Welcome! This is an unapologetic, agenda-free zone. Just commentaries on current events that’ll move you to think, laugh, rage, and even cry.
Table Tennis Today was the final day of competition in this sport, which China dominates more than any country dominates any sport. Indeed, this headline in today’s New York Times speaks volumes about its dominance: At Least 44 Table Tennis Players in Rio Are Chinese-Born. Six Play for China To make it a little more relatable,… Read more.
Track and Field With all due respect to the Men’s 110m Hurdles and Men’s High Jump, the Women’s 1500m was the premier event of the day. I was rooting for Genzebe Dibaba of Ethiopia based solely on my admiration for the way she has continued the winning ways of her older sisters: Ejegayehu Dibaba (34) won… Read more.
Track and Field I became more mesmerized by Allyson Felix with each round of the 200m. If ever anyone could be thought of as a beautiful two-legged gazelle, it is she. I know the Jamaican girls seem poised to repeat their dominance, but I think Felix will be a spoiler in London in the 200m. (“US… Read more.
Track and Field The feature race of every Olympics is the Men’s 100m for bragging rights as the world’s fastest man. The media spared no space hyping this one as a showdown – not only between a David and a Goliath nation, namely Jamaica and the United States, respectively, but also between a good and… Read more.
Swimming This was the last day of competition. Michael Phelps insists it was his last too. Which constrains me to reprise what I wrote in this regard on the last day of competition at London 2012: He insists that he will now rest on his laurels, and who can blame him. But I fully expect… Read more.
Rugby Sevens I was too caught up in the excitement unfolding at the Swimming and Gymnastics venues last night to watch, let alone comment on, anything else. But I won’t pretend to have any real fondness for or understanding of this game, which is so barbaric it makes American Football look effeminate. Apropos of which, women… Read more.
Diving I indicated in my Day 2 commentary that there would be no reason to comment on this sport, unless a country disrupts China’s gold rush. Well, in the wee hours this morning, not one but two countries did just that in Men’s Synchronized 3m Springboard. Jack Laugher and Chris Mears of Great Britain won… Read more.
Empty Venues I imagine nothing is more dispiriting to Olympic athletes than competing in practically empty venues. Hell, even I find it dispiriting just watching on TV. Unfortunately, this has become a quadrennial farce. Ironically, it originated at Beijing 2008, when empty seats betrayed all of the hype China had propagated about national interest in those… Read more.
Doping I wrote only yesterday that I see no point in commenting any further on doping among Russian athletes. But then I woke up to this “breaking news” on CBS This Morning: [D]oping expert Thomas Hoberman, who is based at the University of Texas, believed the IOC chose not to ban the entire Russian team… Read more.
Swimming The entire aquatics venue greeted the Russian Men’s 4x100m Freestyle Relay team with resounding boos last night. International media have been saturated with reports about doping among Russian athletes in recent months. Therefore, the boos were hardly surprising, and Russian athletes must expect no less at this point. What was surprising, however, was watching Lilly… Read more.
