Tougher at the beach than at BMX

Now, I don’t want to denigrate BMX as an Olympic sport (actually, I do but I’ll wait a couple of paragraphs to do it) so I will just make this point as a matter of comparison:

It was pouring rain when we woke up here this morning on the day BMX was to award its first medals. And while the kids cowered and postponed everything a day, the women’s beach volleyball gold medal match went on, downpour or not.

Maybe the cyclists were worried all the metal they wear in various piercings might rust.

Wusses.

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Speaking of BMX, My Man Perk was out there this morning here (last night there) for the rainout of the big medal day and that gave him a chance to talk to a dude who actually paid money to have his name legally changed to reflect his dedication to, and style of playing, the sport.

I can’t give away all of Perk’s great lines but I encourage you all to wake up early tomorrow and read the column. It’s a classic.

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The Special Meat/Rodent Palace is back in our news.

Chatting with a couple of NBA and writer types at halftime of the USA-Australia game and conversation got around to the joint and whether anybody’s gone back there since the, um, mouse/rat/scorpion-as-big-as-your-arm incident.

One guy in the conversation was aghast that it’s no longer popular.

"Hey, if you can see them, they’re not cooking them.”

That’s oddly logical, isn’t it?

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You know how I’ve been lauding the volunteers here for their willingness to do almost anything – including scraping the food from our plates and separating the recyclables from our breakfast trays?

Well, they went above and beyond on Friday morning when we all awoke to a terrific downpour that lasted about four hours.

Usually, when we go through the security check in the massive tent at the village, we’ve got about a 60-metre walk to the buses that are inevitably waiting.

Today, not only had they pulled the buses right up to the tent, there were four volunteers – two on each side – standing there holding umbrellas so we wouldn’t get too wet on the three or four steps we had to take from tent to bus.

Now that’s service.

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Mail’s in, at least a quickie:

Q: Why does Team USA chose low numbers for their jerseys? (ex. Bosh #12)

Tom R, Toronto

A: FIBA rules stipulate that teams can only use numbers 4-15 on their jerseys. It was done mainly for the referees to signal calls to the scorers table. Watch them, they use the right hand for calls on Nos. 4 and 5, two hands for 6 through 10 and a closed left fist and fingers on the right hand for calls on players 11 through 15.

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Okay, back to BMX.

Not sure it was who said it, but watching the time trials – one rider over a bunch of bumps and around some turns – was like watching some kid ride away after stealing your child’s bike.

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One of the theories being bandied about at the basketball tournament regarding Spain and Jose Calderon is rather intriguing.

It has been suggested by people in the know that Spanish coach Aito Garcia Reneses is more interested in using Ricky Rubio and Rudy Fernandez because they play, or have played, for him at Joventut Badalona of the ABC.

That makes as much sense as anything because while Rubio is flashy, he’s still 17 and tends to play a wee bit out of control. Sometimes it’s exceptional – he’s a couple of Maravich Moments in the games I’ve seen – but he’s also tried such novel things as throwing lob pasess off the backboard intended for teammates who never saw them coming.

Now, there are a lot of places where lob passes off the backboard are a wonderful idea, charity games, garbage time of summer leagues, your rec league or the playground. The Olympics? Not one of them.

Speaking of Jose, he’s to have an MRI late today here (or just a while ago depending on when I get this blog posted) and I’m told by Someone Who’d Know that he won’t step on the court for Friday’s semifinal against Argentina Lithuania (oops) unless he’s 100 per cent. He’s given his word to the Raptor bosses and there’s no reason to think he’d go back on it.

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Another question:

Q: Doug, we've seen Michael Phelps wear two bathing caps to prevent water resistance from his goggles' strap and Walter Dix wear wind resistant sleeves in the 100m sprints.  With all the focus on athletes doing "anything" to win and with placings in swimming and track coming within 100th's of seconds, do you know why some athletes insist on wearing heavy jewellery or "bling" during races?

Don W, North York

A: It’s easy: Vanity.

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Now, that’s how you finish a race.

The 200 turned in by Usain Bolt on Wednesday night here was an exciting an athletic performance as I’ve maybe ever seen. I liked it even better than his 100 win and it probably tops my past favourite, which was Donovan Bailey’s 100 win in Atlanta

The reason? He went all out, all the way. It was that kind of once-in-a-lifetime performance that I’ll remember much more fondly than his 100 win.

I saw Michael Johnson run 19:32 in Atlanta and didn’t think I’d ever see a better sprint. Now I have.

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They won’t mind if I give ‘em up.

Q: "Only thing that made it worthwhile was hanging with a couple of American basketball writers who made it a point at every Games to see the last-place games in both the men’s and women’s tournaments. Masochists."
Who are the couple of writers'? Anyone we would know?

Shawn L, Bowmanville

A: You might. Couple of very good friends, the legendary Bob Ryan of the Boston Globe, who’s here as it turns out; and Jim O’Connell of the Associated Press, who isn’t here but who’s forgotten more about international basketball than I’ll ever know.

Comments

[Junior]

Hey Doug,

Do you know if both CB4 and Jose were aware of who the red mascot was?

Blogger's note: I doubt it, there's not as much interaction between chickens and players here as there is in a routine NBA game.

[nicole t]

little typo: Spain's playing Lithuania in the semis

[Brent Akeson]

Who do you think is the star of these games, Michael Phelps or Usain Bolt?

Also, where do you rank your overall experience at these games as compared to previous Olympics?

Finally, I really enjoy your blogs, I make sure to read them after I check the women's beach volleyball highlights. Thanks.

Brent
Burlington

Blogger's note: Let's save the wrapup stuff 'til we're closer to finished.

[ro]

What's wrong with jose? What's the MRI on?

