Maybe it's as simple as the difference between hello and goodbye.
But the emotions inside churn so differently when one watches an opening ceremony and a closing ceremony at the Olympic Games. And it doesn't seem to matter where they're held.
The opening is filled with grandeur and hope and wonder about the magic to come. The closing, at least in these eyes, rings with a bit of sadness for the end of something special but mixed with memories that figure to endure for many years afterward.
Ask the athletes and most will place the opening ceremony near the top of their personal Olympic highlight reel (assuming they were a part of it). The closing? That's a well-deserved party after so many weeks and months of sacrifice leading up to this moment.
For many of them, Olympic withdrawal figures to last for a little while yet.
"You've been to Disneyland for a month," Canadian gymnast Kyle Shewfelt told the CBC's Mark Kelley in an interesting 'what's next' feature earlier tonight. "Then you get home and there's no more Mickey Mouse."
Memories? We've had a few. No doubt we won't soon forget the performances of Michael Phelps and Usain Bolt, the two undisputed biggest stars of Beijing 2008. Canadians will embrace their 18 Olympic medallists, most notably the golden men's rowing eights, wrestler Carol Huynh (a genuine, lovable champ) and equestrian Eric Lamaze, whose incredible tale of redemption figures to be movie material soon enough.
Mostly, though, these Games were about China, a historically reclusive nation that has now officially opened its doors to the world. We read and heard many tales of the friendliness of the people in the host country and if this is China's true face, then the rest of the world is better off today for being introduced to it.
Here's hoping that the rest of the world has made an impression on China, too, and that these Olympics will be a springboard to a better, harmonious future for us all (a naive thought, yes, but it's always nice to dream).
For the first time in Olympic history, China topped the gold-medal list at the Summer Olympics. It is a rather safe bet that this is just the beginning of their dominance.
Now, though, another emotion: Excitement. The next Olympics are ours, the Winter Games of 2010 in Vancouver-Whistler. Yes, the summer torch was officially passed to London 2012 at tonight's closing. But before then, in less than 18 months, the flame will be lit one more time in one of the planet's most beautiful cities. It should be a source of great Canadian pride.
Don't know about you, but I can't wait to welcome the rest of the world to the place we call home.
This blog takes a well-deserved rest for a bit, and thanks to any and all who joined us for the ride. But we'll be with you on the road to Vancouver every now and then. Tag along with us on the way there, won't you?
Sunday, August 24, 2008
The Torch Is Passed
Au revoir, CBC. Bonjour TSN, Rogers Sportsnet and CTV.
Tucked among the many retrospectives aired tonight during CBC's final telecast from the Beijing Games was a tribute to CBC's Olympic coverage over the years. With images from Tokyo 1964 all the way to this week, it almost played like a farewell concerto.
As most of you no doubt know, CBC's grip on Olympic rights ended this evening. When the five-ring circus opens for business again in less than 18 months — yes, Vancouver, that's how close the 2010 Winter Games are now — you'll see broadcast coverage presented by a CTV Globemedia/Rogers consortium that most prominently features TSN, CTV and Sportsnet. They'll be back two years later to do it all over again in London for the 2012 Summer Olympics.
We've said it before but it bears repeating once more. While many across our land have lobbed bombs (and justifiably so, at times) in the CBC's direction for some of its bungles in recent years, its Olympic work is generally worthy of our acclaim. They took it to a new level in Beijing, presenting the first full high-definition Games and offering Canadians a wealth of viewing options online.
Tonight's tribute video featured a number of CBC voices we've come to know so well over the years including, interestingly enough, Brian Williams and Chris Cuthbert, now CBC alumni who will be back on the Olympic job in Vancouver. Maybe their appearance was a subtle way of passing the broadcast torch to their competition.
Beijing 2008 introduced us to some new Olympic TV faces, including Diana Swain and Ian Hanomansing — two anchors brought over from CBC's news side who acquitted themselves admirably. It'll be interesting to see if some of the CBC talent, both new and old, employed at the Olympics over the years might find a home with the other guys from now on.
The word is CBC intends to push hard to regain Olympic rights in 2014, the next Games still available (in Sochi, Russia). If Chicago wins the 2016 Summer Olympics, those broadcast rights figure to become much more pricey.
That's a story that still remains to be told. For the CBC, though, it's farewell to the Games.
We'll see soon enough how much they'll be missed. And if and when they'll be back.
Tucked among the many retrospectives aired tonight during CBC's final telecast from the Beijing Games was a tribute to CBC's Olympic coverage over the years. With images from Tokyo 1964 all the way to this week, it almost played like a farewell concerto.
As most of you no doubt know, CBC's grip on Olympic rights ended this evening. When the five-ring circus opens for business again in less than 18 months — yes, Vancouver, that's how close the 2010 Winter Games are now — you'll see broadcast coverage presented by a CTV Globemedia/Rogers consortium that most prominently features TSN, CTV and Sportsnet. They'll be back two years later to do it all over again in London for the 2012 Summer Olympics.
We've said it before but it bears repeating once more. While many across our land have lobbed bombs (and justifiably so, at times) in the CBC's direction for some of its bungles in recent years, its Olympic work is generally worthy of our acclaim. They took it to a new level in Beijing, presenting the first full high-definition Games and offering Canadians a wealth of viewing options online.
Tonight's tribute video featured a number of CBC voices we've come to know so well over the years including, interestingly enough, Brian Williams and Chris Cuthbert, now CBC alumni who will be back on the Olympic job in Vancouver. Maybe their appearance was a subtle way of passing the broadcast torch to their competition.
Beijing 2008 introduced us to some new Olympic TV faces, including Diana Swain and Ian Hanomansing — two anchors brought over from CBC's news side who acquitted themselves admirably. It'll be interesting to see if some of the CBC talent, both new and old, employed at the Olympics over the years might find a home with the other guys from now on.
The word is CBC intends to push hard to regain Olympic rights in 2014, the next Games still available (in Sochi, Russia). If Chicago wins the 2016 Summer Olympics, those broadcast rights figure to become much more pricey.
That's a story that still remains to be told. For the CBC, though, it's farewell to the Games.
We'll see soon enough how much they'll be missed. And if and when they'll be back.
Beijing Blows 'Em All Away
With one day to spare, the Beijing Olympics have become the most-watched event in American television history.
NBC Universal reports its total audience for these Games hit 211 million through Saturday, pushing it past Atlanta 1996 as the all-time leader for Olympic viewership south of the border. The aggregate number 12 years ago was 209 million for 17 days. Beijing's total has yet to include today's programming, which included the men's basketball final and the closing ceremony.
Perhaps even more impressive: 86% of U.S. households tuned in to at least some part of Beijing 2008.
Audiences got a huge boost in the opening week of the Games, when American swimmer Michael Phelps made his historic charge to an unprecedented eight gold medals in a single Olympics. NBC Universal also spread its coverage over nine networks, with its cable outlets combining for a record 86 million viewers.
While Winter Olympics ratings tend to be stronger in Canada, the opposite is true for a neighbouring country that is traditionally a Summer Games powerhouse. Four of the five most-watched Olympics ever in the U.S. were summer affairs, with Lillehammer 1994 (carried by CBS) the lone exception. We don't need to get into why.
NBC Universal reports its total audience for these Games hit 211 million through Saturday, pushing it past Atlanta 1996 as the all-time leader for Olympic viewership south of the border. The aggregate number 12 years ago was 209 million for 17 days. Beijing's total has yet to include today's programming, which included the men's basketball final and the closing ceremony.
Perhaps even more impressive: 86% of U.S. households tuned in to at least some part of Beijing 2008.
Audiences got a huge boost in the opening week of the Games, when American swimmer Michael Phelps made his historic charge to an unprecedented eight gold medals in a single Olympics. NBC Universal also spread its coverage over nine networks, with its cable outlets combining for a record 86 million viewers.
While Winter Olympics ratings tend to be stronger in Canada, the opposite is true for a neighbouring country that is traditionally a Summer Games powerhouse. Four of the five most-watched Olympics ever in the U.S. were summer affairs, with Lillehammer 1994 (carried by CBS) the lone exception. We don't need to get into why.
Saturday, August 23, 2008
Finish Line Clearly In Sight
It is the most traditional of Olympic events and, in recent years, has come to symbolize the five-ring circus is about to pack up and move on to the next big stop.
Men's marathon time means it's definitely almost closing time for the Beijing Olympics, with the closing ceremony at the Bird's Nest stadium now less than 10 hours away. Sure, there's still a basketball gold to be decided (which matters a great deal, I suppose, to the country to the south of us) and some boxing finals to be held (talk about a sport that's flown right under the radar in these parts, which might be expected when you send a one-man team to the Games).
But really, once the marathon is over, you know the extinguishing of the flame isn't too far away.
What a historic run it was. Hard to believe that, until tonight, Kenya — the nation which has been a long-distance terror at the Olympics for 40 years, going back to the legendary Kip Keino in Mexico City — had never produced a marathon winner.
Consider that little blip on the Kenyan radar erased after Sammy Wansiru's sizzling 2:06:32 run on an oppressively hot Beijing day. The 21-year-old ran the fastest marathon in Olympic history, blowing away the previous best by nearly three minutes (the old standard, set by Portugal's Carlos Lopes, had stood up since 1984).
For the second straight Games, Canada had no entrant in the event. Kenya, meanwhile, had literally hundreds of prospects to choose from for its Olympic roster. Mark Lee, CBC's voice at the track, pointed out that in that African nation, "more than 500 (athletes) have run a 2:20 marathon. In Canada, we have two."
"It is a mind-boggling depth and strength," added CBC analyst Dave Moorcroft.
*****
Wouldn't be nice if all athletes shared their stories as honestly as Adam van Koeverden?
The Canadian paddler, who was stunned by an eighth-place finish in the K-1 1,000-metre final on Friday, battled back for a silver medal earlier today in the 500 — the distance at which he struck gold four years ago in Athens.
After the race, Van Koeverden bluntly admitted his confidence needed a serious rebuild after the crushing result in the 1,000. It was a sentiment he repeated once more during a studio interview with CBC's Scott Russell on Olympic Prime, saying that he was "still worrying and terrified" about an hour before the 500-metre final.
"That self-doubt was definitely there and very prominent for the last 24 hours," said Van Koeverden, one of the most insightful athletes you'll ever meet. "That's the story of my Olympics, coming back from something as devastating as that."
Men's marathon time means it's definitely almost closing time for the Beijing Olympics, with the closing ceremony at the Bird's Nest stadium now less than 10 hours away. Sure, there's still a basketball gold to be decided (which matters a great deal, I suppose, to the country to the south of us) and some boxing finals to be held (talk about a sport that's flown right under the radar in these parts, which might be expected when you send a one-man team to the Games).
But really, once the marathon is over, you know the extinguishing of the flame isn't too far away.
What a historic run it was. Hard to believe that, until tonight, Kenya — the nation which has been a long-distance terror at the Olympics for 40 years, going back to the legendary Kip Keino in Mexico City — had never produced a marathon winner.
Consider that little blip on the Kenyan radar erased after Sammy Wansiru's sizzling 2:06:32 run on an oppressively hot Beijing day. The 21-year-old ran the fastest marathon in Olympic history, blowing away the previous best by nearly three minutes (the old standard, set by Portugal's Carlos Lopes, had stood up since 1984).
For the second straight Games, Canada had no entrant in the event. Kenya, meanwhile, had literally hundreds of prospects to choose from for its Olympic roster. Mark Lee, CBC's voice at the track, pointed out that in that African nation, "more than 500 (athletes) have run a 2:20 marathon. In Canada, we have two."
"It is a mind-boggling depth and strength," added CBC analyst Dave Moorcroft.
*****
Wouldn't be nice if all athletes shared their stories as honestly as Adam van Koeverden?
The Canadian paddler, who was stunned by an eighth-place finish in the K-1 1,000-metre final on Friday, battled back for a silver medal earlier today in the 500 — the distance at which he struck gold four years ago in Athens.
After the race, Van Koeverden bluntly admitted his confidence needed a serious rebuild after the crushing result in the 1,000. It was a sentiment he repeated once more during a studio interview with CBC's Scott Russell on Olympic Prime, saying that he was "still worrying and terrified" about an hour before the 500-metre final.
"That self-doubt was definitely there and very prominent for the last 24 hours," said Van Koeverden, one of the most insightful athletes you'll ever meet. "That's the story of my Olympics, coming back from something as devastating as that."
It's All About The Spin
When kayaker Adam van Koeverden emerged from the K-1 500 metre final with a silver medal early this morning at the Shunyi canoe/kayak venue, it signalled the final podium trip for a Canadian at the Beijing Olympics.
(although Gary Reed gave it his best shot in the 800 metres on the track at the Bird's Nest stadium, with the reigning world silver medallist finishing an agonizing fourth).
So the final medal count for Canada reads like this: Three gold, nine silver, six bronze. A grand total of 18, which rates six better than Athens 2004 and matches the second-best total ever for Canada at a non-boycotted Summer Olympics. We brought home the same number of medals from Barcelona in 1992; the number grew to 22 four years later in Atlanta.
Sports Illustrated predicted 15 Canadian medals at these Games. The majority of pundits probably weren't willing to go beyond that, given what transpired in Athens four years ago.
Were these Games a success for Canada? Based on the improvement over Athens, you'd have to give our gang in China a passing grade. Especially given the fact that the majority of amateur sport funding is being directed to winter athletes at the moment, with our country mere hours away from being officially on deck for the Vancouver 2010 Olympics.
The stated goal before Beijing 2008, according the Canadian Olympic Committee, was a top-16 finish in the medal standings. If one goes by the total medal count — and, as we've said here earlier, it should be that way — then the COC can boast about a tie for 13th with Belarus. The official Beijing Games site, though, ranks countries by golds won, which drops us down to a tie for 19th, and outside of the COC's target.
A successful Summer Olympics or not? We'll be interested to see how the powers-that-be in Canada spin this one.
(although Gary Reed gave it his best shot in the 800 metres on the track at the Bird's Nest stadium, with the reigning world silver medallist finishing an agonizing fourth).
So the final medal count for Canada reads like this: Three gold, nine silver, six bronze. A grand total of 18, which rates six better than Athens 2004 and matches the second-best total ever for Canada at a non-boycotted Summer Olympics. We brought home the same number of medals from Barcelona in 1992; the number grew to 22 four years later in Atlanta.
Sports Illustrated predicted 15 Canadian medals at these Games. The majority of pundits probably weren't willing to go beyond that, given what transpired in Athens four years ago.
Were these Games a success for Canada? Based on the improvement over Athens, you'd have to give our gang in China a passing grade. Especially given the fact that the majority of amateur sport funding is being directed to winter athletes at the moment, with our country mere hours away from being officially on deck for the Vancouver 2010 Olympics.
The stated goal before Beijing 2008, according the Canadian Olympic Committee, was a top-16 finish in the medal standings. If one goes by the total medal count — and, as we've said here earlier, it should be that way — then the COC can boast about a tie for 13th with Belarus. The official Beijing Games site, though, ranks countries by golds won, which drops us down to a tie for 19th, and outside of the COC's target.
A successful Summer Olympics or not? We'll be interested to see how the powers-that-be in Canada spin this one.
Friday, August 22, 2008
CBC's Run Almost Done
You've no doubt heard it said plenty over the past dozen years or so.
"CBC Sports. Canada's Olympic Network."
In less than 48 hours, the folks who run the Mother Corp. will have to retire that moniker for at least another six years. When the flame goes out in Beijing on Sunday, it's curtains for CBC's run as the Olympic broadcaster of record in Canada.
The world's athletes next gather in two years time in Vancouver for the 2010 Winter Games and we'll see coverage presented by a CTV Globemedia/Rogers Communications consortium that will put the Olympics primarily on TSN, Sportsnet and CTV. They'll have a second go at it again in 2012 for the London Summer Olympics.
CBC has avoided — so far, at least — getting all sentimental about the fact that they're losing the grip on Canadian Olympic broadcast rights that they've held since 1996 in Atlanta. Beijing 2008 marks the end of a five-Games partnership with TSN that has supplied Canadians with comprehensive Olympic coverage (further enhanced this year with hundreds of hours of online broadcasts).
Sunday at 6 p.m., CBC begins its Beijing swan song and it intends to include a retrospective of its Olympic coverage over the past 12 years. To hear the higher-ups there tell it, though, the public broadcaster intends to push hard to get back into the Olympic game in 2014 (there's a strong belief that its just-approved digital channel, CBC Sports Plus, will be a key weapon in a future bid to combat the CTV/Rogers group).
But that's for another day. If you're a fan of the way CBC presents Olympics (and there is a lot to like about their live-emphasis programming), enjoy what's left of Beijing. It'll going to be a little while before we see the likes of it again.
"CBC Sports. Canada's Olympic Network."
In less than 48 hours, the folks who run the Mother Corp. will have to retire that moniker for at least another six years. When the flame goes out in Beijing on Sunday, it's curtains for CBC's run as the Olympic broadcaster of record in Canada.
The world's athletes next gather in two years time in Vancouver for the 2010 Winter Games and we'll see coverage presented by a CTV Globemedia/Rogers Communications consortium that will put the Olympics primarily on TSN, Sportsnet and CTV. They'll have a second go at it again in 2012 for the London Summer Olympics.
CBC has avoided — so far, at least — getting all sentimental about the fact that they're losing the grip on Canadian Olympic broadcast rights that they've held since 1996 in Atlanta. Beijing 2008 marks the end of a five-Games partnership with TSN that has supplied Canadians with comprehensive Olympic coverage (further enhanced this year with hundreds of hours of online broadcasts).
