Beijing Olympics Recap: Shawn Johnson’s Gold and Usain BOLT

Shawn Johnson gets her gold

Congratulations to Shawn Johnson for her long awaited, and well deserved, gold medal. In the words of Nastia Liukin and her father/coach, this really was the perfect ending for USA gymnastics for these Beijing Olympics. In the end, the US women actually ended up getting more medals than the Chinese women, including 1 Gold, 3 Silvers for Shawn Johnson and 1 Gold, 3 Silvers, 1 Bronze for Nastia Liukin. Of course, no matter how fervently Bela Karolyi says it on NBC with Bob Costas, I think objectively you can say that the Chinese team had the more successful Olympics, given their golds. Whether you believe that’s due to some scoring arbitrariness though is up to you. In my (uninformed) opinion, all of the scores were a little arbitrary, not just the Chinese, and I did not see any reason to think the Chinese were getting anything more than an innocent home crowd bump.

Bela was not always happy

Give Bela credit though, he has an unwavering passion for USA Gymnastics, and I absolutely respect that. He really is the reason why gymnastics is so popular and successful here.

One last thing about SJ. I don’t know why, but the medal ceremony always gets me. If I were an athlete who had just garnered a gold and was standing there with the anthem playing… well, I’d be one of those with tears in my eyes. So it was very nice to see Shawn Johnson on the podium finally getting her gold, with her parents in the stands pretty much wrecked and ecstatic, and with her fully appreciating the moment and becoming a little emotional. All in all, great job by the Americans, and 2012 is already shaping up to be a great competition. It will be interesting to see how many of the “20” year old Chinese girls will be on the team (He Kexin anyone?), and whether the Russians will redouble their efforts to get back into gymnastic relevance.

Now, Usain Bolt.

Usain Bolt

First off, he has absolutely the perfect name for Olympic competition… Not just the obvious “bolt” and its lightning connotations, but the “Usain” is sufficiently pronouncable and exotic at the same time. It just rolls off the tongue, no?

Second, yes, he’s a bit of a brash youngster, perhaps even a jerk to some! Now, in the world of NFL wide receivers like Chad Johnson and TO and so on, he’d fit right in… which maybe makes some of his antics a bit unbearable in the Olympics. And, he’s gotta get another pose besides his finger pointing thing into the air.

Pointing again

I mean, once in a while, maybe just once per race, would be borderline for this trite pose. But to do it during his introductions, then when he finishes, and to do it for every preliminary round AND the finals? We’ve seen this about 12 times already, and it’s gotta go.

Now, about the running itself… Best I’ve ever seen. And this is all that probably matters. I never ever thought that Michael Johnson’s 19:32 would ever be broken. For those that don’t remember, that number was INCREDIBLE back in 1996. He broke the record by an unthinkable amount, and it seemed like one of those seismic shifts that just wouldn’t be accounted for until say 2050 if at all. But this guy just broke it without a problem. Absolutely incredible.

For those who haven’t seen him run, I would go post haste to youtube and look for his races. His 100m dashes seriously look like he’s jogging. His 200m final was so incredibly dominant that he’s practically the only on on the track. His race around the turn was flawless. And he’ll be unbeatable in 2012 as well.

Beijing Olympics: Nastia Liukin Wins Female All-Around Gold in Gymnastics

Nastia wins gold!

Congratulations to Nastia Liukin for winning the coveted Olympic All-Around Champion title!  She was rock solid throughout the competition, and her near-perfect vault in the first rotation basically put her on the path to the gold right away.  Add to that some questionable judging for Shawn Johnson’s beam routine (more on that later), and a very well deserved gold medal for Liukin is the result.

Highlights of the female competition, both individual and team:

(1) Liukin’s uneven bars routine. The pirouettes that she does on the top of the high bar are both artistic and (apparently) difficult, and when she sticks the landing, that routine gets her a very high score, often in the high 16s. I’m guessing we’ll see a lot more female gymnasts pumping difficulty into their uneven bars routines because that seems to be where a lot of points are easily obtained.  Especially if they’re judged the same way they were this year (again, more on that later).

