Author: Beau Dure

The guy who wrote a bunch of soccer books and now runs a Gen X-themed podcast while substitute teaching and continuing to write freelance stuff.
olympic sports, winter sports

Bobsled: The case for Lolo Jones

Posted on by Beau Dure

Updated with Hyleas Fountain news

Perhaps I’m being paranoid in thinking people are going to gripe about the news that Lolo Jones has made the U.S. team for the upcoming World Cup bobsled season.

Let’s check Twitter and collect all the insane reaction, shall we?

OK, that’s funny.

Yes, that’s true.

http://twitter.com/TheDon_D/status/261453438603378688

And most of the other reaction has been either a simple “congratulations” or a weak reference to Cool Runnings. Maybe the crazies on Twitter aren’t morning people.

So maybe this is a non-controversy. But just in case people are skeptical about Jones’ inclusion on the World Cup roster, let’s take a closer look.

Here’s the existing roster listed on the USA Bobsled and Skeleton site:

Drivers:
– Elana Meyers (2012 World Championship bronze; as push athlete, won 2010 Olympic bronze),
– Jazmine Fenlator (one full year on World Cup)
– Bree Schaaf (2010 Olympian, 5th place)

Push athletes:
– Emily Azevedo (2010 Olympian, 5th place)
– Katie Eberling (2012 World Championship bronze)
– Ingrid Marcum (bobsledder/weightlifter in mid-30s)
– Brittany Reinbolt (football player — yes, American football — with little experience)
– Hillary Werth (not much experience)

Last season, a few others appeared on the World Cup circuit — drivers Jamie Greubel and Megan Hill, along with push athletes Ida Bernstein and Nicole Vogt. But typically, USA I and USA II were some combination of Meyers, Schaaf, Azevedo and Eberling. And they were the only U.S. athletes with top-10 finishes. The World Championship results: Meyers/Eberling 3rd, Fenlator/Marcum 10th, Schaaf/Azevedo.

So the team wasn’t really settled beyond the top two sleds. Marcum’s Twitter feed, with the great handle IronValkyrie, makes a vague reference to an injury, which likely accounts for her absence from the selection process this fall.

The selection started with a push competition, where a few Olympic athletes gave it a try. The results, with returnees in bold and Olympic guests in bold italic:

1. Aja Evans 9.65 (4.84, 4.81); 2. Katie Eberling 9.78 (4.88, 4.94); 3. Cherrelle Garrett 9.99 (5.02, 4.97); 4. Hyleas Fountain 10.01 (5.00, 5.01); 5. Emily Azevedo 10.04 (5.01, 5.03); 5. Tianna Madison 10.04 (5.03, 5.01); 7. Lolo Jones 10.11 (5.07, 5.04); 7. Maureen Ajoku 10.11 (5.04, 5.07); 9. Tracey Stewart 10.13 (5.09, 5.04); 10. Kristi Koplin 10.15 (5.007, 5.08); 11. Ida Bernstein 10.18 (5.07, 5.11); 12. Brittany Reinbolt 10.30 (5.14, 5.16); 13. Nicole Vogt 10.66 (5.33, 5.33); 14. Katie Steingraber 10.73 (5.36, 5.37); 15. Micaela Damas 10.79 (5.39, 5.40); 16. Sinead Corley 10.84 (5.35, 5.49);

Those results might make you think these Olympians are picking up the sport rather quickly. Here’s what women’s bobsled coach Todd Hays, whom you might remember from past Olympic medal runs, had to say at the start competition:

It’s great to see talented athletes like this give back to their USA teammates. And it’s of course a great opportunity for a coach like me to test his recruitment skills by trying to get these athletes to commit to our sports. I’m not successful yet, but we’ll see if we can entice them to give it a try.

Fountain (@Hept_Chic) said she had fun, and she congratulated Jones this morning. But she wasn’t in the full selection races. (Update: Slight injury, apparently.) Madison and Jones were there, though Madison just rode as a fore-runner with driver Elana Meyers, who got a bye thanks to her World Championship results last year. Eberling also didn’t compete. The rest of the top nine from the push championships competed.