Sunday at 6 p.m., CBC begins its Beijing swan song and it intends to include a retrospective of its Olympic coverage over the past 12 years. To hear the higher-ups there tell it, though, the public broadcaster intends to push hard to get back into the Olympic game in 2014 (there's a strong belief that its just-approved digital channel, CBC Sports Plus, will be a key weapon in a future bid to combat the CTV/Rogers group).
But that's for another day. If you're a fan of the way CBC presents Olympics (and there is a lot to like about their live-emphasis programming), enjoy what's left of Beijing. It'll going to be a little while before we see the likes of it again.
You Just Never Know
So you woke up this morning and heard Canada won a medal in canoe/kayak events.
Hell of a guy, that Adam van Koeverden, you no doubt thought. Soon enough, though, you realized you'd thought wrong. Very, very wrong.
While van Koeverden — considered the surest of shots among the Canadian contingent at the Beijing Games — faded badly to a shocking eighth-place finish in the men's K-1 1,000-metre final, it was the much more unheralded Thomas Hall driving to a bronze medal in the C-1 1,000 at the Shunyi Olympic venue.
There, in a nutshell, is what you typically find at an Olympic Games, especially when it comes to Canadian results. For every van Koeverden or Brent Hayden who doesn't quite match high pre-games expectations, you'll also find a Carol Huynh or Ryan Cochrane or Priscilla Lopes-Schliep who produces an unexpected trip to the podium.
"Some people can handle (the Olympic pressure) and some can't," Hall would later tell CBC's Scott Russell on Olympic Prime. "Some people can bring their 'A' game when it counts. The Olympics only happens once every four years. It's a big deal and there's lots of stress."
Add it all up, and Canada generally winds up about where you'd expect at the end of the day. We sit on 17 medals with one full competition day left in Beijing, one shy of matching Barcelona 1992 as the second most successful Summer Olympics for a Canadian team at a non-boycotted Games (only Atlanta 1996, with 22, ranks higher).
Van Koeverden might yet contribute to that total. He's back on the water at Shunyi at 3:30 a.m. ET, gunning to defend his Olympic crown in the K-1 500 metres. He was as stunned as everyone watching about what happened in the 1,000, a race in which he won the silver medal four years ago in Athens.
"I just didn't have it," van Koeverden told CBC's Karin Larsen after the race. "It's a hell of a time not to have it. It's the worst 1,000 metres I have put together in years."
He's hardly alone. The sprint relays were littered with disaster, with both the U.S. men's and women's teams disqualified in the heats because of botched exchanges. The same fate awaited a heavily favoured Jamaican team in the women's final.
All of which goes to show that at the Olympics, you just never know. It's a whole different Games.
*****
It didn't take long for the so-called "Canadian flagbearer jinx" to be trumpeted by the media in the wake of van Koeverden's finish this morning. In the last five Summer Games, only kayaker Caroline Brunet (silver at Sydney 2000) was able to climb on to the Olympic podium.
Van Koeverden, of course, isn't done yet in Beijing. And it's worth noting that in 1984 and 1988, Alex Baumann (Los Angeles) and Carolyn Waldo (Seoul) both struck gold.
We're sure the latter two didn't believe there was any sort of hex attached to the red maple leaf. Confident guy that he is, van Koeverden likely doesn't subscribe to such thinking, either.
Hell of a guy, that Adam van Koeverden, you no doubt thought. Soon enough, though, you realized you'd thought wrong. Very, very wrong.
While van Koeverden — considered the surest of shots among the Canadian contingent at the Beijing Games — faded badly to a shocking eighth-place finish in the men's K-1 1,000-metre final, it was the much more unheralded Thomas Hall driving to a bronze medal in the C-1 1,000 at the Shunyi Olympic venue.
There, in a nutshell, is what you typically find at an Olympic Games, especially when it comes to Canadian results. For every van Koeverden or Brent Hayden who doesn't quite match high pre-games expectations, you'll also find a Carol Huynh or Ryan Cochrane or Priscilla Lopes-Schliep who produces an unexpected trip to the podium.
"Some people can handle (the Olympic pressure) and some can't," Hall would later tell CBC's Scott Russell on Olympic Prime. "Some people can bring their 'A' game when it counts. The Olympics only happens once every four years. It's a big deal and there's lots of stress."
Add it all up, and Canada generally winds up about where you'd expect at the end of the day. We sit on 17 medals with one full competition day left in Beijing, one shy of matching Barcelona 1992 as the second most successful Summer Olympics for a Canadian team at a non-boycotted Games (only Atlanta 1996, with 22, ranks higher).
Van Koeverden might yet contribute to that total. He's back on the water at Shunyi at 3:30 a.m. ET, gunning to defend his Olympic crown in the K-1 500 metres. He was as stunned as everyone watching about what happened in the 1,000, a race in which he won the silver medal four years ago in Athens.
"I just didn't have it," van Koeverden told CBC's Karin Larsen after the race. "It's a hell of a time not to have it. It's the worst 1,000 metres I have put together in years."
He's hardly alone. The sprint relays were littered with disaster, with both the U.S. men's and women's teams disqualified in the heats because of botched exchanges. The same fate awaited a heavily favoured Jamaican team in the women's final.
All of which goes to show that at the Olympics, you just never know. It's a whole different Games.
*****
It didn't take long for the so-called "Canadian flagbearer jinx" to be trumpeted by the media in the wake of van Koeverden's finish this morning. In the last five Summer Games, only kayaker Caroline Brunet (silver at Sydney 2000) was able to climb on to the Olympic podium.
Van Koeverden, of course, isn't done yet in Beijing. And it's worth noting that in 1984 and 1988, Alex Baumann (Los Angeles) and Carolyn Waldo (Seoul) both struck gold.
We're sure the latter two didn't believe there was any sort of hex attached to the red maple leaf. Confident guy that he is, van Koeverden likely doesn't subscribe to such thinking, either.
Thursday, August 21, 2008
NBC Makes Another Splash
What can Michael Phelps do for you?
Ask the sport of swimming, which suddenly has an unprecedented television contract from NBC — thanks in great part, no doubt, by the massive ratings surge generated by Phelps' march to a record-breaking eight gold medals at the Beijing Olympics.
The Peacock Network announced earlier today it has inked a deal for coverage of the 2009 world aquatic championships in Rome (which are sure to include Phelps), as well as the next three U.S. swimming nationals. NBC's coverage in Rome includes two weekends, along with mid-week airtime on the new Universal Sports digital channel.
"The whole world watched as Michael Phelps took his sport to a new level and introduced a generation of fans to swimming through his extraordinary achievements," Dick Ebersol, chairman of NBC Sports and Olympics, said in a statement. "His accomplishments transcend sports and, are in fact, a cultural phenomenon. We're greatly looking forward to following the next chapter in his career."
*****
And then there was one ...
NBC Universal's total Olympic audience hit the 206 million mark through 13 days, surpassing the overall number for Lillehammer 1994 — the most-watched Winter Olympics in U.S. television history (thanks to that Tonya and Nancy nonsense) with 204 million viewers over 16 days.
By the time the sun rises, Beijing 2008 should surpass the 1996 Atlanta Summer Olympics, which attracted total viewership of 209 million for 17 days, as the most-watched even in American television history.
NBCOlympics.com, meanwhile, has now attracted more than one billion page views.
*****
CBC Newsworld's Claire Martin, whose reports on the temperamental weather in Beijing have become a regular feature on CBC Olympic broadcasts, earned special marks in this corner with this line. Asked about race walking by Olympic Prime anchor Scott Russell, Martin said "that looks like a sport invented by Monty Python."
Spoken like a true devotee of the Ministry of Silly Walks, I'd say.
*****
Will this didn't take long. NBC Olympics has announced the release of a new DVD, Michael Phelps: Greatest Olympic Champion ... The Inside Story. It's now available for purchase at NBCOlympics.com.
Ask the sport of swimming, which suddenly has an unprecedented television contract from NBC — thanks in great part, no doubt, by the massive ratings surge generated by Phelps' march to a record-breaking eight gold medals at the Beijing Olympics.
The Peacock Network announced earlier today it has inked a deal for coverage of the 2009 world aquatic championships in Rome (which are sure to include Phelps), as well as the next three U.S. swimming nationals. NBC's coverage in Rome includes two weekends, along with mid-week airtime on the new Universal Sports digital channel.
"The whole world watched as Michael Phelps took his sport to a new level and introduced a generation of fans to swimming through his extraordinary achievements," Dick Ebersol, chairman of NBC Sports and Olympics, said in a statement. "His accomplishments transcend sports and, are in fact, a cultural phenomenon. We're greatly looking forward to following the next chapter in his career."
*****
And then there was one ...
NBC Universal's total Olympic audience hit the 206 million mark through 13 days, surpassing the overall number for Lillehammer 1994 — the most-watched Winter Olympics in U.S. television history (thanks to that Tonya and Nancy nonsense) with 204 million viewers over 16 days.
By the time the sun rises, Beijing 2008 should surpass the 1996 Atlanta Summer Olympics, which attracted total viewership of 209 million for 17 days, as the most-watched even in American television history.
NBCOlympics.com, meanwhile, has now attracted more than one billion page views.
*****
CBC Newsworld's Claire Martin, whose reports on the temperamental weather in Beijing have become a regular feature on CBC Olympic broadcasts, earned special marks in this corner with this line. Asked about race walking by Olympic Prime anchor Scott Russell, Martin said "that looks like a sport invented by Monty Python."
Spoken like a true devotee of the Ministry of Silly Walks, I'd say.
*****
Will this didn't take long. NBC Olympics has announced the release of a new DVD, Michael Phelps: Greatest Olympic Champion ... The Inside Story. It's now available for purchase at NBCOlympics.com.
Lamaze Class Of The Olympic Rings
Some stories almost seem too far-fetched to even fathom. Too far removed from reality to possibly consider.
If you're familiar with the story of Eric Lamaze, you had to think what transpired this morning in Hong Kong was one of those moments you'd never see. But there was the Canadian equestrian, wiping tears from his eyes on the top of the medal podium after winning the individual show jumping title at the Beijing Olympics.
Only Michel Vaillancourt, in 1976 in Montreal (the equestrian events were held in nearby Bromont that year), had brought Canada an individual medal (a silver) in the event in previous Olympic history. Until Lamaze, though, the colour had never been gold.
There was a time, not so long ago, when this seemed to be the most unlikely of possibilities. Lamaze was booted from both the 1996 Atlanta and 2000 Sydney Games for doping infractions. As he told CBC's Tom Harrington in a revealing pre-game feature, he contemplated suicide at one point as his life spiralled downward.
The Canadian Olympic Committee wouldn't let Lamaze compete at the Athens 2004 Games, even though a lifetime ban had been overturned. His Olympic dreams seemed as far away as ever but he arrived reborn at these Games as the fourth-rated rider in the field and with Hickstead, a jewel of a horse (some compare him to the legendary Big Ben, the famous mount of Lamaze's Canadian teammate, Ian Millar of Perth, Ont.).
It came down to a jumpoff between Lamaze and Sweden's Rolf-Goran Bengtsson. When Lamaze and Hickstead completed a clean round, the gold was theirs. And, it could be suggested, one of the great comeback stories in Olympic history. Vindication doesn't even begin to describe the hell that Lamaze endured and survived.
"When you give people chances and allow them to come back from their mistakes, great things happen," Lamaze told CBC's Erin Paul before accepting his gold medal. "I'm a great example that you shouldn't give up on people."
We can only imagine what was running through Lamaze's mind as the strains of O Canada played in his honour.
"There were so many days when you wouldn't dream this was possible," he said.
Olympic Morning host Diana Swain wondered if Lamaze "had his life flash before his eyes. There is a lot of history in that face." She also predicted — and probably not wrongly — that the story will be worthy of a movie someday.
It is an inspiring tale of redemption, indeed. Too many of us have asked for (and needed) second chances in our lives. Eric Lamaze reminded us today just how much a man can achieve when all he asks for is an opportunity to show he has changed for the better.
Sometimes, you see, faith really is the most special virtue of them all.
"He vowed to earn Canada's trust again," CBC anchor Scott Russell later said during a replay on Olympic Prime.
Consider it a promise kept, in just about every way possible.
If you're familiar with the story of Eric Lamaze, you had to think what transpired this morning in Hong Kong was one of those moments you'd never see. But there was the Canadian equestrian, wiping tears from his eyes on the top of the medal podium after winning the individual show jumping title at the Beijing Olympics.
Only Michel Vaillancourt, in 1976 in Montreal (the equestrian events were held in nearby Bromont that year), had brought Canada an individual medal (a silver) in the event in previous Olympic history. Until Lamaze, though, the colour had never been gold.
There was a time, not so long ago, when this seemed to be the most unlikely of possibilities. Lamaze was booted from both the 1996 Atlanta and 2000 Sydney Games for doping infractions. As he told CBC's Tom Harrington in a revealing pre-game feature, he contemplated suicide at one point as his life spiralled downward.
The Canadian Olympic Committee wouldn't let Lamaze compete at the Athens 2004 Games, even though a lifetime ban had been overturned. His Olympic dreams seemed as far away as ever but he arrived reborn at these Games as the fourth-rated rider in the field and with Hickstead, a jewel of a horse (some compare him to the legendary Big Ben, the famous mount of Lamaze's Canadian teammate, Ian Millar of Perth, Ont.).
It came down to a jumpoff between Lamaze and Sweden's Rolf-Goran Bengtsson. When Lamaze and Hickstead completed a clean round, the gold was theirs. And, it could be suggested, one of the great comeback stories in Olympic history. Vindication doesn't even begin to describe the hell that Lamaze endured and survived.
"When you give people chances and allow them to come back from their mistakes, great things happen," Lamaze told CBC's Erin Paul before accepting his gold medal. "I'm a great example that you shouldn't give up on people."
We can only imagine what was running through Lamaze's mind as the strains of O Canada played in his honour.
"There were so many days when you wouldn't dream this was possible," he said.
Olympic Morning host Diana Swain wondered if Lamaze "had his life flash before his eyes. There is a lot of history in that face." She also predicted — and probably not wrongly — that the story will be worthy of a movie someday.
It is an inspiring tale of redemption, indeed. Too many of us have asked for (and needed) second chances in our lives. Eric Lamaze reminded us today just how much a man can achieve when all he asks for is an opportunity to show he has changed for the better.
Sometimes, you see, faith really is the most special virtue of them all.
"He vowed to earn Canada's trust again," CBC anchor Scott Russell later said during a replay on Olympic Prime.
Consider it a promise kept, in just about every way possible.
Diving Behind The Scenes
Anne Montminy had the ultimate insider's view of the women's 10-metre platform diving final this morning at the Beijing Olympics.
Who knew better, after all, about what Canadian Emilie Heymans was going through than her former synchronized diving partner. Fortunately for the CBC, it Montminy was on its team for the dramatic event that resulted in Heymans earning Canada its 14th medal of Beijing 2008.
Working as an analyst alongside Steve Armitage, Montminy expertly told us which dives would tell the tale about Heymans' emotional state during a nerve-wracking final that went right down to the final plunge into the Water Cube pool (Chinese teen Chen Ruolin edged Heymans for the gold on a near-perfect final dive).
All the while, Montminy managed to conceal (for the most part) the excitement she felt for Heymans, who hadn't won an individual diving medal at the Games until today (she was fourth on the tower in Athens four years ago).
"It was particularly touching for me," Montminy later revealed in a studio interview with CBC Olympic Morning host Diana Swain. "(Heymans) has had trouble with her nerves in the past but she was really on tonight ... It was one of the most, if not the most, incredible competitions I've ever seen."
China has now won all seven diving golds at these Games. It's a dominance that Montminy doesn't see Canada, in particular, breaking any time soon. The Chinese, she said, spend "so many more hours" training than divers in other countries.
"We're not going to be able to put in the time (to match them)," said Montminy. "We have to prepare for life after sport, with things like school. It's a different society there."
*****
TSN has popularized the '1 Up, 1 Down' system for its hockey telecasts (that's a play-by-play guy in the broadcast booth and an analyst between the benches, for the uninitiated).
Here's a new one from the CBC. Bruce Rainnie, who was pulled from the Beijing rowing/canoe-kayak events at the last minute because of illness, called today's individual showjumping final off a monitor in Toronto while equestrian analyst Beth Underhill worked from ringside in Hong Kong.
What to call that setup? How about 'one here, one there,' perhaps?
Who knew better, after all, about what Canadian Emilie Heymans was going through than her former synchronized diving partner. Fortunately for the CBC, it Montminy was on its team for the dramatic event that resulted in Heymans earning Canada its 14th medal of Beijing 2008.
Working as an analyst alongside Steve Armitage, Montminy expertly told us which dives would tell the tale about Heymans' emotional state during a nerve-wracking final that went right down to the final plunge into the Water Cube pool (Chinese teen Chen Ruolin edged Heymans for the gold on a near-perfect final dive).
All the while, Montminy managed to conceal (for the most part) the excitement she felt for Heymans, who hadn't won an individual diving medal at the Games until today (she was fourth on the tower in Athens four years ago).
"It was particularly touching for me," Montminy later revealed in a studio interview with CBC Olympic Morning host Diana Swain. "(Heymans) has had trouble with her nerves in the past but she was really on tonight ... It was one of the most, if not the most, incredible competitions I've ever seen."
China has now won all seven diving golds at these Games. It's a dominance that Montminy doesn't see Canada, in particular, breaking any time soon. The Chinese, she said, spend "so many more hours" training than divers in other countries.
"We're not going to be able to put in the time (to match them)," said Montminy. "We have to prepare for life after sport, with things like school. It's a different society there."
*****
TSN has popularized the '1 Up, 1 Down' system for its hockey telecasts (that's a play-by-play guy in the broadcast booth and an analyst between the benches, for the uninitiated).
