Tag: Olympics

Gold in Women’s Water Polo and Football, UConn gets a scare.

Women power U.S. Olympic team

Aubrey Cohen, Seattle Post Intelligencer

August 9, 2012

U.S. victories Thursday in the women’s soccer and water polo finals followed a notable trend at this year’s Summer Olympics: American women are winning most of the country’s medals.

American women have hauled in more than one-third more medals than U.S. men, including twice as many gold medals. And that’s despite the fact that 10 percent fewer women’s medals have been awarded so far.

My memories of Flint are as a fairly substantial urban center with lots of Arenas and Halls put up by the Manufacturers and Unions and a ring of Factories (all GM).  Some dense housing but mostly 1 story brick ranches with barely a basement for storms.  Now of course Rabbits for Pets or Meat post-apocalyptic Road Warrior.  It is also flat, dry, and dusty.

Broadcast Schedule

All this is sourced through the NBC Olympics broadcast schedule.  Competition starts again at 8 am tomorrow.  

Competitions designated by (Medal) will award winners that day.  ‘all’ means not specified.  Sometimes NBC especially does mashups and doesn’t include event or competitor information.  Elimination means no round robin, one and done.

These schedules are a place for you to make sure you don’t miss a sport you like and share your observations.  Have fun today!

C’mon, sing along.  You know you want to.

They still have one game to play, but today we’ll be saying goodbye to Women’s Football and Women’s Water Polo where the ladies have Gold Medal prospects.

Broadcast Schedule

All this is sourced through the NBC Olympics broadcast schedule.  Competition starts again at a am tomorrow.  

Competitions designated by (Medal) will award winners that day.  ‘all’ means not specified.  Sometimes NBC especially does mashups and doesn’t include event or competitor information.  Elimination means no round robin, one and done.

These schedules are a place for you to make sure you don’t miss a sport you like and share your observations.  Have fun today!

Well the Olympics is winding down to Closing Ceremonies on Sunday which you can tell from the length and breadth of the coverage.  I wonder if we’ll have another unlisted Greco-Roman Final Monday and if so will anyone notice?

Yesterday I watched two really extraordinary contests and if they both happened to involve the USA team I must admit I’m not immune to the kind of jingoistic nationalism that pervades the Olympics (and international sporting in general, let’s talk Formula One).  However it’s also my philosophy that sports are more understandable and enjoyable if you have a rooting interest in the result.  Thus my scramble around Series time to find the team I hate least, goodness knows I’ll never see my Mets on that field but I’m not above picking based on cute mascots and jersey color.

And in my defense they are both distaff teams.  Men’s Basketball doesn’t need my help, their heads can fill a stadium.

In Water Polo the women advance after double overtime (it’s always a double overtime).  They scored 2 in the first overtime that went unanswered but the critical moment was a literal last second time out (which was idiotic and they didn’t need) called by USA and without clear possession.  The resulting penalty shot tied the game.

It’s the first time the USA Women’s Water Polo team will be in the finals in ages.

In Basketball it was Lady Huskies 2000 as Geno and the UConn All-Stars doubled down on Team Canada.  I’d pay good money to see them play the men, bet they’d kick their ass.

Back to the Women’s Football ‘victory’.  Canada is very depressed.  The game was sent into overtime on a penalty kick from a 6 second goalie holding violation.  Well, Team USA had been holding all day and it was never called.  Of course it’s Canada that’s being investigated for letting this slip to the public.

Finally from the halls of bad officiating.  It seems that despite getting his loss over turned, Spence fails to advance and the USA is sent home medal less for the first time ever.  Women’s team has two guaranteed.

Team USA Dressage was only able to muster a 6th place finish yesterday and Rafalca’s performance wasn’t good enough to qualify for individual competition.  This means they can strap her to the roof of the Gulfstream and have her back for the announcement of Consul any time.

Broadcast Schedule

All this is sourced through the NBC Olympics broadcast schedule.  Competition starts again at 8 am tomorrow.  

Competitions designated by (Medal) will award winners that day.  ‘all’ means not specified.  Sometimes NBC especially does mashups and doesn’t include event or competitor information.  Elimination means no round robin, one and done.

