Posted on 08/21/2008 7:12:15 PM PDT by SeekAndFind
BEIJING -- Torri Edwards' screeching expression said it all on a night of rain-soaked relay calamity on the Olympic track Thursday.
Think about the famous Edvard Munch painting, "The Scream," and you get general idea of back-to-back disasters unfolding for the U.S. relay teams within about 30 minutes. There was disqualification for the men in the preliminaries of the 400-meter relay, followed by the same for the women, a huge dose of Olympic-size ignominy.
This wasn't a whisper to a scream. It was a scream to a scream at the Bird's Nest.
And, on top of it all, the botched exchange came at the same juncture for both relays, on the last handoff. The men's snafu occurred on the Darvis Patton to Tyson Gay exchange, and the women stumbled when there was a drop between Edwards and Lauryn Williams because Williams couldn't close her hand around the baton.
Who wouldn't feel for Williams? Four years ago, there was a blown handoff between Marion Jones and Williams at the Olympics in Athens in the same event. Williams' miscue there came when she ran out of the zone on the exchange.
"I don't know how -- the same pass, the same situation," said Mechelle Lewis, who ran the second leg. "A big, huge unfortunate coincidence. But it happened.
" . . . She'll give you a better idea of what she's going through. But I'm pretty sure, two games in a row with a bad pass, I wouldn't be so happy if I was her."
Said Williams: "Maybe someone has a voodoo doll of me."
If so, then that voodoo doll was making the rounds for Team USA. And it could be argued that the male equivalent was the star-crossed Gay, who will leave Beijing empty-handed, an apt metaphor for the relay.
(Excerpt) Read more at latimes.com ...
All the networks will show is water sports, track, and gymnastics. Were any American boxers entered in the olympics?
UHD has shown every round of boxing, also MSNBC has shown many lesser known sports.
There is also video on the NBC Olympics website.
I really haven’t paid much attention really, just caught some snippets here and there.
G
I've seen soccer, baseball, softball and beach volleyball. And tennis.
I saw a fair amount of boxing. I think it was on “Universal HD” Whatever that is.
CNBC afternoon coverage has focused on boxing but the way the boxing matches have been judged they haven’t been much more than perplexing to watch. The judging has been atrocious.
The men’s handoff was really weak. Fault A: Gay’s hand was high and flopping around and, Fault B: Patton let go of the baton before Gay grabbed it. I prefer the lower body handoff with the baton being shoved up into the inverted V of the thumb and 4Fingers.
I just heard this on HAM radio.
Bummer
I wonder why Lord Obama willed that?
Boxing is a wasteland. I’ve watched 5 bouts now and I have not gotten right who the winner was. The helmet and the white paint glove have made boxing a boring Olympic sport.
BTW, track and field is what the Olympics is all about. All the frilly stuff is what makes me crazy.
I wish that dog-walking would become an Olympic sport. I walk my dog two to three times a day and I'm damn good at it and if it were only made a sport, I could possibly bring home another medal for the U.S.A.
Now I'm thinking that the dog-walk will take place on a three-mile course. Points will be deducted for having the dog take a crap in the wrong place and for having the lease get tangled and other things like that. Having the dog "tug" at the least - definitely points are getting deducted for that.
So basically the idea is to have a "perfect" three mile walk with your dog with the dog observing certain rules of decorum and behavior.
I also think that the dogs should stand with their owners to be medaled after the competition.
You know this track team has practiced their hand offs thousands of times, you'd think they could do it in their sleep.
And the softball team lost, for the first time ever. Kudos to the Japanese girls, for not being afraid.
Ughh...I feel just sick for them. This is my favorite part of the whole Olympics.
I can’t figure out how the softball team ended up playing Japan again. They had already beat them twice.
Plus the USA’s Women’s Soccer Team won vs Brazil. Hope Solo finally finds redemption plus it’s Brazil, the world soccer power.
It’s a mixed day for team USA.
Then again, we’re way ahead of the medal standings with China down by close to 10 medals to us.
And I believe it was raining, or at least sprinkling. The track was wet and had puddles in some spots. I'm sure their hands were slippery.
Then again, if you leave the other guy lying on the floor, there’s not much the judges can do about it...
So the lady who messed it up four years ago did it again? And Tyson Gay choked again? Clearly, the US sprinting coaches are idiots. We’ve got plenty of sprinters — there’s no need to put out those who just can’t handle the ultimate pressure.
At various times during the day they have Olympics coverage on MSNBC, CNBC, USA Network and Oxygen Network, along with the prime-time coverage on NBC. Besides the water, track and gymnastics stuff, they have featured basketball, soccer, baseball, field hockey, equestrian events, wrestling, boxing, volleyball, beach volleyball, and more.
that game was played about 3:30 am PST and it was over by 7am yet I couldn't get a score off of the tv.....they kept saying that there was going to be a gold medal game, not that someone had already won it....
that's the trouble with the Olympics ...I like watching LIVE and I never know if I am.....
as far as Japan goes, they had the same pitcher for three days straight now....that is an amazing feat....its not baseball but it does take a lot of energy and stamina.....
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