Active.com 2008 Olympics : 2008 : August : 19

Is U.S. Too Good at Softball?

Posted by mikeyactive Aug 19, 2008

The good news: Team USA has dominated every one of their opponents during the Beijing Olympics. The bad news: Team USA has dominated every one of their opponents during the Beijing Olympics.

There was a time when the competitive balance of fastpitch softball on the international level was fairly even. During the 2000 Olympic Games in Sydney, the distance between the pitching mound and home plate was a paltry 40 feet; leading to close—if high-scoring games--that gave any international team a chance to win.

"Granted the games went too long but at least they were competitive and everybody had a chance to beat us,” said Hall of Fame softballer Michele Smith . “Australia had a chance to beat us and did. Japan had a chance to beat us and did beat us. China did the same thing. That's exciting."

Some fear the now standard 43 feet between mound and plate in international play, which was introduced to cut down on scoring, has produced a competitive advantage for a dominant USA Softball pitching staff that is almost impossible to hit.

And losing the Olympics might be the price we pay for success.

We're Number One

Everyone has a theory about what happened. Why a sport that seemed to be ascending in the world of international competition was suddenly removed from the Olympic rotation after the 2008 games in Beijing.

Some, such as Smith, think softball got lumped in with the national pastime unintentionally. "I think they expected to make that decision for baseball and not for softball. It was a comedy of events for softball to get voted out." Others think it's nothing more than an Anti-American bias. (Check any softball message board for affirmation to this fact.)

Others, like shortstop Natasha Watley of the U.S. National team, think the international fan base just isn't there. "Softball is a great spectator sport. We have great fans here in the U.S. But I think that's where we're hurting. It's not a world-wide sport."

But everyone agrees that it's imperative to get softball back in the Olympics. Not just so players like Cat Osterman and Jennie Finch have places to throw their devastating riseballs but for countries who depend on international Olympic funding to support their teams and promote softball in their respective countries.

"I worry about the Australian teams--Italy, Great Britain, and Greece," Smith points out. "Any of the teams that were really starting to make some progress in the European countries where we have to get stronger--it's essentially going to kill them over there."

Beijing or Bust

Osterman echoes the sentiments of many current and former USA softball players when she stresses the significance of this year’s games in China. "This is one of our last go-arounds. We're ready to put everything we have into it."

But it may be the performance of the Chinese National Team that determines softball's chances for inclusion in the 2016 games. Of all the rising teams in international play, nobody has improved faster or spent more money leading up to the games than China.

So if you see some members of the USA Softball fraternity privately waving a Chinese flag during the Olympic Games you'll know it's not just case of conflicted loyalties -- but self-preservation.

701 Views 3 Comments Permalink Tags: softball, 2008_olympic_games, 2008_beijing_olympics

BMX Olympic Debut

Posted by mvalenti Aug 19, 2008

BMX makes its Olympic debut this week in Beijing. Here are the four U.S. riders who hope to make history by winning the first BMX Olympic gold medal.

Mike Day Day earned his nomination to the Olympics at the Olympic Trials event in Chula Vista, California. He took first place in three out of the four events and second place in the remaining race.

Because he is so tall (6'3") Day uses a unique handlebar style with an upsweep on it. The handlebar, named after Day, is called The Fly Racing Mike Day BMX Handlbar.

Read more about Mike Day

Donny Robinson Currently ranked number one in world ranking points, Robinson “credits his drive and determination for his success on the dirt.”

Aside from dreaming about Olympic gold, Robinson is a singer/performer and hopes to one day star on Broadway.

Read more about Donny Robinson

Kyle Bennett Bennet was the first American to secure a spot on the Olympic BMX team. He has two second place finishes at the X Games and he won the 2007 world championship in Vancouver after recovering from ACL surgery and only having three and a half months to prepare. He is often referred to as “butter” because of his smooth riding style.

Read more about Kyle Bennett

Jill Kintner Kintner started her career in BMX at only 8 years old then jumped between successful runs in both BMX and mountain biking. She finally shifted her full attention to BMX when she decided to push for the Olympics.

In a journey that came down to the final race, Kintner out-biked friend, roommate and teammate Arielle Martin for the sole spot on the women’s U.S. BMX team. Martin returned home to Utah after loosing to Kintner only to return to the Chula Vista training center four days later on a decision to help Kintner get ready for the games.

