Strollerderby : Summer Olympics

Why the puppy games are better than the Olympics

Brett Singer — Sun, 24 Aug 2008 19:00:00 GMT

OK, that's not true. But if you haven't seen this dopey show on Animal Planet, you're missing out on something very cute.

Here are a few highlights:

1. Commentary: "It's going to be tough to impress the judges." True – because they're goldfish. "This is like a chess match." Indeed – if chess opponents gnawed on the pieces and sniffed each others' butts. Bob Costas doesn't get lines like these.

2. No controversy: As far as we know, the opening ceremonies were real, no protesters, journalists or grandmothers were arrested, and no one is complaining about the puppy's potentially sexist costumes.

3. Who won? Who cares?: They're, you know, dogs. They have no idea where they are or what they're doing. You can still cheer for your favorite breed (the Cocker Spaniel is really cute) but at the end of the day, it's all up to the judges… who are goldfish.

4. Two words: Waterbowl Cam.

Not sure if they're going to air this again or not, if so, I highly recommend watching it. There are a bunch of video clips on Discovery.com; here's one of the Gymnastics event.

source/image: Animal Planet

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Nastia Liukin's mom watches from the stands (video)

Brett Singer — Sat, 23 Aug 2008 15:00:00 GMT

Apparently Nastia Liukin's mother, Anna Kotchneva Liukin, has a hard time watching her gold-medal winning daughter compete. According to the NBC commentators, she spent some of the recent Beijing events shopping. This time, though, she stuck it out, but not without some difficulty. They didn't mention it, but I don't think she knows the guy she's sitting next to, despite the fact that she almost ends up in his lap.

My kids aren't terribly athletic (at least not yet) so I don't know what it's like to see your offspring in an intense competition, and the Olympics are as big as it gets for gymnasts. Anna knows from being on that big stage: she was a champion gymnast herself. Not sure if that makes it harder or easier to see your kid out there; judging from this video, I'd say it must be pretty tough.

Read more:

IOC orders investigation of Chinese Gymnast's age

Other Old Olympians

Shawn Johnson more mature than her coach

Did Michael Phelps actually win 8 medals?

Michael Phelps to endorse Frosted Flakes

Misty May-Treanor & Kerri Walsh Get The Gold, Now They Want to Get Pregnant

Bela Karolyi likes to kill things

They Say: no junk food ads at the Olympics

Misty May-Treanor Scatters Mom's Ashes at Olympics

Twenty Olympic Moms - Now What's My Excuse?

Michael Phelps father in Baltimore, not Beijing

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Whole lotta fakin' goin' on at the opening ceremony

Table Tennis Women, Flaunt Your Stuff!

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Jon Stewart Tackles Olympic Controversies

Olympics Opening Uses One Girl's Voice, Another Girl's Face

Do All These Chinese Gymnasts Look 16 to You?

Aussie Rower keeps his kids close

Protesters and journalists arrested in China (video)

IOC orders investigation of Chinese Gymnast's age

Brett Singer — Fri, 22 Aug 2008 19:54:00 GMT

He Kexin won a gold medal in the uneven bars and also contributed to the Chinese beating out the U.S. in the team gymnastics event. She looks really really young, and there have been questions about her age for awhile now. The IOC has begun to formally investigate whether or not, "Chinese authorities covered up the true age of their gold-medal winning gymnastics star because she was too young to compete," because of, "'discrepancies' that have come to light about the age of He Kexin." You kind of have to wonder what took them so long, but apparently someone, described as an "American hacker" by the U.K.-based Times Online, has uncovered documents that offer proof that Kexin is too young.

Watching the games, the judging also seemed biased, although that's more subjective. Still, I'm pretty sure I saw a member of the Chinese team fall in one event and not get any deduction, whereas an American who had a similar fall lost points. Béla Károlyi told Bob Costas that, "The lack of competence of certain judges is obvious," and it was tough to disagree.

Károlyi's wife Marta has attacked the age issue the way her gymnasts attacked their events, and while I think she went a little overboard, I agree that the whole thing is very suspicious.

Would the Chinese government lie about an athlete's age in order to gain a competitive advantage? And if so, what happens? The medals get stripped, but should they be banned from the Olympics for a time after that?

