Month: July 2021

CONGRATULATIONS TO SUNI LEE!

I am not into the “Nationalism” aspect of the Olympic Games (see below), but Lee’s Gold Medal performance was a Proud to be an American, Proud to be a Minnesotan, Proud of our Hmong Community, moment for me.

Over the years, we’ve seen athletes win medals because of poor refereeing, questionable judging, performance-enhancing drugs and other chicanery; but Lee took on everyone who showed up and beat them fair and square, earning the undisputed title of the world’s greatest (female) gymnast.

The attention is on Lee and her parents, as it should be; but don’t forget the community that raised her or the coaches that trained her (and advised her on last-minute tactics); we should be proud of all of them.

RE NATIONALISM AT THE OLYMPICS

I root for athletes I am familiar with, Suni Lee for sure, but also including Gopher Wrestler Gabe Stevenson, who I‘ve been watching on BTN, Sylvia Folwes (long-time fan), Regan Smith, former Edina volleyballer Jordan Thompson (who I am becoming a fan of), and the American Men’s and Women’s Volleyball & Water Polo Teams (see below), generally.

But I prefer watching Hungary V Serbia in Men’s Water Polo, or Brazil V Russia in Women’s Volleyball, to watching a lopsided American victory in an unfamiliar sport. I don’t find it especially tragic when the U.S. Women’s Soccer or Softball, or Men’s Basketball Teams lose a game now and then – a little balance is a good thing. And I am not especially thrilled upon learning that some athlete I have never heard of just won a Bronze in a sport I don’t follow (there are a lot of them), nudging the U.S. ahead of some other superpower in the overall medal count. If it was up to me, I’d de-emphasize the overall medal count.

QUESTIONS ABOUT WATER POLO

And speaking of unfamiliar sports, every 4 years (well, 5, this time) I get a lot of questions from my friends about Water Polo:

Q. How deep is the pool?

A. More than 8 feet, beyond which it doesn’t matter.

Q. Is it really physical?

A. It is not like football, where violent collisions are common. Nor like basketball, where there might be a little pushing and shoving in pursuit of a rebound. In terms of physicality, the sport that compares most closely to Water Polo would be Wrestling (in deep water, of course). Maybe less so for the little, fast guys that swim up and down the sides of the pool, but definitely for the big boys who play in front of the net. When you’re covering a guy, if you’re chest isn’t plastered to his back (or vice versa), and if you’re not holding his wrist and him your suit (or vice versa), and he’s not kicking you in the balls (Men’s), you’re not really covering him at all.

Q. How big are these guys?

A. The contrast between the American Men’s Team and their East European opponents (Hungary, Serbia, etc) is remarkable and consistent over time. Watch for this: The Americans are mostly about 6-5, 195 lbs, with broad shoulders and narrow waists (ladies-in-the-know scarf up the team posters). The East Europeans are also mostly about 6-5 and broad shouldered – but barrel-chested and closer to 240 lbs. The Americans are better suited for swimming back and forth, but the East Europeans always dominate inside.

Q. Is it always so boring?

A. Water Polo is the most fun, most exciting, game I’ve ever played, including volleyball. And if you know the game and are watching in-person, a competitive game can be thrilling to watch. I was at Pepperdine, in 1984, when the Yugoslaves came from behind to win their first (and last, since the country soon broke apart) Olympic Gold Medal in any team sport. And afterwards, the team gathered right in front of me to sing their National Anthem (to their fans seated right behind me). The team cried, and so did I.

But the style of top-level international play that you might catch a glimpse of during the Olympics is driven by the international rules and the international style of refereeing, itself driven by the international rules, and filmed by a film-crew unfamiliar with Water Polo – which makes it look boring.

The other day, I was watching the U.S. Women versus Hungary (Water Polo is the Hungarian National Sport). At the bottom of the screen, on the outside of the pool, an American gal was guarding a Hungarian gal, as a different Hungarian player made an ill-advised attempt to pass the ball inside to this huge Hungarian who was quickly triple-teamed. Immediately, the American at the bottom of the screen took off for the other end of the pool. And the Hungarian she was guarding did not immediately chase her.

The camera followed the ball inside, where after a couple of seconds of frantic thrashing, the Americans came up with the ball. Then the director cut to a different camera focused on the American bench, while the analyst talked about the need to get an American star back in the game despite her foul-trouble. And after a few more seconds, the director cut to a camera showing the American from the bottom of the screen, all alone in front of the Hungarian Goalie, pump-faking the ball and eventually scoring. I understood what happened – but I can’t imagine more than 1% of NBC’s audience did.

The “color guy’s” name is Kevin Barnett, and unfortunately, he’s working the men’s V-ball for NBC also. He didn’t have a scorer’s table failure to rant about in the Poland/Italy game I saw today, but he is still obnoxious.

I was not the only one annoyed by the “color guy” on the volleyball broadcasts. Reader J.D. wrote to say that he turned the sound off.

And reader C.B. wrote in to comment on “late bloomers.” Apparently, Bowe Becker, a former Gopher swimmer who just won a Gold Medal in the Men’s 400 meter freestyle relay was a “teammate” of C.B.’s granddaughter when he swam for the Gophs. (It’s not a co-ed team, but they have joint workouts.) And granddaughter shares that Becker came in as a walk-on, got suspended once for a “bad attitude,” and didn’t get a scholarship until he was a senior.

