Roto Baseball Guru

First off, let me start off to say to my loyal readers that I have not forgotten about baseball.  You may have noticed that the most recent posts have been related to other sports, and that’s more related to my attention following the Olympics and the other sports news dominating the airwaves over the past couple of weeks than anything else.  With that said, look for some new baseball related blog articles coming up in the near future!

Now that I’ve gotten that off my chest, let’s focus on some of the amazing stories that have developed from the Olympic games in the past week.  I have always been a big fan of the Olympics.  I can still recall watching events from the ‘88 Olympic games in Seoul, in our two bedroom apartment in Canada with my family, all six of us crowding in front of our 24″ CRT television, cheering on both Canada and China in the various events.  I find that the Olympics is one of those television sporting events that will bring people together … family members of various ages will gather around and cheer on the nations as well as athletes that display incredible ability and accomplishments in their respective sports.  The fact that the Olympics can bring people together, regardless of age, interests or beliefs, is one of the reasons why the games are so special.  With that said, let me share some of these Olympic moments that I’ve been fortunate enough to savor and enjoy over the past week:

Michael Phelps - 8 Gold Medals

Phelps did what many would consider impossible, until he proved them otherwise.  I had the opportunity to watch most of Phelp’s final races live, and those that I missed were quickly up on YouTube.  You can say that he was destined to achieve this incredible milestone of winning 8 gold medals in a single Olympics … the comeback of the American 4×100 relay team to overtake the French was the first example of his destiny and the fact that he was able to win the 100 metre butterfly by only 0.01 of a second, grabbing victory from the jaws of defeat, was the second example.  Regardless of your belief, there is no question the amazing feat of Phelp’s accomplishments and it would be one of those moments where many years later you’ll be asked and remember: Where were you when Phelp’s won his recording setting 8th gold in the 2008 Beijing Olympics?  A true Olympic moment indeed.

Usain Bolt - World’s Fastest Man

 
I wasn’t sure what I was more amazed with.  The fact that Usain “Lightning” Bolt obliterated the field in the 100 meter dash to earn his title as the “World’s Fastest Man” or the fact that he obviously eased up in the last 20 to 15 meters and began celebrating his victory and STILL broke the world record.  When he was interviewed after the race, he indicated that if he knew that he was breaking the world record he would have continued pushing forward but since he had already won the race he didn’t feel the need to add insult to injury.

Some may take this as an athlete being too cocky and full of himself, but I didn’t interpret it this way.  Usain is clearly having fun and savoring the moment … dancing and posing for the fans with the Jamaican flag draped over him, becoming an instant hero in his home country.  Through his success and clear display of confidence, there is humility and a feel good feeling that you get that encourages you to cheer him on.  Knowing the fact that he did not go all out during his race leaves the door open for many “what if” scenarios and the audience at the edge of their seats waiting to see what’s to come from this amazing athlete.

These are the top two Olympic moments that I have been able to enjoy from the first week of the Beijing games.  Feel free to share yours and what events that you have savored thus far that would qualify to you as an “Olympic moment”.

Let me start off by saying that this piece is about something that I feel Americans are really good at.  Now before I get on to my rant, I just wanted to say that there are also many things that I feel American’s are not particularly good at.  Things such as designing good looking cars, making fast food healthy, electing intelligent leaders…well okay maybe that was just a shot at the current administration.

As a Canadian, I have the luxury of viewing American’s from a distance that isn’t too far nor too close.  I get all the major American channels such as NBC, ABC, CBS, Fox, MTV, VH1, ESPN, etc. but at the same time I also have all the Canadian TV channels too.  This unique opportunity allows me to compare and contrast the different marketing styles used by American and Canadian networks to promote their programs and for this article sporting events.

American networks love to focus on the subplot within the main event, whether it’s an individual overcoming some great obstacle to achieve their goal or a larger than life sports figure trying to become the best of all time.  American networks have this style down to an art form.  While Canadian networks and in a large part the rest of the sporting world tend to focus on the actual events themselves.  For a casual sports fan looking to enjoy a sport they don’t know much about, they need something smaller to grasp, an individual player or thing to look for that isn’t too complicated.  Connoisseurs of the game already know what they are looking for, they might not even be cheering for a particular team or individual as long as it is entertaining that’s enough to satisfy them.  These students of the game can enjoy the purity of what’s happening before their eyes and appreciate the subtle nuances and minute details.  However, most bandwagon hoppers just want something that will entertain them for the duration of the event and focusing on one small aspect of the sport makes it a lot easier to follow.  Case in point, I knew that the Tour de France was happening around this time of the year.  It wasn’t until this Monday that I found out that the Tour was over and the winner was crowned this past weekend.  In previous years when Lance Armstrong was competing, I would actually get up early on weekends to catch the second half of the stages and watch for Lance in his customary yellow jersey amongst the sea of cyclists.  The reason why I followed the Tour back then was because I had someone to root for.  There were numerous stories about Lance Armstrong and what he had to do to overcome cancer to become arguably the best cyclist to ever live.  You felt like you knew him personally, you wanted to hear the commentators talk more about him because you wanted to know everything there was to know.  Same with Tiger Woods.  Every Sunday, you know all the casual golf fans tune in to watch the man in the red.  If he is in contention, you know he will do something spectacular, it’s almost a given.  Now that he is sidelined for the rest of the year, how many of these fair weather golf fans will still be tuning in to watch a bunch of middle aged men battle each other for a trophy named after a company nobody really cares about?  In American sports it’s all about promoting the human aspect, putting a face to the sport gives it more appeal.  The Olympics are starting in about two weeks, how many Canadian athletes do I know?  Definitely one, maybe two.  Besides Adam Van Koeverden the gold medal favorite in kayaking there really isn’t anyone who stands out.  How many American Olympians do I know?  A lot more.  Dara Torres the 41 year old swimmer who is still breaking records and damn hot for any age is someone who you want to root for.  Jeremy Wariner, the 400 meter sprinter, all you hear about now is how he fired his coach and is slower because of it.  Jeremy isn’t the once overwhelming favorite to win gold as another US sprinter has already beaten him twice this year.  Do you think I will be tuning in to see how this saga turns out?  You betcha!  Even on a team full of superstars, such as the Dream Team, all you really read or hear about are its two biggest stars, Kobe and Lebron.  Focus.  This is what American sports television does best.  Give the spectator something small to chew on so that anybody can tune in and feel like they are apart of the action.  This is why I love American sporting events and why I will most likely be watching the American broadcasts of the Olympic games while tuning into the Canadian channels whenever a Canadian is completing but only because I am Canadian.