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Beijing 2008: Last hurrah for Pepu Hernandez
Posted May 8, 2008 at 10:34 AM by Os Davis
Section: Beijing 2008, Events, Basketball, Featured Writers, Os Davis
With a starting team comprised of wall-to-wall NBAers, Team Spain hardly needed psychological incentive to add to all the talent taking the floor at the Beijing Games; Los Españoles have that as well.
Said motivation takes the form of a recent sad announcement from national head coach Pepu Hernandez, who will be stepping down as Spain’s team leader after the 2008 Olympics and before the Eurobasket at which he’s seen such success.
Beijing Price Tag Difficult for Olympic Parents
Posted May 8, 2008 at 08:17 AM by Michael J. Sedor
Section: Beijing 2008, Culture/History, Human Interest, Socio-Political, Events, Aquatics, Boxing, Featured Writers, Michael Sedor
While your watching the your favorite athlete at the Beijing Olympics this year the cameras will inevitably flash to his/her nervous parents. Maybe one of them has left their seat out of anxiety, maybe one has their eyes covered, or maybe they’re just sitting there with nervous steely hopeful gazes. You might think about how proud they must be of their child and how much emotional support they have given their star athlete.
Here’s another thing to think about: in a front page Sunday story the Washington Post reported that those parents will have spent a great deal of money getting to China to see their son or daughter. Plane tickets between $2,000 and $3,000. Business class is hovering around $10,000. 11 nights at the Beijing Hilton $9,000. Second tier hotel $800 per night. Third tier hotel $400 per night. USA Swimming is offering a $36,000 two-person parent package while USA Boxing can dole out a $25,000 one.
Performance-Enhancing Drugs and the Olympics
Posted May 7, 2008 at 09:00 AM by Michael J. Sedor
Section: Beijing 2008, Doping, Culture/History, Olympic History, Socio-Political, Featured Writers, Michael Sedor
Performance-enhancing drugs and the Olympics. The proverbial elephant in the room. Someone’s not afraid to talk about it and it’s none other than Victor Conte, head of the infamous Bay Area Laboratory Co-Operative (Balco) lab and supplier to countless would-be cheaters. In this four-minute long BBC interview he proudly states that “The Olympics are a fraud. It’s all about money. Those who control the money, control the anti-doping policies. They are still inept to this day.” I suppose this is a veiled threat at the U.S.A. Track and Field or maybe it’s just anger at clients who hung him out to dry.
I don’t care either way. Conte’s word is dubious, his intentions are suspect, and his pontificating is contradicted by his actions. What is compelling is the PBS documentary Secrets Of The Dead: Doping For Gold which airs tonight at 8:00 p.m. on most local PBS affiliates. The documentary looks at the East German women athletes of the early seventies. The dozens who the East German secret police systemically and methodically pumped full of testosterones, steroids, and other drugs - most of the time unbeknown to the athletes themselves - and as a result won golds and broke world records.
The Pangs of Puerto Rican Patriotism
Posted May 6, 2008 at 12:01 PM by Michael J. Sedor
Section: Beijing 2008, Culture/History, Human Interest, Socio-Political, Events, Boxing, Featured Writers, Michael Sedor
The Wall Street Journal has had the most thoughtful, insightful, and interesting Beijing Olympics coverage of any English language news source. Their nonpareil work continued today with this excellent Page One article about the Puerto Rican…
Whirlwind Finish and Post-Race Drama at Men’s 10k Open Water Worlds
Posted May 5, 2008 at 01:00 PM by Michael J. Sedor
Section: Beijing 2008, Beijing Results, Events, Aquatics, Featured Writers, Michael Sedor
Image details: 2008 Australian Championships: Day 3 served by picapp.com
What news could possibly emerge from the Men’s 10k Open Water World Championships that would top yesterday’s…
Team USA slayer Schmidt gets Ordem de Rio Branco
Posted May 5, 2008 at 10:17 AM by Os Davis
Section: Culture/History, Olympic History, Events, Basketball, Featured Writers, Os Davis
Oscar Schmidt, all-time Olympic Games scoring leader and b-ball star in five Olympiads, was this week given Brazil’s top honor to private citizens, the “Ordem de Rio Branco.”
Injury buzzsaw trims Olympic squads
Posted May 4, 2008 at 10:25 PM by Os Davis
Section: Beijing 2008, Events, Basketball, Featured Writers, Os Davis
Spain, Australia rosters face injury problems; Cape Verde has hard economic issues to worry about
Briefs: Taekwondo, Baseball, Archery, Yoga, Sailing
Posted May 4, 2008 at 03:30 PM by Os Davis
Section: Beijing 2008, Events, Baseball, Other, Featured Writers, Os Davis
News briefs: Iran and China look good in taekwondo; death of Olympic baseball bad for Cuba; US Olympic Archery Trials continue; one man’s bid for yoga as Olympic sport; North Ireland names sailing team.