(2) He Kexin’s uneven bars routine (Chinese gymnast). She may not be 16, but her uneven bars routine is phenomenal. That release move she has at the very beginning, where she flips then twists to catch the bar BACKWARDS… even in slow motion, it just doesn’t seem possible.  It really is too bad that she fell in the qualifications, because she deserves to be in the event finals.

(3) Ksenia Semenova’s floor exercise. Now the fact that I can pull that name out doesn’t mean that I follow gymnastics – only that I watched the all-around on television and finally got a chance to see another team besides the US and China perform.  Those Russians really did choke away a bronze medal, based on what they showed during the all-around.  I don’t know why, but Semenova’s routine just had more artistic aspects (not that that matters) and a very sharp feel to her tumbling (which probably really really matters).

Now, the judging.

As a guy who plays lots of tennis and basketball, and who grew up playing baseball and soccer, and who is a devoted fan of the MLB and NFL, I think the one thing about professional and competitive sports that is an ABSOLUTE NECESSITY is fairness and validity in how the games are decided.  Every run is one run.  Every layup is two points.  Every touchdown is six points.  We know what a double fault is. The ball just need to cross the threshold to be a TD.  Etc, etc, etc…

But there was a major problem in these olympics with the judging of the gymnastics.  Namely, the scoring was absolutely ARBITRARY, and that is a big big problem that must be fixed. Again, obviously, I am not a gymnastics aficionado.  I really don’t know much about the technicalities, except what I see on television and what Tim Daggert tells me. But there simply are times when an absolutely perfect vault (according to Tim Daggert) gets a 9.45 on the execution, meaning the judges found 0.55 in deductions!  Or you see two gymnasts on the beam get the same scores for two completely different qualities of routines. This happened time and time again, with no clear definition of what constituted a deduction, aside from the big ones like stepping out of bounds or failing to hold a handstand.

I think this hurt Shawn Johnson a little, but again, Nastia Liukin won the gold running away anyway.  So congratulations to her again!

Now, let’s go Tyson Gay!

Beijing Olympics: Womens Gymnastics Team Final – China Outlasts the USA Girls

Picture worth a thousand words

This picture tells the whole story of last night.

For those who missed it, the Chinese Women’s Gymnastics team won the Team Gold over the USA team, by about 2.30 points in the final standings. Exactly 1.60 of those points came from mistakes by Alicia Sacramone. First, the stunning fall off the beam on her mount, then an all-too-predictable fall on the following floor exercise. Her falls definitely deflated the team, and subsequent mistakes by Nastia Liukin and Shawn Johnson sealed the deal.

Meanwhile, the Chinese women did well, but not with their normal precision or perfection, on both the beam and the floor. They won going away, but you definitely got the feeling that the US would have either won the gold or at least put a LOT of drama in that stadium for those final routines. Furthermore, there would have been a lot less whining from the USA after the meet… more on that later.

But first, a picture of pure happiness. You almost can’t help but be happy for that Chinese team!

Pure happiness

Congratulations to the Chinese for the gold, and to the USA for the silver!

Now, onto the ugliness that ensued. Before the glitter could be mopped off the mats in the stadium, the Americans – notably Marta and Bela Karolyi – began blasting the Chinese stadium officials for what they termed gamesmanship (the long delay before Sacramone’s beam routine). Then they took another shot at the Chinese nationals for allowing 14 and 15 year old girls to compete. Then they came up with every possible excuse for their loss… except for the one that counts: China outperformed the USA.

Why do we Americans have to do this when we lose?? Why does there have to be a nefarious reason?? Why can’t we just graciously congratulate the other team?? It just seems a little insecure. Sure you’re sad, and bitter, and angry, but first, look at the mirror. Then, get ready for the all-around. Even if China used 14 year olds, the bottom line is they were stellar.

By the way, this is not to say that we should be heaping any criticism on Ms. Sacramone. I actually feel genuinely terrible for her. But no criticism, because in the end, all that happened is that she had an off moment that led to a completely understandable loss of confidence. That’s what happens to athletes and any other competitors.

Some pictures to leave you with to show that Alicia Sacramone is already tearing herself up.

