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.