Monday, August 25, 2008
School begins, the Olympics end
Here at Baylor Law, it is the first day of the Fall quarter, and there is a good and positive buzz. Before we start, I do want to give a shout-out to Becky Beck, Heather Creed, Meredith Meyer, Angela Cruseturner and the other people who worked very hard to make the start of the year work. Once in a while I get a glimpse of what they do, and realize how important it is.
And it is a big effort... Olympian, almost. Speaking of which, I have been mulling over what I thought was the most memorable moment of the Olympics. Not my favorite-- for me, that would probably be the 100 meter butterfly final or the 100 meter sprint-- but the one that made the biggest impression.
For me, it just might be something that was reported only on Telemundo. The moment came in a bronze-medal match in Taekwondo, which, to my untrained eye, looks like a sport in which two people kick each other for a while. After being disqualified, the competitor from Cuba got off the mat, went over and kicked the referee in the head. Which, if your vocation is kicking people in the head, can be a pretty serious act. It was such an unexpected, violent, and wrong thing to do that for a minute I couldn't believe my eyes (and, since it was Telemundo, I couldn't tell what the announcer was saying).
So, friends-- what do you remember best?
Comments:
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Jimmy Page playing "Whole Lotta Love," a blatantly sexual song (and one he ripped off from Willie Dixon - but that's another story) in front of the Chinese Communist Party.
If you had told me when I was in High School that the man who bought Alistair Crowley's mansion and supposedly sold his soul to the Devil would in 30 years be one of two icons of British Society receiving the Olympic Handoff, I'd have figured that you were taking more drugs than him.
If you had told me when I was in High School that the man who bought Alistair Crowley's mansion and supposedly sold his soul to the Devil would in 30 years be one of two icons of British Society receiving the Olympic Handoff, I'd have figured that you were taking more drugs than him.
# posted by 
: 10:15 AM
: 10:15 AM
That referee totally deserved it. I think in hockey if you do that you only get a two minute penalty.
# posted by : 11:24 AM
: 11:24 AM
Lolo Jones' tragedy in the 100 meter hurdles. She had a clear lead and was going to win the race until her heel caught the second to last hurdle, which caused her to fall completely out of the medals.
I don't know why the heartbreaking moment is most memorable to me, but it probably has something to do with her response. When interviewed, she squared her shoulders and made no excuses--just bad luck. A camera found her a minute later weeping, alone, under the stairs. My heart broke for her.
I don't know why the heartbreaking moment is most memorable to me, but it probably has something to do with her response. When interviewed, she squared her shoulders and made no excuses--just bad luck. A camera found her a minute later weeping, alone, under the stairs. My heart broke for her.
The photo of Roger Clemons glued to his TV as all of the 13-year-old gymnasts performed.
Gary Glitter
Gary Glitter
# posted by : 2:45 PM
: 2:45 PM
Yeah, that Lolo Jones juxtaposition was powerful and very sad.
I won't forget those, but I did feel kind of like a voyeur.
Same for the shot of her Mother and her sister cheering, then looking on in horror.
Kind of like how the Chinese must have felt when Jimmy Page started to play....
I won't forget those, but I did feel kind of like a voyeur.
Same for the shot of her Mother and her sister cheering, then looking on in horror.
Kind of like how the Chinese must have felt when Jimmy Page started to play....
# posted by : 2:51 PM
: 2:51 PM
I'm sure that left a bruise....
Dara Torres taking silver at age 41; missing the gold by a mere 1/100th (the same amount of time Phelps won his 100 fly gold by) standing on the medal stand fighting her tears. All this after asking the official to hold the race because one of her competitiors had ripped her suit.
That to me was sportsmanship, class and of course age - at its best!
Dara Torres taking silver at age 41; missing the gold by a mere 1/100th (the same amount of time Phelps won his 100 fly gold by) standing on the medal stand fighting her tears. All this after asking the official to hold the race because one of her competitiors had ripped her suit.
That to me was sportsmanship, class and of course age - at its best!
My favorite (not) moment...the continuous ***-kissing of the Chinese by the IOC. Those little girls were 16? Not on your, or my, or anyone else's life. The whole thing was a farce - the gymnasts, the fireworks, the pretty girl "singing" the anthem, the two weeks of clean air, the arrests of people (read, 70 year old ladies) applying to protest their houses being torn down, the concrete covered Olympic "green"... Oh, but don't cause any embarassment. Sorry, no disrespect to Phelps, Bolt, or others, just a little fed up with the pandering and complacency.
# posted by : 3:11 PM
: 3:11 PM
I remember the grace shown by Shawn Johnson when her best friend got the Gold and she got the Silver. Then later she got the gold too, which was nice.
I forgot to add that Shawn Johnson trains in Plano, TX, so of course a Texas girl would be graceful.
Plano should be proud of that girl!!!
I thought it was awful that the Chinese displaced people from their houses and tore them down and basically kicked them out to build the Olympic venues. HELLO??? I thought that kind of thing only happened in Canby, Oregon....
Plano should be proud of that girl!!!
I thought it was awful that the Chinese displaced people from their houses and tore them down and basically kicked them out to build the Olympic venues. HELLO??? I thought that kind of thing only happened in Canby, Oregon....
This is unrelated to the olympics. However, Zab Judah, a very talented but undisciplined boxer, had a similar confrontation.
A while later, he also punched Floyd Mayweather Jr. right on the cup. It was so low that a little lower, he'd have been wiping Mayweather's butt.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4M1Y-sQidIU
It doesn't show up; however, Judah tried to strangle the ref and I think I remember him trying to hit the ref with a corner stool.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DUbatGJHSJw
Not only does he throw a low blow, he hits mayweather at the back of the head, a very SERIOUS move. Remember, these guys have incredible reflexes and his bs about just not being able to stop the punch is total crap.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XVvqWgxmGZ0&feature=related
It looks like a commercial for a laundry detergent brightener thing gone wrong.
A while later, he also punched Floyd Mayweather Jr. right on the cup. It was so low that a little lower, he'd have been wiping Mayweather's butt.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4M1Y-sQidIU
It doesn't show up; however, Judah tried to strangle the ref and I think I remember him trying to hit the ref with a corner stool.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DUbatGJHSJw
Not only does he throw a low blow, he hits mayweather at the back of the head, a very SERIOUS move. Remember, these guys have incredible reflexes and his bs about just not being able to stop the punch is total crap.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XVvqWgxmGZ0&feature=related
It looks like a commercial for a laundry detergent brightener thing gone wrong.
Fidel is not pleased. The Judge deserved to be kicked, apparently:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/08/25/AR2008082500944.html?hpid=moreheadlines
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/08/25/AR2008082500944.html?hpid=moreheadlines
# posted by : 5:50 PM
: 5:50 PM
Yeah, maybe it's because I just saw it last night, but I just couldn't believe I was seeing Jimmy Page play Whole Lotta Love, for the incongruity of it all . . . sort of goes with Tradelawguy's points, too . . .
# posted by : 5:55 PM
: 5:55 PM
Lolo Jones. There is something more interesting about failure. When she cried on the track, it was such an honest moment and strangely beautiful. This was her whole career. She's the greatest hurdler in the world and she was just about to have that crowining acheivment of a gold medal. Only to have it come crashing down.
Then again, my favorite Olympian ever is Dan Jansen.
Then again, my favorite Olympian ever is Dan Jansen.
Michael Phelps' mother's hand-wringing, shrieking, crying, and collapsing EVERY time he swam (and won.) We kept wanting to reach through the television, clutch her hands, and hug her.
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