Here's a new one from the CBC. Bruce Rainnie, who was pulled from the Beijing rowing/canoe-kayak events at the last minute because of illness, called today's individual showjumping final off a monitor in Toronto while equestrian analyst Beth Underhill worked from ringside in Hong Kong.
What to call that setup? How about 'one here, one there,' perhaps?
Wednesday, August 20, 2008
It's No Dash For Cash
It was considered the ultimate carrot when the Canadian Olympic Committee first laid it on the table. The kind of thing that might level the playing field for our athletes, if even a bit.
Isn't it funny, though, that as Canada's medal total climbs at the Beijing Games — were still stuck on 13 after five straight hardware-filled days — that almost no mention is being made of the cash these athletes will collect for their efforts in China.
For the first time, the COC is paying cold hard cash to its medal winners at the Olympic Games: $20,000 for gold, $10,000 for silver and $5,000 for bronze. While it's money they'll no doubt cherish when it comes to paying the bills after the flame goes out in Beijing, if there's an athlete raving about the prospect of it all after climbing onto the Olympic podium, he or she must be whispering.
When freestyle wrestler Carol Huynh of Hazelton, B.C., was presented with the thought by the media after giving Canada's medal rush a golden start, here's how she responded: "I kind of heard about it a little but I didn't read up on it."
I remember a collective cheer coming from Canada's amateur sport community when this long-overdue program was first announced. But at the end of the day, it's clear these fine young men and women don't come to the Olympics motivated by the possibility of a mad dash for cash, so to speak.
For them, it's all about excellence and striving to be their best and, above all, pride in the the country they represent and the red maple they wear. In other words, the purity of sport.
Something to think about every time you hear the stampede headed toward a certain eight-gold medal swimmer, offering him the next get-rich-quick scheme.
*****
Interesting take by Toronto Sun columnist Alison Korn, a two-time Olympic rowing medallist and onetime story subject for your humble blogger, on hurdler Perdita Felicien's reaction to Priscilla Lopes-Schliep's bronze-medal win in the women's 100-metre hurdles Tuesday (Felicien, who predicted before the race that the Canadian had the potential to finish as high as third in the Olympic final, is working as a track analyst for CBC in Beijing after an injury ended her Games hopes).
Before you read this, bear in mind that Korn is a former athlete who knows better than most of us what goes on between those folks' ears. Like I said, a very interesting read.
(you'll need to scroll to the bottom of the column to see what I mean, to the 'More Cruel Than Cool' part).
*****
With his mother having just succumbed to pancreatic cancer, CBC Olympic Prime anchor Ron MacLean is headed home to Oakville, Ont., after tonight's show. Olympic Morning co-host Scott Russell will move into MacLean's chair for the rest of the Games.
Our prayers are definitely with MacLean at what is no doubt a difficult time. Safe travels home from the Orient.
Isn't it funny, though, that as Canada's medal total climbs at the Beijing Games — were still stuck on 13 after five straight hardware-filled days — that almost no mention is being made of the cash these athletes will collect for their efforts in China.
For the first time, the COC is paying cold hard cash to its medal winners at the Olympic Games: $20,000 for gold, $10,000 for silver and $5,000 for bronze. While it's money they'll no doubt cherish when it comes to paying the bills after the flame goes out in Beijing, if there's an athlete raving about the prospect of it all after climbing onto the Olympic podium, he or she must be whispering.
When freestyle wrestler Carol Huynh of Hazelton, B.C., was presented with the thought by the media after giving Canada's medal rush a golden start, here's how she responded: "I kind of heard about it a little but I didn't read up on it."
I remember a collective cheer coming from Canada's amateur sport community when this long-overdue program was first announced. But at the end of the day, it's clear these fine young men and women don't come to the Olympics motivated by the possibility of a mad dash for cash, so to speak.
For them, it's all about excellence and striving to be their best and, above all, pride in the the country they represent and the red maple they wear. In other words, the purity of sport.
Something to think about every time you hear the stampede headed toward a certain eight-gold medal swimmer, offering him the next get-rich-quick scheme.
*****
Interesting take by Toronto Sun columnist Alison Korn, a two-time Olympic rowing medallist and onetime story subject for your humble blogger, on hurdler Perdita Felicien's reaction to Priscilla Lopes-Schliep's bronze-medal win in the women's 100-metre hurdles Tuesday (Felicien, who predicted before the race that the Canadian had the potential to finish as high as third in the Olympic final, is working as a track analyst for CBC in Beijing after an injury ended her Games hopes).
Before you read this, bear in mind that Korn is a former athlete who knows better than most of us what goes on between those folks' ears. Like I said, a very interesting read.
(you'll need to scroll to the bottom of the column to see what I mean, to the 'More Cruel Than Cool' part).
*****
With his mother having just succumbed to pancreatic cancer, CBC Olympic Prime anchor Ron MacLean is headed home to Oakville, Ont., after tonight's show. Olympic Morning co-host Scott Russell will move into MacLean's chair for the rest of the Games.
Our prayers are definitely with MacLean at what is no doubt a difficult time. Safe travels home from the Orient.
Lightning Bolt Strikes Twice
So what did you do on your 22nd birthday?
If you're Usain Bolt, you run the fastest 200 metres of all time on the biggest stage in the world. And then have 91,000 of your newest admirers serenade you with renditions of 'Happy Birthday to you ...'
Some story to tell your kids someday about your Beijing Olympics experience, isn't it?
None of us will soon forget the scene that unfolded at the Bird's Nest stadium this morning, as Bolt, well, bolted through the final of the men's 200 metres in an astounding 19.30 seconds — chopping two one-hundredths of a second off the record set by American sprint star Michael Johnson at the 1996 Atlanta Olympics.
(so much for that Games record book. Bolt, you'll earlier recall, earlier removed Canadian Donovan Bailey's name from the Olympics annals with a 9.69-second clocking for the 100 metres).
It's also the first time a male sprinter has completed the 100-200 double since Carl Lewis at the 1984 Los Angeles Games. Nobody until now, though, has done it with two world records.
The latest jaw-dropping performance had CBC's crew scrambling for new superlatives.
"He does the impossible and makes the impossible look easy," said track analyst Dave Moorcroft.
CBC's Mark Lee, who's distinguishing himself rather well in his first go at Olympic track and filed, called the Jamaican sensation "totally unstoppable" (and did you even notice who crossed the line second and third?).
Track pundits, some of whom scoffed at Bolt for celebrating too soon at the end of the men's 100 (and perhaps giving away the chance to lower that standard even further), had wondered just what Bolt could do if he ran full out to the finish. They've got their answer now. With an exclamation point or three.
And the sport, and these Olympics, have a new hero to embrace, a joyful young lad who's had the time of his life in Beijing. So, too, have the adoring fans at the Bird's Nest and around the world.
"This is the new face of track and field and this sport can use a young man like Usain Bolt," said Lee. "He's put a friendly face on track and field. He has brought a fraternity to track and field."
Added CBC analyst Michael Smith: "He's still a boy. He's having fun."
Bolt wasn't about to let his critics spoil any of that.
"Come on, man," Bolt said when presented with some of the criticism by CBC's Elliotte Friedman. "If you see you're going to win, you're going to celebrate. If you see you're going to be Olympic champion, you're happy."
Wait until he gets home to Jamaica. We're guessing there's a whole lot of happy going on there.
*****
Usain Bolt or Michael Phelps?
The debate's already raging over at CBC's Olympics website about who's the biggest star of the Beijing Games. We know who wins south of the border ... and in Jamaica, for that matter.
If you're Usain Bolt, you run the fastest 200 metres of all time on the biggest stage in the world. And then have 91,000 of your newest admirers serenade you with renditions of 'Happy Birthday to you ...'
Some story to tell your kids someday about your Beijing Olympics experience, isn't it?
None of us will soon forget the scene that unfolded at the Bird's Nest stadium this morning, as Bolt, well, bolted through the final of the men's 200 metres in an astounding 19.30 seconds — chopping two one-hundredths of a second off the record set by American sprint star Michael Johnson at the 1996 Atlanta Olympics.
(so much for that Games record book. Bolt, you'll earlier recall, earlier removed Canadian Donovan Bailey's name from the Olympics annals with a 9.69-second clocking for the 100 metres).
It's also the first time a male sprinter has completed the 100-200 double since Carl Lewis at the 1984 Los Angeles Games. Nobody until now, though, has done it with two world records.
The latest jaw-dropping performance had CBC's crew scrambling for new superlatives.
"He does the impossible and makes the impossible look easy," said track analyst Dave Moorcroft.
CBC's Mark Lee, who's distinguishing himself rather well in his first go at Olympic track and filed, called the Jamaican sensation "totally unstoppable" (and did you even notice who crossed the line second and third?).
Track pundits, some of whom scoffed at Bolt for celebrating too soon at the end of the men's 100 (and perhaps giving away the chance to lower that standard even further), had wondered just what Bolt could do if he ran full out to the finish. They've got their answer now. With an exclamation point or three.
And the sport, and these Olympics, have a new hero to embrace, a joyful young lad who's had the time of his life in Beijing. So, too, have the adoring fans at the Bird's Nest and around the world.
"This is the new face of track and field and this sport can use a young man like Usain Bolt," said Lee. "He's put a friendly face on track and field. He has brought a fraternity to track and field."
Added CBC analyst Michael Smith: "He's still a boy. He's having fun."
Bolt wasn't about to let his critics spoil any of that.
"Come on, man," Bolt said when presented with some of the criticism by CBC's Elliotte Friedman. "If you see you're going to win, you're going to celebrate. If you see you're going to be Olympic champion, you're happy."
Wait until he gets home to Jamaica. We're guessing there's a whole lot of happy going on there.
*****
Usain Bolt or Michael Phelps?
The debate's already raging over at CBC's Olympics website about who's the biggest star of the Beijing Games. We know who wins south of the border ... and in Jamaica, for that matter.
Tuesday, August 19, 2008
Heavy Medal Days Boost CBC
We would hope the grumbling has finally subsided. For good, for that matter.
Especially with Canadian athletes racking up an impressive 13 medals in five days at the Beijing Olympics, putting their total for Athens 2004 in the rear-view mirror.
While bitching about our medal goose egg became almost a national sport during the first week of the 2008 Summer Games, the passion for the five-ring circus was still mighty clear. And now that the red maple leaf is starting to soar above more and more podiums ... well, that's been the biggest signal of all for Canadians to tune in to the goings-on in China.
Just ask the CBC, which has seen its ratings soar along with Canada's medal total. An average of 1.590 million viewers — the public broadcaster's largest of the Games — tuned into Olympic Prime on Monday night. The highest peak in Beijing (2.574 million) came at 11:49 p.m., as Simon Whitfield charged for gold in the men's triathlon. The native of Kingston, Ont., wound up second in one of the most dramatic finishes of these entire Olympics.
That event helped push Pacific Prime's average overnight to 746,000, also the best number for that show during Beijing 2008.
With Canadians clearly on a roll — and more serious medal hopes to come, including flagbearer Adam van Koeverden at the canoe/kayak venue — this is a success story that should continue.
*****
There's a whole country south of the border that will take issue with this. But I'll say it anyways.
Is there a more boring, overhyped story in Beijing than the so-called Redeem Team? Yeah, it's true the NBA star laden U.S. men's basketball team has barely broken a sweat in Beijing and probably won't en route to gold. But really, I've got all winter to hear about this lot and even then, it's far too much.
Give me more stories about the men and women whose only time in the spotlight happens right now — and not again for four more years. That's the real Olympics to me. Always has been, always will be.
Especially with Canadian athletes racking up an impressive 13 medals in five days at the Beijing Olympics, putting their total for Athens 2004 in the rear-view mirror.
While bitching about our medal goose egg became almost a national sport during the first week of the 2008 Summer Games, the passion for the five-ring circus was still mighty clear. And now that the red maple leaf is starting to soar above more and more podiums ... well, that's been the biggest signal of all for Canadians to tune in to the goings-on in China.
Just ask the CBC, which has seen its ratings soar along with Canada's medal total. An average of 1.590 million viewers — the public broadcaster's largest of the Games — tuned into Olympic Prime on Monday night. The highest peak in Beijing (2.574 million) came at 11:49 p.m., as Simon Whitfield charged for gold in the men's triathlon. The native of Kingston, Ont., wound up second in one of the most dramatic finishes of these entire Olympics.
That event helped push Pacific Prime's average overnight to 746,000, also the best number for that show during Beijing 2008.
With Canadians clearly on a roll — and more serious medal hopes to come, including flagbearer Adam van Koeverden at the canoe/kayak venue — this is a success story that should continue.
*****
There's a whole country south of the border that will take issue with this. But I'll say it anyways.
Is there a more boring, overhyped story in Beijing than the so-called Redeem Team? Yeah, it's true the NBA star laden U.S. men's basketball team has barely broken a sweat in Beijing and probably won't en route to gold. But really, I've got all winter to hear about this lot and even then, it's far too much.
Give me more stories about the men and women whose only time in the spotlight happens right now — and not again for four more years. That's the real Olympics to me. Always has been, always will be.
Hurdling Into Her Own Spotlight
We first met three years ago at a much more quaint venue in Ottawa and instantly, I thought, this is an athlete Canadians everywhere should want to see succeed.
Priscilla Lopes (she hadn't picked up the Schliep yet) didn't win that day at the Canadian track and field championships, held on the Terry Fox Athletic Facility track that sits on the banks of Mooney's Bay. But there was just something about her that said 'winner.' And something else that made a neutral observer want to see it happen someday on the biggest of stages.
Lopes-Schliep, as she's now known, was just that charming with an attitude and personality that were nothing less than infectious, it must be said now.
I thought about all of that again this morning while watching the powerful runner from Whitby, Ont., dance around the track at the Bird's Nest with glee after learning a photo finish had declared her the winner of the bronze medal in the women's 100-metre hurdles. It was Canada's first Olympic medal in track and field since the men's 4x100-metre relay team blew away the vaunted Americans on their home soil in Atlanta in 1996.
The last Canadian to earn a Games medal in the women's hurdles? Try Elizabeth Taylor (no, not that one), way back in 1936 in Berlin (yes, the infamous 'Nazi Olympics.' The race was only 80 metres long back then, by the way).
That streak was supposed to end four years ago in Athens but world champion Perdita Felicien, sadly and incredibly, didn't make it past the first hurdle. Just when she was beginning to return to form, an injury knocked Felicien out of the Beijing Games, apparently ending Canada's hopes for the hurdles again.
But not enough people, it seemed, knew about the competitive fire that burns inside of Lopes-Schliep. Give a listen to this quote from her Olympians profile on CBC. "If you say you're trying for second or third, pack your bags and go home," she said. "I'm going out there to win."
She's never believed for a minute, either, that she's been running in Felicien's shadow.
"I'm not living somebody else's dream," she said. "I'm living my dream."
Still, the ironies — and the connections to Felicien's fall in Athens — were too rich to ignore. One of the top medal contenders, world champion Andrea Kallur of Sweden (daughter of former New York Islanders hockey star Susanna, if you're wondering), suffered the same fate as Felicien in the heats (see, it doesn't just happen to our athletes).
In the final, the gold favourite, LoLo Jones of the U.S., seemed en route to victory when she clipped the second-last hurdle, killing her momentum. Lopes-Schliep, meanwhile, kept chugging away like the runaway freight train she is on the track.
And there she was at the end, out from "under the radar" and bouncing with pure joy to a step on the Olympic podium. Living her own dream, nobody else's. Tell me it didn't make you smile right along with her, Canada.
Priscilla Lopes (she hadn't picked up the Schliep yet) didn't win that day at the Canadian track and field championships, held on the Terry Fox Athletic Facility track that sits on the banks of Mooney's Bay. But there was just something about her that said 'winner.' And something else that made a neutral observer want to see it happen someday on the biggest of stages.
Lopes-Schliep, as she's now known, was just that charming with an attitude and personality that were nothing less than infectious, it must be said now.
I thought about all of that again this morning while watching the powerful runner from Whitby, Ont., dance around the track at the Bird's Nest with glee after learning a photo finish had declared her the winner of the bronze medal in the women's 100-metre hurdles. It was Canada's first Olympic medal in track and field since the men's 4x100-metre relay team blew away the vaunted Americans on their home soil in Atlanta in 1996.
The last Canadian to earn a Games medal in the women's hurdles? Try Elizabeth Taylor (no, not that one), way back in 1936 in Berlin (yes, the infamous 'Nazi Olympics.' The race was only 80 metres long back then, by the way).
That streak was supposed to end four years ago in Athens but world champion Perdita Felicien, sadly and incredibly, didn't make it past the first hurdle. Just when she was beginning to return to form, an injury knocked Felicien out of the Beijing Games, apparently ending Canada's hopes for the hurdles again.
But not enough people, it seemed, knew about the competitive fire that burns inside of Lopes-Schliep. Give a listen to this quote from her Olympians profile on CBC. "If you say you're trying for second or third, pack your bags and go home," she said. "I'm going out there to win."
She's never believed for a minute, either, that she's been running in Felicien's shadow.
"I'm not living somebody else's dream," she said. "I'm living my dream."
Still, the ironies — and the connections to Felicien's fall in Athens — were too rich to ignore. One of the top medal contenders, world champion Andrea Kallur of Sweden (daughter of former New York Islanders hockey star Susanna, if you're wondering), suffered the same fate as Felicien in the heats (see, it doesn't just happen to our athletes).
In the final, the gold favourite, LoLo Jones of the U.S., seemed en route to victory when she clipped the second-last hurdle, killing her momentum. Lopes-Schliep, meanwhile, kept chugging away like the runaway freight train she is on the track.
