Get ready to watch the Beijing Olympics
The clock to the opening of the 2008 Beijing Summer Olympics is ticking down as the NBC family of networks is preparing to bring Americans – and anyone else within cable-shot – thousands of hours of competition, much of which is only witnessed every four years. In the past, I’ve written about the events in athletics (track & field), wrestling, and boxing, and how those sports tie back to the original Olympics held in ancient Greece.
No need to explain volleyball (the Americans should fare well in the beach version), basketball, baseball, and softball. You know, sports we invented that we can’t win gold in anymore.
But, what about the other sports most have never witnessed before? You know, the event that’s taking up the 1-3 a.m. slot on BRAVO when you can’t sleep because of another hot, muggy August night.
Well, as a public service, I’ll attempt to break down some of those sports in everyday language with the hope of adding understanding to better enjoy the quadrennial world stage.
– Aquatics – Fancy name for stuff in a swimming pool. Michael Phelps, the “ancient” Dara Torres, and Natalie Coughlin have brought personality to the freestyle, butterfly, and backstroke, but that’s not all that’s going on in the water.
Athletes also jump into the water from a 3-meter springboard (diving board for the home swimmer) and 10-meter platform (jumping off a trestle for Fayette County folks). Not only do individuals plummet from various heights into a pool of water, pairs synchronize their dives, yawn.
Pairs and individuals also synchronize their moves in the pool without jumping in. A couple Olympics ago the United States had the swimming version of the “Dream Team,” and is looking to arise back into that dominant spot.
Water polo, well, just write your own joke about horses and a swimming pool.
– Badminton – International play is a bit different than the backyard version. The shuttlecock can travel up to 200 mph, and players, singles or doubles, don’t have a glass of their favorite potent potable in hand.
The national sport of many southeast Asian countries, don’t expect too much from the Americans, unless Brian Urlacher and David Ortiz can free up their schedules.
– Cycling – The Tour de France (and its subsidiary sport of trying to beat the blood test) currently have the sport on the front pages, but the Olympics include other events not contested on the road.
Many races are held in a velodrome (fancy name for a bike track). The oddest has to be the cycling version of a dog chasing its tail, the pursuit. Cyclists start opposite one another, attempting to catch up to the opponent. If one catches the other, race over. If not, the first to finish the designated distance, say 4,000 meters, wins.
Additional note, most bicycles used in the velodrome don’t have brakes. Sounds like the first bike many of us first rode.
There’s also mountain biking and BMX.
– Fencing – No, not the stuff that keeps the dog and kids in the yard. There are three versions – epee (the heaviest), foil (a thin blade with a foiled tip), and saber (Y-or V-shaped). It’s not like a swashbuckling Errol Flynn movie. Most moves occur in a blink of any eye.
– Team handball – Perhaps the strangest game of all. Six players and a goaltender. Goal is 10×61/2. It’s kinda like basketball with similar strategies.
There are 6-meter and 9-meter lines. The ball can’t be carried over the 9-meter line, but players can vault into the air towards the goal for a shot or pass. Players cannot hold the ball for more than three seconds nor can they take three steps without dribbling.
It’s fast and high scoring, sorta like arena football without the pads.
– Judo – Invented by Kano Jigoro, the word means “gentleness” or “gentle way.” Participants wear a judogi and the belt indicates level of proficiency. The goal is to get the opponent to the ground on his back (ippon), pin or submit to a choke, strangle or armlock.
– Modern pentathlon – This one was the brainchild of the founder of the modern Olympics movement, Baron Pierre de Coubert. (No word how many brandies led to this epiphany!)
All in one day, an athlete earns points for performance in pistol shooting, epee, swimming (200 freestyle), equestrian show jumping and a 3-K cross country run.
Famed World War II general George S. Patton participated in the first modern pentathlon held in 1912, and finished fifth. (No word if he slapped his horse after finishing third in the equestrian cross country steeplechase.)
– Table tennis – Not the version with an array of cups filled with a beverage of malted barley and hops. As with badminton, speed of a table tennis ball can vary from a looping topspin to a split-second blur.
There are a number of other sports, including sailing, rowing, and canoeing, that I’ll leave to the on-air talent. (Pretty amazing experts in such sports are out there, huh?)
Jim Downey is a sportswriter for the Herald-Standard and can be reached via email at jdowney@heraldstandard.com