The first selection race results:

1. Jamie Greubel and Aja Evans 1:56.96 (58.50, 58.46); 2. Jazmine Fenlator and Lolo Jones 1:57.01 (58.46, 58.55); 3. Bree Schaaf and Emily Azevedo 1:57.80 (58.82, 58.98); 4. Megan Hill and Maureen Ajoka 2:00.96 (1:00.36, 1:00.60); 5. Katelyn Kelly and Tracey Stewart 2:01.36 (1:00.79, 1:00.57);

Big gap there between the top three and the next two. And rookie push athlete Aja Evans was clearly legit.

Schaaf then decided she wasn’t fully fit after hip surgery. She’s heading back to rehab. That makes the driver selections rather easy, especially after the second selection race:

1. Jamie Greubel and Aja Evans 1:55.94 (57.56, 58.38); 2. Jazmine Fenlator and Cherrelle Garrett 1:55.99 (57.67, 58.32); 3. Katelyn Kelly and Tracey Stewart 1:59.49 (59.68, 59.81); 4. Megan Hill and Maureen Ajoka 1:59.50 (59.26, 1:00.24);

The World Cup team will have three drivers in three sleds, so with Schaaf out, it’s rather obvious: Meyers, Greubel, Fenlator.

Then they decided to take six push athletes. Eberling and Azevedo are the returnees with world or Olympic medals. Then there’s Evans, the rookie who left Lake Placid with a start record. Garrett, like Evans a former college track athlete, showed enough to get a look. And then two summer Olympians — Madison and Jones.

So what’s really going on here?

The USA’s results last year weren’t that great, and the team is still looking for the right mix of athletes. Like a national soccer team two years out from the World Cup, they’re experimenting.

And if you look at the selected athletes, you see Jones is far from a shoo-in for Sochi 2014. The USA will get three sleds — at most — in the Olympics. Eberling and Azevedo have the experience, and their results this fall have been good. Then Evans is the hotshot rookie. That leaves Jones, Madison and Garrett competing to push (pardon the pun) one of those athletes out of the top three.

The competition might go right up to the last weeks before Sochi, and what seems set in stone now might not be the case in a year. Remember Jean Racine and Jennifer Davidson, the dominant duo before Salt Lake 2002?

We’ll see if 2014 proves to be controversial as well. For now, it’s not. Lolo Jones is one of a handful of track and field athletes giving bobsled a shot, and she has shown enough potential to get a shot in international competition.

And if anyone sees it otherwise, please refer him or her to this post. If nothing else, maybe their eyes will glaze over reading through the results.

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cycling, mma, soccer, sports culture

Tuesday’s links: Pot in MMA, skeleton comeback, soccer launch, Armstrong albatross

Posted on by Beau Dure

The day got away from me, but I did some interesting reading in between trips tending to sick cars and family members who need oil changes.

Wait, I’ve got that backwards.

Anyway …

MMA: Matt Riddle, “Chipper” from his TUF days, says he’s not a stoner but smokes pot because he needs to chill out. Having never walked in that world (apart from attending indoor Pink Floyd and Rush concerts), I can’t tell whether that’s a meaningful distinction.

Speaking of odd behavior in MMA, remind me to get to this hourlong Jason “Mayhem” Miller interview when I have a spare hour.

Skeleton: Like a BMW on the Atlanta Perimeter, Noelle Pikus-Pace came back and sped past the rest of the field.

Cycling: Some sort of philosophy blog thinks Lance Armstrong has become an albatross to co-author Sally Jenkins.

Soccer: Congratulations to Howler magazine (on Tumblr, too) on its launch party. My invite got lost in the mail, I’m sure. (That, or they realized I don’t live in New York.)

Finally, a quick thought on today’s Twitter conversation about how much or how little commentators should ramble about their playing days. I can’t compare or critique Kate Markgraf and Brandi Chastain — they’re friends and colleagues, and I hope we’re all covering another Women’s World Cup someday. But I know a lot of fans have had issues with Chastain, claiming she talks too much about her playing days. So it struck me as interesting that Arlo White was trying to get Markgraf to talk more about her playing days. Maybe he doesn’t read Twitter?

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olympic sports, Uncategorized, winter sports

Monday Myriad: Skating away on the thin ice of a new day

Posted on by Beau Dure

That’s a Jethro Tull reference. Would you prefer Avril Lavigne? Some skater boys did pretty well over the weekend.