So – how old do you think she looks? 14? 16? Do I hear 12?

Source/image: TimesOnline

They Say: no junk food ads at the Olympics

Michael Phelps father in Baltimore, not Beijing

Dara Torres inspired two current Olympians

Whole lotta fakin' goin' on at the opening ceremony

Some Parenting Lessons From Michael Phelps's Mom

Gold (OK, Silver) Medal Girlcrush: Dana Torres

Volleyball hasn’t come a long way, baby

Jon Stewart Tackles Olympic Controversies

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Do All These Chinese Gymnasts Look 16 to You?

Aussie Rower keeps his kids close

Protesters and journalists arrested in China (video)

Team more mature than coach

They Say: no junk food ads at the Olympics

Brett Singer — Fri, 22 Aug 2008 16:00:00 GMT

Like 30 million plus people, I've been watching a lot of Olympics the past few days. Which means I've seen a lot of commercials from the sponsors of the Games; I think I've seen that McDonald's ad touting chicken sandwiches for breakfast (ew) at least 50 times.

Two watchdog groups, Commercial Alert and Multinational Monitor, have released a study titled, "The Commercial Games." According to AdWeek, "The study is highly critical of the sponsorship and advertising policies of the International Olympic Committee and the various sports federations and national committees under its auspices…The groups argue that the marketing of junk foods, sodas, fast-food chains and alcoholic beverages should be eliminated from the Games. Their reasoning: such products conflict with the stated purpose of the Olympics, which they say is to 'celebrate healthful living.'…Promoting such products in the widely watched Olympics…is 'unhealthful,' and particularly inappropriate 'for an event with enormous appeal to children.'" The groups slam McDonald's and Coca-Cola the hardest, saying that both companies, "run businesses centered around unhealthy food," and suggest that, "The Olympics should not lend its name and aura to help promote more consumption of these unhealthy products."

In what could be the funniest bit of corporate protestation ever, McDonald's "objected to the study's labeling of its product as 'unhealthy,'" presumably because they now offer apple slices and stuff like that. (Don't worry; you can get "low-fat caramel dipping sauce" with them.) The International Olympic Committee (IOC) does not accept ads from liquor companies, although beer and wine are OK. Not surprisingly, Commercial Alert and Multinational Monitor think the IOC should ban beer and wine ads as well.

The reason for all of these ads is, of course, money. According to Ad Week, there are 63 sponsors at this years' Games, which sounds like a lot, although it doesn’t say how that compares to previous years. The article quotes "brand consultant" Robert Passikoff as saying that 63 might be too many sponsors, but he defends the IOC's right to sell as many ads as they can: "The question is why should they cut back? They're making an awful lot of money on it. Why should anyone other than the consumers and the marketing folks be the arbiter of what's right and wrong? No research group should have the right to tell them who to do business with; who put them in charge?"

Is Passikoff right? Or should the IOC be more selective about whom they allow to sponsor the Olympics?

Source: AdWeek, Image: MSNBC

Protesters and journalists arrested in China (video)

Whole lotta fakin' goin' on at the opening ceremony

Team more mature than coach

Other Old Olympians

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Jon Stewart Tackles Olympic Controversies

Olympics Opening Uses One Girl's Voice, Another Girl's Face

Do All These Chinese Gymnasts Look 16 to You?

Bela Karolyi likes to kill things

Brett Singer — Thu, 21 Aug 2008 22:00:00 GMT

When Béla Károlyi isn't training world-class gymnasts or telling Bob Costas that, "The lack of competence of certain judges [in this year's Olympic Games] is obvious," he likes to go…hunting.

When I googled Károlyi in an attempt to get the spelling of his name correct, this page was the fourth result. After seeing him comment, often mercilessly, on the various Olympic gymnastic events, I'm going to say that I'm not exactly shocked that one of his leisure activities is hunting big game.

I'm not going to say anything else about this, since, you know, I don't want to get shot.

Images/Source: bigbexotics.com

Michael Phelps father in Baltimore, not Beijing

Dara Torres inspired two current Olympians

Some Parenting Lessons From Michael Phelps's Mom

Gold (OK, Silver) Medal Girlcrush: Dana Torres

Volleyball hasn’t come a long way, baby

Baby survives tornado

Aussie Rower keeps his kids close

Protesters and journalists arrested in China (video)

Team more mature than coach

Did Michael Phelps actually win 8 medals?

