A tank job with serious consequences

So, badminton has tanking! Cool. Wonder who they want to draft?

Oh, right. Never mind.

Anyway, sure you heard about the scandal and the badmintoners (don’t think shuttlecockers works) were tossed out of the game for playing as well as you and I do with the nieces and nephews at the backyard barbecue in between burgers and sips.

It’s a tough one, isn’t it?

The reason everyone’s here is to win medals and if you have to lose to have a better shot at winning, well, isn’t that what the folks back home want?

But you know me and tanking.

I’m all about respecting the game and doing your level best every time you step on the court, field or pitch. It’s at the heart of competition, it’s why they keep score, it’s what you have to do.

Throwing games – and watching two teams try and lose was kind of like the Raptors-Nets last game of the season except for the Ben Uzoh triple-double – is just wrong.

Sorry, Not Grace Kelly. You make a good and valid point here but in the sober light of day, I think any self-respecting athlete needs to give his or her all every time they play whatever they play.

If you want to be the best you have to beat the best and whether that’s in an early playoff-round game or a first-round game or a game for a medal it doesn’t matter.

You’re here to win gold, silver or bronze, yes. It’s why countries go to some expense to send athletes, they want to be able to say we have more medals than the next country or even Quebec. But somehow the pursuit is cheapened by intentional losses or manipulating the standings table and it really does take away from the accomplishment.

I guess the answer is not to have round-robin play, or early pools, or whatever, in some sport. I know there have been basketball teams at various world championships or Olympics that have taken a loss so they could avoid someone in a crossover round and that’s wrong, too. I’m not sure having direct elimination in every sport right from the start can be done but it would indeed clean up some of the mess.

I know I’m being a bit Pollyanna-ish here but it’s part of my charm. I want true competition and best efforts every time I watch something, I want the athletes to respect the game, the opponent, themselves by trying to win every time out.

The organizers got it right when they tossed the offending athletes out of the game, they broke the spirit of the rules and the rules themselves.

Okay, that’s about all we’re going to do on badminton.

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Another night, another alley (or at least a tiny street off a bigger street), and an evening that verged on epic ensued.

The Tall Expat and the Somewhat Less Tall Partner In Crime hooked us up with The Coach and Horses, an apparently well-known established hard by Leicester Square that was home to some legendary old school writers and is quite a homey joint.

Check it out here, seems like the kind of place, I’d enjoy, no?

And, no, I don’t remember the last time I sang such ditties as Delilah (a group of Tom Joneses we’re not), a few Monkeys tunes and a Beatles song or two while sipping a local nectar.

Oh, and TE and SLTPIC playing the tambourines and dancing was just a nice touch. Really.

Didn’t get the name of the duo playing the piano and doing the warbling so I’ll just call ‘em Two Guys In Funny Hats.

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You know what’s not an issue here that everyone was worried about?

Traffic.

Been here 10 days now and have not seen one traffic jam that’d I’d even consider remotely bad. Even with dedicated Olympic lanes on many roads cutting down the available space to drive for the locals there’s been no gridlock, no discernible delays, nothing.

And I haven’t heard any locals complain, either.

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Because I’m generally at them every fourth summer what television network broadcasts the Olympics really doesn’t matter to me a whole lot.

But if Brian Williams isn’t the prime time host, Canadians are getting ripped off and I hope the overlords at the CBC realize that now that they’ve got the next two shows.

I have no idea if Brian wants to go back or will go back or even wants to keep doing this gig but there is no broadcaster in North America who is as good or as knowledgeable or as willing to ask tough questions or make critical comments than our guy Brian.

He is to the Olympics on TV what Randy was to the Olympics in print.

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Guess I was in the Soho district here last night and that was after walking through Chinatown and I think someone said we were near Little Italy so …

(You knew we’d get the Pogues in here one day, didn’t you?)

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One thing I’d wish I’d seen?

Brent Hayden winning the medal last night.

As I mentioned the day before, he was totally emotional just about making the final and to think he got there and came away with a bronze is wonderful story.

Rosie wrote it great, as she always does, and it’s truly an outstanding story for a guy who has been through the Olympic ringer.

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Some context.

When I’m talking about Pubs In Alleys, this is the kind of place I’m referring to.

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All right, once more into the beach today, I guess; and then some track and field (or athletics as it’s known over here) and who knows what else might pop up on what’s looking like quite an uneventful day at the moment.

Cheerio!

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Comments

[sportschic]

Leave it to the Olympics to provide a story you'd never expect. I bet you never thought you'd be leading off a blog post with a story about tanking in badminton. Finishing with tankards is more up your alley, though. ;) So to speak.

I guess you're looking for a big story to break today, given that you finished by saying it looks like an uneventful day.

Blogger's note: Yeah, pretty much jinxed again, didn't I?

[Tim H.]

Hey Doug:

Another GREAT post! (And, I assume you meant you sang a few Monkees tunes?)

Blogger's note: Surprisingly, I did

[Tim H.]

