A Weird Olympics

#CurlingFail

For those that do not know me, I am a curling fan. Yes, the sport where you throw rocks and sweep in front of them while a Norwegian woman yells at you. My mother introduced me to the sport at a young age during the Winter Olympics and it intrigued me. For the people who do not understand the sport, the object is to have the most rocks, in the house (the painted rings on the ice), closest to the center button (bullseye). So for example to score a point if Team USA has two rocks in the house, one on the button and another in the 4 foot ring and Team Russia has two rocks in the house, one near the button and one in the 2 foot ring, the score would be 1 point for Team USA. The sport is similar in scoring to the game of bocce.

After watching the round robin play of both the US Men’s and Women’s Curling team I have no doubt we will not medal. This is disturbing for several reasons, the first being that this is an event we are good at. In this sport we have superior curlers who have Olympic experience and understand the strategy needed to win, but so far both teams have yet to win a match. The Men dropped its first two matches to Norway and China, while the Women lost to the Swiss, Russia and Great Britain. The Men and Women of the United States have their own unique problems. For starters the Men’s performance has been lackluster, the Skipper of the team John Shuster has missed shot after shot in crucial moments. While the shots he missed were not easy, with his skill set he should be able to hit 80% of them. Shuster’s decisions have also been a detriment to the team and have cost the team in the early ends of the match, causing a large deficit that cannot be overcome. The women on the other hand have just played against better competition. The mistakes made by the Women’s team have been minor and the other teams have just capitalized on them to score points. Overall it has been frustrating to watch.

Michael Sam

Michael Sam, former defensive end of the Missouri Tigers came out of the closet as a gay man this week. Sam is slated to become the first openly gay NFL player and to go high in this year’s draft. Sam is a mean, tough, hardnosed defensive player that will make an impact on the team that selects him, but the media attention might hinder his prospects. I understand the whole, “distraction” side of the argument some NFL front office people are talking about, but Sam has real talent and a high motor. Right now I think the biggest obstacle in Michael Sam’s way is himself. As an under sized defensive end at 255 pounds, Sam will likely perform both defensive end and outside linebacker drills at the combine, the position of outside linebacker is not familiar to Michael Sam. The individual combine scores that the average person looks at are the 40 yard dash time, bench press, shuttle run time and vertical leap height. Most people do not realize that there are position specific drills that are scored and I am assuming Michael Sam is a Clay Matthews like player who will need to make the position change. I am afraid that the low scores in the Outside Linebacker drills will become the new media frenzy and this will have a Tim Tebow like effect on him.  What I know from seeing him play is that Sam will make an impact on a team at his new position, but it might take a season or two for him to catch on.

What Have You Done For Me Lately

Now two of America’s greatest Olympians have failed to produce. In two days Shaun White and Bode Miller, both Gold Medalists, failed to even make the podium in their respective events. Both men are the best in their respective sports and yet the chance to really assure their dominance slipped through their fingers. Both men led in the trial runs and practices, commanding leads the analysts said, but it was not meant to be. I have been contemplating these events and I think that these men have lost their true competitive edge, that chip on their shoulder that said they needed to be the best to prove to everyone else they were the best. These losses might shake them up enough to get back that, “Us Against the World,” mentality. Time will tell if they gain back the fire in the pit of their bellies.

Trivia

Last week’s answer was Sandis Ozolinsh.

This week’s question is …

What is the Olympic Motto?