These schedules are a place for you to make sure you don’t miss a sport you like and share your observations.  Have fun today!

The talk of the town is the Women’s Football Team.  Now many of you know I consider Soccer confusing, low scoring, and slooooooooooooooooooooooooooo…ooooooooooooooooooooow.

Yesterday’s match, which I had the good fortune to catch from about 60 minutes in, was anything but.

4 Goals in 10 minutes!  Last minute score sends it to overtime tied with a 30 second remaining victory!

Almost as exciting as Baseball.

It’s been mighty confusing to see everything I really wanted to (NBC reschedules with no notice, I do the best I can) yet I must say that catching glimpses of the unique events like Fencing and Whitewater Kayaking makes me wish that there was a channel like the old ESPN which would show odd stuff like Lacross and Field Hockey.

Now things like Motor Sports and Shooting have several channels and I’d think narrowcasting the non major sports would find a market.

But then I like Rugby and Darts.

Broadcast Schedule

All this is sourced through the NBC Olympics broadcast schedule.  Competition starts again at 6 am tomorrow.  

Competitions designated by (Medal) will award winners that day.  ‘all’ means not specified.  Sometimes NBC especially does mashups and doesn’t include event or competitor information.  Elimination means no round robin, one and done.

These schedules are a place for you to make sure you don’t miss a sport you like and share your observations.  Have fun today!

More Competitive Armchair Olympics

Produced by CHRISTOPH NIEMANN and JON HUANG, The New York Times

• Lost
• Super Hit
• Go Britain
• Olympic Record

Broadcast Schedule

All this is sourced through the NBC Olympics broadcast schedule.  Competition starts again at 6 am tomorrow.  

Competitions designated by (Medal) will award winners that day.  ‘all’ means not specified.  Sometimes NBC especially does mashups and doesn’t include event or competitor information.  Elimination means no round robin, one and done.

These schedules are a place for you to make sure you don’t miss a sport you like and share your observations.  Have fun today!

I saw these while looking for some offbeat coverage-

Competitive Armchair Olympics

Produced by CHRISTOPH NIEMANN and JON HUANG, The New York Times

• Twiddler
• Leaving for London
• The Underground
• Modern Triathalon
• Self-Defeating Badminton
• Flipper
• Road Kill
• One on One
• Sundowner

Today is looking like a rather light day in terms of variety.  Lots of medals being handed out, which means lots of sports we will no longer see, Swimming and Rowing for instance.  No more Tennis or Greco-Roman Wrestling or Badminton after today either

We have Women’s Boxing for the first time.  USA is expected to dominate, but that did the men no good.  I’ll probably watch some of the Water Polo and Handball while it’s still around.  The Equestrian feature is Team Jumping.  Rafalca won’t finish competing until Thursday (people ask).

My schedules are carefully transcribed but often do not match the broadcast.  I blame NBC.

Broadcast Schedule

All this is sourced through the NBC Olympics broadcast schedule.  Competition starts again at 6 am tomorrow.  

Competitions designated by (Medal) will award winners that day.  ‘all’ means not specified.  Sometimes NBC especially does mashups and doesn’t include event or competitor information.  Elimination means no round robin, one and done.

These schedules are a place for you to make sure you don’t miss a sport you like and share your observations.  Have fun today!

Williams Coasts to Gold, and a Career Golden Slam

By CHRISTOPHER CLAREY, The New York Times

Published: August 4, 2012

She became only the second woman to complete a career Golden Slam – a gold medal, plus wins in all four Grand Slam tournaments. The feat was first achieved by Steffi Graf in 1988 after she swept all four major titles that year. Williams can add the gold medal to her 14 Grand Slam singles championships, the most of any active woman.

…

She and Venus Williams won their doubles semifinal later in the day over Maria Kirilenko and Nadia Petrova of Russia and will face Andrea Hlavackova and Lucie Hradecka of the Czech Republic in Sunday’s doubles final.

‘Blade Runner’ Oscar Pistorius has an edge, all right – his spirit

By Bill Plaschke, Los Angeles Times

August 4, 2012, 4:30 p.m.