And there she was at the end, out from "under the radar" and bouncing with pure joy to a step on the Olympic podium. Living her own dream, nobody else's. Tell me it didn't make you smile right along with her, Canada.
Monday, August 18, 2008
Making The Turn For Home
A few random Olympic thoughts (some TV related, some not) as we start down the road toward the finish line at the Beijing Games:
*****
Liu Xiang's departure from the Beijing Olympics was nothing short of bizarre. If you were watching late on Sunday night, you heard thunderous roars from the home fans at the Bird's Nest for Xiang, the 2004 Athens champ in the men's 110-metre hurdles, who became China biggest sporting hero at these Games because of it.
The roars continued, even though the television cameras showed Liang was clearly hurting and would be fortunate to finish his heat. As it turned out, he didn't. After feeling intense pain during a false start, Liang walked off the track, his Olympics over. Once the Chinese supporters saw their man's lane was empty, they filed out of the stadium quietly, with the heat being run in an eerie silence. It was a stunning departure for the man China clearly wanted to see win gold more than any of its athletes in Beijing.
"Liu Xiang is devastated and so is a nation," CBC track analyst Dave Moorcroft opined.
Sorry, but I'll stick with the word bizarre, if nobody minds. This truly was.
*****
We knew going in, given the 12-hour time difference, that these would be the games of the Internet (though anyone with a widecreen TV might call them the HD Olympics. They wouldn't exactly be wrong).
Here's some numerical proof to back up that online argument. Through Sunday, CBC reported its Olympics website had totalled 25 million page views — just two million less than the entire Athens Games in 2004. A year ago, all of CBCSports.ca generated 1.2 million page views in the same Aug. 8-18 time frame.
Users have downloaded 2.1 million live video streams and more than 700,000 on-demand.
Much of this, you'll note, came during a week which — until Saturday — included exactly zero Canadian medals. Who knows what might happens if our gang stays on its current roll?
*****
If the Bell Globemedia/Rogers consortium is looking for a gymnastics analyst for the London 2012 Summer Games, it could do far worse than Kyle Shewfelt. The 2004 Olympic gold medallist, brought in as a 'guest' analyst for men's events in Beijing, has quickly become one of CBC's standouts at these Games. His analysis is often very insightful and, unlike a lot of athletes who cross over into the broadcast realm, he hasn't shied away from being critical. It's refreshing, to say the least.
*****
If there are better in-your-face, feels like you're there camera shots than those we've witnessed at the triathlon venue, I have yet to see them. Absolutely breath-taking, without a doubt, especially in HD.
*****
Liu Xiang's departure from the Beijing Olympics was nothing short of bizarre. If you were watching late on Sunday night, you heard thunderous roars from the home fans at the Bird's Nest for Xiang, the 2004 Athens champ in the men's 110-metre hurdles, who became China biggest sporting hero at these Games because of it.
The roars continued, even though the television cameras showed Liang was clearly hurting and would be fortunate to finish his heat. As it turned out, he didn't. After feeling intense pain during a false start, Liang walked off the track, his Olympics over. Once the Chinese supporters saw their man's lane was empty, they filed out of the stadium quietly, with the heat being run in an eerie silence. It was a stunning departure for the man China clearly wanted to see win gold more than any of its athletes in Beijing.
"Liu Xiang is devastated and so is a nation," CBC track analyst Dave Moorcroft opined.
Sorry, but I'll stick with the word bizarre, if nobody minds. This truly was.
*****
We knew going in, given the 12-hour time difference, that these would be the games of the Internet (though anyone with a widecreen TV might call them the HD Olympics. They wouldn't exactly be wrong).
Here's some numerical proof to back up that online argument. Through Sunday, CBC reported its Olympics website had totalled 25 million page views — just two million less than the entire Athens Games in 2004. A year ago, all of CBCSports.ca generated 1.2 million page views in the same Aug. 8-18 time frame.
Users have downloaded 2.1 million live video streams and more than 700,000 on-demand.
Much of this, you'll note, came during a week which — until Saturday — included exactly zero Canadian medals. Who knows what might happens if our gang stays on its current roll?
*****
If the Bell Globemedia/Rogers consortium is looking for a gymnastics analyst for the London 2012 Summer Games, it could do far worse than Kyle Shewfelt. The 2004 Olympic gold medallist, brought in as a 'guest' analyst for men's events in Beijing, has quickly become one of CBC's standouts at these Games. His analysis is often very insightful and, unlike a lot of athletes who cross over into the broadcast realm, he hasn't shied away from being critical. It's refreshing, to say the least.
*****
If there are better in-your-face, feels like you're there camera shots than those we've witnessed at the triathlon venue, I have yet to see them. Absolutely breath-taking, without a doubt, especially in HD.
Silver Salute For Captain Canada
The ninth time really was the charm for Ian Millar.
But amidst the celebrations with Jill Henselwood, Eric Lamaze and Mac Cone — who combined to bring Canada a silver medal in team showjumping, the country's first medal of any colour in that event in 40 years — it was a bittersweet time for the 61-year-old Olympic veteran lovingly known as Captain Canada in the equestrian world.
Millar, if you didn't know, competed with a heavy heart at these Beijing Games. Cancer took away his wife, Lynn, earlier this year, but Millar felt her every step of the way at the Shatin Hong Kong Olympic equestrian venue.
"This one's for Lynn," a teary Millar told reporters after the Canadians had dropped a dramatic jump-off to the U.S. for the gold. "I had an angel riding with me, that's all I can say."
With a record nine Olympics under his belt, going all the way back to Munich 1972 (it would be an even 10 save for the boycotted Moscow Games of 1980), Millar had accomplished just about everything in the sport that has been his life. All that was missing was an Olympic medal and there were two earlier close calls, in Seoul in 1998 and Los Angeles four years earlier, when Canadian showjumping teams finished fourth both times.
There was no denying the riders wearing the red maple leaf this time.
"What a team," Millar told CBC's Erin Paul in the moments after the silver had been clinched. "I've been on many fine teams but this was real fine, this one."
Call it one of the greatest testaments to perseverance ever.
"I remember back in the early '70s when I had a disastrous Grand Prix, my wife, Lynn, said to me, 'Don't worry, you're going to be a late bloomer,' " said Millar. "That's what she said to me and I've always held that thought. And so the Olympics don't go well and I'd say, 'Lynn said I'm a late bloomer. I'll go to the next one.'
"And sure enough, guess what happened? I bloomed."
Millar might not be done yet. He has spoken of the dream of riding with his two children, Jonathan and Amy, at the London 2012 Games. It isn't beyond the realm of possibility.
But before then, here's one more honour Millar deserves. No matter what happens the rest of these Games in Beijing, the Canadian Olympic Committee should hand the flag to our grandest Olympian of them all for Sunday's closing ceremony.
Nobody would be prouder to do it for Canada, a country he has always represented with the utmost of pride.
And for the "angel" who has been his biggest fan and inspiration every step of the way.
But amidst the celebrations with Jill Henselwood, Eric Lamaze and Mac Cone — who combined to bring Canada a silver medal in team showjumping, the country's first medal of any colour in that event in 40 years — it was a bittersweet time for the 61-year-old Olympic veteran lovingly known as Captain Canada in the equestrian world.
Millar, if you didn't know, competed with a heavy heart at these Beijing Games. Cancer took away his wife, Lynn, earlier this year, but Millar felt her every step of the way at the Shatin Hong Kong Olympic equestrian venue.
"This one's for Lynn," a teary Millar told reporters after the Canadians had dropped a dramatic jump-off to the U.S. for the gold. "I had an angel riding with me, that's all I can say."
With a record nine Olympics under his belt, going all the way back to Munich 1972 (it would be an even 10 save for the boycotted Moscow Games of 1980), Millar had accomplished just about everything in the sport that has been his life. All that was missing was an Olympic medal and there were two earlier close calls, in Seoul in 1998 and Los Angeles four years earlier, when Canadian showjumping teams finished fourth both times.
There was no denying the riders wearing the red maple leaf this time.
"What a team," Millar told CBC's Erin Paul in the moments after the silver had been clinched. "I've been on many fine teams but this was real fine, this one."
Call it one of the greatest testaments to perseverance ever.
"I remember back in the early '70s when I had a disastrous Grand Prix, my wife, Lynn, said to me, 'Don't worry, you're going to be a late bloomer,' " said Millar. "That's what she said to me and I've always held that thought. And so the Olympics don't go well and I'd say, 'Lynn said I'm a late bloomer. I'll go to the next one.'
"And sure enough, guess what happened? I bloomed."
Millar might not be done yet. He has spoken of the dream of riding with his two children, Jonathan and Amy, at the London 2012 Games. It isn't beyond the realm of possibility.
But before then, here's one more honour Millar deserves. No matter what happens the rest of these Games in Beijing, the Canadian Olympic Committee should hand the flag to our grandest Olympian of them all for Sunday's closing ceremony.
Nobody would be prouder to do it for Canada, a country he has always represented with the utmost of pride.
And for the "angel" who has been his biggest fan and inspiration every step of the way.
Another Great Leap Forward
And how's that for a way to a put a bounce into your morning?
Yes, that's Toronto's Karen Cockburn smiling at a third straight Summer Olympics after soaring to a silver medal in the women's trampoline final in Beijing today. That follows up on a bronze eight years ago in Sydney and silver in 2004 in Athens, making Cockburn on the fourth Canadian athlete to win a medal at three straight Games (track athlete Phil Edwards, rowing coxwain Lesley Thompson-Willie and kayaker Caroline Brunet are the others, in case you're wondering).
Trampoline is one of those TV-friendly Olympic sports. The tricks look spectacular, especially from the overhead view, and with just eight competitors turning in one short routine, it only requires about half an hour of your time to see who wins gold, silver and bronze (that sort of timing allowed CBC to get off to Hong Kong for the drama of the team showjumping final, but more on that later in another post).
Cockburn is one of those rare athletes who manages to turn medal potential into a trip to the podium each time she shows up at an Olympics (and this may well have been her swan song). This one, though, took some doing after she tore cartilage in her right knee just before last year's world championships — the qualifier for these Games.
Somehow, Cockburn got through it, had surgery afterward then got herself into the right shape to soar in Beijing.
"I learned how tough I am. The week before worlds, I couldn't even walk," Cockburn told Scott Russell on CBC's Olympic Morning. "I'm just so happy. That's why this medal means so much to me, after what I had to go through to get to this point."
Only thing missing from her day: Cockburn hadn't managed to get through to her husband, Mathieu Turgeon (also an Olympic trampoline medallist in Sydney) to share the good news. We're guessing he was watching back home in T.O., though.
*****
No doubt, Michael Phelps has inspired many money-making schemes already.
Here's one we hope doesn't see the light of day. Turned on ESPN Radio on my drive to work and heard them suggesting (I kid you not) "Swimming With Celebrities," featuring the eight-time gold medallist and assorted buff bodies.
There are no words to accurately describe the flat-out silliness of that. Scary (sad?) part is, they might not be far off.
Yes, that's Toronto's Karen Cockburn smiling at a third straight Summer Olympics after soaring to a silver medal in the women's trampoline final in Beijing today. That follows up on a bronze eight years ago in Sydney and silver in 2004 in Athens, making Cockburn on the fourth Canadian athlete to win a medal at three straight Games (track athlete Phil Edwards, rowing coxwain Lesley Thompson-Willie and kayaker Caroline Brunet are the others, in case you're wondering).
Trampoline is one of those TV-friendly Olympic sports. The tricks look spectacular, especially from the overhead view, and with just eight competitors turning in one short routine, it only requires about half an hour of your time to see who wins gold, silver and bronze (that sort of timing allowed CBC to get off to Hong Kong for the drama of the team showjumping final, but more on that later in another post).
Cockburn is one of those rare athletes who manages to turn medal potential into a trip to the podium each time she shows up at an Olympics (and this may well have been her swan song). This one, though, took some doing after she tore cartilage in her right knee just before last year's world championships — the qualifier for these Games.
Somehow, Cockburn got through it, had surgery afterward then got herself into the right shape to soar in Beijing.
"I learned how tough I am. The week before worlds, I couldn't even walk," Cockburn told Scott Russell on CBC's Olympic Morning. "I'm just so happy. That's why this medal means so much to me, after what I had to go through to get to this point."
Only thing missing from her day: Cockburn hadn't managed to get through to her husband, Mathieu Turgeon (also an Olympic trampoline medallist in Sydney) to share the good news. We're guessing he was watching back home in T.O., though.
*****
No doubt, Michael Phelps has inspired many money-making schemes already.
Here's one we hope doesn't see the light of day. Turned on ESPN Radio on my drive to work and heard them suggesting (I kid you not) "Swimming With Celebrities," featuring the eight-time gold medallist and assorted buff bodies.
There are no words to accurately describe the flat-out silliness of that. Scary (sad?) part is, they might not be far off.
Sunday, August 17, 2008
We're Not So Bad After All
Anyone else notice where Canada now stands in the Beijing Games medal standings?
If you base it on number of golds won — which seems to be the way they're doing things on the official Olympic website — then Canada rates a tie for 15th with nine other countries. Using the total medals earned puts Canada 17th, but its seven medals rank only one back of Cuba, Kazakhstan and Romania, who share 14th position.
In other words, we're on the cusp of being exactly where the Canadian Olympic Committee predicted we'd wind up (top 16) before these Games in Beijing started. A standing, we should add, that a lot of folks thought ludicrous when our gang was still sitting on a goose egg Friday night.
Funny what one huge weekend can do to change that perception. Double digits in the medal count doesn't seem that far off anymore, does it?
*****
One more staggering number about a guy who's authored many in the past week.
An average of 31.1 million viewers tuned into NBC's Saturday prime-time coverage of the Beijing Games, making it the most-watched Saturday evening program on the network since 1990.
By the way, Michael Phelps, the guy most responsible for making that happen, was four years old at the time.
Phelps' record-breaking performance (eight gold medals in the Water Cube, more than any other Olympian at a single games) has put NBC Universal (seven networks) on pace to record the highest total audience for an Olympic Games in U.S. television history. With 191 viewers through Saturday, NBC's numbers are already higher than the 17-day totals for Salt Lake City 2002 (187 million) and Sydney 2000 (185 million).
Saturday night's audience peaked at nearly 40 million between 11-11:30 p.m., when the U.S. won the men's 4x100-metre medley relay, earning Phelps his eighth gold.
Oh, that program on NBC 18 years ago that rated higher than the Phelps show last night? Empty Nest, starring Richard Mulligan, which drew 31.4 million viewers on Feb. 24, 1990.
If you base it on number of golds won — which seems to be the way they're doing things on the official Olympic website — then Canada rates a tie for 15th with nine other countries. Using the total medals earned puts Canada 17th, but its seven medals rank only one back of Cuba, Kazakhstan and Romania, who share 14th position.
In other words, we're on the cusp of being exactly where the Canadian Olympic Committee predicted we'd wind up (top 16) before these Games in Beijing started. A standing, we should add, that a lot of folks thought ludicrous when our gang was still sitting on a goose egg Friday night.
Funny what one huge weekend can do to change that perception. Double digits in the medal count doesn't seem that far off anymore, does it?
*****
One more staggering number about a guy who's authored many in the past week.
An average of 31.1 million viewers tuned into NBC's Saturday prime-time coverage of the Beijing Games, making it the most-watched Saturday evening program on the network since 1990.
By the way, Michael Phelps, the guy most responsible for making that happen, was four years old at the time.
Phelps' record-breaking performance (eight gold medals in the Water Cube, more than any other Olympian at a single games) has put NBC Universal (seven networks) on pace to record the highest total audience for an Olympic Games in U.S. television history. With 191 viewers through Saturday, NBC's numbers are already higher than the 17-day totals for Salt Lake City 2002 (187 million) and Sydney 2000 (185 million).
Saturday night's audience peaked at nearly 40 million between 11-11:30 p.m., when the U.S. won the men's 4x100-metre medley relay, earning Phelps his eighth gold.
Oh, that program on NBC 18 years ago that rated higher than the Phelps show last night? Empty Nest, starring Richard Mulligan, which drew 31.4 million viewers on Feb. 24, 1990.
Canadian Eights On Golden Pond
Forget the overblown nicknames or the endless hype.
Nope, Canada's men's rowing eights didn't want any of that. So single-minded was their desire to erase the disastrous fifth-place finish of Athens 2004.
That they did, crushing the field at the Shunyi Olympic rowing park to earn Canada's second gold medal of the Beijing Games early, early this morning. They did it as one of the country's most highly touted gold hopes coming into these Olympics.
But save those 'redeem team' monikers for someone else. These nine guys (eight rowers and coxswain Brian Price) have the only title they wanted: Olympic champions.
"It's not about redemption," an elated Adam Kreek told CBC after their decisive triumph. "It's about seizing the moment and we seized the moment."
This was a story that was supposed to be written four years ago in Athens. The Canadian eights went into those Games as world champions, too, but faded badly in the final and didn't even hit the podium. They've had to live with the disappointment for four years now.
"Gold medals are awarded in the summer but they're earned in the winter," said Kyle Hamilton. "This was four years of hard winters."
Added Jake Wetzel, a part of that '04 crew: "In Athens, it was a very hard-fought race. It was one where we fell behind and we battled back. Here, we dominated, and it's just such a testament to what a great crew this was."
As an aside, so, too was the camera work in Shunyi (we've always been fans of those stunning overhead shots). And CBC did well by putting the commentary in the hands of the very capable Scott Oake and Barney Williams, an insightful analyst as an Olympic rookie.
They had plenty of good to talk about on this day. Melanie Kok and Tracy Cameron earned a heart-stopping bronze in the women's double sculls, a feat also matched by the men's lightweight fours (Iain Brambell, Jon Beare, Mike Lewis and Liam Parsons).