Brett Singer — Thu, 21 Aug 2008 19:00:00 GMT

Usually when an athlete is accused of cheating, it's a doping issue: this year alone, at least four athletes have been caught using banned substances. But in Michael Phelps' case, there may be something else going on.

Here's the deal, as reported in the New York Times:

The race in which Phelps won his seventh medal, tying Mark Spitz and setting him up to break the record for most gold at one Olympic Games, was decided by 1/100th of a second. Despite some "controversy" (that's what the article says; I don't recall hearing anything about this when it happened) over the results of the 100-meter butterfly, the authority that oversees swimming (FINA) decided not to release video images to help "prove" that Phelps was the winner.

What does this have to do with Michael Phelps? Well, Omega is the official timekeeper of the Olympics. They are also one of Phelps' sponsors. As the New York Times puts it, "The most visible athlete at these Games is getting a paycheck from the same company whose equipment decides the outcome of Phelps’s events."

To me, this is much ado about nothing, and an attempt to create a problem where there isn't one.

In the first place, FINA doesn’t typically release images of the races, which the Times article mentions but not until the middle of the article. Second, Omega didn't make the decision, FINA did. And third… I don't know, is anyone all that upset about this? Is that because we desperately wanted Phelps to break Spitz's record? Maybe. Personally, I didn't care that much; although some of the races were a lot of fun to watch (like when we beat the French in the relay after they had said they would "crush" the U.S. team – put that in your beret, Frenchie!), by the time Phelps won his eighth gold medal I found I had a certain amount of Phelps Phatigue. That's not to take anything away from him; I just think the coverage got to be a little bit overblown.

If you want to talk about weird judging issues, what about the gymnastics, where the judges clearly favored the Chinese team? (Béla Károlyi, despite being a little bit scary, was right on with much of his analysis.) And if you want to say that there are potential conflicts of interest between certain parties at the Games, I'm sure there is plenty to talk about. I'm not sure, however, that this is an actual controversy.

On the other hand – isn't it fun to have two opinions on the same topic? – why not just release the images? The photo shown here certainly doesn't do much to dispel the notion that perhaps the end result of the race wasn't what we were told it was. Sports ethicists (there's a job I want) interviewed by the Times say that FINA should release whatever information is necessary to keep people from thinking that the results were tainted, especially in this case, since it is so high profile.

Image/source: NYTimes

Other Old Olympians

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Gold (OK, Silver) Medal Girlcrush: Dana Torres

Volleyball hasn’t come a long way, baby

Table Tennis Women, Flaunt Your Stuff!

Baby survives tornado

Aussie Rower keeps his kids close

Team more mature than coach

Michael Phelps to endorse Frosted Flakes

Brett Singer — Thu, 21 Aug 2008 16:30:00 GMT

Maybe they should call them Phrosted Phlakes?

Once upon a time, Wheaties was the Breakfast of Champions, but now its Frosted Flakes. Michael Phelps will appear on a box of Tony the Tiger's favorite (phavorite? OK, OK, I'll stop) morning meal.

Naturally, some are upset with Phelps for choosing to endorse a sugary breakfast cereal. "In a country where childhood obesity is an alarming issue, Phelps' iconic image sharing space with Tony the Tiger sends the wrong message, experts say."

Personally, I doubt that any kid will buy Frosted Flakes because Phelps' image is on the box, although Kellogg's probably hopes I'm very wrong. And we know he did it because they offered him more money, rather than a more "moral" reason. Since swimming can't touch baseball or football in terms of the money an athlete can earn for competing, I don't think I have a problem with Michael making as much as he can while he can make it, especially since the IOC seems to be raking it in from their 63 sponsors.

source/image: NY Daily News

Protesters and journalists arrested in China (video)

Whole lotta fakin' goin' on at the opening ceremony

Team more mature than coach

Other Old Olympians

Michael Phelps father in Baltimore, not Beijing

Like father like son

Aussie Rower keeps his kids close

Dara Torres inspired two current Olympians

Some Parenting Lessons From Michael Phelps's Mom

Gold (OK, Silver) Medal Girlcrush: Dana Torres

Volleyball hasn’t come a long way, baby

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Jon Stewart Tackles Olympic Controversies

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Do All These Chinese Gymnasts Look 16 to You?