[Ryan]

I won't defend BMX being in the Olympics either (why is baseball being removed when BMX is there?), but obviously there is a much higher risk of serious injury when on a bike doing whatever it is they're doing than there is when just playing volleyball on the sand in the rain.

[Ryan]

Oops, my bad, misread... yeah I agree they could have handed out the awards for BMX in the rain.

[Andrew Gregg]

Hi Doug:

Your Olympic blog has been great and everything, but it's now time for you to come home and start writing about the Raps again. I'm in some bizarre kind of withdrawal.

AG

[Rebuild]

I would just like to say that after the summer sports end (i.e., CFL, MLB, MLS) that every Toronto sports franchise (excluding the Raptors) will be in rebuild mode. The leafs we know have blown thier organization up and building for the future. After ten straight years in the playoffs, the Toronto Rock (National Lacrosse league team) fails to make the postseason this year. The Argonaughts should not have changed anything to thier roster from the '07 season unless it was a small change. Now they wont even make the playoffs (or lose in the eastern final again). TFC is starting to get that MLSE stink. The only reason the Raptors are making the playoffs is because of the team bonuses. The Blue Jays, with Cito back will rebuild in the offseason and will be a stronger team in '09.

[axl]

hey, bmx was one of only two events that I watched, can't wait until they get the trick riders in there. Skateboarding's next, in fact way overdue considering the difficulty level.

[Colin W]

Regarding Bolt easing up in the 100m, intelligent sprinters (and/or their managers) know there's a lot of money to be made on the Grand Prix tour for breaking records. Why should Usain set one in the Oympics that he may not be able to break when the Games are over, perhaps forfeiting? Just a thought. I don't know what was going on in his head, but he did say he just wanted to win the race and wasn't thinking of records at the time. That's also plausible.

[bballer]

i'm starting to realize that bolt's celebration is a matter of age and culture. many people celebrated and cheered when bolt slowed down at the end. we cheered louder when he started to do the gully creeper and 90's dance. that is not showing up your opponents at all. as you saw, even his opponents embraced and celebrated with him (well until they got disqualified).

many people may not like the way terrell owens acts, but he sells more jersey's than anyone else in the nfl. his celebrations makes him popular. usain's celebration represents the same for jamaicans and non-jamaicans alike. he is a young man having a lot of fun. that is what prevents him from tensing up like his opponents. that is what allows us to love him even more. if i go to jamaica 50 years from now, people will still talk about usain and his celebrations.

if you get the chance, tell rogge to deal with the corruption within the olympic movement and leave the poor kid to enjoy himself even more.

[Mike]

lol @ comparing Rubio to Maravich. About the only thing they have in common is the same haircut.

Maravich, if you don't recall, was a 40 ppg scorer in college. Maybe the greatest scorer of all time in the NCAA

Rubio's game is built off being a great passer and playing above average man defense.

The comparison is terrible. Only in basketball do comparisons have to fall along racial lines - there are plenty of much better comparisons to make to Rubio (ie Gary Payton), yet the media is fixated on calling him the 2nd coming of Pete Maravich.

Does Ricky even have 40 pts in this tourney? What's his shooting%? Probably less than 35%

[Q]

Doug,

I'd like to submit a little unsolicited advice to you. It might be prudent to stop implying that Chinese people enjoy consuming rats and mice off the street. It might also be prudent to stop repeating about jokes from others in the same vein while condoning them as "logical".

I only say this because some of the people who read your blog might, possibly, consider your comments as ... (what's the word?) "racist". I only say this because ... well... it is.

An apology would be in order (in particular to your Chinese readers), but having read your blog for a while, I am not holding my breath.

Blogger's note: You're reading things that aren't there. And I wouldn't hold my breath, you probably wouldn't look good turning blue. But thanks for reading.

[Q]

This is exactly the immature response I was expecting from you. You may claim that people are reading things that aren't there, but let me suggest that the next time you have a chance to speak to an english speaking local in Beijing that you ask what he or she thinks about the "western" perception that a Chinese person eats anything that moves. You might gain a little perspective. We know you have your dog, cat, rat, mice and other "special meat" jokes and we find it insulting.

A professional writer should not have to find recourse in humour based on derogatory social stereotypes. A grown man should also be willing to admit when he's made a mistake and insulted a culture.

Blogger's note: I'm terribly sorry you feel that way. And this will be the end of this discussion. Thanks, as always, for reading.

[Andrew]

Doug,

I feel the need to comment upon your remarks about the BMX riders compared the volleyball players. You commented on how the BMX riders were wusses for not racing in the rain. Now, based on simple physics there is a MASSIVE difference in playing volleyball in nice soft sand compared to hitting jumps and corners (made of asphalt) at high speed, as the rubber tires on the bikes can slip quite easily. Considering safety issues here I feel that you are being extremely unfair to the BMX riders, especially since I highly doublt you have done any of this style riding yourself. Also, the comments based on piercings the riders wear was extremely stereotypical. I race downhill mountain bikes at a semi-professional level and I don't have a single piercing in my body. Perhaps it would be necessary to keep your comments geared towards basketball.

[Jonathan]

I don't think I would make as strong a claim as Q about you being racist, but I have to agree that your inclusion of the particular joke he was referring to might indeed come off as borderline distasteful.

Normally, I couldn't care less if you leave a snarky response about a basketball topic or to one of the many silly posters attempting to bash you, and often find such comments amusing, but perhaps something like this, even if the original poster was misinterpreting, would be better off with a bit more sensitivity.

Unless you're absolutely sure you didn't offend anyone (and how could you be?), it would have been better if you hadn't responded with that unnecessary add-on of yours. Very bad timing for coming off as disingenuous.