Month: August 2010

olympic sports

Diamonds for Bershawn Jackson, Allyson Felix

Posted on by Beau Dure

A couple of quick updates:

– Shot put (men): Reese Hoffa upsets Christian Cantwell, though Cantwell has long ago clinched season title. (Results)

– High jump (women): Chaunte Howard Lowe didn’t jump. Blanka Vlasic completes the sweep in her absence. (Results)

– 400 hurdles (men): Bershawn Jackson wraps dominant season. (Results)

– 200 (women): Season champion Allyson Felix wins a close one. (Results)

– 800 (women): Caster Semenya, cleared to run after some gender confusion, places third. (Results)

– 100 (men): Tyson Gay wraps up title with a 9.79, 0.01 off his world lead and 0.02 off Usain Bolt’s meet record. (Results)

– 1,500 (men): Kenya’s Asbel Kiprop takes win and season title, with USA’s Leo Manzano second in a personal best 3:32.37. (Results)

– 100 hurdles (women): Canada’s Priscilla Lopes-Schliep, who came into the race tied with USA’s Lolo Jones, wins to clinch the title. Jones, who finished the season in a slump, takes fifth. (Results)

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soccer

Why don’t we have a soccer blog like this?

Posted on by Beau Dure

Check out this breakdown of the pivotal final play in the U.S. basketball team’s win over Spain. Great stuff, showing how a sudden switch to zone defense threw off Spain’s offense.

So here’s a question: With so many soccer blogs in the country — I barely know a soccer fan who does NOT double as a journalist to some degree — why don’t we have one that gives this sort of tactical breakdown?

(Apologies if I’m missing one. Great time to step forward if you’re doing this.)

Update: Several people on Twitter pointed out ZonalMarking.net, which I’ve probably missed because I’m a provincial American. (I joke, but I was indeed thinking of the vibrant U.S. soccer-blogging community.)

Update 2: World Soccer Reader tackles tactics on occasion. Here’s the one I should’ve known: Steve Davis writes about tactics at MLSSoccer.com. New to the blogosphere: Give Us A Goal.

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olympic sports

Michael Phelps’ mission impossible: Stay motivated in off year

Posted on by Beau Dure

The Pan-Pacific championships are as good as it gets for swimming in the middle of an Olympic cycle. It’s not the Olympics or the world championships, but it’s a chance to see a U.S. national team in action.

And because we’re living in the Michael Phelps era, it’s also a chance to see him in action. Sort of.

It’s a relief in these budget-strapped times that the Pan Pacs drew an actual media presence, calling attention to the feats of Ryan Lochte, Dana Vollmer et al. But Phelps, whose out-of-pool life has been in the news in the past, will always be under scrutiny.

So it’s no surprise that The Washington Post‘s Amy Shipley went into great detail about Phelps’ wayward practice habits. Basically, he’s not showing up all the time.

Thankfully, Shipley put Phelps’ efforts in perspective, noting that several swimmers take extended breaks. (Are we sure Gary Hall Jr. didn’t hibernate between Olympics?)

My longtime USA TODAY colleague Vicki Michaelis says Phelps is leaving the Pan Pacs with a heightened awareness of what he needs to do.

But he has plenty of time. The “off” year in the Olympic/world championship cycle is really “off” — moreso than in winter sports, track and field or other Olympic endeavors. Phelps’ next big test starts 11 months from now — July 16-31 in Shanghai for the world championships.

“Let’s be honest,” said Nathan Adrian, whose ascendancy continued over the weekend. “It’s just the Pan Pacs.”

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olympic sports

The battle for beach volleyball’s soul

Posted on by Beau Dure

When we last checked in on the AVP Tour, the rest of the season was in jeopardy. Now it’s gone.

We also noted last time that beach legend Karch Kiraly had some sort of low-key tour going on as well, and he was touting old-school volleyball with larger courts, a different ball, the old 15-point must-serve-to-score scoring, etc.

With the AVP on hiatus, the city of Manhattan Beach (Calif.) scrambled to save its prestigious event. They’ve done so, with one hitch — they’re going old school with the rules.

Count Olympic gold medalist Kerri Walsh among those who are unhappy and refusing to play. And a few jabs about the international game being here to stay are included in the midst of Hans Stolfus’ emotional, comprehensive blog post about the AVP situation. (HT: Manhattan Beach Confidential)

Take it from a soccer journalist — niche sports divided do not stand.

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mma, olympic sports, soccer, track and field

Midweek Myriad: PanPac swimming, Diamond League finals

Posted on by Beau Dure

Yes, I’m spending some time away from the computer this week. Coincidentally, I’m pondering a remake of SportsMyriad.com. The experimental phase should be at an end soon; the question is what follows.

This is an unusually busy midweek for Myriad sports — CONCACAF Champions League group stage games, UEFA Champions League playoffs featuring teams you might be able to find on a map, plus the culmination of some swimming and track and field seasons.