Other Old Olympians

Brett Singer — Thu, 21 Aug 2008 15:00:00 GMT

Dara Torres is 41, and Oksana Chusovitina is 33 (and saved her son from leukemia), but they aren't even close to the oldest Olympic athletes in history, or even this year. Most aren't in the more physically strenuous events, but competing in anything at their age is pretty impressive.

* Iain Murray is on the Australian Olympic sailing team, and at age 50 is making his Olympic debut. Murray is Australia's oldest Olympian; Andrew Palfrey, a teammate, is 41 and also competing in his first Olympics.

* Luan Jujie was 50 years old in 1984 when she won a Gold medal in fencing for Canada.

* Susan Nattrass is 57 and currently in Beijing on the Canadian shooting team. In 1976, she became the first woman shooter to compete in the Olympics.

* Hiroshi Hoketsu, a Japanese equestrian, made his Olympic debut in 1964 and is now back for a second time – at age 67.

* Oscar Swahn (Shooting) competed in his last Olympics in 1920 at the age of – are you ready for this? – 72. (He was planning to go in 1924 but he got sick. Wimp.) Over his career, Swahn won three gold medals, two bronze, and a silver in 1920, making him the oldest Olympic medallist ever. Fun fact: his son competed with him in 1908, 1912 and 1920.

For more, see NBCOlympics.com

Image/Source: nbcolympics.com

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Whole lotta fakin' goin' on at the opening ceremony

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Do All These Chinese Gymnasts Look 16 to You?

Like father like son

Michael Phelps father in Baltimore, not Beijing

Brett Singer — Tue, 19 Aug 2008 13:00:00 GMT

We've seen quite a bit of Michael Phelps' mom Debbie in Beijing. Bob Costas interviewed her and her record-setting spawn after Mike beat Mark Spitz's record by winning of eight medals in one Olympic games.

But Phelps pop, Fred, isn't there. Where is he? He's at home, in Baltimore. Watching the games on TV.

According to multiple sources, "Fred and Debbie separated for good in 1993, and the divorce was finalized the next year, when Michael was 9." This site implies that Fred "walked out" on Debbie and Michael, which I guess is possible, but I don't know since this is the only source of that I've found.

The same site claims to have a photo of Fred Phelps, but I think the photo on Cleveland.com is more accurate.

That article, written by Tim Warsinskey, asks the question, "Are you wondering what I'm wondering?" Tim wanted to know where Phelps' dad is; as a reason, he says that he is a father himself. I'm a dad as well, but I have to admit that "where's Michael's father?" isn't a question I asked as I watched the Olympics.

For his part, Fred said, "This is just about Michael. This is his glory, his time to shine, and I want him to get everything he wants." So even if he did "walk out" on his family (not saying he did, just saying if) at least he's not trying to claim that he's the reason Michael won all that gold.

image: Cleveland.com

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Gold (OK, Silver) Medal Girlcrush: Dana Torres

Volleyball hasn’t come a long way, baby

Baby survives tornado

Aussie Rower keeps his kids close

Egyptian woman gives birth to septuplets because she wanted a boy

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Whole lotta fakin' goin' on at the opening ceremony

Team more mature than coach

Jon Stewart Tackles Olympic Controversies

Olympics Opening Uses One Girl's Voice, Another Girl's Face

Do All These Chinese Gymnasts Look 16 to You?

Like father like son

Do All These Chinese Gymnasts Look 16 to You?

Jen Chaney — Thu, 14 Aug 2008 15:28:00 GMT

There is no question that the performances of the young women on China's gymnastics team were strong enough to earn them a gold medal. But apparently there are questions about whether all of these girls are actually 16.

Based on Olympic rules, all gymnastic contenders must turn 16 sometime during the Olympic year in order to be eligible to compete. Time magazine and other media outlets have reported that past Chinese records and news stories say two of the team members are 14, and another is only 15. The Associated Press cited a story, printed by the Chinese government's news agency, that said gymnast He Kexin was just 13 as of nine months ago. Chinese gymnastics officials maintain that all of the girls meet the age requirement, and that those sources simply printed factual errors.