Short-track: A lot of world records fell over the weekend at the World Cup opener in Calgary, and J.R. Celski came up with one of the biggest, breaking the 40-second mark in the 500 meters. Celski also picked up a third-place finish, as did John-Henry Krueger, a discretionary pick for the World Cup squad who must have done some industrial smoothing to finish just behind Celski and Canadian favorite Charles Hamelin in the 500.

Check out the 500-meter final (via DailyHouse):

Canada’s Valerie Maltais took the women’s 1,000-meter record, though the overall World Cup leader at 1,000 is Britain’s Elise Christie.

Not a great weekend for the U.S. women, who finished eighth in the team classification. The men were a solid fourth, well ahead of China, despite finishing eighth in the relay.

Figure skating: Here, the U.S. women had a great weekend. For all my fretting over the “rise up and fade” tendencies they’ve had over the last few years, the results at Skate America speak for themselves: Ashley Wagner first, Christina Gao second. (On the downside, Rachael Flatt was ninth out of 10.)

Meryl Davis and Charlie White won the ice dance so comfortably they probably could’ve tossed in a bit of the Chicken Dance toward the end. Caydee Denney and John Coughlin were a promising third in pairs.

So if you want to panic about anything from a U.S. standpoint, consider the men. Japan swept the podium, Jeremy Abbott was fifth, and the other U.S. men were in the bottom four.

MLS: The playoff field is set, with Columbus and Dallas falling short of the last spots. San Jose has the Supporters’ Shield, but L.A. defender Omar Gonzalez cares not for the Quakes’ style of play, accusing them of some off-the-ball ref-not-looking shenanigans. And Galaxy supporters group Angel City Brigade raises some pointed questions for security at Buck Shaw Stadium.

Women’s soccer: Germany announced its re-emergence, holding the USA to a 1-1 draw on the Fan Tribute Tour at Toyota Park, the former home of the Chicago Red Stars.

Swimming: Missy Franklin is going to Cal. Can’t blame her, but those of use who learned to swim at the University of Georgia may be a little sad to hear the news.

Triathlon: Gwen Jorgensen knows how to finish a season in style — second place in the last World Championships series race, moving her up to ninth on the year. Sarah Groff was ninth on the day, seventh on the year.

The U.S. men had a rougher time, but the USA also came away with several paratriathlon and age-group prizes. If only they had a category for “over-40, can’t stand cold water or running” entries.

Rowing: Want to see a frightening photo? Go to the Head of the Charles’ official site and wait for “Day 2 underway” to come around. Is this rowing or rugby?

Swimming: A lot of Olympic swimmers pass on the World Cup season, particularly after the Olympics, but Anthony Ervin and Jessica Hardy seem to be making up for lost time with a few wins on the circuit this weekend.

Also in the Team USA roundup: Katie Compton’s latest cyclocross medal and the Head of the Charles.

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cycling

Lance Armstrong’s legacy falling like Berlin Wall

Posted on by Beau Dure

At what point does Lance Armstrong go from a being an inspirational figure to a sympathetic one?

Six months ago, Armstrong was comfortably in the USA’s firmament of sports heroes. He had parlayed his Tour de France championships and triumph over cancer into an assortment of lucrative business deals and a reputation as one of the country’s leading cancer-fighters. Of the people whose names are synonymous with cancer organizations — Susan Komen, Jim Valvano — he’s the one who’s still with us, ready to speak about his experience.

Sure, he had critics. But they were mostly shouted down, scorned or sometimes silenced in court.

Then the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency said it was checking into Armstrong’s past. And Armstrong scoffed, confident that his business partners and the sports community as a whole would stick with him. After losing a round in court, he wiped his hands and figured he didn’t even need to fight the case against him. Maybe he couldn’t? No one knew for sure.

When USADA released its colossal evidence against Armstrong, he shrugged it off again. Great times coming up at Livestrong, he reminded everyone on Twitter.

Aside from the media reaction, nothing tangible happened at first. Then, everything fell. It was like everyone in East Berlin suddenly realizing that the guards were no longer at the Berlin Wall. The official bulwarks — in Armstrong’s case, Livestrong and his many commercial partners — fell away. And journalists, many of whom had suspicions for years but no proof, felt free at last to heap scorn upon Armstrong.