Track and field: The Weltklasse Zurich meet wraps up roughly half of the Diamond League events. The shot putters got an early start. The rest of the meet is Thursday on Universal Sports online. Events to watch: men’s long jump (Dwight Phillips leads but hasn’t clinched), women’s 400 (Allyson Felix, who has clinched 200, leads here as well) and women’s long jump (Brittney Reese has narrow lead) . You’ll also see victory laps for Jeremy Wariner (men’s 400), David Oliver (men’s 110 hurdles) and Carmelita Jeter (women’s 100). The most curious event is the men’s 200, where runaway leader Walter Dix has withdrawn, leaving Wallace Spearmon a chance to clean up.

Swimming: The Pan Pacific Championships — mostly USA, Australia, Japan, Canada and South Korea, but with a handful of people from non-Pacific places like South Africa — are on Universal Sports and Swim Network.

Soccer: Seeing Joe Public FC play at home in Trinidad carries a reminder of a sad incident in international youth soccer. The stadium is named for Marvin Lee, a Trinidad & Tobago Under-20 player who was paralyzed in a collision during a game and died a couple of years later. The player with whom he collided — Landon Donovan.

MMA: Sorry for the lack of advance warning, but you’ll want to get to a TV now to see WEC on Versus. Dominick Cruz and Joseph Benavidez are in the main event.

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soccer

MLS player ratings: Aug. 18-22

Posted on by Beau Dure

After nine games last week, it’s another full slate this time.

Volunteer via Twitter, Facebook or the comments, then leave your comments below:

All times ET

Wednesday
Chicago-New England, 8:30

Saturday
Toronto-New York, 1
San Jose-Los Angeles, 4 (TeleFutura)
Columbus-Colorado, 7:30
Dallas-Chivas USA, 8:30 (FSC) – I’ll take one of the 8:30s
Houston-Chicago, 8:30
Kansas City-New England, 8:30

Sunday
D.C. United-Philadelphia, 2 – me

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mma, olympic sports, soccer, track and field

Friday Myriad: EPL madness

Posted on by Beau Dure

Catch up on your EPL previews now. Check out the whole team-by-team series at The Guardian.

MLS, meanwhile, has Donovan vs. Henry. Sign up to do player ratings.

We also have an interesting grab bag of events from a pretty big gymnastics competition to a USA Basketball friendly.

FRIDAY

2 p.m.: Track and field, Diamond League, London Grand Prix. Check the preview and hope the stream works. Universal Sports online

3 p.m.: Soccer, Bayern Munich-Real Madrid. Interesting friendly. ESPN / ESPN Deportes / ESPN3

11 p.m.: MMA, Strikeforce Challengers. The main event is veteran Joe Riggs vs. Louis Taylor, and Randy Couture’s son, Ryan, makes his debut. But most eyes are on the women’s tournament, featuring Miesha Tate and Carina Damm. Showtime (delayed to 11 p.m. PT on West Coast)

SATURDAY

7:30 a.m.: Soccer, Tottenham-Manchester City. Online only? ESPN3

9:30 a.m.: Track and field, Diamond League, London Grand Prix, Day 2. Universal Sports online

10 a.m.: Soccer, Aston Villa-West Ham. Your first EPL game of the year on FSC should feature at least one American (Brad Friedel) and a lot of chatter about a possible American coach (Bob Bradley). FSC

12:30 p.m.: Soccer, Chelsea-West Brom. Your first Big Four game of the year on U.S. TV. FSC

3 p.m.: Tennis, ATP Rogers Cup (Montreal) semifinals. ESPN2

4 p.m.: Action Sports, Dew Tour. NBC

4 p.m.: Soccer, Philadelphia-Colorado. TeleFutura

5:30 p.m.: Soccer, New York-Los Angeles, including a 30-minute pregame to hype all the Designated Players. FSC

7 p.m.: Tennis, ATP Rogers Cup (Montreal) semifinals. ESPN2

8 p.m.: Gymnastics, Visa Championships. NBC

SUNDAY

11 a.m.: Soccer, Liverpool-Arsenal. Your first really, really big game of the EPL season. FSC

1 p.m.: Basketball, USA-France. ESPN2

3 p.m.: Tennis, ATP Rogers Cup (Montreal) final. ESPN2

4 p.m.: Action Sports, Dew Tour. NBC

6 p.m.: Soccer, WPS, Boston-Sky Blue. FSC

MORE MYRIAD

  • Full soccer listings at Soccer America: MLS, EPL, Mexico, elsewhere in Europe and Latin America.
  • Selected weekend listings at USA TODAY
  • ESPN3: Soccer, tennis, Aussie rules and a bunch of different forms of baseball, from Little to Mexican.
  • Tennis Channel: WTA Cincinnati.
  • Universal Sports: More gymnastics, track and field, triathlon, FIVB beach volleyball.
  • More Olympic sports: The Youth Olympic Games open for the first time Saturday in Singapore. Women’s volleyball has World Grand Prix action with occasional streaming.
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