Free Kicks

Your Free Kicks are coming a day late this week, but I figured y’all had to hear about the Bowie trip before it was no longer relevant. They won again last night, so I suppose one of the Orioles teams is headed to the playoffs. As for the one in Baltimore, well we know that is a slightly different story. The hype over the Ravens quarterback situation continues to balloon out of control to the negligence of defensive questions, the US took bronze in their last Olympic game until at least 2016, and all I want to do is line up for the kick.

If My Word Processor Sees the Word “Bullpen” One More Time, it will Explode.

Not that the O’s are playing badly, but last night’s loss was a giveaway. The Orioles consistently had opportunities to score early in the ballgame and simply did not put up the numbers they would need to overcome an exhausted bullpen. Moreover, Trembley made a key error in taking Radhames Liz out of the game with 2 outs in the 5th inning. Let Liz finish the inning, especially as Alex Rodriguez was 0-2 so far that game. Despite giving up the two consecutive solo shots, Liz was still utilizing different pitches in different places in the count, particularly with his 3-1 changeup. Last night’s performance should be considered a step forward for Radhames, who might perform just well enough to be the band aid the pitching staff needs for the rest of the season.

Keep Your Eye on Fabian Washington…

…because he will be your starting cornerback at some point this season. Much is being made of the offense, which has been riddled with injuries along the offensive line, tight ends, and even wide receivers, not to mention hampered by inept quarterback play (I am still a Troy Smith fan, but no one will save this offense). However, not enough is being made of the problems on defense. Remember, we have been saying that Samari Rolle is on his last legs for the past two years now, and Chris McAlister sat out half of last season with various injuries. As we saw last year, Corey Ivy is not the answer. Fabian Washington is the most likely candidate to step up, and Coach Harbaugh will have to hope that he finally can live up to first round status. The defense lacks much depth and with a few injuries (caused partially by the exhaustive time they will have to play with an offense unable to hold onto the ball) they could crumble down the stretch.

Best in the World? Not Quite.

I am one of those who threw my hands up in anger and anguish when baseball and softball were voted out as Olympic sports, but now looking back I can understand why baseball went that way. Frankly, the Olympic committee knew they weren’t getting the best talent in the world. Don’t get me wrong, I loved seeing Jake Arrieta out there, but he is the best America has to offer? No. Give me Michael Young tossing to Brian Roberts who fires to Mark Teixeira for a double play on Ichiro Suzuki and Kosuke Fukudome. But you won’t see that because the Olympics take place in the middle of baseball season. What is out there is simply not an accurate representation of the best team in the world- which the Americans would not necessarily win.

As for softball, this will be rectified sooner rather than later, especially with the US loss this Olympics to the Japanese. It seems as though the US dominance had doomed Olympic softball, with critics claiming there was no competition to the American squad. Ironically, the loss by the best team in the world might have saved the sport in the long run.

Katie Hoff getting a bad rap

As Michael Phelps is putting himself in the record books, Katie Hoff is also making Towson and the USA proud.

Most 19-year-olds worry about getting used to college life in their freshman year. Katie Hoff is representing her country in the Olympics against the fastest and toughest swimmers in the world.

And yet, even though she won three medals (two silver, one bronze) in the six events she competed in, the media is grilling her for the lack of a gold, many calling her performance "disappointing."

Many media's thoughts are summed up in an article by Pat Forde of ESPN on August 15th. He starts off by say she needs to stop "Phelpsing" it and it is "a lesson learned the hard way."

One question. Since when did Hoff says she was like Michael Phelps? I can answer that, Pat Forde did a little over a week ago. Katie never did, even saying that "I'm not supposed to be Phelps" in the Aug. 15th Forde article, and her coach said the comparison wasn't fair (same article). So Hoff and her coach aren't making such a comparison, so why should any of us blame her for not getting a gold just because Phelps got many?

The success of Michael Phelps has been great, but on the flip side the media has been attacking Hoff for not getting a gold. And now an columnist who probably never covered swimming before a few weeks ago actually attacks her because his comparison of her to Phelps wasn't correct? Hoff probably has struggled, but the fact that she is only 19 and she got five top-4 finishes in six events against the top swimmers in the world is very impressive. Leave Hoff alone, we know she isn't Michael Phelps. It just took Pat Forde a lot longer to realize it.

Hoff will be 23 for the 2012 Games, she'll be great in those. Let's hope the Phelps comparisons don't continue then. But for now, most people are proud of Hoff for her accomplishments in Beijing. We sure are in Maryland.

(Photo credit: Baltimore Sun)

Michael Phelps Is Who Everyone Wants to Be

Michael Phelps continues to be absolutely spectacular in Beijing, earning five gold medals with five world records set in the pool.

He must be in the best shape of any swimmer who ever existed, having a pure fruit and veggie diet and exercising ten hours a day, right?