Today, Lance Armstrong is officially the seven-time Tour champion no longer, stripped by international cycling authorities who seem to believe every bit of evidence except the bits that implicate them as well. Given the depth of doping scandals within cycling over Armstrong’s decade of wins, many titles will simply sit vacant. There’s no point in “promoting” anyone to the Tour title when the other cyclists either had doping issues of their own or were never put under the same scrutiny to which USADA put Armstrong.

And Armstrong has lost the last of his endorsement deals. A few days ago, he had tens of millions in future earnings. Today, that’s all gone.

Other people and organizations are feeling the ripple effect. In the D.C. area, some people want to hear from Post columnist Sally Jenkins, Armstrong’s co-author and staunch defender a few short weeks ago. Former Armstrong teammate Levi Leipheimer will be telling his story in a documentary and panel discussion. And will we ever see the lovely Tour de France the same way?

But at the heart of it all is a giant now toppled. Just 12 days ago, he said he was “unaffected.” How different he must feel today.

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soccer

Women’s soccer trending upward or going in circles?

Posted on by Beau Dure

Interesting quote in this espnW report on the USA-Germany game:

The new coach, (Abby) Wambach told reporters this week, will have to be someone who “can put all the X’s and O’s together but who can also treat this more like a business. Gone are the days when the players aren’t recognized. We’re selling out stadiums.”

Rewind to two years ago, when I had one of many good conversations with the ever-thoughtful Wambach at the Maryland SoccerPlex:

“It feels like I’m doing something wrong,” says Washington Freedom forward Abby Wambach. “It feels like I’m failing at my job. I wanted to be part of the thing that kept it going. Now it feels like we have taken a step back at some level.”

So here’s the question*: What’s “normal” for women’s soccer? Selling out stadiums and being recognized? Toiling in obscurity at the SoccerPlex with a few empty seats in the bleachers? Or something in between?

Let’s rewind further to the WUSA (2001-2003). The typical post-mortem of that league is that expectations were wildly inflated after the 1999 Women’s World Cup, when the players were recognized and were selling out stadiums. The league leaned heavily on those stars.

Women’s soccer stars have shown staying power. Brandi Chastain still draws enthusiastic fans everywhere (Twitter exceptions duly noted). Julie Foudy is still an authority on leadership. Mia Hamm draws squeals from fans who were maybe 3 or 4 in 1999.

But how much can the “business” of women’s soccer depend on players being recognized? When Wambach, Solo, Rampone and company are gone in 1-5 years, will enough stars emerge alongside Alex Morgan?

Women’s soccer has gone from obscurity through a boom, bust and boom cycle. Will this boom last? Or are up-and-down cycles inevitable?

That’s what Sunil Gulati, U.S. Soccer business planners and a few team owners are surely trying to quantify right now.

* – You could also argue that the question is what the U.S. women’s coach has to do with running things “like a business.” Isn’t the new coach’s job to evaluate the whole talent pool and get the best players on the field in the best spots? Shouldn’t other people be worrying about the “business”? A conspiracy theorist would say a “business” would mean leaving the same core players on the field ad infinitum while they’re being “recognized,” but I don’t think that’s what Wambach meant. 

6
soccer

D.C. United-Columbus Crew: Random views from Section 302

Posted on by Beau Dure
After Lewis Neal’s goal made it 3-2.

My youth club was one of several in the stadium as D.C. United fought for and eventually clinched a playoff spot against the Columbus Crew.

The stadium’s falling apart. The quality of play was wretched through much of the game. Columbus played like a bunch of punks. (To some extent, so did United.) The referee was a shambles.

And still it was a great night. Good food. Good company. And a game that was exciting, if occasionally sloppy.

A few things to mention:

– D.C. United does so many things right as a club. With a baffling construction project blocking a major exit from Lot 8, the main tailgating lot, the club put a detailed detour on its site and handed out cards with the same map and directions. Getting out was a breeze. Great work, guys.

– Bottomless popcorn? Big hit with the kids. And some adults.

– No overhead TVs in our section, and no view of the video screen. Some kids moved to another clump of kids from our club so they could watch the big screen. That’s a bit much, but still, I would’ve liked to have seen some replays. I also couldn’t understand the PA, and they put very little info on the scoreboard. I thought the first D.C. United goal was scored by Pidge Eon. Turned out it was Nick DeLeon. Very different.

