Bill Clement : Table Tennis :: Oil : Water
by curt
First, some background: Bill Clement played in the NHL for 11 years, and even made the All-Star roster. He now provides commentary and analysis on ESPN and ABC for hockey and charges $5k-$10k for corporate/motivational speaking events. I can respect his hockey playing/analyzing prowess and will concede that he has general speaking talent (although I can't verify this personally). However hockey is not table tennis.
Admittedly, I didn't have much of a problem with his commentary at first. Although it didn't give me any extra knowledge of the game, it was servicable. After watching the second game, though, hearing that that China dominates table tennis after every third point was getting a bit old. Also, you only need to say "Zhang Yining is the No. 1 seed" three or four times for me to understand that she's the No. 1 seed.
What particularly bothers me, though, is a comment he made as Zhang was wrapping up her game 4 win to take the match: "Zhang Yining is the mongoose of table tennis."
...
Mongoose!? What!?
A quick Google (NASD: GOOG) search provides this quote: "The mongoose, then, is a clever little creature with a deadly ability to look after itself in the wild. Let us respect it for its power while admiring it for its lovable antics."
I can understand a need to be clever and deadly (metaphorically speaking) in sporting events, but I still wouldn't use "lovable antics" to describe Olympic athletes.
Posted on August 19, 2004 | Comments (0)
Round One Victory!
by josh
They lost. They lost bad. They lost bad to a team that is not expected to medal. In the first game of the Olympics!
Carlos Arroyo looked like a bona fide star. Puerto Rico's inside defense made it impossible to get to the hoop. USA's shooting was unbelievably bad. Why don't we have any shooters on the team? Get college players! They can shoot!
Start working that twenty into your budget, Steve.
Posted on August 15, 2004 | Comments (2)
The World Comes Together....and I Wager.
by j_john
The Olympics game officially begin tomorrow in Athens, the birthplace of the Modern Olympics. With much more focus on terror threats, doping scandals, and Athens deep struggles in getting things prepared in time, I'm trying to get really excited about how special the Olympics are, even in these times of sponsors being able to control what people eat, drink, wear at the games and when there have been scandals about payouts and fixing the determining the cities for the last few Olympics. The Olympics really are special, so many sports that rarely get coverage, so many countries, and most of the athletes are there for the love of it and competition instead of money.
So, I thought, what is the best way I can honor the specialness of the Olympics and get myself excited about the games....WAGERING, of course! Some good old fashion betting always makes something more special. I have bet Josh Berezin a solid 20 bucks that the good ole USA will take the gold in basketabll, which should be interesting considering the NBA all star laden Americans underachieving in the last few years (including a dismal 6th place finish in the 2002 World Basketball Championships). Needing even more excitement I turned to ESPN.com for some good old fashioned Fantasy Olympics!!! Fantasy Olympics, dudes. How deep is that?
The Olympics soccer competition actually started yesterday (because it takes a long time to play a soccer tournament) with the US women taking out the host Greeks, but the big news was today when the Iraqi soccer team pulled off a huge upset and beat the Portuguese 4-2. Iraq who was not expected to even be in the Olympic competition were huge underdogs to the Euro 2004 runner-up Portuguese, who had maybe the biggest young soccer star in the world on the pitch in Manchester United's Christiano Ronaldo. Finally something to celebrate for the Iraqi people. Iraq becomes my sentimental favorites to win the soccer competition in Athens. I mean, how amazing is it that they even were able to send a team.
Go Olympics!
Posted on August 12, 2004 | Comments (0)
Titan Games: Fencing
by curt
When I was in college, I took some courses in Fencing. My instructor placed a lot of emphasis on traditional technique and form. That's quite different from the display I watched at the Titan Games last night.
The fencers on the strip were very skilled and it was impressive to see their quick blade-work, but I was disappointed that there was little traditional form left in competitive fencing.
Foil fencing represents a duel to the death. Historically, one's honor was their life, so if another person questioned your honor, it was potentially devastating. The resolution was a duel -- to the death. That's why only the torso, abdomen and groin are valid target area. If you stab someone in the arm, they'll likely survive, and it's not honorable to duel with someone who can't fully compete. If you stab them in the leg, you have to wait until they heal before attempting to kill them.
Epee comes from a more minor form of feud. Historically, the object is to draw blood, not kill. In Epee, every part of the body is valid target area.
Sabre fencing developed for people on horseback. Slicing someone's leg off doesn't do much good if the horse their sitting on still has four more. The sabre weapon is also meant to slice, not stab.
The deviation from traditional form is a result of electronic scoring. This is particularly noticable in the foil event. Fencers wear a vest that is woven with electrically-conductive material. The tip of each blade is a button that is also conductive. When one tip touches the other vest, it completes a circuit letting the judge know that a touch has been made. This doesn't sound like a problem until you consider that fencing foils aren't the most rigid instruments (for many reasons, including safety). Fencers have exploited this by flicking the blade, causing it to bend around an opponent's parry and score a touch.
Also, classically trained fencers focus on proper stance and movement. It is possible to step forward and backward while keeping one's torso at the same level. The fencers at the Games bobbed up and down like boxers. That bobbing motion creates opportunities for an opponent. If your feet are not on the ground, it's incredibly hard to move out of the way of an oncoming blade.
The only fencers who maintained their stance were the wheelchair fencers, which was very interesting to watch. Not able to move forward or backward, this fencers had to rely on their blade work to score touches.
Although I was disappointed in the lack of form of the fencers, their skill was certainly respectable. During the competition, the blades were moving so fast, I could rarely see them. The action was fast and furious. Since it was a team competition, each bout's score was added together. The US and Korean teams traded the lead often, but the US ended ahead 99-88.
Posted on June 21, 2004 | Comments (3)
