Tag Archives: history

Going Strong Minus Lance

23 Oct

Embedly Powered

via Hulu

You know that scene in the cop show where the cop finds the killer but it turns out they were just a confused 10 year old. The cop doesn’t think the kid should go to jail but has to reveal there findings because it’s the moral thing to do. That is exactly how I felt about the busting of Lance Armstrong. I know that there is a now a mountain of evidence proving that the 7 time Tour de France winner was a mastermind of doping but I hate to see him go down.

The ultimate irony of this being that there will be literally 7 years in the Tour de France history without a winner. There is so much doping in cycling that it is impossible to give the titles to runners-up.

On the upside Armstrong’s Livestrong cancer foundation is still bringing in money. Armstrong resigned as chairman of the organization in order to protect it from criticism. In the past two weeks donations to the foundation have doubled. Let’s hope people continue to look past the doping scandal and focus on helping cancer survivors.

-M

Miguel Cabrera Takes Home Triple Crown

4 Oct

The last time anyone won a the Triple Crown in baseball acid was considered a mind liberating drug. Yes it is has been since 1967. After 45 years the dry spell is finally over and Detroit Tigers’ Miguel Cabrera has won the title. For those of you who are unfamiliar with the Triple Crown it is when a player has the most home runs, highest RBI (which means is statistic for runs batted in or in English is gives a runner credit for all the runs scored while they were at bat), and highest batting average(the number of hits divided by times at bat). Cabrera had 44 home runs, an RBI of 139, and a batting average of .330. Now Cabrera will be down in the history books with players like Mickey Mantle and Lou Gehrig.

It is an amazing accomplishment especially in an age where everyone else seems to be doping up to get results. So far there has been no indication that Cabrera has used steroids. So finally there can be a record without an asterisks.

-M

 

No One is Taking Phelps’ Medals

17 Aug

The somewhat disturbing sexy photos of Michael Phelps posing for his Louis Vuitton ad campaign might get him in trouble with the International Olympic Committee. Apparently they have some rule which prohibits athletes from participating in advertising(unless it’s an Olympic sponsor) from July 18 to August 15. The Annie Leibovitz photos were leaked to the Daily Mail on August 13th. If you violate the rule the IOC can charge you financial penalties and disqualify you from participating in the games. The disqualification can come after you have already won and would take away your winnings.

If I were an Olympic athlete I would be pissed about this rule. Especially if you are in a sport like gymnastics which only gets attention every four years. It is crucial for these athletes to line-up deals and promote themselves while they are still relevant. The IOC forbidding them for making gains after the Olympics is completely absurd. And to even go as far as removing someone’s medal for participating in an AD campaign is ludicrous.

Regardless I am sure that not even the IOC wants to touch golden boy Phelps. He is practically the Olympic mascot. Not only that but he had nothing to do with the leaking of the photos.

-M

The Greatest Athletes in the World

9 Aug

While Usain Bolt was prancing around proclaiming himself to be the best athlete in the world . . . Ashton Eaton and Trey Hardee were busy getting medals for actually being the world’s greatest athletes. For the first time in 56 years the US has won gold and silver in the decathlon. Eaton took home the gold with 8,869 points. Hardee (one of the hottest Olympians) finished second with 8,671 points. The points are accumulated over 10 events over two days. The events include: 100 meters, long jump, shot put, high jump, 400 meters, 110 meter hurdles, discus throw, pole vault, javelin throw, and 1500 meters.
This is the first medal for 24-year old Eaton who got the Olympic record in the trials with a score of 9,039 points. Hardee was more than happy to get silver after fouling out in the pole vault in Beijing. It was a truly great accomplishment for both men.

-M

 

 

Usain Bolt Fastest Man, Fastest Insult

9 Aug

Usain Bolt made history tonight today in London by becoming the first man in history to win gold medals in the 100 and 200 meter races at consecutive Olympics. He crossed the 200-meter finish line at 19.32 seconds. Fellow Jamaican Yohan Blake came in right behind him at 19.44 seconds for the silver. Then another Jamaican Warren Weir came in at 19.84 seconds for the bronze. When Bolt crossed the finish line he put his finger to his lips and asked for silence so everyone could observe his greatness. Bolt said. “I was just telling them: You can stop talking now, because I am a legend.”

And it seems now that he’s a legend he feels like he can insult other legends. When Carl Lewis(he won back to back 100-meter races in the Olympics) was mentioned in the press conference Bolt quickly put him down. “Carl Lewis, I have no respect for him. The things he says about the track athletes are very downgrading. I think he’s just looking for attention because nobody really talks about him. I’ve lost all respect for him. All respect.”

Bolt was not happy that Lewis had questioned whether Bolt had used drugs to enhance his speed during the Beijing Olympics. But regardless Lewis has 9 Olympic Gold medals, Bolt has 5. I think the medals speak for themselves. Regardless shouldn’t these games be about promoting all athletes not putting them down?

-M

 

 

Can’t We Just Be Happy for Him

9 Aug

Since I write about sports I read a lot of sports news. And recently there has been a big buzz over Michael Phelps’ new girlfriend. If you haven’t heard she is a model/actress/bartender from LA named Megan Rossee. They met at the nightclub where Rossee works in Hollywood- Blok. I live in LA but have never been to Blok but apparently it is trendy. The two have been together since January. But things have been heating up because she has been at the Olympics with him cheering him on.

