kind of story that I love. Lots of people would have been crushed by what happened in 1992. It was his own fault he did not make the Olympics. He was able to keep himself on track to win the Decathlon in 1996. That is one of the things that make the Olympics great.

9. Karch Kiraly - One of the best players ever Volleyball. He is the King both indoor and on the beach. He won three gold metals in all. He has a cool name, gold metals, and he is a great TV announcer. I think every jock in my high school wanted to be Karch Kiraly.

8. Michael Phelps - Right now I feel like I have Michael Phelps overload. In a few years I will remember seeing every one of his races this year. I will remember seeing the Olympics he made his own. He won every way he could.

7. Mary Lou Retton - Every American gymnastics gold metal since 1984 should give an assist to Mary Lou Retton. She is the face that launched a thousand careers. Everyone loved Mary Lou Retton and every little girl wanted to be her. She is an icon.

6. Kerri Strug - I know the story is cheezy. She had a broken foot and made the vault that won the gold metal. She stuck the landing with a broken foot. This is just amazing to me. I was at a bar when this happened and strangers where hugging each other after this.

5. Carl Lewis - Four Olympics, Nine Gold Metals, Jesse Owens' feat of winning four gold medals at a single Olympic Game, what more do you want? At Atlanta everyone talked about him, wondering if he could win another gold at the Long Jump and he did. On the track, he was electric. That is all you need to say.

4. Joan Benoit - There is something special about winning the first Marathon. She did it at her home country by more than a minute. That is winning when it counts.


3. Bruce Jenner - The Decathlon is the greatest athletic event in the world. The Decathlon Champion is the greatest Athlete in the world. I remember running around my living room yelling, "I Am Bruce Jenner!" As a 4 year old he looked bigger than life.

2. Eric Heiden - I remember rushing to the TV to watch his races. He really caught my imagination as an 8 year old. The feat just seemed amazing to me. He had 5 individual metals. We talked about it forever when I was growing up.

1. Kurt Angle - I have only seen one Gold Metal one live. I will say that watching Kurt Angle win his gold metal live is the best sporting event I have ever seen live. It is the only time that I ever felt my cheering was having a direct impact on the outcome. It is the best ever.

Labels: athlete, kurt Angle, list, olympics, sports, tag overload

- Rich, 12:32 AM |

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