Of course, it will continue to spark the most amazing of debates, springing from the power he seems to derive from his prosthetics. Does a runner with no legs actually have an advantage over a runner with two legs? Pistorius is no threat for a medal here, but some worry these legs are walking the sport into a tricky tug of science over skill.

Five years ago, studies conducted by track’s international governing body showed Pistorius expended less energy than an able-bodied runner and banned him from official competitions. He responded by remaining in the Paralympics, where he won titles and still competes today. However, a year later, that decision was overruled by the Court of Arbitration for Sport, and Pistorius was given another chance. When he met the Olympic standard qualifying time this year, South Africa added him to the team, much to the dismay of some.

New Zealand Field Hockey Eliminates U.S.

By LAWRIE MIFFLIN, The New York Times

August 4, 2012, 1:30 pm

The Americans had had high hopes of at least contending for a medal here, based on an improving offense, a notably rugged defense and one of the world’s best goalkeepers in Amy Tran-Swensen.

Oddly for this squad, it was defense that let it down, as New Zealand scored all of its goals from penalty corners. Of course, credit where credit’s due: the New Zealanders created all those corners in the first place, with skillful attack play that too often left American defenders kicking or stumbling on the ball.

Signs of encouragement for the Americans came in the way they improved their own attack, scoring two goals, and the way they kept up with the fleet New Zealanders, especially Anita Punt, and kept them from breaking away too often. Katie O’Donnell scored from open play for the United States, and the defender Claire Laubach scored on a penalty corner.

London Olympics: Changes coming as boxing endures another scandal

By Kevin Baxter, Los Angeles Times

August 5, 2012

Go down five times in one round in professional boxing and your fight will be stopped. Go down five times in one round in the Olympics, and you go on to the quarterfinals.

…

(B)oxing, once among the most popular and exciting of Olympic sports, has once again become mired in a controversy over scoring. The Shimizu decision was eventually overturned, with the Japanese fighter being reinstated and Ishanguly Meretnyyazov of Turkmenistan, who refereed the bout, being sent home.

A similar fate could await Denmark’s Lars Brovil, who refereed the bout U.S. welterweight Errol Spence was ruled to have lost Friday. After reviewing tape of the fight, officials with the AIBA, amateur boxing’s international governing body, overturned that decision too, ruling that Brovil failed to acknowledge eight holding fouls by Spence’s opponent, India’s Krishan Vikas, in the final round alone.

Koreans declare ping pong cordiale in London 2012 round of wiff-waff war

Marina Hyde, The Guardian

Saturday 4 August 2012

Of course, like every parlour game from tiddlywinks to consequences, table tennis always feels marginally more aggressive than bare-knuckle fighting, particularly if played with friends or relatives at Christmas. Banned substances include human growth hormone and Irish cream liqueur.

But when North Korea and South Korea are thrashing it out between the unforgiving lights of the ExCel, even a home counties family row can look amicable. I didn’t fork out a tenner for the headset providing expert commentary for any bemused spectators. But I’d like to think the ping-pong equivalent of Mark Lawrenson was glossing it with observations like: “Yeah, there’s a little bit of niggle here …”

…

Still, for all the ping pong cordiale, it wouldn’t do to totally downplay the Olympics’ association with overt and covert international strife. Do recall that the North Korean military rocket launched back in April to commemorate the birth of Kim Il-sung was blown up mid-air, with suggestions being that the humiliation was the work of a virus spawned by the United States cyberwarfare programme. The codename of that programme? Why, “Olympic Games”, of course.

London 2012: Kim Collins axed from 100m by St Kitts for meeting wife

Owen Gibson, The Guardian

Saturday 4 August 2012

Lane four stood empty during the final heat of the men’s 100m in the Olympic Stadium on Saturday after the former world champion Kim Collins was dropped by St Kitts and Nevis for spending the night in a hotel with his wife.

…

Earlier Collins had posted a message on Twitter, reading: “My fans. I won’t lie. Won’t be running later tonight.” Another message read: “Even men in prison get their wives to visit.”

The 2003 100m world champion, who is 36, carried his country’s flag at the Olympic opening ceremony just over a week ago. In detailing his punishment the team statement described him as “a national hero”.

And they say romance is dead.