Combined with the silver earned by Scott Frandsen and Dave Calder on Saturday in the men's pairs, it was a four-medal haul by Canada at Shunyi (almost five, but the women's eights wound up an agonizing fourth). As Olympic Morning anchor Scott Russell put it, that harkens back to the glory days of Barcelona 1992.
Oh, before we forget, the rest of that golden eights crew: Ben Rutledge, Kevin Light, Malcolm Howard, Andrew Byrnes and Dominic Seiterle.
Nope, Canada's men's rowing eights didn't want any of that. So single-minded was their desire to erase the disastrous fifth-place finish of Athens 2004.
That they did, crushing the field at the Shunyi Olympic rowing park to earn Canada's second gold medal of the Beijing Games early, early this morning. They did it as one of the country's most highly touted gold hopes coming into these Olympics.
But save those 'redeem team' monikers for someone else. These nine guys (eight rowers and coxswain Brian Price) have the only title they wanted: Olympic champions.
"It's not about redemption," an elated Adam Kreek told CBC after their decisive triumph. "It's about seizing the moment and we seized the moment."
This was a story that was supposed to be written four years ago in Athens. The Canadian eights went into those Games as world champions, too, but faded badly in the final and didn't even hit the podium. They've had to live with the disappointment for four years now.
"Gold medals are awarded in the summer but they're earned in the winter," said Kyle Hamilton. "This was four years of hard winters."
Added Jake Wetzel, a part of that '04 crew: "In Athens, it was a very hard-fought race. It was one where we fell behind and we battled back. Here, we dominated, and it's just such a testament to what a great crew this was."
As an aside, so, too was the camera work in Shunyi (we've always been fans of those stunning overhead shots). And CBC did well by putting the commentary in the hands of the very capable Scott Oake and Barney Williams, an insightful analyst as an Olympic rookie.
They had plenty of good to talk about on this day. Melanie Kok and Tracy Cameron earned a heart-stopping bronze in the women's double sculls, a feat also matched by the men's lightweight fours (Iain Brambell, Jon Beare, Mike Lewis and Liam Parsons).
Combined with the silver earned by Scott Frandsen and Dave Calder on Saturday in the men's pairs, it was a four-medal haul by Canada at Shunyi (almost five, but the women's eights wound up an agonizing fourth). As Olympic Morning anchor Scott Russell put it, that harkens back to the glory days of Barcelona 1992.
Oh, before we forget, the rest of that golden eights crew: Ben Rutledge, Kevin Light, Malcolm Howard, Andrew Byrnes and Dominic Seiterle.
Saturday, August 16, 2008
Eight Is Enough For Phelps
A few days back, as Michael Phelps marched inexorably toward Olympic history, CBC's Steve Armitage opined the following about the American swimming giant.
"We are running out of superlatives," said Armitage, whose booming voice Canadians have come to know so well over the past four Summer Olympics.
Everyone found a few more, though, on the final night of the Beijing Games swim competition, as the U.S. 4x100-metre medley relay team — with Phelps putting the Stars and Stripes ahead to stay with a crucial butterfly leg — maintained its spotless record in this event in Olympic finals.
Oh, yeah, did we mention it was gold medal No. 8 for Phelps, breaking the record set by another American swimmer, Mark Spitz, back in 1972 in Munich?
"Seventeen swims, eight golds," Armitage said in summing up the remarkable achievement he had witnessed all week at the Water Cube. "The great Michael Phelps. Now the greatest."
CBC Olympic Prime anchor Ron MacLean went further, calling Phelps "the eighth wonder of the swimming world."
To NBC, he's been the engine driving a massive ratings success story. With Phelps on almost every night during the first eight days of the Beijing Games, NBC Universal networks' total viewership had hit 185 million — on pace to be the most-watched Olympics ever in the U.S., even surpassing the 1996 Atlanta Games, which attracted the largest television audiences of any event in history.
NBCOlympics.com has already generated 628 million page viewers, more than the total for the entire Athens 2004 and the 2006 Torino Winter Games combined (561 million).
*****
With the swimming competition in Beijing now in the books, a much-deserved hat tip to Australia's Channel 7, which produced the host broadcast feed at the Water Cube.
The underwater camera shots, in particular, were fabulous, often showing us the minute difference between winning and losing. We also enjoyed the overhead views and the slo-motion replay close-ups of the race victors.
Of course, watching it all in high-definition format was just the icing on the cake.
*****
Photo of the day: Debbie Phelps, mother of you know who, receiving heartfelt congratulations from Aussie swim legend Ian (Thorpedo) Thorpe after her son claimed his record-shattering eighth Olympic gold.
"We are running out of superlatives," said Armitage, whose booming voice Canadians have come to know so well over the past four Summer Olympics.
Everyone found a few more, though, on the final night of the Beijing Games swim competition, as the U.S. 4x100-metre medley relay team — with Phelps putting the Stars and Stripes ahead to stay with a crucial butterfly leg — maintained its spotless record in this event in Olympic finals.
Oh, yeah, did we mention it was gold medal No. 8 for Phelps, breaking the record set by another American swimmer, Mark Spitz, back in 1972 in Munich?
"Seventeen swims, eight golds," Armitage said in summing up the remarkable achievement he had witnessed all week at the Water Cube. "The great Michael Phelps. Now the greatest."
CBC Olympic Prime anchor Ron MacLean went further, calling Phelps "the eighth wonder of the swimming world."
To NBC, he's been the engine driving a massive ratings success story. With Phelps on almost every night during the first eight days of the Beijing Games, NBC Universal networks' total viewership had hit 185 million — on pace to be the most-watched Olympics ever in the U.S., even surpassing the 1996 Atlanta Games, which attracted the largest television audiences of any event in history.
NBCOlympics.com has already generated 628 million page viewers, more than the total for the entire Athens 2004 and the 2006 Torino Winter Games combined (561 million).
*****
With the swimming competition in Beijing now in the books, a much-deserved hat tip to Australia's Channel 7, which produced the host broadcast feed at the Water Cube.
The underwater camera shots, in particular, were fabulous, often showing us the minute difference between winning and losing. We also enjoyed the overhead views and the slo-motion replay close-ups of the race victors.
Of course, watching it all in high-definition format was just the icing on the cake.
*****
Photo of the day: Debbie Phelps, mother of you know who, receiving heartfelt congratulations from Aussie swim legend Ian (Thorpedo) Thorpe after her son claimed his record-shattering eighth Olympic gold.
A Long Stride Toward London
We've heard all about the raft of Canadian records, the number of swimmers making finals, the reasons why Beijing has been so much better than the misery of Athens.
With Ryan Cochrane's bronze medal in the gruelling 1,500-metre freestyle at the Water Cube tonight now in the books, is it time finally to believe that Canada's swimming team is back on the road to Olympic respectability?
Canadians watching back home surely have reason to think so now. They didn't want to hear about national records and personal bests. Everyone, you see, has been swimming faster in the Beijing Olympics pool.
A medal, though? That's pretty much impossible to overlook. And who knew, coming into these Games, that Canada's first Olympic swimming medal in eight years would come from Cochrane, a 19-year-old from Victoria who was targeted for such a feat at London 2012.
Apparently, the kid just didn't want to wait. He lowered his personal-best time by 10 seconds in the heats two days ago and kept it going tonight, becoming the first Canadian in 88 years to win a medal in the marathon of the Olympic swim competition (George Vernot grabbed a silver back in 1920 in Antwerp, if you're wondering).
"A lot of people said 2012 would be my big Olympics," Cochrane told CBC after the race. "But the time is now and I did what I could to get a medal."
CBC swimming analyst Byron MacDonald predicted Canadians should get used to hearing Cochrane's name over the next four years.
"Ryan Cochrane will definitely be around for the next quadrennial as a favourite for the podium in every race he goes to," said MacDonald.
He might have company from a group of young swimmers poised to enter their primes.
"We've come a long way (since Athens) and we've got a long way to go," Julia Wilkinson told CBC's Elliotte Friedman after the women's 4x100-metre medley relay. "But we're going."
All the way to jolly old London, they'll tell you. It should be a fun ride until then.
*****
Cochrane's medal gives Canada a total of four (one gold, one silver, two bronze) in Beijing.
Don't be surprised if that total doubles before you wake up Sunday morning, with our gang in position for another hardware haul at the rowing and wrestling venues.
Maybe we really are a second-week team at the Summer Olympics after all.
With Ryan Cochrane's bronze medal in the gruelling 1,500-metre freestyle at the Water Cube tonight now in the books, is it time finally to believe that Canada's swimming team is back on the road to Olympic respectability?
Canadians watching back home surely have reason to think so now. They didn't want to hear about national records and personal bests. Everyone, you see, has been swimming faster in the Beijing Olympics pool.
A medal, though? That's pretty much impossible to overlook. And who knew, coming into these Games, that Canada's first Olympic swimming medal in eight years would come from Cochrane, a 19-year-old from Victoria who was targeted for such a feat at London 2012.
Apparently, the kid just didn't want to wait. He lowered his personal-best time by 10 seconds in the heats two days ago and kept it going tonight, becoming the first Canadian in 88 years to win a medal in the marathon of the Olympic swim competition (George Vernot grabbed a silver back in 1920 in Antwerp, if you're wondering).
"A lot of people said 2012 would be my big Olympics," Cochrane told CBC after the race. "But the time is now and I did what I could to get a medal."
CBC swimming analyst Byron MacDonald predicted Canadians should get used to hearing Cochrane's name over the next four years.
"Ryan Cochrane will definitely be around for the next quadrennial as a favourite for the podium in every race he goes to," said MacDonald.
He might have company from a group of young swimmers poised to enter their primes.
"We've come a long way (since Athens) and we've got a long way to go," Julia Wilkinson told CBC's Elliotte Friedman after the women's 4x100-metre medley relay. "But we're going."
All the way to jolly old London, they'll tell you. It should be a fun ride until then.
*****
Cochrane's medal gives Canada a total of four (one gold, one silver, two bronze) in Beijing.
Don't be surprised if that total doubles before you wake up Sunday morning, with our gang in position for another hardware haul at the rowing and wrestling venues.
Maybe we really are a second-week team at the Summer Olympics after all.
Who's The Real King Of Beijing?
Leave it to the always outspoken Donovan Bailey to throw down this gauntlet.
The American media has been falling all over itself in trying to define the greatness of swimmer Michael Phelps, who's got a record-tying seven Olympic gold medals in the bank at the Beijing Olympics. With No. 8 on deck tonight at the Water Cube.
Greatest Olympian ever. Greatest athlete in the world. We've heard them all.
Wait till they all catch word of what Bailey had to say about Jamaican sprinter Usain Bolt, who destroyed the field in the men's 100 metres at the National Stadium (a.k.a. the Bird's Nest) this morning in an astounding world-record time of 9.69 seconds.
"The 100 metres is still the biggest single event of the Games," said Bailey, the 1996 Atlanta Games champ in that event, who's in Beijing as a track commentator for the CBC. "Michael Phelps is the star of the Games but Usain Bolt is absolutely the king of the Games.
"You're crowned king when you win the Games. I know that."
Now, you might recall back at those Atlanta Games, when Bailey won the 100 for Canada on U.S. soil, that NBC made a rather feeble attempt to declare American Michael Johnson (the 200 and 400-metre gold medallist) the "world's fastest man" (a title that traditionally goes to the 100 winner).
We can only imagine how NBC will react to Bailey's boasts (you know, after they show the race on tape tonight). Bolt, however, wouldn't be drawn into the argument when interviewed by the CBC's Elliotte Friedman.
"I don't think I can equal that," said Bolt of Phelps' achievements. "That guy is great. I've been watching all his races. He's an inspiration (to me)."
Bailey might be more than a little biased, though. He's known Bolt for years and shares the new sprint king's Jamaican heritage. After the semi-finals, he had predicted "you are going to see something special" in the final from Bolt, who began celebrating his victory with 15 metres to go (Bailey believes he could have gone perhaps as fast as 9.58 seconds if he'd run full-out to the finish. CBC's Michael Smith suggested 9.40 was even possible).
Amazingly, Bolt became the first-ever Olympic 100-metre champ wearing the colours of Jamaica, a country with a strong sprinting heritage. Bailey knows what this will mean to the tiny island nation.
"At some point in the next few years, (this day) will be a national holiday in Jamaica," said Bailey, whose previous Olympic-record time of 9.84 seconds lasted for 12 years. "Usain Bolt is that special. Most 6-foot-6 guys are playing basketball, football, whatever. He's doing things no human being has ever done."
More than reason enough for an Usain Bolt Day back home, to be sure.
(Prime-time update: Bailey said he thinks Bolt's face will appear on Jamaican currency, too).
*****
Bad timing award: CBC's Mark Lee gave us an interesting look underneath the stands of the Bird's Nest, taking viewers into the area where track athletes wait before they're called into the stadium for their events.
The report was taped, which became even more obvious when Lee said "imagine what it will be like watching Asafa Powell, Tyson Gay and Usain Bolt sitting side-by-side here" before the 100-metre final.
A nice thought except for one thing: Gay, the reigning world champ and big American hope, had already been eliminated in the semi-finals. Oops.
Lee, by the way, hit all the right notes in calling the race. Here's the way he described Bolt's triumph: “Look at Bolt, holding nothing back now. Big strides, full speed, stopping the clock in a new world record — 9.68. No man has ever run that fast in the planet. Sensational.”
That about says it all, doesn't it?
(the 9.68 was later rounded up to 9.69, if you're wondering).
*****
Their homeland had three sprinters in the 100 final but Jamaica's television crew was relegated to working from a trailer outside the Bird's Nest for a race that no doubt had the entire island glued to its TV sets.
CBC gave us a look at their call of the event, in which the announcer — working off a monitor in the trailer — said "Bolt has destroyed the field." The pride in his voice was unmistakable and understandably so.
The American media has been falling all over itself in trying to define the greatness of swimmer Michael Phelps, who's got a record-tying seven Olympic gold medals in the bank at the Beijing Olympics. With No. 8 on deck tonight at the Water Cube.
Greatest Olympian ever. Greatest athlete in the world. We've heard them all.
Wait till they all catch word of what Bailey had to say about Jamaican sprinter Usain Bolt, who destroyed the field in the men's 100 metres at the National Stadium (a.k.a. the Bird's Nest) this morning in an astounding world-record time of 9.69 seconds.
"The 100 metres is still the biggest single event of the Games," said Bailey, the 1996 Atlanta Games champ in that event, who's in Beijing as a track commentator for the CBC. "Michael Phelps is the star of the Games but Usain Bolt is absolutely the king of the Games.
"You're crowned king when you win the Games. I know that."
Now, you might recall back at those Atlanta Games, when Bailey won the 100 for Canada on U.S. soil, that NBC made a rather feeble attempt to declare American Michael Johnson (the 200 and 400-metre gold medallist) the "world's fastest man" (a title that traditionally goes to the 100 winner).
We can only imagine how NBC will react to Bailey's boasts (you know, after they show the race on tape tonight). Bolt, however, wouldn't be drawn into the argument when interviewed by the CBC's Elliotte Friedman.
"I don't think I can equal that," said Bolt of Phelps' achievements. "That guy is great. I've been watching all his races. He's an inspiration (to me)."
Bailey might be more than a little biased, though. He's known Bolt for years and shares the new sprint king's Jamaican heritage. After the semi-finals, he had predicted "you are going to see something special" in the final from Bolt, who began celebrating his victory with 15 metres to go (Bailey believes he could have gone perhaps as fast as 9.58 seconds if he'd run full-out to the finish. CBC's Michael Smith suggested 9.40 was even possible).
Amazingly, Bolt became the first-ever Olympic 100-metre champ wearing the colours of Jamaica, a country with a strong sprinting heritage. Bailey knows what this will mean to the tiny island nation.
"At some point in the next few years, (this day) will be a national holiday in Jamaica," said Bailey, whose previous Olympic-record time of 9.84 seconds lasted for 12 years. "Usain Bolt is that special. Most 6-foot-6 guys are playing basketball, football, whatever. He's doing things no human being has ever done."
More than reason enough for an Usain Bolt Day back home, to be sure.
(Prime-time update: Bailey said he thinks Bolt's face will appear on Jamaican currency, too).
*****
Bad timing award: CBC's Mark Lee gave us an interesting look underneath the stands of the Bird's Nest, taking viewers into the area where track athletes wait before they're called into the stadium for their events.
The report was taped, which became even more obvious when Lee said "imagine what it will be like watching Asafa Powell, Tyson Gay and Usain Bolt sitting side-by-side here" before the 100-metre final.
A nice thought except for one thing: Gay, the reigning world champ and big American hope, had already been eliminated in the semi-finals. Oops.
Lee, by the way, hit all the right notes in calling the race. Here's the way he described Bolt's triumph: “Look at Bolt, holding nothing back now. Big strides, full speed, stopping the clock in a new world record — 9.68. No man has ever run that fast in the planet. Sensational.”
That about says it all, doesn't it?
(the 9.68 was later rounded up to 9.69, if you're wondering).
*****
Their homeland had three sprinters in the 100 final but Jamaica's television crew was relegated to working from a trailer outside the Bird's Nest for a race that no doubt had the entire island glued to its TV sets.
CBC gave us a look at their call of the event, in which the announcer — working off a monitor in the trailer — said "Bolt has destroyed the field." The pride in his voice was unmistakable and understandably so.
Breakfast In Beijing A Triple Treat
We went to bed comfortable in the knowledge we'd be wake up to Canada's first medal of these Beijing Games. But three of them?