All of this sounds pretty normal and nice. But of course the media is all over it. They are now starting rumors that she is gold digger and just wants Phelps for fame. Now I think if I were Phelps I would be incredibly offended by all of this. I mean we all know that Phelps is not the hottest swimmer(I mean have you seen Ryan Lochte) but that doesn’t mean women don’t find him attractive. Implying that Rossee just wants Phelps for his fame and money is like saying, “You are ugly dude.”

Not only that but I think we have all seen enough of Phelps’ mother, Debbie, to know that that woman could probably sniff a gold digger from miles away. And she would have none of that.

If Phelps wants to date models that is his right. He has earned it by becoming a huge celebrity. What is the point of making tons of money and being the face of swimming if you don’t get to date models? If I were Phelps I would be dating lots of models.

And lastly media don’t you know by giving this girl lots of attention you are doing exactly what you are accusing her of. You are giving her the spotlight because she is with Phelps. Which then feeds into this master plan you think she has. Oh the irony.

-M

 

In the Defense of Hair

9 Aug

I don’t think I was the only one who cried when the camera panned over to show Gabby Douglas’ mother, Natalie Hawks, celebrating her daughters win. This moment of celebration was short lived before critics started nagging on Douglas’ hair. Now Hawks, being a good mom, is out there defending her daughter. And she makes a lot of good points.

1. Douglas has been living with a white family in Iowa. And you can guess how many black hair salons there are in Iowa. The answer is none. Hawks said, “I don’t think people realize sometimes that she doesn’t live with me. She lives with a white host family and they don’t know anything about taking care of her hair. And there’s no black salons in their area [in Iowa] – not one. We had to work really hard to find a stylist to come and do her hair.”

2. Gymnastics is tough on hair, any hair. I mean as a girl I can tell you ponytails are not your hairs friend. Hawks said, “It’s really been African American women that have come out and attacked her. They don’t know about gymnastics. She has to keep her hair in a ponytail 28-30 hours a week. In gymnastics you’re tumbling around on your hair. You’re falling backwards on it. You’re doing “timers” and your hair is constantly snagging on the mat, and for our hair that’s very detrimental. You’re going into foam pits – and any hair stylist will tell you that foam on African American hair is destructive. It breaks the hair horribly.”

3. Hawks got Douglas’ hair done before the Olympics. She got a stylist to come do it. Hawks said, “What is funny is I had someone come do her hair before the Olympics. We put all this effort into getting her hair done and they still didn’t like it!”

(more…)

Gabby Douglas Makes History(Yes I’m just now writing about this)

2 Aug

This Olympics for me has been a very difficult one to cover. Do I write about things when they happen? Or do I wait until absolutely everyone in the world has had a chance to see them. For me on the West Coast Gabby Douglas’ gold medal performance has yet to air in its entirety(yes we West Coaster are the absolute last people to see the Olympics). Yesterday I wrote about the women’s team gymnastics win when it actually happened which outraged people. So today I waited as long as I could to write about Douglas.

If you have been living under a rock than you have not already heard that Douglas became the first African-American gymnastics individual all-round winner. Since we can’t just focus on her amazing accomplishment some people are focusing on her hair. A few people pointed out that her hair gelled-down looked less than stellar. If we know anything from Chris Rock’s “Good Hair,” it’s the importance of good hair. But in the case of Douglas I think her gold medal should out weigh any concerns of hair care. If internet users are going to complain about anything it should be her nickname, “Fly Squirrel.”

Douglas beat out Viktoria Komova of Russia by three-tenths of a point. Damn that’s close.  Aliya Mustafina of Russia and Aly Raisman finished with identical scores of 59.566, but the Mustafina got the bronze on a tiebreak. So there you have it one American and two unhappy Russians on the podium.

-M

 

 

Update: Phelps Get 19th Medal

31 Jul

Okay so just as I was writing about Michael Phelps getting his 18th medal and tying the record. Now he has the most medals in Olympic history with 19 medals.  The US took home the gold medal in the 4×200 relay. Phelps was the anchor of the team. The team included Ryan Lochte, Conor Dwyer, Ricky Berens, and Phelps. They won with a time of 6 minutes, 59.70 seconds. Behind them was France with 7:02.77 and China in third with 7:06:30.  That means Lochte now has two gold medals!!!! And we finally beat France.
-M

 

 

Old Man Verse Virgin: Wimbledon Showdown

6 Jul

One thing is clear whomever wins Wimbledon this SUNDAY will be making history this year. Andy Murray will be making history for England being the first Brit to win since 1936. It’s kind of ironic that they hold this event yet seems to kind of suck at it. Murray advanced today after beating Jo-Wilfried Tsonga 6-3, 6-4, 3-6, 7-5 on Friday in the semifinals. Murray has never won a final before so he’s virgin. And for the country of England he definitely needs to get his cherry popped.

He will be facing fellow history maker and old man Roger Federer. I use the term old-man loosely since he is only 30-years old. Federer beat defending champ Novak Djokovic 6-3, 3-6, 6-4, 6-3. This is Federer’s 8th time in a Wimbledon final. And he’s won 6 times so far and looking to make it 7.

So the question becomes who do you support? Do you support the guy whose done it 6 times or the guy whose never done it? Personally I think we should bandwagon behind Murray. Poor Britain that host this thing year after year to keep losing. With that said I kind of think Federer has got this one in the bag. Murray has only played in 3 major finals and 2 of them against Federer. And Federer won. So it’s not looking promising.

-M
 

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