A Valued Adjunct to the U.S. Sailing Team

By BARRY BEARAK, The New York Times

Published: August 4, 2012

Doug Charko is the meteorologist for the United States sailing team, which is no easy job here on the rainy and sunny, cloudy and clear, windy and still southwest coast of England.

…

In one of his forecasts for the sailing team, he said the port could “serve up a dog’s breakfast” of swirling wind “with big shifts and deep holes.” By that, he meant it was a good idea to expect anything and everything.

“Days like these, with the winds so variable, kind of take the pressure off me,” he said, letting a smile be his umbrella on an intermittently rainy day. “Instead of aiming with a dart, I’m firing a shotgun.”

The sailing team has 16 athletes, 9 coaches, 3 physiotherapists, a psychologist, a rules expert and Charko. In the 2000 and 2004 Olympics, he worked for the Brazilians. In 2008, the Canadians. Meteorologists are now a standard part of the world’s better sailing teams.

Today is the ‘scandal ridden’ Badminton Women’s Doubles Final, 1:30 pm on MSNBC.

Broadcast Schedule

All this is sourced through the NBC Olympics broadcast schedule.  Competition starts again at 6 am tomorrow.  

Competitions designated by (Medal) will award winners that day.  ‘all’ means not specified.  Sometimes NBC especially does mashups and doesn’t include event or competitor information.  Elimination means no round robin, one and done.

These schedules are a place for you to make sure you don’t miss a sport you like and share your observations.  Have fun today!

Saudi woman is first to compete in Olympics

By Liz Clarke, Washington Post

Published: August 3

Clad in a white judo uniform and snug, black headcovering, 16-year-old Wojdan Shaherkani stepped onto a judo mat here Friday to enthusiastic applause after being introduced as “the first woman ever from Saudi Arabia!”

Eighty-two seconds into her competition, Shaherkani’s Olympics ended in defeat; the repercussions of her participation may be far more wide-reaching. As the first Saudi Arabian woman to compete in an Olympic Games in any sport, she has been vilified by some and quietly cheered by others in her country.

…

Shaherkani’s participation in London, along with that of fellow Saudi Sarah Attar, a U.S.-based runner who’ll compete in the 800 meters next week, has been hailed as a diplomatic coup by the International Olympic Committee, which pressed all competing nations to include at least one woman on their teams.

The three that had historically refused – Saudi Arabia, Brunei and Qatar – relented.

Track athletes enjoy some fast times at London Olympics

By Helene Elliott, Los Angeles Times

August 3, 2012, 5:45 p.m.

When Britain’s Jessica Ennis set an Olympic heptathlon hurdles record Friday morning, she also set the pace for the opening day of track and field competition.

…

In distances short and long, with hurdles to conquer or nothing between them and the finish line but raindrops, athletes covered ground in astonishingly fast times Friday. “It felt nice,” Cheruiyot said of conditions in the stadium. “The wind was very quiet. I enjoyed it.”

…

“It’s a very fast track. I love it. I loved the crowd,” said Kerron Clement, whose season-best 48.48 in the first round of the 400 hurdles led all three Americans into Saturday’s semifinals. “The crowd’s great on the first day. I’m pretty impressed by that.”

With an overturned result, US men’s boxing avoids total elimination from Olympics

By Associated Press

Published: August 3

A few hours after the U.S. men’s boxing team thought its London Olympics were over, amateur boxing’s governing body decided Errol Spence deserved to fight on.

The AIBA overturned Spence’s loss to Indian welterweight Krishan Vikas late Friday night, five hours after the defense-minded Vikas had apparently clutched and grabbed his way to a 13-11 victory.

After the American team protested the result, AIBA’s competition jury reviewed the bout and ruled Vikas had committed nine holding fouls in the third round alone. He also intentionally spat out his mouthpiece in the second round, which should have resulted in at least four points of deductions.

…

Spence felt he had won the bout afterward, expecting his hand to be raised in the ring, but wasn’t terribly surprised when Vikas got the nod. The welterweight from Dallas already was the last U.S. man standing after his eight male teammates lost in the previous five days, including three-time Olympian Rau’shee Warren’s 19-18 loss to France’s Nordine Oubaali an hour earlier.