Beijing Olympics Recap: Men’s Gymnastics – US and China Medals

First off, an admission. When it comes to guilty pleasures, I have a few. I’m a pretty typical red-blooded, liberal, sporty guy from Philly. I follow baseball fervently, with a couple fantasy baseball teams and a throwback Phillies jersey in my closet. But, I will admit that there are a few Avril Lavigne songs that I love, mostly because of a couple routines from SYTYCD. I also love Top 10 (or Top 100) lists, whatever they are for.

AND…. I enjoy Olympic gymnastics. My wife and I were talking a couple nights ago about how we both remembered the women’s gymnastics from 1992 (the Kim Zmeskal and Shannon Miller year), and so on. But generally, it’s more about the women’s than the men’s.

However, last night, I got caught up in the Men’s Team Gymnastics Finals. The bottom line doesn’t quite capture the excitement: China expectedly won the gold, going away. The USA held on to win the bronze.

Bronze winners

Gold winners

Again, that bottom line doesn’t come close to capturing the excitement of last night, which thoroughly caught me by surprise. The US men were extremely short-handed, having lost Paul Hamm and Morgan Hamm days before the Olympics started. They were the only two with Olympic experience! As a result, the US went into the Olympics with two out of their six gymnasts being alternates. I can’t remember the last time I saw an Indian-American doing gymnastics. They were NOT supposed to be contending for a medal, yet after 3 events last night, they were leading China for the gold! Granted, it was an illusory lead given that China still had its powerhouse events, but nevertheless, what a run. They had some tense moments with the dreaded pommel horse — BTW, there is SUCH a difference between people who barely get by on the horse and those who excel — with Kevin Tam opening with a terrible score in the 12s. But they pulled it out.

China on the other hand HAD to win the gold. Their head coach had promised to jump off the tallest building in Beijing if they didn’t. Probably an empty promise, but man, what pressure. They had a terrible Athens, where they were hoping to set up these Olympics with a statement gold. Their leaders were under scrutiny. Silver was not an option. They struggled in their first rotation. And so on and so on… But they were amazing on the parallel bars, and when they finished up on the high bar, the crowd’s reaction to their win was goose-bump-worthy.

South Korea Update:

The Korean men kinda bombed in the men’s gymnastics, but they have been dominant in Archery. (One of the weirdest country-domination pairings ever… Korea and archery?? Where did that come from? It’s like China and diving, Americans and backstroke, Kenya and the marathon.) AND, they have done well in swimming, because of one Park Tae Hwan. I’ve never heard of him, but he’s been stellar in these games, winning a gold and a silver already. And he’s only 18 years old. I have a feeling he’ll be one of the top gold medalists in 2012. He’s also got a face that’s made for TV… I’m sure he’s incredibly popular and swooned over by the ladies in Korea.

Park Tae Hwan, for all the Korean ladies reading this blog

Beijing Olympics: 4×100 Freestyle Relay, Amazing Win with Michael Phelps

Winners of the Gold!

Did anyone catch the amazing finals in the Men’s 4×100 Freestyle last night in Beijing? I am not usually the biggest supporter of US Olympic teams (my loyalties are split with South Korea), but I do tend to root for the US whenever I can. That said, I was very very much into the race last night (partly because of France’s verbal assault — perhaps they haven’t learned from their pro leagues that bulletin board material is not a good thing). And WOW.

The anchor swimmer was about a half body length apart with about 25m to go… and he inexplicably caught the French swimmer and out-tapped him for the win. Very exciting, amazing race!

As an interesting side note, Cullen Jones, pictured to the left of the picture above, is only the second African-American olympic swimmer. That’s an amazing stat, and makes his accomplishment all the more admirable. Congratulations to him, and I hope his inner city swimming initiative takes off.

The Save Statistic in Baseball: A Solution

"Best" Closer in Baseball?

Jim Caple of ESPN wrote an article in which he argues that the closer is the most overrated position in baseball and the save is the most overrated statistic in baseball. Definitely worth a read.