Paralympic Champion Swimmer Qualifies for Beijing 2008 Olympic Games
Posted May 3, 2008 at 09:00 PM by Michael J. Sedor
Section: Beijing 2008, Beijing Results, Culture/History, Human Interest, Events, Aquatics, Featured Writers, Michael Sedor
South African Natalie du Toit qualified for the Beijing Olympic Games today in the 10 kilometer open water race after finishing fourth at…
Human Interest Saturdays: Chinese-Canadian Olympians
Posted May 3, 2008 at 03:00 PM by Michael J. Sedor
Section: Beijing 2008, Beijing News, Culture/History, Human Interest, Events, Aquatics, Other, Featured Writers, Michael Sedor
Not every Chinese-born Olympian will be competing for their birth country in Beijing. Dozens of competitors now living throughout the world will be making a homecoming during this years’ Olympics. In fact eight will…
Gary Hall, Jr. Ready to Face the Sprinting Newbies
Posted May 2, 2008 at 06:00 PM by Michael J. Sedor
Section: Beijing 2008, Events, Aquatics, Featured Writers, Michael Sedor
Image details: Swimming - Finals served by picapp.com
Beware 50m men’s freestyle johnny-come-latelies. The 33-year-old Gary Hall, Jr. is tanned, rested, and ready to return himself to the the…
The Purple Rose of Darfur
Posted May 2, 2008 at 01:00 PM by Os Davis
Section: Beijing 2008, Culture/History, Socio-Political, Featured Writers, Os Davis
Mia Farrow, of all people, becomes a key player in the Olympic protest movement with the delivery of a speech scheduled for Friday at the Hong Kong Foreign Correspondents’ Club. The subject of the talk is to be Sino-Sudanese relations and…
How China saved Olympic women’s basketball, 84-81
Posted May 2, 2008 at 10:00 AM by Os Davis
Section: Events, Basketball, Featured Writers, Os Davis
In upsetting Team USA in the finals of the 2008 Good Luck Beijing women’s basketball tournament, the Chinese ladies’ team may have put a little suspense back into the Olympic women’s hoops.
Why Does Everyone Hate The Beijing Olympics? Part Two
Posted May 1, 2008 at 01:07 PM by Michael J. Sedor
Section: Beijing 2008, Doping, Culture/History, Human Interest, Socio-Political, Events, Track & Field, Featured Writers, Michael Sedor, Special Features, Columns/Blogs
Now if you thought the Sunday New York Times’ front page article “Witness in Track Doping Case Is Ready to Name…
How far will hooligans go? Beijing unafraid
Posted May 1, 2008 at 10:00 AM by Os Davis
Section: Beijing 2008, Events, Soccer, Featured Writers, Os Davis
While Beijing security specialists fear no problems with international hooliganism connected with Olympic soccer, the gangs are more organized than ever. And Beijing itself does have a history of sport-related rioting.
Three Americans Battle For Final Beijing Boxing Slots
Posted April 30, 2008 at 01:00 PM by Michael J. Sedor
Section: Beijing 2008, Beijing Results, Events, Boxing, Featured Writers, Michael Sedor
Boxing’s second (and final) Americas Qualifier got started on Friday in Guatemala City, Guatemala with three American pugilists aiming to join their eight already-qualified teammates in Beijing. In their first bout of the tourney middleweight Shawn Estrada picked up a decisive…
Now entering Beijing: Please extinguish all cigarettes
Posted April 28, 2008 at 12:28 PM by Os Davis
Section: Beijing 2008, Culture/History, Socio-Political, Featured Writers, Os Davis
To paraphrase the ad, “We’ve come a long way, baby.”
A long way, that is, from the days when the likes of Ted Williams lent likenesses to tobacco companies to push more cigarettes. For not only have most athletes…
Draw held for Olympic basketball tournaments
Posted April 27, 2008 at 03:12 PM by Os Davis
Section: Beijing 2008, Events, Basketball, Featured Writers, Os Davis
Between games on the final day of the Good Luck Beijing 2008 women’s basketball tournament, Lisa Leslie and Wang Zhi Zhi ceremonially assisted Olympic officials in putting together the pools for Olympic play.
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On May 8, 2008
lageloon ontwikkeling said:
China is a fantastic Country with very traditional and strong values of respect…