The U.S. women vs Argentina was my first look at NBC’s coverage of the 2021 Games. As is standard, they had a “play-by-play” announcer and an “analyst”/”color guy.” I didn’t catch the guy’s name, but he drove me nuts.

Early on, there was a mix-up at the scoring table. The color guy made the point that they ought to have skilled people running the desk at the Olympics and this shouldn’t happen at this level. I agree. But sh** happens.

This idiot wouldn’t let it go. I swear he brought it up 30 times during the remainder of the match. During the admittedly uncomfortable delay, while the head ref and the “table” was trying to get the score straight, this guy suggested that they needed to get on with the match because, “The Olympics are supposed to be all about the athletes. Nobody wants to stand around and get cold watching this fiasco at the table.” To paraphrase, the athletes are not especially concerned about getting the score right???

I hope NBC doesn’t use this same guy for the men’s games; but they probably do.

P.S. Not a fan of Rowdy Gaines, who does the “color” for swimming either, but Gaines is not as bad as the V-ball guy.

In my previous post, I had expressed ignorance whether former Edina High & Northern Lights star Jordan Thompson was the team’s starting opposite, or the back-up opposite. Turns out, at least in the U.S.’ first match, against Argentina (a 3-0 win), Thompson is not just the starter, she is the STAR! Thompson led the U.S. team with 18 kills on 23 swings.

The post below, referencing former Edina H.S. star and now Olympic Team Jordan Thompson, went up Wednesday evening, and by noon on Thursday, several readers** had noticed the story by Jim Paulsen* in Thursday morning’s StarTribune. Paulsen writes that Thompson is one of the most-feared hitters in this year’s Olympics, which suggests that she is the starting opposite. We’ll see soon enough.

Paulsen also writes that Thompson chose Cincinnati because she “wanted to play right away” (but doesn’t say how many top Big Ten Teams recruited her). And Paulsen notes that Thompson is the niece of former Vikings Star Chris Doleman. (Though Paulsen did not note, Tori Dixon, on the 6-player “reserve squad,” is the daughter of former Vikings Star Dave Dixon.)

• I am not familiar with Paulsen’s work. I also don’t know if this story means that Paulsen will be covering Olympic V-ball for the Strib. Let’s hope so. The Strib has sent sportswriter Rachel Blount and columnist Jim Souhan to Tokyo, but neither knows anything about V-ball.

You are no doubt aware that the Olympics are about to begin in Tokyo, including men’s and women’s, 6-player indoor, and 2-player outdoor. (Also para-olympics.) I don’t follow the sand game, but I love the indoor game. In 2012, in London, Maureen and I attended (in-person) every match, men’s and women’s, from the quarterfinals through the Gold Medal Games. I’ll be seeing a lot less of it this year, due to a family rafting trip.

Both men’s and women’s competition involves round-robin play in each of two 6-team pools, with the top 4 teams in each pool advancing to the quarterfinals. The U.S. women are in a pool with Italy, Russia, Turkey, China & Argentina. I haven’t kept up with recent international play (if any reader has, and wants to share their knowledge with the rest of us, please do), but the U.S. women are ranked #1 in the world. And our women typically have an easier path through pool-play than the men do, in that large numbers of girls are playing volleyball at a young age only in the U.S. and Brazil. Countries like Russia, China, Serbia, etc recruit tall 16 yr-olds and teach them volleyball; their girls weren’t going to 14 & under national tournaments like our girls do.

The U.S. men, who are also generally medal contenders, will face France, Russia, Tunisia, Brazil & Argentina in pool-play. Russia is always tough, as is, Brazil, Poland, Italy,* Croatia & Serbia. * In the 2016 Olympics, which I watched on T.V., the most exciting player in the world was a middle-hitter on the Italian men’s team. This guy was only 6-4, which is short for a men’s middle, but this guys was built like a linebacker – and he could hit with power with either hand! Tough to block a guy who hits with either hand.

Former Gophers Tori Dixon, Hannah Tapp and Sarah Wilhite are all on 6-woman “reserve roster,” along with former Badger setter Lauren Carlini, and former Stanford left-side hitter Kathryn Plummer*.                                                                                             * If Plummer didn’t make the team, this has got to be a strong team.

No former Gophers were named to the 12-woman Olympic Roster, but former Edina H.S. and Northern Lights star Jordan Thompson is on the squad. Her bio from her Cincinnati Bobcat page (where she clearly was a star) lists her as having been a star for Edina and Northern Lights, but I never heard of her. Most top MN volleyballers end up at Minnesota, Wisconsin, Nebraska, Stanford, etc; not Cincinnati. My guess is, she was a late-bloomer, which is more common than you think. These days, athletes are often recruited at age 14; and excellent athletes that bloom late can slip under the radar.

Anyway, congratulations to Thompson, who will be representing Minnesota (our state, not our Gophers) in this year’s Olympics. She is an “opposite,” i.e., a right-side hitter (the position that Steph Samedy plays for the Gophers). I assume that the U.S. team will be playing a 5 – 1, with a libero and a D.S. (including one opposite), i.e., 8 players. The other 4 women on the 12-woman squad will be back-ups, used sparingly – except in the case of injury.

Given Thompson’s relative international experience, I am inclined to guess that she is the back-up opposite. But former Purdue star Annie Drews, the only other opposite on the roster is also a first-time Olympian (Drews does have more international experience), I don’t know which is the starting opposite.

Good luck to our men’s and women’s teams!