Hey Doug (and other Irregulars):

Please join me in welcoming the Windsor Express as the newest member of the NBL!
http://windsorexpress.pointstreaksites.com/files/uploaded_documents/1385/Info_for_Media_8.1.12_%281%29.pdf

[Bo4]

Doug 1, Cathal 0. Normally I like what Cathal has to write, but this time he struck out. If I'm a local bloke who's paid hundreds to get a pair of tickets, and taken vacation time off, and perhaps, come in from the countryside and paid through the nose for a hotelroom, and these were the only tickets I could get to fit my schedule, I'd fully expect to get to see a competitive match. If I buy tickets to see the Rolling Stones, I don't want to see them singing songs like The Farmer in the Dell for 3 hours!

[Mark]

Doug, they could still have group play, they just need to randomly assign seeds to brackets otherwise (so you would not know whether losing helped you avoid certain teams).

So instead of having it predetermined that (for example) 1st in A plays 2nd in C, 1st in B plays 2nd in D, 1st in C plays second in B, 1st in D plays 2nd in A, and then the winners of the first two matches and second two matches play, you randomly re-number the groups after group play. Then the chinese team, for example, would not know which side of the bracket their teammates would be on. But it would be safer for them to be a 1st seed, as there would be only a 1/3 chance the other first seed were their teammates.

[john]

I get Kelly's premise that if tanking is not against the written rules you shouldn't get DSQ'd. Calling out Seb Coe for saying no one wants to pay to watch those tank jobs is moronic. When someone retires they become instantly irrelevant? What was the point in that?
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To suggest that the athletes don’t get a cut of the gate is ridiculous. A number of these events (and their governing bodies) would not exist without the Olympics to support these sports both financially and give them credibility every four years. No one cares about Skeet Shooting, Synchronized Diving or Trampoline until it’s time for the Olympics and without the Olympics the sports are relegated to the same level as Horseshoes, Bocce, Shuffleboard and Lawn-Darts. These Athletes owe the Olympics big time. They owe the Olympic Organizer’s and all the people who buy the tickets to watch their event for giving them the opportunity to play the sport they love on a world stage instead of someone’s backyard or basement.

[ptboscott]

"you're the measure of my dreams..." gets me every time! One of the most romantic lines in song I think.
thanks for the great coverage from london; great combination of sport and real life and where the two converge.

[doug]

I think Kelly must have decided to take the contrarian point of view as McCown does all the time just to be different and well be different..as anyone that watches sports or plays sports etc, knows that their isn't anything more appalling then match throwing or fixing....it's not even defensible....I like the pic to show the "alleys" you speak of, as it was easy to visualize a Jack the Ripper type scenario, with fog drifting in, blackness all around and some little pub tucked away in the far recesses of a dark moribund alley...speaking of alleys this talk made me think of Fan Tan alley in Victoria's Chinatown another interesting place...and Canada is acquitting themselves quite well I must say at these games...ok cheers..

[saatuk]

" once more into the beach "

Best one of the Olympics so far.

[Terrance Cavendish]

Disqualification in badminton - a different view

I guess it all depends on the sport, one could make the argument that the British Cycling team, the focus of road race coverage I watched, drafted for team favourite
the entire race and violated the spirit of individual competition

3 members of the group were not seen as favourites with a chance to medal and they provided an advantage to a countryman not afforded to other participants who may have been only representative of their country in the race.
While this practice could be seen as acceptable in a team event why is this seen as acceptable in an individual medal event.

[LakeSimcoe]

"It’s a tough one,"
If you watch the clip, you would agree it was not tanking, but shoot-their-own-hoop/goal, which is definitely disgraceful.
Brits invented Badminton (Tanker alert: Canada invented Basketball!), UK Open is one of the greatest even in Badminton. So it was a double humiliation to the host.

Maybe NBA has taken some actions against that. Say Stern might warn Howard: "Boy, you wanna go there? They turned a double-wavied to Linsanity, and if time allowed, they might also turn a D-League into a trible-double machine! They will turn you to a super-dunk...ed centre!!!"

[m]

Why doesn't the US mens bball team stay at the Olympic village with the other athletes?

Blogger's note: Don't want to, don't have to. Security, size of rooms, special dispensation for not being paid for the 50 days they give up in the summer. Lots of logical reasons

[doug]

@Terrance the example you speak of is the opposite of what the badminton teams did, they were trying to lose whereas the cyclists were trying to win...it to me isn't a valid argument at all...also drafting is part of all events from short-track speed skating, to cycling, running, motorsports and it is yes used as a advantage to WIN not LOSE that's the key difference....also Doug you mentioned Brian Williams who I agree is the best at what he does, but also one of the best persons at making calls in a race is Steve Armitage from the pool to long track speed skating he is the best, something about his calls/voice make him my personal fav...do I hear a list coming on..cheers...

[Lorie]

Hi Doug!
Have just watched the splendid Michelle Li and Alexandra Bruce in their match against a just slightly more splendid team from Japan. Well done by all; this is how badminton should be played at the Olympics. At all times. By all teams. Period. And good that your karaoke-ing thing was cleared up - wasn't clear which decade we were being transported to musically - the 1960's (Hey, Hey, We're The) Monkees or those cooler (colder?) 2010's Arctic ones. :) Cheers!