What a pleasant way to dive into breakfast for medal-starved Canadians, who learned their sporting heroes had claimed a full set of Olympic hardware. Gold for wrestler Carol Huynh. Silver for rowers Scott Frandsen and Dave Calder. Bronze for wrestler Tonya Verbeek.
CBC has always done the warm and fuzzy moments well and this morning was no exception. Our favourite moment was watching wrestling teammates Huynh and Verbeek holding hands while watching a replay of the former standing on the top of the podium, tears streaming down her face as O Canada played for the first time in Beijing.
We can't credit CBC for that, but it just added a little magic to the overall story.
"It was surreal," Huynh told Olympic Morning anchor Diana Swain hours after her surprising triumph. "That's kind of what I pictured (in her ultimate Olympic dream), me bawling my eyes out."
Swain later called it her most enjoyable moment of the Games so far. We're guessing she had plenty of company from red-eyed Canadians watching from coast-to-coast on that one.
Those who watched Huynh's match live would have caught this reaction from the 27-year-old from Hazelton, B.C., who is an Olympic unknown no longer.
"I was just thinking of how proud I am to be Canadian," said Huynh, a Games rookie, after her golden victory. "I wrestled the match of my life and it was awesome."
We can imagine a lot of Canadians are feeling a whole lot better about things this morning. Keep this up and the 'Even Togo is better than us' jokes should stop soon enough (though anyone who's really paying attention should know said Togo medallist was actually born and raised in France but gravy trained on a relative's birthplace).
*****
Canadians everywhere should applaud the attitude of Jessica Zelinka, who finished an impressive sixth in her first Olympic heptathlon. But that clearly didn't satisfy the London, Ont., native who wanted the ultimate prize.
"I really would have liked to have come home with a medal," she told CBC's Elliotte Friedman. "When you think about going to the Olympics, the first thing you want is to be at your absolute best and I did that. The second thing you want is a medal."
Really, can we ask our athletes to think any differently than that?
What a pleasant way to dive into breakfast for medal-starved Canadians, who learned their sporting heroes had claimed a full set of Olympic hardware. Gold for wrestler Carol Huynh. Silver for rowers Scott Frandsen and Dave Calder. Bronze for wrestler Tonya Verbeek.
CBC has always done the warm and fuzzy moments well and this morning was no exception. Our favourite moment was watching wrestling teammates Huynh and Verbeek holding hands while watching a replay of the former standing on the top of the podium, tears streaming down her face as O Canada played for the first time in Beijing.
We can't credit CBC for that, but it just added a little magic to the overall story.
"It was surreal," Huynh told Olympic Morning anchor Diana Swain hours after her surprising triumph. "That's kind of what I pictured (in her ultimate Olympic dream), me bawling my eyes out."
Swain later called it her most enjoyable moment of the Games so far. We're guessing she had plenty of company from red-eyed Canadians watching from coast-to-coast on that one.
Those who watched Huynh's match live would have caught this reaction from the 27-year-old from Hazelton, B.C., who is an Olympic unknown no longer.
"I was just thinking of how proud I am to be Canadian," said Huynh, a Games rookie, after her golden victory. "I wrestled the match of my life and it was awesome."
We can imagine a lot of Canadians are feeling a whole lot better about things this morning. Keep this up and the 'Even Togo is better than us' jokes should stop soon enough (though anyone who's really paying attention should know said Togo medallist was actually born and raised in France but gravy trained on a relative's birthplace).
*****
Canadians everywhere should applaud the attitude of Jessica Zelinka, who finished an impressive sixth in her first Olympic heptathlon. But that clearly didn't satisfy the London, Ont., native who wanted the ultimate prize.
"I really would have liked to have come home with a medal," she told CBC's Elliotte Friedman. "When you think about going to the Olympics, the first thing you want is to be at your absolute best and I did that. The second thing you want is a medal."
Really, can we ask our athletes to think any differently than that?
Friday, August 15, 2008
We're On The Board!
We've all heard by now that the Canadian goose egg is about to disappear.
That heavy hitters like our men's eights rowing crew will put an end to the 'where the hell are the medals' talk from back home before the weekend is out.
Turns out we didn't have to wait that long. And not to brag, but earlier this afternoon I told a work colleague this: Don't be surprised if the first Canuck medal winner at the Beijing Olympics is someone who comes out of nowhere (as the old saying goes) to surprise us all (hey, it happens at every Olympics for us, doesn't it? But still ...).
Say hello to Carol Huynh, who's battled her way into the women's 48-kg final in women's freestyle wrestling. She just won her semi-final against an opponent from Kazahkstan, guaranteeing Canada a medal in the event.
"Amazing. Amazing. That's all I can say," said the charming Huynh, 27, of Hazelton, B.C.
(an aside: Wonder how many baseball-obsessed Olympic watchers cursed when CBC cut away from the Canada-U.S. game, with our boys winning 4-0, to show Huynh's match? You know they're out there).
You'll have to wait until 4:50 a.m. ET to see what colour her medal is. But rest assured, Canada, you'll wake up Saturday morning knowing that triple zero beside our country's name in the medal table is finally gone.
Don't you feel better about your weekend already?
That heavy hitters like our men's eights rowing crew will put an end to the 'where the hell are the medals' talk from back home before the weekend is out.
Turns out we didn't have to wait that long. And not to brag, but earlier this afternoon I told a work colleague this: Don't be surprised if the first Canuck medal winner at the Beijing Olympics is someone who comes out of nowhere (as the old saying goes) to surprise us all (hey, it happens at every Olympics for us, doesn't it? But still ...).
Say hello to Carol Huynh, who's battled her way into the women's 48-kg final in women's freestyle wrestling. She just won her semi-final against an opponent from Kazahkstan, guaranteeing Canada a medal in the event.
"Amazing. Amazing. That's all I can say," said the charming Huynh, 27, of Hazelton, B.C.
(an aside: Wonder how many baseball-obsessed Olympic watchers cursed when CBC cut away from the Canada-U.S. game, with our boys winning 4-0, to show Huynh's match? You know they're out there).
You'll have to wait until 4:50 a.m. ET to see what colour her medal is. But rest assured, Canada, you'll wake up Saturday morning knowing that triple zero beside our country's name in the medal table is finally gone.
Don't you feel better about your weekend already?
NBC's Ratings Dream Alive By A Fingertip
The man they call the Baltimore Bullet might just be human after all, it turns out.
American swim phenom Michael Phelps (a.k.a. NBC's ratings gravy train) couldn't have cut it any closer at the Beijing Olympics tonight, edging Serbia's Milorad Cavic by a scant one-hundredth of a second in the men's 100-metre butterfly to win his seventh gold medal in seven events at a single Games. That allowed Phelps to match the once-thought unassailable feat of another U.S. swimmer, Mark Spitz, who went 7-for-7 in Munich back in 1972.
Phelps was fourth after 50 metres, 0.62 seconds behind, and appeared beaten until the final touch. An overhead replay showed the remarkable finish, with the American's massive wingspan getting the job done in the end.
Even then, it still seemed hard to believe. Phelps clocked 50.58 seconds; Cavic 50.59.
"I had no idea the race was that close," Phelps told NBC's Andrea Kremer afterward.
Now the chase for eight golds in the Games of '08 heads to its conclusion Saturday night with the men's 4x100-metre medley relay (10:58 p.m. ET, if you want to set your clocks).
Hard to say who's more relieved about it all, Phelps or NBC.
*****
Speaking of that crazy Olympic time ...
Anyone living in the eastern part of Canada had to heave a bit of a sigh of relief when they saw the semi-final start times for the men's 100 metres, the glamour event of any Summer Olympics.
They're set for 8 a.m. and 8:13 a.m. on Saturday. The final hits the track at 10:30 a.m.
Not the best for TV ratings. Far from the worst for anyone left sleep-deprived by these Games.
Oh, and the big rowing eights final on Sunday, in which Canada is favoured for gold? Try 5:30 a.m. ET.
Get a head start on your extra sleep now.
*****
So Ben Johnson is suing the estate of his former lawyer for $37 million, alleging Edward Futerman took advantage of his "diminished mental capacities" all those years ago after the former Canadian sprinter went from national hero to national disgrace at the 1988 Seoul Games.
Call me a cynic — and I'm guilty as charged if you do — but isn't it interesting this piece of news hit the newspapers just a day before the men's 100-metre final in Beijing?
Coincidence? I think not. Desperate plea for attention? Might be a little closer to the point.
American swim phenom Michael Phelps (a.k.a. NBC's ratings gravy train) couldn't have cut it any closer at the Beijing Olympics tonight, edging Serbia's Milorad Cavic by a scant one-hundredth of a second in the men's 100-metre butterfly to win his seventh gold medal in seven events at a single Games. That allowed Phelps to match the once-thought unassailable feat of another U.S. swimmer, Mark Spitz, who went 7-for-7 in Munich back in 1972.
Phelps was fourth after 50 metres, 0.62 seconds behind, and appeared beaten until the final touch. An overhead replay showed the remarkable finish, with the American's massive wingspan getting the job done in the end.
Even then, it still seemed hard to believe. Phelps clocked 50.58 seconds; Cavic 50.59.
"I had no idea the race was that close," Phelps told NBC's Andrea Kremer afterward.
Now the chase for eight golds in the Games of '08 heads to its conclusion Saturday night with the men's 4x100-metre medley relay (10:58 p.m. ET, if you want to set your clocks).
Hard to say who's more relieved about it all, Phelps or NBC.
*****
Speaking of that crazy Olympic time ...
Anyone living in the eastern part of Canada had to heave a bit of a sigh of relief when they saw the semi-final start times for the men's 100 metres, the glamour event of any Summer Olympics.
They're set for 8 a.m. and 8:13 a.m. on Saturday. The final hits the track at 10:30 a.m.
Not the best for TV ratings. Far from the worst for anyone left sleep-deprived by these Games.
Oh, and the big rowing eights final on Sunday, in which Canada is favoured for gold? Try 5:30 a.m. ET.
Get a head start on your extra sleep now.
*****
So Ben Johnson is suing the estate of his former lawyer for $37 million, alleging Edward Futerman took advantage of his "diminished mental capacities" all those years ago after the former Canadian sprinter went from national hero to national disgrace at the 1988 Seoul Games.
Call me a cynic — and I'm guilty as charged if you do — but isn't it interesting this piece of news hit the newspapers just a day before the men's 100-metre final in Beijing?
Coincidence? I think not. Desperate plea for attention? Might be a little closer to the point.
There's No Pleasing Everyone
This much I've learned after a week of rather extensive Olympic viewing.
The CBC wants you to watch its Beijing Games coverage. It just doesn't appear to want — or expect — anyone with a semblance of a normal life (i.e. a day job) to take in very much of it.
Here's one example to illustrate that point. Stayed up until past 12:30 a.m. overnight to watch the finish of the women's gymnastics individual all-around final. Went to bed knowing who won gold (Nastia Liukin), silver (Shawn Johnson) and bronze (Yang Yilin), and exactly how they did it.
Yet here was the CBC just showing yet another repeat of that event (it also aired during Olympic Morning, from what I've been told). So you can see, it's pretty easy to narrow down your Games viewing time soon enough.
Now let it be said programming something as massive as a Summer Olympics is no walk in the park. Can't say I envy whoever has their hand on the big clicker over in China. Not that it does anything to ease the frustrations of someone who feels he or she isn't getting the full Games experience from Beijing.
Have to admit I can't see how CBC can avoid this sort of thing, though, when it has to service a vast country with five distinct time zones. That gymnastics repeat I saw tonight? Working folks in Vancouver were still on the drive home at that point. But for someone in St. John's, who couldn't stay up until 2 a.m. for the end of it all, this evening's presentation was a welcome sight.
The lesson here — and many in the broadcast game will tell you it's so — is that there's no pleasing everyone all of the time. You just do the best you can with the hand you've been dealt (in this case, a crazy time zone) and hope it leaves the majority of your audience satisified at the end of the day.
Besides, like we said earlier, people in this country love to bitch about television. They're Canadians and they just wouldn't have it any other way.
The CBC wants you to watch its Beijing Games coverage. It just doesn't appear to want — or expect — anyone with a semblance of a normal life (i.e. a day job) to take in very much of it.
Here's one example to illustrate that point. Stayed up until past 12:30 a.m. overnight to watch the finish of the women's gymnastics individual all-around final. Went to bed knowing who won gold (Nastia Liukin), silver (Shawn Johnson) and bronze (Yang Yilin), and exactly how they did it.
Yet here was the CBC just showing yet another repeat of that event (it also aired during Olympic Morning, from what I've been told). So you can see, it's pretty easy to narrow down your Games viewing time soon enough.
Now let it be said programming something as massive as a Summer Olympics is no walk in the park. Can't say I envy whoever has their hand on the big clicker over in China. Not that it does anything to ease the frustrations of someone who feels he or she isn't getting the full Games experience from Beijing.
Have to admit I can't see how CBC can avoid this sort of thing, though, when it has to service a vast country with five distinct time zones. That gymnastics repeat I saw tonight? Working folks in Vancouver were still on the drive home at that point. But for someone in St. John's, who couldn't stay up until 2 a.m. for the end of it all, this evening's presentation was a welcome sight.
The lesson here — and many in the broadcast game will tell you it's so — is that there's no pleasing everyone all of the time. You just do the best you can with the hand you've been dealt (in this case, a crazy time zone) and hope it leaves the majority of your audience satisified at the end of the day.
Besides, like we said earlier, people in this country love to bitch about television. They're Canadians and they just wouldn't have it any other way.
Thursday, August 14, 2008
The Best There Ever Was
There something just not right about track and field getting started at a Summer Olympics and Don Wittman not there to tell us all about the wonder of it all.
With all due respect to Mark Lee, a fine broadcaster in his own right, it says here that Wittman will always be the gold standard in track and field play-by-play. And Lee. we have no doubt, knows all about the enormous shoes he's being asked to fill at the Beijing Games.
Wittman died of cancer earlier this year at age 71, just seven months before these Olympics. Though he was better known to many as CBC's voice of the CFL and curling for so many years (he was also a mainstay on Hockey Night in Canada), Wittman became the authoritative voice of CBC's track and field coverage at the Summer Olympics. Arguably two of the biggest moments of Wittman's 40-plus years in the broadcast biz occurred at the Games track: Ben Johnson's steroid-tainted 100-metre triumph over Carl Lewis in Seoul in 1988, and Donovan Bailey's victory in the same event eight years later in Atlanta.
We also remember with fondness Wittman's line a week later, when the Canadian men's 4x100-metre relay team stunned the heavily favoured Americans in their own backyard. Wittman spoke for a nation when he said "oh, if you're a Canadian, you've got to love Saturday nights in Georgia."
More to the point, you had to love it best when Wittman and his esteemed analyst partner, Geoff Gowan, formed the finest track and field broadcast combination you'll ever want to hear.
In a nice tribute, CBC reminded us of all of this and so much more before the track competition in Beijing officially began earlier tonight. Wittman, you know, is looking down and smiling from his broadcast booth in the sky, loving every night of it in China, as long as there's a track meet to watch.
Yes, Ron MacLean, you had it right: Wittman is truly the best there'll ever be.
With all due respect to Mark Lee, a fine broadcaster in his own right, it says here that Wittman will always be the gold standard in track and field play-by-play. And Lee. we have no doubt, knows all about the enormous shoes he's being asked to fill at the Beijing Games.
Wittman died of cancer earlier this year at age 71, just seven months before these Olympics. Though he was better known to many as CBC's voice of the CFL and curling for so many years (he was also a mainstay on Hockey Night in Canada), Wittman became the authoritative voice of CBC's track and field coverage at the Summer Olympics. Arguably two of the biggest moments of Wittman's 40-plus years in the broadcast biz occurred at the Games track: Ben Johnson's steroid-tainted 100-metre triumph over Carl Lewis in Seoul in 1988, and Donovan Bailey's victory in the same event eight years later in Atlanta.
We also remember with fondness Wittman's line a week later, when the Canadian men's 4x100-metre relay team stunned the heavily favoured Americans in their own backyard. Wittman spoke for a nation when he said "oh, if you're a Canadian, you've got to love Saturday nights in Georgia."
More to the point, you had to love it best when Wittman and his esteemed analyst partner, Geoff Gowan, formed the finest track and field broadcast combination you'll ever want to hear.
In a nice tribute, CBC reminded us of all of this and so much more before the track competition in Beijing officially began earlier tonight. Wittman, you know, is looking down and smiling from his broadcast booth in the sky, loving every night of it in China, as long as there's a track meet to watch.
Yes, Ron MacLean, you had it right: Wittman is truly the best there'll ever be.
It's The Michael Phelps Olympics
Remember that old Seinfeld episode when the guy playing Yankees owner George Steinbrenner thought George Costanza was dead and showed up at his parents' house to deliver the bad news.
George's parents were broken up by the news but then his dad, Frank, fought back his tears and blurted out: "What the hell did you trade Jay Buhner for?"
(bear with me here, folks, I'm trying to make an Olympic point. Really, I am).
"My baseball people loved Ken Phelps' bat," Steinbrenner responded. "They kept saying 'Ken Phelps, Ken Phelps.' "
So it appears to be, in a manner of speaking, with the American media covering the Beijing Games.
They just keep saying 'Michael Phelps, Michael Phelps.' Over and over again.
As this cbc.ca story points out, it's literally been all Phelps, all the time for them. NBC, for sure, can't get enough of the guy who's won five swimming golds in Beijing and goes for No. 6 tonight, with a record-breaking eighth in sight by Saturday (and do you still wonder why the Peacock Network lobbied so hard for the swim times to air in prime time in the U.S.?).
NBC's ratings are headed toward all-time best levels in Beijing. The network reported today it has sold $10 million US more in ads since Monday (they've long surpassed the $1 billion mark in total for these Games).