– Columbus’s first goal — in the seventh minute — was a direct result of a D.C. United defender lagging behind the others and leaving a couple of Crew players onside. Columbus’s second goal — two minutes after Pidge Eon’s equalizer — was a direct result of a D.C. United defender lagging behind the others and leaving a couple of Crew players onside.

– Edvin Jurisevic will not give a penalty kick for any foul committed without firearms.

– Bathroom in prime area closed for repairs? Why, yes, that’s terrific timing! I mean, RFK has all those winter events coming up, and they don’t want the stadium to be in bad shape.

– The game was chippy and sloppy, particularly in the first half. I began to wonder if we should’ve left the kids at home, lest they pick up any bad habits. Picked up a bit in the second half, when United pinned Columbus in its own half much of the time, even though a tie was fine for United. Then the Crew made things interesting when they threw everyone forward for the goal they needed to stay alive in the playoff race.

– Doug the Food Dude’s salmon wrap wasn’t quite as good as I remembered, but it was still a great value for hungry fans in Lot 8.

– Screaming Eagles were in fine voice. Should I complain that they blocked the tunnel from Lot 8 when I was trying to meet the coach who had my tickets? No? I’ll think about it. Maybe not something to bring up when the lower bowl was full and loud. The “quiet” side was into it, too.

I might need to figure out a way to get to the playoff game. Maybe take the same families with us.

Maybe I’ll get back to the pressbox at some point, and I can’t say I have no complaints with the view from Section 302. But I’m looking forward to going there again.

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mma

The Ultimate Fighter 16, Episode 6: Again, the dubious 10-8 round

Posted on by Beau Dure

General impressions here:

– This is not a bad season at all.

– Still not buying Higher Ground as the theme song.

– They’re going out of their way to make Roy Nelson look bad. Have we even met his assistant coaches?

There’s allegedly a guy named Jon on this show. Anyone remember him? Just saw him in the opening credits.

Show starts with Dana White coming in to tell Nic Herron-Webb that he won the second round and got (bleep) out of a third round.

Roy Nelson, though, goes off on things Nic could’ve done better. He enlists jiu-jitsu wizard Cameron Diffley to explain one of the finer points. Diffley keeps silent and looks for a hole in the floor in which he can crawl.

Oh, THERE’S Jon Manley. The Team Nelson fighter asks people on the other team how they’re treated when they lose. Seems Carwin is all caring and nice, while Nelson is indifferent. Or maybe Matt Secor’s just lying to mess with them. Team Carwin has only lost one fight so far. That’s not a statistically significant sample.

Are the editors making you look bad, Roy? Well, I can’t seem to embed his Tweets, so read them here and here.

Kitchen problem. Team Carwin apparently took Team Nelson’s chicken and started marinating it, Julian Lane says. So Lane and someone else eat a bit of the food and toss the rest. Team Carwin returns and starts looking all over for it.

Lane raises a good point: “Why are you looking for chicken in a drawer, man?”

And THEN we hear Team Carwin did this to Team Nelson earlier. Michael Hill’s food was gone. So Matt Secor accuses Hill of taking the chicken. Hill flips out.

Remarkably, after an exchange of bleeps, Secor loudly announces that Hill did not take the chicken, and he apologizes. Hill thanks him.

But in confessional, Hill offers a classic call-out to Secor: “I’m going to put you to sleep, and you can dream about me taking your chicken from the fridge.”

At the fight announcement, Hill offers more conventional trash-talk: “I’m going to knock you out, then I’m going to fart in your face.”

But alas, Carwin chooses Team Nelson’s Colton Smith to go against Carwin’s old guy, Eddy Ellis. By draft placement, this would be a bad matchup for Carwin. Then again, Dana really liked Eddy’s prelim fight. Then again again, as we saw with Sam Alvey, prelim fights mean squat.

Eddy gives a bit of his backstory. He took a lot of tough fights early in his career to get experience. Then he left the party scene and met his wife. Seems like something’s missing.

Carwin brings Eliot Marshall once again to encourage Eddy to ground-and-pound rather than lay-and-pray. Or something like that. Marshall tells everyone that fighting is about what? Damage. What? Damage. Remember? Damage. The word that was specifically left out of many explanations of judging criteria when the UFC was trying to get the sport regulated in more states. What? Damage.