Of course, this whole situation again raises the issue of whether such age requirements should exist in the first place. Bela Karolyi, former U.S. gymnastics coach, says no. Getting rid of that 16-year minimum would mean the U.S. -- and every other country -- could bring in the often more nubile, younger contenders. After all, Nadia Comaneci (also coached by Karolyi) won gold at the Olympics when she was just 14. That was in 1976, before the age regulations were put in place. What's the harm?

In some situations, Comaneci's being one of them, there may not be harm. Some kids are equipped to handle the stress and pressure of competition at a very young age. But some -- even though they are enormously talented and dedicated -- are not. If there were no age minimum, I worry that kids would get pushed even harder to win than they already do. And when a 13 or 14-year-old girl knows how important it is to herself, her parents, her coaches and her community to win at the Olympics, she might not feel comfortable saying no when someone finally asks too much of her. It's a delicate balance and sometimes even parents can't see when the competition starts to cause cracks in their children's emotional well-being. Hence, the age requirement.

It's a complicated, difficult issue. But I do know this much: It seems to me it should be fairly easy and quick to verify whether all of the Chinese gymnasts are actually 16. The International Gymnastics Federation and the IOC use the girls' passports to verify age. But shouldn't they check their birth certificates, too? If both sets of documents are legit, then case closed. But if they are not, then they have an investigation on their hands.

Personally, I hope all the Chinese gymnasts meet the requirement and can enjoy their gold medals in peace. I don't think the U.S. team really deserved the gold this year after Alicia Sacramone -- and my heart so goes out to her -- fell during her balance beam routine and her floor exercise. But that's not the point. The point is that if there are indeed rules to be followed at the Olympics, they should be followed. And the IGF and the IOC should take them seriously enough to offer proof that they have not been broken. If they really care about setting a good example for every kid watching the Games, then they should hammer home the message that a winning athlete never cheats the system.

Some Parenting Lessons From Michael Phelps's Mom

Jen Chaney — Mon, 11 Aug 2008 12:02:00 GMT

Deborah Phelps -- mother of swimming stallion and Olympic gold-medalist Michael Phelps -- could teach us all a few lessons about parenting.

As this New York Times article notes, she didn't have it easy as a mom. Following a divorce, she raised three kids, including Michael, as a single parent. And when the budding athlete was in fifth grade, she had to deal with the possibility that he might have A.D.H.D. But she did several things right, as the following list -- again, based on the Times story -- indicates. It's a reminder that we all have the ability to bring up children who can maximize their potential, no matter what anyone else says.

1. She Ignored Nay-Sayers. As a school teacher herself, Deborah Phelps listened and took it to heart when teachers told her that Michael was having problems in school. But she didn't accept one's assessment that: "Your son will never be able to focus on anything." She heard it, but she didn't accept it. Instead, she focused on how to help Michael. (P.S. That teacher has to feel pretty stupid right about now.)

2. She Took the Advice of Medical Professionals. When the family doctor said he thought Michael had A.D.H.D., she put the boy on Ritalin to see if it made a difference. She says it did improve his ability to focus but not as significantly as she might have hoped. Still, she was willing to take a doctor's advice, then resort to Plan B. And that meant...

3. She Listened to Her Child. After two years on Ritalin, Michael said he didn't want to take it anymore because he always had to go to the nurse at lunch for his pill, and that made him uncomfortable. After considering that and again consulting with the doctor, she took him off the meds. Obviously kids don't always know what's best for them, but allowing him to play a role in making decisions for himself surely created a level of trust between Michael and his mom.

4. She Played to His Strengths. When Michael couldn't focus on reading, she gave him the sports pages to read. And when he clearly proved he could excel and focus on swimming, she encouraged his gifts. As a result, he is one of the all-time greats (if not the greatest) in swimming history.

Deborah Phelps has every reason to be enormously proud of her son. But she can be pretty proud of herself, too. Under trying circumstances and while dealing with plenty of self-doubt (she still says she's not sure putting him on Ritalin was the right choice), Deborah Phelps did a hell of a job raising that kid.