On ESPN Radio the other day, they were all but crowning him the world's greatest athlete (which begged the question: Wasn't he this good last year, when the Olympics weren't on and you weren't paying attention?).
We've heard all about his 12,000 calorie-a-day diet (you don't want to know). There are more than 300 Facebook groups devoted to the swimmer, who has more than 4,600 'friends' on the social network.
And on and on it goes.
Then again, everyone (and NBC in particular) has got to ride this gravy train for as long as it lasts. Swimming ends on Saturday. And there's no comparable golden boy to even come close to matching Phelps on the horizon.
Wonder what they all can come up with to keep him in the headlines for another week?
You know they're thinking about it. How could they not be?
He's gold, Jerry, gold!
George's parents were broken up by the news but then his dad, Frank, fought back his tears and blurted out: "What the hell did you trade Jay Buhner for?"
(bear with me here, folks, I'm trying to make an Olympic point. Really, I am).
"My baseball people loved Ken Phelps' bat," Steinbrenner responded. "They kept saying 'Ken Phelps, Ken Phelps.' "
So it appears to be, in a manner of speaking, with the American media covering the Beijing Games.
They just keep saying 'Michael Phelps, Michael Phelps.' Over and over again.
As this cbc.ca story points out, it's literally been all Phelps, all the time for them. NBC, for sure, can't get enough of the guy who's won five swimming golds in Beijing and goes for No. 6 tonight, with a record-breaking eighth in sight by Saturday (and do you still wonder why the Peacock Network lobbied so hard for the swim times to air in prime time in the U.S.?).
NBC's ratings are headed toward all-time best levels in Beijing. The network reported today it has sold $10 million US more in ads since Monday (they've long surpassed the $1 billion mark in total for these Games).
On ESPN Radio the other day, they were all but crowning him the world's greatest athlete (which begged the question: Wasn't he this good last year, when the Olympics weren't on and you weren't paying attention?).
We've heard all about his 12,000 calorie-a-day diet (you don't want to know). There are more than 300 Facebook groups devoted to the swimmer, who has more than 4,600 'friends' on the social network.
And on and on it goes.
Then again, everyone (and NBC in particular) has got to ride this gravy train for as long as it lasts. Swimming ends on Saturday. And there's no comparable golden boy to even come close to matching Phelps on the horizon.
Wonder what they all can come up with to keep him in the headlines for another week?
You know they're thinking about it. How could they not be?
He's gold, Jerry, gold!
Wednesday, August 13, 2008
We're Still At The Four-Front
It's been called the "tin medal" and Canadians, it seems, have become masters at collecting them over the years.
Add Perth's Mike Brown to the list of athletes sentenced to the dreaded fourth-place finish at an Olympic Games, after he finished an agonizing fourth in the men's 200-metre breaststroke final at the Beijing Games tonight. And there with it went Canada's last best shot at a swimming medal at these Olympics.
No need to tell Brown, who finished .09 seconds off the podium, how tough it was to take.
"That's about as frustrating as it gets," he told reporters after the race. "Fourth place is probably the worst spot you can get at the Olympic Games."
Canada's swimmers have been blanked in the Olympic pool since Sydney 2000.
"I would have loved the medal," said Brown. "The first medal for Canada (at the Beijing Games) would have been awesome to have. I couldn't pull it through but that doesn't mean we won't be having one soon."
Brown predicted "there will be lots of medals for Canadian athletes" before these Games are done. And this is a team, admittedly, that has most of its medal potential packed into the second week in Beijing.
No doubt Perth, Ont., is still proud of one of its favourite sons tonight. The pretty town in the Ottawa Valley couldn't have paid for better exposure than the CBC gave it this evening. We saw the Perth Aquatic Stingrays Club's website on air before the race (CBC also had a camera positioned in the town to capture some of the local celebrations, had their been a medal to cheer). Brown smiled afterward when reminded that, by improving his finish by two spots over Athens 2004, one of his sponsors back home has a $60,000 SUV waiting for him when he returns to Perth.
The one place, to be sure, that he'll always be a champion.
*****
What's the deal with the medal standings?
Look on CBC's Olympics website and you'll see China listed on top of the medals table because it's won the most golds so far at the Games. Many other media sites, though, put the U.S. first because its overall medal total is higher.
It's a regular debate at every Olympics. Personally, I think total medals wins. But whatever way you want to do it, let's just get everyone on the same page, can we?
*****
CBC Newsworld's Beijing Today offers a nice highlights roundup for those who couldn't stay up through the night to catch all the live Olympics action.
But the show is missing those feature reports that used to add that extra touch to similar Newsworld efforts at previous Games. Then again, I was always a fan of the late, lamented Sports Journal that shone for so many years on Newsworld (till the budget axe sentenced it to oblivion).
It's that spirit that, sadly, is noticeably absent on Beijing Today. Too bad.
*****
The dreaded glitch hit CBC during tonight's swimming coverage. The public broadcaster lost its feed during one of the women's 200-metre breaststroke semi-finals. CBC planned a repeat of that race as part of its swim package in Pacific Prime.
Add Perth's Mike Brown to the list of athletes sentenced to the dreaded fourth-place finish at an Olympic Games, after he finished an agonizing fourth in the men's 200-metre breaststroke final at the Beijing Games tonight. And there with it went Canada's last best shot at a swimming medal at these Olympics.
No need to tell Brown, who finished .09 seconds off the podium, how tough it was to take.
"That's about as frustrating as it gets," he told reporters after the race. "Fourth place is probably the worst spot you can get at the Olympic Games."
Canada's swimmers have been blanked in the Olympic pool since Sydney 2000.
"I would have loved the medal," said Brown. "The first medal for Canada (at the Beijing Games) would have been awesome to have. I couldn't pull it through but that doesn't mean we won't be having one soon."
Brown predicted "there will be lots of medals for Canadian athletes" before these Games are done. And this is a team, admittedly, that has most of its medal potential packed into the second week in Beijing.
No doubt Perth, Ont., is still proud of one of its favourite sons tonight. The pretty town in the Ottawa Valley couldn't have paid for better exposure than the CBC gave it this evening. We saw the Perth Aquatic Stingrays Club's website on air before the race (CBC also had a camera positioned in the town to capture some of the local celebrations, had their been a medal to cheer). Brown smiled afterward when reminded that, by improving his finish by two spots over Athens 2004, one of his sponsors back home has a $60,000 SUV waiting for him when he returns to Perth.
The one place, to be sure, that he'll always be a champion.
*****
What's the deal with the medal standings?
Look on CBC's Olympics website and you'll see China listed on top of the medals table because it's won the most golds so far at the Games. Many other media sites, though, put the U.S. first because its overall medal total is higher.
It's a regular debate at every Olympics. Personally, I think total medals wins. But whatever way you want to do it, let's just get everyone on the same page, can we?
*****
CBC Newsworld's Beijing Today offers a nice highlights roundup for those who couldn't stay up through the night to catch all the live Olympics action.
But the show is missing those feature reports that used to add that extra touch to similar Newsworld efforts at previous Games. Then again, I was always a fan of the late, lamented Sports Journal that shone for so many years on Newsworld (till the budget axe sentenced it to oblivion).
It's that spirit that, sadly, is noticeably absent on Beijing Today. Too bad.
*****
The dreaded glitch hit CBC during tonight's swimming coverage. The public broadcaster lost its feed during one of the women's 200-metre breaststroke semi-finals. CBC planned a repeat of that race as part of its swim package in Pacific Prime.
A Contrite Final Point
I'll admit I've laid off this topic as long as possible today because, well, it's hard to look at it objectively (old journalistic habits die hard, you know).
See this earlier post from this blog and it'll be obvious why.
But it's clear Sherraine Schalm's emotional reaction to her first-round fencing loss at the Beijing Olympics to a Hungarian arch-rival in the wee hours (for those of us in the East, anyways) touched off a storm of opinion in the blogosphere (scroll down to the comments section below the story).
For what it's worth, I like seeing that kind of passion out of our athletes. I want to see them care that much and want to win that much. Whether Schalm's post-match response was over the top or out of line ... I'll leave that to you to judge. But know this much: This is a young woman who is fiercely proud to represent her country, and I guarantee you she was deeply stung by suggestions that her response shamed the red maple leaf in any way.
I imagine Schalm has lost count of how many times she's said 'I'm sorry' today. She said it to just about everybody in an interview with CBC's Scott Russell this morning; you'll probably see it all over the newspapers tomorrow.
We'll let Schalm have the last word with her latest CBC blog post.
Far as I'm concerned, she's owes us nothing more than this. If even that much.
See this earlier post from this blog and it'll be obvious why.
But it's clear Sherraine Schalm's emotional reaction to her first-round fencing loss at the Beijing Olympics to a Hungarian arch-rival in the wee hours (for those of us in the East, anyways) touched off a storm of opinion in the blogosphere (scroll down to the comments section below the story).
For what it's worth, I like seeing that kind of passion out of our athletes. I want to see them care that much and want to win that much. Whether Schalm's post-match response was over the top or out of line ... I'll leave that to you to judge. But know this much: This is a young woman who is fiercely proud to represent her country, and I guarantee you she was deeply stung by suggestions that her response shamed the red maple leaf in any way.
I imagine Schalm has lost count of how many times she's said 'I'm sorry' today. She said it to just about everybody in an interview with CBC's Scott Russell this morning; you'll probably see it all over the newspapers tomorrow.
We'll let Schalm have the last word with her latest CBC blog post.
Far as I'm concerned, she's owes us nothing more than this. If even that much.
Here We Go Again
Looks like your faithful Olympic correspondent spoke a little too soon, wondering the other day about the absence of the 'where the hell are the Canadian medals' debate.
As you can see here, it's in full roar already. And we figure it's only just begun.
The mentality of it all, quite frankly, makes me want to throw up.
We went through all of this in Athens and here we're at it again. Five days into Beijing 2008 and there's still a goose egg beside Canada on the medal count table. All of which, it seems, is the cue for way too many people to jump on the "we suck" bandwagon.
The majority of whom, it must be said, don't give a rat's ass about amateur sports for three years and 50 weeks or so -- and yes, this includes plenty of the media contingent in China at this moment -- but now suddenly, they're freakin' experts on all of this. And leading the charge to pile on our athletes when they fall short of the podium.
Sickening doesn't begin to describe this kind of attitude.
Let's start this blame game by asking this: What did any of you do to help our athletes' cause? Did you contribute $8 (yes, eight measly bucks) to CAN Fund's Beijing challenge? Yeah, it doesn't sound like much, but multiply that by the more than 30 million people who call Canada home and ... well, you do the math.
Eight freakin' dollars.
Tell me again how helping our athletes is such a financial strain on us all.
It was laughable hearing a Canadian Olympic Committee executive say more money is coming into the amateur sport system in the next few months. Fat lot of good that does to help any of our athletes in Beijing (thanks a lot, federal government). It might even be too late to help for London 2012. And that's without knowing how much of it will be siphoned off by the COC and other national sport governing bodies for more needless bureaucracy.
It says here that in the mad dash to Vancouver 2010, we threw our summer sports athletes under the bus (yes, corporate Canada deserves some of the finger of guilt pointed at it, too, in this area). And yet, despite this massive lack of support, we somehow expect to see an endless parade to the medal podium.
Let me know what part of this you're not getting, people.
Whatever success we achieve in Beijing will be in spite of the system, not because of it. Tell me who in their right mind thought it was fair to pull whitewater kayaker David Ford's funding just months before these Games? He finished sixth in his event yesterday without the benefit of a pre-Olympic training camp on the Beijing course, which you know most every one of his top competitors enjoyed. Yeah, that's really standing behind our athletes.
So before you start lobbing bombs at our Beijing gang, think about all of the above.
Better yet, take a look in the mirror. Ask what you did to make a difference.
And why you only care now, when it's really much too late.
As you can see here, it's in full roar already. And we figure it's only just begun.
The mentality of it all, quite frankly, makes me want to throw up.
We went through all of this in Athens and here we're at it again. Five days into Beijing 2008 and there's still a goose egg beside Canada on the medal count table. All of which, it seems, is the cue for way too many people to jump on the "we suck" bandwagon.
The majority of whom, it must be said, don't give a rat's ass about amateur sports for three years and 50 weeks or so -- and yes, this includes plenty of the media contingent in China at this moment -- but now suddenly, they're freakin' experts on all of this. And leading the charge to pile on our athletes when they fall short of the podium.
Sickening doesn't begin to describe this kind of attitude.
Let's start this blame game by asking this: What did any of you do to help our athletes' cause? Did you contribute $8 (yes, eight measly bucks) to CAN Fund's Beijing challenge? Yeah, it doesn't sound like much, but multiply that by the more than 30 million people who call Canada home and ... well, you do the math.
Eight freakin' dollars.
Tell me again how helping our athletes is such a financial strain on us all.
It was laughable hearing a Canadian Olympic Committee executive say more money is coming into the amateur sport system in the next few months. Fat lot of good that does to help any of our athletes in Beijing (thanks a lot, federal government). It might even be too late to help for London 2012. And that's without knowing how much of it will be siphoned off by the COC and other national sport governing bodies for more needless bureaucracy.
It says here that in the mad dash to Vancouver 2010, we threw our summer sports athletes under the bus (yes, corporate Canada deserves some of the finger of guilt pointed at it, too, in this area). And yet, despite this massive lack of support, we somehow expect to see an endless parade to the medal podium.
Let me know what part of this you're not getting, people.
Whatever success we achieve in Beijing will be in spite of the system, not because of it. Tell me who in their right mind thought it was fair to pull whitewater kayaker David Ford's funding just months before these Games? He finished sixth in his event yesterday without the benefit of a pre-Olympic training camp on the Beijing course, which you know most every one of his top competitors enjoyed. Yeah, that's really standing behind our athletes.
So before you start lobbing bombs at our Beijing gang, think about all of the above.
Better yet, take a look in the mirror. Ask what you did to make a difference.
And why you only care now, when it's really much too late.
Tuesday, August 12, 2008
Brown's Time To Deliver
What can Brown do for you?
Yeah, yeah, it's been said before (and not just in a UPS commercial). But about right now, Canada's swim team is asking Mike Brown — again — to save the day for them at the Beijing Olympics.
The Perth, Ont., native opened some eyes by winning the second semi-final of the men's 200-metre breaststroke tonight and with the second-fastest time (2:08.84), behind only world-record holder Kosuke Kitajima of Japan. And, for the second time at these Games, Brown broke the Canadian standard in his specialty.
Brown, you might recall, placed sixth in the same event four years in Athens, an Olympics that was mostly forgettable for Canadian swimmers. At the time, he vowed he'd be on the podium in Beijing — a statement he stood behind firmly in an Ottawa Sun interview a year later with your humble correspondent, a few weeks after winning a silver medal at the 2005 world aquatic championships in Montreal.
So here he is four years after Athens, standing as perhaps Canada's only real medal hope left in the pool at these Games (especially after the men's 4x200 freestyle relay team, which was considered our best shot going into Beijing, wound up fifth in tonight's final).
Can Brown fulfill that four-year-old promise or perhaps even shock the world and take down the great Kitajima?
"The fastest guy in the world is now 1.3 seconds faster than me," he told the CBC. "He's capable of going faster but I'm a great morning swimmer. I just want to break the Canadian record again. I can't control what those guys do."
And let the chips — and the medals — fall where they may.
*****
This one's a day old, but we had to mention this beauty of a question CBC's Elliotte Friedman dropped on Canadian swimmer Julia Wilkinson after her 200-metre individual medley semi-final Monday night (a race in which the Stratford, Ont., native finished second).
"Confirm or deny. Did you once throw up on a boyfriend before a race?"
For the record, Wilkinson said she didn't. But the young lad's towel wasn't so lucky.
Yeah, yeah, it's been said before (and not just in a UPS commercial). But about right now, Canada's swim team is asking Mike Brown — again — to save the day for them at the Beijing Olympics.
The Perth, Ont., native opened some eyes by winning the second semi-final of the men's 200-metre breaststroke tonight and with the second-fastest time (2:08.84), behind only world-record holder Kosuke Kitajima of Japan. And, for the second time at these Games, Brown broke the Canadian standard in his specialty.
Brown, you might recall, placed sixth in the same event four years in Athens, an Olympics that was mostly forgettable for Canadian swimmers. At the time, he vowed he'd be on the podium in Beijing — a statement he stood behind firmly in an Ottawa Sun interview a year later with your humble correspondent, a few weeks after winning a silver medal at the 2005 world aquatic championships in Montreal.
So here he is four years after Athens, standing as perhaps Canada's only real medal hope left in the pool at these Games (especially after the men's 4x200 freestyle relay team, which was considered our best shot going into Beijing, wound up fifth in tonight's final).
Can Brown fulfill that four-year-old promise or perhaps even shock the world and take down the great Kitajima?
"The fastest guy in the world is now 1.3 seconds faster than me," he told the CBC. "He's capable of going faster but I'm a great morning swimmer. I just want to break the Canadian record again. I can't control what those guys do."
And let the chips — and the medals — fall where they may.
*****
This one's a day old, but we had to mention this beauty of a question CBC's Elliotte Friedman dropped on Canadian swimmer Julia Wilkinson after her 200-metre individual medley semi-final Monday night (a race in which the Stratford, Ont., native finished second).
"Confirm or deny. Did you once throw up on a boyfriend before a race?"
For the record, Wilkinson said she didn't. But the young lad's towel wasn't so lucky.
Me And My Kooky Fencing Friend
First, an admission: If the headline on this post isn't a total ripoff, it's close.
(if you want to know from where, the answer's right here).
