Will someone slap me in the face? Please? Will someone bring me back to reality?
Not tomorrow or next week, not after Hurricane Ike destroys my apartment in the upcoming 24 hours, not on Saturday when I find out, but now. Slap me back to reality.
Maybe I’ve been brainwashed; maybe I’ve been lied to. Or, maybe, but unlikely, I am just missing something. The first two seem the likeliest.
It seems another of our All-Star American Athletes has openly admitted to unfair play while in competition. Antonio Pettigrew, a member of the America’s 2000 1,600 Meter Relay Team, admitted that he was doping during the time the team was competing.
As you read this, keep in mind that this is the sixth overall medal, and the fourth gold, that has been stripped from the U.S. Track Team in the past eight months. Four months ago the International Olympic Committee stripped gold from the U.S. Women’s 1,600-meter relay team and bronze from the women’s 400-meter relay squad because of doping by Marion Jones.
But, in light of these new developments, are any of us really that surprised? I sure hope not.
I was wrong.
There, I said it. I’m man enough to admit it. I’m human enough to admit it.
I was wrong. 100 percent. Not even close to correct. W-R-O-N-G. No way around the bush.
There is Elizabeth Poblete of Chile, smiling jubilantly Friday afternoon after she snatched 86 kg on her first attempt in the 75-kg weightlifting woman’s final.
Sure, it was 45 kg less than the existing world record set by Natalia Zabolotnaia of Russia in 2007, but it set her up to try a personal best 93 kg on her final attempt. That 93 kg attempt, her maximum, was still seven kg less than the minimum attempt of any of the other 12 competitors in the event.
Sometimes I keep my mouth shut even when I want to say something. In journalism, you have to. In this case, however, I should have spoken.
Watching the Wimbledon Gentlemen’s singles final, which I wrote was the greatest sporting event I ever had the pleasure to see, I refrained from mentioning my observation that Roger Federer did not want to win the match before the middle of the third set. Yes, I saw it, as painful as it was. Federer clearly did not care for half the match if he won or lost.
In the U.S. where basketball, baseball and American football rule, the performance of our national teams in other competitions is sometimes overlooked. Considering the importance placed on sports in our society and the money and resources available you are left to wonder how we cannot be more competitive in sports outside of our “comfort zone”.
The Rugby World Cup ended for Team U.S.A. today following a thrashing at the hands of South Africa. This was hardly a big surprise. The United States is not exactly a rugby nation while South Africa won the World Cup in 1995 and is a contender whenever it steps on the pitch.
Team USA is primed and ready to start playing games as they look to begin the journey to the 2008 Beijing Olympics. All the keys to total domination are there, Kobe is in one corner surrounded by reporters hurling questions about his trade demand hiatus while the other scorers, Carmelo Anthony eats a candy bar and Lebron James listens to a “Learn Chinese” program on his I Pod. In another corner sits three great and true point guards in Jason Kidd, Deron Willaims, and Chauncey Billups, all jogging their minds with plays and teammates tendencies. In the third corner are the shooters, on being Michael Redd with his trainer putting in work on injuries; the other is Mike Miller, sprawled out on a chair doing an interview with a teen magazine on what products teenage age girls should use on their hair since he has used many of them. In the last corner of the room, the `Weight Room” area features a battle of the bigs as Amare Stoudamire and Dwight Howard go head to head to see who can push more weight off their chest, Howard is currently ahead by 15 pounds but Amare is loading up the bar for another go. In the middle of the room stand the defenders, Tashaun Prince and Tyson Chandler, keeping a close eye on the rest of the team as they go about their business. This is the perfect mix of players that team USA needs to win gold, each player just needs to perform their role.