According to the New York Post and ESPN, his diet is, get this, 12,000 calories a day!!!!! Man, I'm taking the wrong approach towards athletics. Normally an average diet is 2,000 calories per day, but Phelps is six times that.

From the New York Post (Clemente Lisi): "starting off his day by eating three fried-egg sandwiches loaded with cheese, lettuce, tomatoes, fried onions and mayonnaise.

He follows that up with two cups of coffee, a five-egg omelet, a bowl of grits, three slices of French toast topped with powdered sugar and three chocolate-chip pancakes.

At lunch, Phelps gobbles up a pound of enriched pasta and two large ham and cheese sandwiches slathered with mayo on white bread - capping off the meal by chugging about 1,000 calories worth of energy drinks.

For dinner, Phelps really loads up on the carbs - what he needs to give him plenty of energy for his five-hours-a-day, six-days-a-week regimen - with a pound of pasta and an entire pizza.

He washes all that down with another 1,000 calories worth of energy drinks."

Damn that's awesome. This will likely make doctors and other swimmers nuts. He does burn all of that off with five hours of swimming a day, but still, wouldn't you have expected America's greatest ever swimmer to be an extreme health nut? Nope, he's a regular guy who eats a ton and sets world records. And right now, this "fat" American from the Harbor is on the verge of getting eight gold medals.

(Photo credit: CBC. By the way, nice to have you back Windsor.)

Witnessing Greatness

Or, what it means to be a sports fan. I was instructed upon my return from vacation (very nice job by my colleagues by the way) to write a posting on Michael Phelps and Katie Hoff, both admirably representing our great State and Country in Beijing. However I have to slightly deviate from that, as I witnessed something last night which touched home for me and, in my opinion, for any sports fan who watched it. The event I am referring to is the United States 4x100m relay team surging past the heavily favored French to take the gold medal.

This event, this moment in sports, epitomized the ideals of the Olympics; of national pride, of athletic competition in its purest form, of standing in the moment while feeling the weight of history and legend. Cynics dismiss the Olympics as being meaningless and outdated, but what is so outdated about thousands of athletes and spectators from across the globe coming together in the spirit of competition? What makes Olympic competition trite while professional football meaningful? I daresay what we all witnessed last night served as a wakeup call to every Olympic cynic out there that there is something truly special about Olympic competition.

Four Americans– Michael Phelps, Garrett Weber-Gale, Cullen Jones, Jason Lezak – lined up to challenge a race in which they all, as one commentator put it, had to each run a perfect race to have a chance at gold. Famed swimmer and 100m world record holder Alain Bernard of the French team boldly proclaimed before the race that the French would “smash” the Americans, and by most all accounts, they were going to. In the race that ensued, the relay teams of five countries would break the world record and combine for arguably the greatest Olympic swimming race in history. Drama, national pride, teamwork, and unparalleled greatness within this event were presented both by the victors and the entire competitive field.

Here is how the race unfolded:
-At the starting buzzer Phelps took off strongly, gaining an early lead over the French. As they approached the first turn at least three teams were already ahead of the world record pace.

-Phelps hands off to Garett Weber-Gale in one of three seamless switches for the United States. The lead notably slimmed heading into the turn, with France gaining the lead as Weber-Gale’s leg came to a finish.

-Cullen Jones takes over for Weber-Gale, losing ground to the French in transition. France increased it’s lead to over half of a body length going into the final stretch. The smashing, it seemed, was on.

-Enter Jason Lezak for the United States and Alain Bernard for France. Alain Bernard is the world record holder for the 100m freestyle, and a sure-thing closer. Jason Lezak, a 3-time Olympian who has never taken gold in the relay (his premier event), had a daunting challenge. Through the first turn Lezak was desperately riding the wave of Bernard but seemingly could not gain any ground on the Frenchman. With 50 meters left to go I remember distinctly one person in the room I was with shake his head – the race seemed all but over. Heading into the final 30 meters Jason Lezak made a furious comeback, and as he gained ground I could hardly hear the play-by-play over the growing roar of the crowd both in the stands and in the room I was in. Michael Phelps and Garrett Weber-Gale frantically stomped, shouted along with the rest of the viewing audience to bring Jason home.

With a flourish the race was over, and the stadium erupted. The world record was smashed. The hard-luck 32 year old swimmer beat the elite French swimmer’s lap time by over .6 seconds, and the US team edged out the French by eight hundredths of a second. Michael Phelps’ potentially history-making drive for eight gold medals was still alive. The heavily favored French who bragged about smashing the Americans were stunned.

In conclusion, we watch sports to witness greatness. We see it in the coverage of Tiger Woods, Brett Favre, even Barry Bonds. And sports fans are constantly looking for the next great player, the next great moment which can be retold for years to come. So I say this to all of the Olympic cynics out there: Try and beat that.

Photo Credit (above): Shaun Botterill/Getty Images
Photo Credit (right): AP