And I wouldn't exactly call Sherraine Schalm kooky, though she cracks me up often enough (if the comely lass from Alberta can't make you laugh, it's your problem, not hers).
As I write this, Sherraine is hours away from her third Olympic appearance at the Summer Olympics. And, as this revealing piece penned a few days ago by the Toronto Star's Randy Starkman illustrates, her long road from Athens 2004 to Beijing 2008 has been anything but a smooth and straight line (a painful divorce and depression among the demons she had to conquer along the way). But once again, she enters an Olympics as Canada's best hope to win its first fencing medal of any colour in Games history (women's epee is her event).
Sherraine and I first crossed paths eight years ago before the Sydney Olympics. She was one of the first in a series of profiles of local Olympians I tackled for the Ottawa Sun that year and, it must be said now, the most enjoyable of the lot. Rudimentary didn't begin to describe my knowledge of fencing (that assessment still isn't far from the truth) but what was expected to be the typical 15-20 minute interview evolved into a two-hour conversation with one of the most wonderfully engaging people you will ever meet.
I've always appreciated a sense of humour (even like to think I own one myself ... well, most of the time) and whether she's talking or writing, Sherraine's sharp sense of wit is never far from the surface.
Case in point: A few years back, when she was putting the finishing touches on Running With Swords, her often-humorous look at her sport and her life (still plenty available at a Chapters near you and well worth the read), the book was still untitled at the time. Smart ass that I can be sometimes, I suggested "Piste Off" (a reference to the fencing court) during a telephone conversation. Not missing a beat, Sherraine told me she'd already had the same thought. Alas, while great minds thought alike, it didn't make it to print.
We've fallen out of touch since I moved on from the Sun (and off the amateur sports beat) last fall. But as the days and weeks to Beijing grew closer, I picked up on her story once more. And there is no Canadian athlete I'll be cheering more loudly for at these Beijing Games.
While Sherraine calls Montreal home now (she spent a lot of her pre-Olympic training time in Hungary), with any luck, she'll make her way back to Ottawa sometime after the Games are done. Maybe she'll even do it with a precious Olympic medal in hand. With or without the big prize, though, she will still be the same Sherraine to me.
Her prodigious fencing talent is perhaps only surpassed by her ability to chronicle it all (her CBC blog being evidence of that). I've heard she might like to be a journalist someday and, well, the world I left behind can't help but become a better place if she chooses to be a part of it.
Let's just say it's a happening that surely wouldn't leave me feeling "piste off."
Nope, not at all. Not in the very least.
(if you want to know from where, the answer's right here).
And I wouldn't exactly call Sherraine Schalm kooky, though she cracks me up often enough (if the comely lass from Alberta can't make you laugh, it's your problem, not hers).
As I write this, Sherraine is hours away from her third Olympic appearance at the Summer Olympics. And, as this revealing piece penned a few days ago by the Toronto Star's Randy Starkman illustrates, her long road from Athens 2004 to Beijing 2008 has been anything but a smooth and straight line (a painful divorce and depression among the demons she had to conquer along the way). But once again, she enters an Olympics as Canada's best hope to win its first fencing medal of any colour in Games history (women's epee is her event).
Sherraine and I first crossed paths eight years ago before the Sydney Olympics. She was one of the first in a series of profiles of local Olympians I tackled for the Ottawa Sun that year and, it must be said now, the most enjoyable of the lot. Rudimentary didn't begin to describe my knowledge of fencing (that assessment still isn't far from the truth) but what was expected to be the typical 15-20 minute interview evolved into a two-hour conversation with one of the most wonderfully engaging people you will ever meet.
I've always appreciated a sense of humour (even like to think I own one myself ... well, most of the time) and whether she's talking or writing, Sherraine's sharp sense of wit is never far from the surface.
Case in point: A few years back, when she was putting the finishing touches on Running With Swords, her often-humorous look at her sport and her life (still plenty available at a Chapters near you and well worth the read), the book was still untitled at the time. Smart ass that I can be sometimes, I suggested "Piste Off" (a reference to the fencing court) during a telephone conversation. Not missing a beat, Sherraine told me she'd already had the same thought. Alas, while great minds thought alike, it didn't make it to print.
We've fallen out of touch since I moved on from the Sun (and off the amateur sports beat) last fall. But as the days and weeks to Beijing grew closer, I picked up on her story once more. And there is no Canadian athlete I'll be cheering more loudly for at these Beijing Games.
While Sherraine calls Montreal home now (she spent a lot of her pre-Olympic training time in Hungary), with any luck, she'll make her way back to Ottawa sometime after the Games are done. Maybe she'll even do it with a precious Olympic medal in hand. With or without the big prize, though, she will still be the same Sherraine to me.
Her prodigious fencing talent is perhaps only surpassed by her ability to chronicle it all (her CBC blog being evidence of that). I've heard she might like to be a journalist someday and, well, the world I left behind can't help but become a better place if she chooses to be a part of it.
Let's just say it's a happening that surely wouldn't leave me feeling "piste off."
Nope, not at all. Not in the very least.
Games In Their Prime
It's taken a few days, but I think I've got this Beijing Games viewing thing down.
Watch a bit in the morning, take the afternoon off (while everyone's asleep in China), then dive back into it all again some time after dinner hour. And hang in there as long as humanly possible past midnight (a guy does need sleep, after all, before the call to the day job the next morning. Thank heavens for weekends).
All that being said, Olympic Prime (CBC's 6 p.m.-midnight block) seems to be prime time for a lot of the best Games watching, though I can't speak for what goes on in the wee hours (though I've decided folks in Vancouver might just have it best of all).
Take Monday night, for example. We saw another action-packed swim session from the Water Cube and yes, another Michael Phelps gold medal (nope, it's not ho-hum here just yet). Then it was off to the gymnastics venue for all the emotion and drama of the men's team final, where we saw a Chinese team rise to national hero status (not to mention boot some huge weight off their shoulders) with a gold-medal triumph that had the home folks raising their roof.
Admittedly, the latter required staying up till about 12:45 a.m. — that's actually Pacific Prime territory — but the story being authored there was well worth it.
Know what? I can see myself doing it all over again tonight.
Now about some medals for Canada to really kick this show into overdrive ...
(and what do you figure the over-under is now on how many days before the 'what the hell is wrong with our athletes' debate fires itself up again? You know it's coming. Oops ... it already has. Taste some of the whine below this story).
*****
If you haven't heard, Nigel Reed and analyst Jason de Vos are calling women's soccer games for CBC off a monitor in Toronto. So, too, are the public broadcaster's crews for sailing, equestrian, taekwondo and weightlifting events. You'll also notice CBC has borrowed crews from New Zealand, Australia and the BBC for sports such as badminton and men's soccer.
But before you accuse the CBC of doing it on the cheap, consider that big-money NBC has its announcing teams for 13 sports working out of New York (archery, badminton, baseball, equestrian, fencing, field hockey, handball, weightlifting, shooting, soccer, softball, table tennis and tennis).
So what's next? Are they gonna tell us part of the Opening Ceremony broadcast was fake?
Watch a bit in the morning, take the afternoon off (while everyone's asleep in China), then dive back into it all again some time after dinner hour. And hang in there as long as humanly possible past midnight (a guy does need sleep, after all, before the call to the day job the next morning. Thank heavens for weekends).
All that being said, Olympic Prime (CBC's 6 p.m.-midnight block) seems to be prime time for a lot of the best Games watching, though I can't speak for what goes on in the wee hours (though I've decided folks in Vancouver might just have it best of all).
Take Monday night, for example. We saw another action-packed swim session from the Water Cube and yes, another Michael Phelps gold medal (nope, it's not ho-hum here just yet). Then it was off to the gymnastics venue for all the emotion and drama of the men's team final, where we saw a Chinese team rise to national hero status (not to mention boot some huge weight off their shoulders) with a gold-medal triumph that had the home folks raising their roof.
Admittedly, the latter required staying up till about 12:45 a.m. — that's actually Pacific Prime territory — but the story being authored there was well worth it.
Know what? I can see myself doing it all over again tonight.
Now about some medals for Canada to really kick this show into overdrive ...
(and what do you figure the over-under is now on how many days before the 'what the hell is wrong with our athletes' debate fires itself up again? You know it's coming. Oops ... it already has. Taste some of the whine below this story).
*****
If you haven't heard, Nigel Reed and analyst Jason de Vos are calling women's soccer games for CBC off a monitor in Toronto. So, too, are the public broadcaster's crews for sailing, equestrian, taekwondo and weightlifting events. You'll also notice CBC has borrowed crews from New Zealand, Australia and the BBC for sports such as badminton and men's soccer.
But before you accuse the CBC of doing it on the cheap, consider that big-money NBC has its announcing teams for 13 sports working out of New York (archery, badminton, baseball, equestrian, fencing, field hockey, handball, weightlifting, shooting, soccer, softball, table tennis and tennis).
So what's next? Are they gonna tell us part of the Opening Ceremony broadcast was fake?
Monday, August 11, 2008
China Fine In CBC's Eyes
Canadians, it seems, are starting to catch a bit of Beijing Olympics fever.
Through midnight Sunday (a period which included the first two full days of competition in China), some 15.2 million Canadians had tuned into CBC's Games coverage. Most impressively, that included an average of 919,000 who were up at 7 a.m. ET (and a whole lot earlier out west) for live coverage of the out-of-this-world Opening Ceremony (not too shabby numbers, eh, NBC? And they were actually slightly lower than for Athens 2004).
More importantly for the CBC, audiences are growing. Olympic Prime averaged 1.2 million on Saturday night; it climbed to 1.3 million on Sunday evening. And that's without a Canadian medal yet at these Games (granted, though, these were weekend numbers, which are typically higher).
Olympic Morning, meanwhile, topped the 835,000 mark both Saturday and Sunday.
Online, CBCSports.ca/Olympics has attracted nearly 250,000 video streams per day.
*****
Lost in all the hype about the Americans' comeback triumph in the men's 4x100-metre freestyle swim relay Sunday night: The French screwed up royally at the finish.
(and before you start screaming, yes the Yanks were full value for their triumph).
With victory in sight, French anchor Alain Bernard rode the lane rope for the final stretch of the race, allowing U.S. swimmer Jason Lezak to "drag" in his wake. A huge error, pointed out by both CBC swimming analyst Byron MacDonald right after the event ("an unbelievable mistake") and studio analyst Mark Tewksbury again tonight.
An underwater camera (and haven't those been among the stars of the Games so far?) also showed Bernard looking over toward Lezak while the American focused on driving to the finish. Think any of the above might have made .08 seconds of difference?
Such is how gold medals are won and lost.
*****
CBC's live online streaming came in handy tonight. While the swim finals were starting at the Water Cube, Olympic watchers could also catch the start of the men's gymnastics team final live on the web.
The next best thing to picture-in-picture, don't ya think?
Through midnight Sunday (a period which included the first two full days of competition in China), some 15.2 million Canadians had tuned into CBC's Games coverage. Most impressively, that included an average of 919,000 who were up at 7 a.m. ET (and a whole lot earlier out west) for live coverage of the out-of-this-world Opening Ceremony (not too shabby numbers, eh, NBC? And they were actually slightly lower than for Athens 2004).
More importantly for the CBC, audiences are growing. Olympic Prime averaged 1.2 million on Saturday night; it climbed to 1.3 million on Sunday evening. And that's without a Canadian medal yet at these Games (granted, though, these were weekend numbers, which are typically higher).
Olympic Morning, meanwhile, topped the 835,000 mark both Saturday and Sunday.
Online, CBCSports.ca/Olympics has attracted nearly 250,000 video streams per day.
*****
Lost in all the hype about the Americans' comeback triumph in the men's 4x100-metre freestyle swim relay Sunday night: The French screwed up royally at the finish.
(and before you start screaming, yes the Yanks were full value for their triumph).
With victory in sight, French anchor Alain Bernard rode the lane rope for the final stretch of the race, allowing U.S. swimmer Jason Lezak to "drag" in his wake. A huge error, pointed out by both CBC swimming analyst Byron MacDonald right after the event ("an unbelievable mistake") and studio analyst Mark Tewksbury again tonight.
An underwater camera (and haven't those been among the stars of the Games so far?) also showed Bernard looking over toward Lezak while the American focused on driving to the finish. Think any of the above might have made .08 seconds of difference?
Such is how gold medals are won and lost.
*****
CBC's live online streaming came in handy tonight. While the swim finals were starting at the Water Cube, Olympic watchers could also catch the start of the men's gymnastics team final live on the web.
The next best thing to picture-in-picture, don't ya think?
The Great American Race
They're still talking everywhere about the Olympic swimming relay race of races.
And we're guessing the buzz in Beijing won't be subsiding anytime soon.
We refer, of course, to the men's 4x100-metre freestyle relay, which the U.S. pulled out by the barest of margins when all seemed lost. France's Alain Bernard, the reigning world-record holder in the men's 100 free, had a seemingly insurmountable lead on the final dash down the pool, only to have 32-year-old American Jason Lezak reel him in and out-touch the Frenchman for the gold.
The victory, by a scant .08 seconds, also kept alive U.S. uber-swimmer Michael Phelps' dream of a record-breaking eight gold medals in one Olympics. You know NBC, which has built its first week of live prime-time coverage at Beijing 2008 around swimming and gymnastics, was cheering rather loudly, too.
Still were on a conference call earlier today, it sure seemed.
"Without a doubt, it's the greatest Olympic moment I've ever experienced or called, head and shoulder above everything, and we've done some pretty good things," said NBC's Dan Hicks, who called the epic race. "That race is why we get into the business of sports broadcasting. It just was absolute excitement, shock and the utmost of wattage. It was just so unexpected."
NBC swimming analyst Rowdy Gaines called it "certainly the greatest Olympic relay race I have ever seen. I have been trying to think about another race that I got more excited about and I can't think of one."
That frenzy spilled across America on Monday, with NBCOlympics.com reporting more than one million video downloads of the relay race. NBC Universal's Beijing viewership (seven networks) hit 107 million on Sunday, making it the most-watched first Sunday in Summer Olympics history. Some 81 million were tuned in to NBC's prime-time coverage, which included the relay and Bob Costas' interview with U.S. president George W. Bush.
And we're guessing the buzz in Beijing won't be subsiding anytime soon.
We refer, of course, to the men's 4x100-metre freestyle relay, which the U.S. pulled out by the barest of margins when all seemed lost. France's Alain Bernard, the reigning world-record holder in the men's 100 free, had a seemingly insurmountable lead on the final dash down the pool, only to have 32-year-old American Jason Lezak reel him in and out-touch the Frenchman for the gold.
The victory, by a scant .08 seconds, also kept alive U.S. uber-swimmer Michael Phelps' dream of a record-breaking eight gold medals in one Olympics. You know NBC, which has built its first week of live prime-time coverage at Beijing 2008 around swimming and gymnastics, was cheering rather loudly, too.
Still were on a conference call earlier today, it sure seemed.
"Without a doubt, it's the greatest Olympic moment I've ever experienced or called, head and shoulder above everything, and we've done some pretty good things," said NBC's Dan Hicks, who called the epic race. "That race is why we get into the business of sports broadcasting. It just was absolute excitement, shock and the utmost of wattage. It was just so unexpected."
NBC swimming analyst Rowdy Gaines called it "certainly the greatest Olympic relay race I have ever seen. I have been trying to think about another race that I got more excited about and I can't think of one."
That frenzy spilled across America on Monday, with NBCOlympics.com reporting more than one million video downloads of the relay race. NBC Universal's Beijing viewership (seven networks) hit 107 million on Sunday, making it the most-watched first Sunday in Summer Olympics history. Some 81 million were tuned in to NBC's prime-time coverage, which included the relay and Bob Costas' interview with U.S. president George W. Bush.
Lights, Camera, Action For Shewfelt
Kyle Shewfelt has an admitted interest in a broadcast career.
He'll get a trial run of sorts starting tonight when he appears as a guest analyst for CBC during its coverage of the remainder of the men's artistic gymnastics competition at the Beijing Olympics. Shewfelt will make his first appearance alongside Brenda Irving and analyst Lori Strong-Ballard during Olympic Prime tonight for the men's team final.
Shewfelt, who battled back from two broken legs suffered 11 months ago at the world gymnastics championships in Germany, didn't make it out of the qualifying round here (a result that was decried by his coaches, who accused certain judges of undermarking the Canadian to keep him out of the event finals. Particularly the floor excercise, the event he won four years ago in Athens, making him the first and only Canadian to strike Olympic gold in gymnastics).
It'll be interesting to check Shewfelt's emotions during a competition you know he dearly wishes he was still a part of in every way possible. But this is a guy who has bared plenty of that in a blog he's written chronicling the long road back from his injuries to Beijing. If he channels some of that into his television commentary, it should make for quite the interesting broadcast debut.
He'll get a trial run of sorts starting tonight when he appears as a guest analyst for CBC during its coverage of the remainder of the men's artistic gymnastics competition at the Beijing Olympics. Shewfelt will make his first appearance alongside Brenda Irving and analyst Lori Strong-Ballard during Olympic Prime tonight for the men's team final.
Shewfelt, who battled back from two broken legs suffered 11 months ago at the world gymnastics championships in Germany, didn't make it out of the qualifying round here (a result that was decried by his coaches, who accused certain judges of undermarking the Canadian to keep him out of the event finals. Particularly the floor excercise, the event he won four years ago in Athens, making him the first and only Canadian to strike Olympic gold in gymnastics).
It'll be interesting to check Shewfelt's emotions during a competition you know he dearly wishes he was still a part of in every way possible. But this is a guy who has bared plenty of that in a blog he's written chronicling the long road back from his injuries to Beijing. If he channels some of that into his television commentary, it should make for quite the interesting broadcast debut.
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