Read more about Jill Kintner

The Track

The U.S. Olympic Committee and USA Cycling built a replica of the Beijing course in Chula Vista, California at the Olympic Training center where the U.S. athletes have been riding for the last several months. (AP Photo/Greg Baker)

The Event

Seeding starts on Wednesday August 20 with both men’s and women’s semifinals and finals taking place on Thursday August 21 in Beijing. Event coverage will be on NBC from 6 to 9 pm on Wednesday the 20th East Coast Time.

773 Views 1 Comments Permalink Tags: olympics, bmx, usa, beijing, 2008_olympic_games, 2008_olympics, united_states, team_usa, americans

USA-Brazil Soccer Ripe With Storylines

Posted by RyanActive Aug 19, 2008

The United States' women's soccer team is going for gold medal at the Beijing Olympics, and will play Brazil at 9 a.m. on Thursday.

Brazil has become a nemesis for the Americans. Two of the most explosive incidents involving the U.S. in recent years have occured against the Brazilians:

--

Hope Solo

. Ahh yes, it after the World Cup match against Brazil where Solo publicly blasted fellow goalkeeper Briana Scurry
after not starting over her, saying "There's no doubt in my mind I would have made those saves. And the fact of the matter is it's not 2004 anymore. It’s 2007, and I think you have to live in the present. And you can't live by big names. You can't live in the past. It doesn't matter what somebody did in an Olympic gold medal game in the Olympics three years ago. Now is what matters, and that’s what I think."

Yikes. Her teammates were ticked off about the comments and Solo was sent home, though she's now back on the team. Solo wanted Brazil, and now she's got 'em.

-- Just last month
, the Americans' Olympic hopes were damaged by the loss of star forward Abby Wambach
in a so-called friendly match against Brazil in San Diego. Wambach was handled aggressively the entire match by the Brazilian defense until a collision left her with a broken leg. Truly, this is an opportunity for the U.S. to cry, "Win Won For Wambach!" (I know I misspelled it, but c'mon. Alliteration is beautiful.)

Of course, the U.S. is doing just fine without Wambach, though they haven't played perfect soccer in China. A lot could come together on Thursday--Solo's vindication and the Americans revenge for last year's World Cup, mainly.

Or, Brazil could win. That would be a real punch in the gut.

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USA Basketball: USA 106 - Germany 57

Posted by Coach Corey Aug 19, 2008

BRING ON THE AUSSIE'S

After passing back-to-back tests against the elite teams of Europe, the U.S. men’s basketball team probably could have beaten overmatched Germany wearing lederhosen to close the preliminary round of the Olympic tournament 5-0. Dwight Howard scored 22 points and LeBron James had 18, 16 in the first half, Monday as the United States completed an undefeated march through pool play.

The Americans were scoring so easily, they practically got in each other's way. Chris Paul led a 3-on-1 break and threw an alley-oop that could have gone to either James or Dwyane Wade. James jumped higher and got it to lay it in, then stepped outside to hit his second 3 for a 23-5 bulge. Up 19 after one, the U.S. scored the first eight points of the second to make it 39-12. The lead was 28 after James drilled 3-pointers on consecutive U.S. possessions, and ballooned to 30 for the first time when Dwight Howard scored four straight to make it 49-19 with 3 minutes left in the half.

The U.S. isn't ready to crown themselves the next big thing, a la Phelps. At the moment, the Americans are thinking about their quarterfinal game against Australia, the last team to push the U.S. Also, Spain plays Croatia at 2:30 a.m. Lithuania plays China at 4:45 a.m., and Argentina plays Greece at 10:15 a.m. The U.S. knows Australia is a physical team that lost by just 11 when the two countries played an exhibition game in Shanghai on Aug. 5. They kept it close despite not having their lone NBA player, Milwaukee Bucks center Andrew Bogut, available for the contest.

When the quarterfinals tip off tomorrow, everybody is 0-0. Should the Americans lose, they won't even end up with a medal — as happened to Spain in 2004, after they went unbeaten in pool play. Watch TEAM USA lift their basketball game to an entirely different competitive level against the Aussie's.

457 Views 0 Comments Permalink Tags: china, australia, lebron_james, dwayne_wade, usa_basketball, americans, us_mens_basketball_team