I do believe it is important to have a defined closer on your team – while theoretically, having a closer-by-committee is more effective, pitchers are nevertheless humans with certain needs for defined roles and, sometimes, horse-blinders. Meaning, I still think most relief pitchers in baseball need to know exactly what their role is on the team: relief in a bad spot in an inning, 8th inning setup man, 9th inning closer, etc. Plus, the fact of the matter is that there really aren’t enough pitchers who are good enough that the team can say “X will not give up a run in an inning more than 25% of the time.”

The “SAVE” statistic, on the other hand, is ridiculous.  Here is the definition of a “save” according to official baseball rules:

A pitcher is credited with a save when he finishes a game won by his club, is not the winning pitcher, and either (a) enters the game with a lead of no more than three runs and pitches for at least one inning, (b) enters the game with the potential tying run either on base, or at bat, or on deck, or (c) pitches effectively for at least three innings.

On the surface, okay.  But with time, certain situations become ridiculous save spots.  (c) in particular is dumb. However, that really only happens maybe a handful of times for a team.  It’s really (a) that is problematic.  There really isn’t that much pressure, relatively, when a pitcher comes in the 9th inning, with no one on base, and with a 3-run lead.  Yet, he’ll get a save, he’ll do this 20-50 times a season, and he’ll get paid more money than other capable relievers simply because of this.

A solution?

I propose a statistic called “True Save”.  I would just call this the “save” and abolish the old save, but baseball does love history and being able to compare players across eras, and even obsolete stats are revered today (batting average and pitcher wins are somewhat included on this list). But let’s call the “True Save” the following:

(1) When a pitcher starts the 9th inning with his team up by ONE run and finishes the inning without letting in a run, or
(2) When a pitcher enters the 9th inning with the tying run at the plate and finishes the inning without letting in that tying run.

Simple as that. I really can’t think of a stress situation that doesn’t involve actual risk of an impending loss of the lead. THOSE should be the save situations we measure. As an example of what would NOT be a save under this new stat, say a closer starts the 9th with a 3 run lead. He goes a bit erratically, lets in 2 runs, but manages to get that third out with a one-run lead.  This is NOT a save! He’s created his own stressful situation and worked his way out of it.  That’s just bad pitching.

So this is my solution. I’m sure someone out there has come up with this. Have they?  In any case, what do you think?

Weekend Links: Obama, Clinton, Phillies, and … Samurai?

In honor of my attempt to spend today playing golf here in DC despite the rain-soaked forecasts, I offer up my weekend LINKS. Let’s take a minor break from SYTYCD and spread ourselves out a little:

Obama vs. McCain:

Although I hesitate to put my own political beliefs out there, those who know me know that I’ve been an ardent Obama-believer since Day 1. Nevertheless, one of my favorite aspects about politics is the analysis of each candidate’s pros and cons, and there are plenty for both Obama and McCain. In any case, here’s a couple of articles from today that come from both sides of the spectrum:

McCain and Obama: Two Different Kinds of Men (RCP): What are some potential downfalls of each?

August is the Time to Take Obama Down (Fox): Two Fox analysts argue McCain has been too soft!

Running While Black (NYTimes): The Smearing of Obama

Hillary Clinton:

I wasn’t the biggest Hillary fan, but sometimes she just feels like a comfortable shirt. It will be very interesting to see how her speech at the Convention will be taken. In reality, despite all our talk about Obama’s cult following, his rockstar status, Hillary in her way has her own equally fervent followers.

Clinton Asks Not to Be Nominated (NY Daily News): Her delegates – what will happen?

Phillies:

Ah, back to my roots and my real interests – sports and in particular, the Phillies. I am, if nothing else, a baseball fan. If you love baseball (any team), let’s talk – leave a comment! The Manny trade? Check. Bay in Boston? Check. Fantasy leagues? Check check check. But for now, this zinger from Bissinger.

Where Losing is Everything (NYTimes): The losing culture in Philly.

Video Games:

And finally, my favorite fighting game of all time, not because I played it the most (that would go to Street Fighter II Turbo) or because I was any good at it, but because I love the idea of fighting with samurai and ninja, sees a rebirth on the Wii and PS2.

Samurai Shodown II and Anthology Come to Wii (Kotaku):  Yesssss!

Coming Up Soon:

My top 5 performances on SYTYCD this season!

More on the Phillies and sports in general.