Spence stopped the eight-fight skid, but must beat Zamkovoy to save the most successful country in Olympic boxing history from its first medal shutout and its worst showing at any games – although three U.S. fighters are in the first Olympic women’s boxing tournament, which begins Sunday.

Olympic Viewing: NBC’s Poorly Timed Commercial

By DAVID BAUDER AP Television Writer

August 3, 2012

NBC says no offense was intended by a poorly timed promotional ad featuring a monkey on gymnastics rings that aired on the network directly following a commentary by Bob Costas on Gabby Douglas’ gold medal inspiring other African-American girls to take up the sport.

The gymnastics-themed ad for the upcoming NBC comedy “Animal Practice” was specifically timed to run late Thursday night following the women’s gold medal competition. NBC said it was scheduled to run before the network knew about Costas’ commentary.

“Much of America has fallen in love with Gabby Douglas,” Costas said. “Also safe to say that there are some young African-American girls out there who tonight are saying to themselves, ‘Hey, I’d like to try that, too.'”

Then NBC switched to the commercial with the small, widely grinning monkey on the rings. Blacks in the past have been disparagingly referred to as monkeys to the point where it is considered a common slur.

Age, heart conditions, and traumatic events were no deterrents to achieving their goals of reaching this Summer’s Olympics games in London and for some it has earned them gold.

Swimmer Dana Vollmer overcame a heart condition to win Olympic Gold and set a couple of world records

At the age of 15, already an elite swimmer, Ms. Vollmer, from Granbury, Tex., was taken to a local doctor after experiencing dizzy spells while training. Doctors discovered she had an abnormal heartbeat and set up a procedure to correct it. But they then discovered she had a genetic cardiac electrical disorder called long QT syndrome, which could lead at any moment to sudden cardiac arrest.

The diagnosis was sobering. According to the American Academy of Pediatrics, each year about 2,000 people under the age of 25 die of sudden cardiac arrest in the United States, most because of long QT syndrome and other electrical and structural defects in the heart. While sudden cardiac arrest can strike those who are sedentary, the risk is up to three times as great in competitive athletes.

Such diagnoses have derailed the ambitions of many young athletes. But Ms. Vollmer and her family decided against what may have been a career-ending decision to implant a defibrillator in her heart, and instead chose – with the approval of her doctors – to allow her to continue training as long as an external defibrillator was always within reach.

In 2004 in Athens at the age of 16, Dana won her first Olympic gold in the 4×200-meter freestyle relay event. Dana didn’t qualify for the 2008 Olympics in Beijing but has since returned, renewed and refreshed overcoming her physical problems and the psychological effects that were holding her back. Monday night, she not only won the gold in the 100 meter butterfly, she did it in won in 55.98 seconds, breaking the world record. Then on Wednesday night at the Olympic Aquatic Centre, Dana Vollmer swam the second leg of the 4×200 freestyle relay, along with Missy Franklin, Shannon Vreeland, and Allison Schmitt on the last leg, the U. S. swim team won the Olympic gold medal and setting an Olympic record. The U. S. women’s team hadn’t won a swimming relay eight years at the Olympics.

Overcoming the psychological trauma of being sexual assaulted by her coach when she was 13 years old, Kayla Harrison won the first gold medal in judo for the United States.

In November 2007, a man pleaded guilty in a federal court in Dayton, Ohio, to illicit sexual conduct involving a 13-year-old girl. He was a judo coach, and the girl was a student he had trained closely and brought to international tournaments. Her name was given in court papers simply as “K.H.” or “the victim.” [..]

Harrison is simply the best on the team. It helps that she is also good-natured. And that she has a story she is not afraid to tell, a story that is jarring even for a sports press that can be nearly unhinged in its pursuit of the next inspirational tale.

The questions she fielded at the end of her match, about what she was thinking on the podium, about what the medal means to her, about how this compares to her own struggles, could be wince-inducing in their coy inquiries into such a painful topic.

But she answered them all with the same composure she had just used against her opponents on the mat.

“It’s no secret,” she began, after a long pause, when a reporter asked her to name the worst moment she had to face in her career, “that I was sexually abused by my former coach. And that was definitely the hardest thing I’ve ever had to overcome.”

