Roto Baseball Guru

There has been many incredible feats accomplished during these Olympic games in Beijing.  I have already highlighted a couple of these feats in a previous post and there are many more that I haven’t mentioned and probably won’t get to mention as well.  The Olympics creates many memories and stories that touches the fans in different ways.  For me, it is usually the surprise stories of incredible feat that creates a lasting image in my memory.  In these Olympics, this lasting image of incredible feat is hands down - Usain Bolt’s achievement of the sprint triple crown of gold.

Unlike Michael Phelps, which had the American media machine hyping him up and making him a household name, Usain Bolt was a virtual unknown coming from the small island of Jamaica.  There was no real hype around him and to the casual fan and most of the people watching the Olympics, the name of Usain Bolt was not known to anybody before his 100m race.  In fact for that race, it was his country man, Asafa Powell that was widely viewed as the favorite to come away with the gold.  That quickly changed after Usain Bolt obliterated the field and won the 100m in world record time of 9.69 seconds - earning him the nickname of “Lightning Bolt”.

As if earning the title of “World’s Fastest Man” was not enough, lightning struck twice more at the Bird’s Nest (the venue where the track and field events were held) with Bolt winning gold in the 200m sprint as well as the 4×100m relay in world record times.  This is a feat that has never before been accomplished before and may never be touched again.  In the journey of winning the sprint triple crown and doing so in such dominating and flamboyant fashion, Usain Bolt has made people pay attention to track again.  After being plagued with an era of drug abuse and steroid use, Usain Bolt did what many previously thought was impossible and he did it in such an electrifying way that you cannot help but appreciate it.  Track and field needed a hero and Usain Bolt came to the calling.

Some circles, including IOC President Jacques Rogges, has criticized Bolt for his flamboyant victory celebrations and indicated that as unsportsmanlike and showing up the other athletes.  As a fan however, I would disagree with this statement and have no issues with how Bolt has celebrated.  It is no different than many other celebrations that I have seen in professional sports such as a victory dance after a football player scores a touchdown or when a hockey player scores a goal.  Even at the Olympics, I have seen many other athletes (mainly the Americans) celebrate in a similar fashion as well.

No, Usain Bolt’s character shouldn’t be questioned here and his celebrations are a genuine display of the joy he felt as well as acknowledging the incredible feats that he accomplished.  And to show the type of character he is, after winning his 3 gold medals, Bolt donated 50k USD of his sponsorship money to the Red Cross of China in a joint event with Chinese beauty and Miss World 2007, Zhang Zilin.

From unknown to international celebrity in a span of a week, success and fame does have it’s price.  But with Bolt’s personality and desire for the flair, I am sure he will rise to the occasion. 

With all of the feel good stories that have developed in the Olympics thus far, it is inevitable that there would be some disappointments as well.  The largest one of these games will undoubtedly be Liu Xiang’s withdrawal from the 110-meter hurdles, before running his first race.  There are many reasons why this story would be considered one of the larger disappointments, but one single point dwarfs them all, which is the reality that the entire nation of China weighed on Liu Xiang, and that many of the over 1 billion people in China are devastated by the results.

Now that may seem a bit dramatic, however there is substance to that claim.  There is reason why his coach could not hold back tears during the post-race press conference when explaining Liu’s injury.  There is reason why just about every member of the Chinese media were in tears during that interview.  There is a reason why the crowd at the Bird’s Nest (the Olympic stadium hosting the event) let out a shriek when they heard of Liu’s withdrawal and after moments of stunned silence, they exited the stadium.  There is a reason why volunteers and security personnel alike where seen in tears around the stadium.

When Liu Xiang won the gold in the 110-meter hurdles 4 years ago in Athens, it was the first time a Chinese male won a gold medal in track and field.  In a sport where it’s been widely believed that the physique of a typical Asian does not stack up with the rest of the world, Liu Xiang was able to bust this myth and capture the hearts of an entire nation.  Every day since that memorable feat, the expectation and desire for Liu Xiang to repeat in Beijing, the capital of the nation he represents, grew to an immeasurable size.  You see, the Chinese are a very proud people.  As a Canadian born Chinese, I can speak to that first hand from my own upbringing and the traits of my parents.  In a time where China itself is beginning to seek acceptance on the global stage, Liu Xiang’s previous accomplishments represented the possibility for hope, and breaking through the typical misconceptions and stereotypes.  Here was a Chinese man succeeding in a genre, let alone sport, where none other has done so before him.  Whether it’s fair or not, the burden and expectation of an entire nation was on Liu Xiang this time around, willing him to show to the world once more that China does belong on the global stage.

With this in mind, and the knowledge that the entire nation was behind him, Liu Xiang pushed forward.  He willed himself to bear the pain of his injury and decided to at least give the race a try, even though he was sporting an injury to his Achilles tendon that should have kept him out for at least a month.  When it was all said and done, there was no fairy tale ending this time around.  No heroic feats that could bend the reality of the situation.  No, in the end there was only tears and disappointment, as well as the constant what-if and what could have been.  Alas, at times Olympic moments may be magical and uplifting, but like any other fairy tale relationship, it can also break your heart.  Keep your head up Liu Xiang, the nation still loves you.

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”.