Harrison has told her story before, first to USA Today only days after the indictment of Jerry Sandusky came down and the front pages were full of news about Penn State, sexual abuse and coaches who exploit their authority.

She said she felt it necessary to speak out so that others in her position could take heart.

Kayla is not a “victim”, she is a hero and a champion.

And for us for us seniors, who think that our time is over to be Olympic competitors  there is Equestrian Hiroshi Hoketsu of Japan the London Olympics oldest athlete:

The crowd did not go wild for Hiroshi Hoketsu of Japan as he rode Whisper out on to the sand of the Greenwich Park equestrian arena at one o’clock on Thursday afternoon. It wasn’t a question of bad manners; more a question of consideration.

A stadium-sized roar to acknowledge the arrival of the Games’ oldest competitor – a ramrod-straight and dapper man of 71 – would have frightened the mare and probably embarrassed her rider.

Hoketsu, after all, had not travelled from his home in Germany to fly the flag for older athletes, nor had he come to court the sympathy vote.

He had come to London, as he went to his first games in Tokyo in 1964, and to Beijing four years ago, to compete and, hopefully, to win.

And beneath a bright sky that turned Whisper’s brown coat a dark gold, that is what he tried his best to do. [..]

His white-gloved hands keeping her on a tight rein, Whisper executed a neat diagonal cross of the arena before pausing and reversing neatly to one corner. Seven minutes later, after she had appeared to jog on the spot, skip and goose-step her way around the arena, Whisper came to a stop in front of the judges. As the first drops of rain began to fall from a greying sky, the crowd burst into applause and Hoketsu raised his hat in acknowledgement.

And with that, the oldest Olympian rode out of the arena, to finish 17th out of 24.

When he was asked about his performance and  if he would compete in Rio in four years, he blamed any errors on himself and said that competing was in doubt because of his partner Whisper’s age. He also lamented how the Olympics have changed since he started competing 48 years ago:

“The Olympic Games itself has changed a little bit,” he said. “At that time, participation was of more importance to everybody. But now I think medals are much more important, not only for athletes but also even for politics.“

We salute all the champions at the Olympics.

On Thursday night a diminutive 16 year old took the gold medal in Individual Gymnastics and accomplished something unique, not once but twice with the same performance. Gabrielle Christina Victoria “Gabby” Douglas, a member of the U.S. Women’s Gymnastics teama member of the U.S. Women’s Gymnastics team, became first African-American and first woman of color in Olympic history to become the individual all-around champion and the first American gymnast to win gold in both the individual all-around and team competitions at the same Olympics. She did it with support and encouragement from her family in Virginia Beach and her adopted family in Des Moines, Iowa where she trained under Liang Chow, the former coach of 2008 Summer Olympics gold medal-winner Shawn Johnson.

She’s not done yet. Gabby is scheduled to compete in the finals of uneven bars on August 6 and balance beam on August 7.

Fly, Gabby, fly.

Broadcast Schedule

All this is sourced through the NBC Olympics broadcast schedule.  Competition starts again at 6 am tomorrow.  

Competitions designated by (Medal) will award winners that day.  ‘all’ means not specified.  Sometimes NBC especially does mashups and doesn’t include event or competitor information.  Elimination means no round robin, one and done.

These schedules are a place for you to make sure you don’t miss a sport you like and share your observations.  Have fun today!

After Warnings of an Olympic Crush, Businesses Suffer in a Deserted London

By JOHN F. BURNS, The New York Times

Published: August 2, 2012

With the Games nearing the end of their first week, and 10 more days to go, there has been no sign of the normal tourist-inflated crush at this time of the year – much less the no-room-to-move congestion officials warned would come with huge throngs of Olympic visitors competing for space on London’s notoriously overcrowded roads and transit systems, and in its shops, theaters, museums, galleries and restaurants.

…

Jeremy Hunt, the culture and sport minister in the Cameron cabinet, said Thursday that people who saw the Olympics as an economic body blow were premature and taking too narrow a view. The government now acknowledges that there is unlikely to be any short-term boost from the Games. It has reassured those nervous about its outlay on the Games – put at about $15 billion by government officials and as high as $20 billion by some experts, with road, railway and other improvements factored in – that the expense will be recouped in the long term by a $20 billion boost in Britain’s trade.

…

Mayor Boris Johnson, one of the Games’ biggest boosters, has made a midcourse correction of his own. He has admitted that the instant Olympic bounce he once forecast for London’s economy has evaporated, replaced by a “patchy” performance across many important sectors. But holding out for a turnaround, he has said things could improve as people realize that London without the crowds has become an unusually inviting place to go.

…

Normally crowded sidewalks in areas like Knightsbridge, Oxford Street, Bond Street, Piccadilly and Soho have looked much as they do when the city empties for summer weekends. Tables at sidewalk cafes have gone begging, and tickets to the West End’s normally sold-out hit shows are readily available, often at 20 percent discounts.

Cabdrivers complain that business is down 30 percent from normal at this time of year. “Where are the million extra visitors that we were promised?” asked Steve McNamara, a spokesman for the Licensed Taxi Drivers’ Association. He coupled this with a palpable absence of the national pride Mr. Cameron has urged on a nation hosting its first Olympics since 1948. “I’m looking forward to the closing ceremony,” on Aug. 12, Mr. McNamara said.

Stores in the upscale West End shopping district have said sales are down by 10 percent and more, and restaurants used to turning people away are desperate for trade. Ricky McMenemy, managing director of the Rules restaurant in Covent Garden, popular with Americans for a menu specializing in traditional British foods, said that after a “disaster” last Friday, when diners stayed away to watch the opening ceremony, the restaurant was “seeing a 50 percent downturn” in diners this week. Hundreds of West End hotels that had advertised rooms at premium prices, in some cases five times the normal rate, have dropped prices back to the usual level or even offered heavy discounts.

Ha.  Ha.  Ha.  Brilliant!

A High-Profile Cheering Section for a Horse’s Olympic Debut

By MARY PILON, The New York Times

Published: August 2, 2012

Ann Romney, whose husband, Mitt, is the presumptive presidential candidate for the Republican party, was on hand as an owner of Rafalca, a 15-year-old mare.

Rafalca and her rider, the veteran equestrian Jan Ebeling, took the stage early and finished the opening round of their Olympic debut with a score of 70.243, placing 13th. They have to wait to see how the rest of the field fares Friday before knowing whether they will advance to the Grand Prix Special on Tuesday.

Well, people have asked.

The Goal Is Winning Gold, Not Winning Every Match

By SAM BORDEN, The New York Times

Published: August 2, 201

Derek Jeter is a career .313 hitter. And yet in certain situations, sometimes even important situations in important games, Jeter goes up to the plate with the intention of not getting a hit. If he is successful – that is, if he succeeds at failing – he will be congratulated by his teammates when he returns to the dugout. The rules of baseball and other sports create situations in which a type of failure can be good strategy.

In the badminton case, the teams’ ultimate goal was clear: win a gold medal. And what is one way to help do that? Avoid the best teams for as long as possible. This was not a sacrifice bunt because there was no sacrifice. The teams, after evaluating the tournament setup that was presented to them, saw an opportunity to give up nothing in the hope of gaining something significant. One could argue it would have been silly for them not to seize that opportunity.

…

On Tuesday in Cardiff, Wales, the Japanese women’s soccer team purposely played for a draw in its final group game, hanging back in the second half and never pushing forward to try to score. This strategy was ordered by the team’s coach, and his reasoning was simple: a draw meant his team would stay put and play its quarterfinal in the same city a few days later. A win meant the Japanese would have to travel to Scotland to play the knockout game.

To that coach, Norio Sasaki, less travel meant a better chance at winning the tournament. To those badminton players, a loss in the final group game meant the same. Fans who complained about having bought tickets to see something like that are not seeing the athletes’ big picture. The competitors’ main obligation is to do what sets them up best to win a medal. They trained to play well, yes, but more important, they trained to win a medal. And Tuesday, losing gave them the best chance to do that. If fans are still angry, they should be angry at the organizers who made the situation possible, not the athletes themselves.

At least someone agrees with me.

The Guardian interactive chart to see where Ye’s performance ranks against those of swimmers at similarly high profile competitions between 2010 and 2012.