Another Carwin assistant, Trevor Wittman, reminds Eddy that Colton was the dirtbag who faked touching gloves and then went straight for the takedown in his prelim fight.

We meet Colton, who was raised by a single mom in Iowa and did a lot of wrestling. He was kind of a troubled kid, so she put him in every sport. He joined the Army and enjoyed learning combatives. He’s now a combatives teacher.

We get a peek at Nelson’s training, and we see that an unnamed assistant coach — oh, wait, he’s “James” — is telling Colton to use a lot of front kicks. He doesn’t want to. He and sparring partner Julian Lane agree.

We’ve yet to see any assistant coaches or guests on Nelson’s side, something he addresses on his site.

The Diaz brothers were on this show, and no one thought to include them? Was the crew unable to come up with enough subtitles?

The remainder of the pre-fight stuff is roughly 20% Eddy’s experience, 80% Colton’s military background.

Colton gets the early takedown, stands, tags Eddy with a left hook, takes him down again, gets up, tags him again. In what phase was Eddy supposed to be better?

Oops – spoke too soon. With 2 minutes and change left, Eddy lands a solid right that wobbles Colton. Eddy gets on top and takes Colton’s back, then works for the armbar. Colton fights out of it and gets up with some blood trickling. Eddy lands another good combo, then lands in side control. Colton gets up and pushes Eddy into the cage.

Nelson tells Colton it was a close round, so he needs to win the second.

Round 2: Colton takes Eddy down, gets side control and turns Eddy’s face into a bloody mess. He slowly moves into a mounted crucifix like his coach used to beat Kimbo Slice, but after four minutes, referee Herb Dean has seen enough. Colton is surprised: “Oh, come on, ref!” Dean calmly explains that he needs to be trying to finish the fight. Colton shoots again, rocks him and then presses Eddy to the cage as the round ends.

We’re all expecting another round. But it’s 10:53. Dubious decision time? Or did Colton get a 10-8 in the second, like some sort of makeup call for Nic Herron-Webb?

Majority decision for Colton. Yep. Another 10-8 round. Just like last week. In this case, though, at least the guy with the momentum got the decision. And Colton comes over to tell Eddy he deserved a third round.

Colton talks again about men and women overseas while blood runs down his face. And neck. And chest.

This is entertaining stuff. And fight fans aren’t watching?

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olympic sports, winter sports

Season preview: Short-track speedskating

Posted on by Beau Dure
Helmets, close quarters, right turns — that’s short track. Copyright 2011 Thomas Di Nardo / Bella Faccie Sports Media via U.S. Speedskating

From the grace, artistry and predictability of figure skating, we turn to the wild world of short-track speedskating. Figure skating may be in the hands of the judges, but short-track skating is often in the hands of the refs, who have to determine whether skaters false-started, changed their lines, impeded each other or went all-out roller derby on each other. Does anyone envy that job?

Storylines

– New U.S. coaches and a split camp. Some skaters filed a claim of physical and emotional abuse against head coach Jae Su Chun and assistant Jun Hyung Yeo. Others disagreed. But while they may have beaten the rap on the abuse charges, they admitted they knew U.S. skater Simon Cho had tampered with Canadian Olivier Jean’s skates at the 2011 World Team Championships. So the coaches are gone. Are the bad feelings gone as well?

– Not that South Korea ever dominated short-track speedskating quite to the extent that, say, China dominates badminton and table tennis, but going a couple of years without a South Korean woman in the World Championship overall top three is a little surprising.

Events

World Cup
Oct. 19-21: Calgary
Oct. 26-28: Montreal
Nov. 30-Dec. 2: Nagoya, Japan
Dec. 7-9: Shanghai
Feb. 1-3: Sochi, Russia
Feb. 8-10: Dresden, Germany

U.S. Championships
Dec. 20-22: Salt Lake City

World Championships
March 8-10: Debrecen, Hungary

Qualifying

World Cup: The top five overall in the U.S. Single Distance Championships (yes, “overall” and “single distance” are contradictory, but bear with us) qualified for the World Cup teams.

World Championship: Separate qualifying process.

How to watch

The International Skating Union promises some live streaming.

Names to know

With the exception of Apolo Anton Ohno, every U.S. skater from the 2010 Olympics is still active. Could Ohno come back again?

Women

– Lana Gehring (USA):  Bronze medalist (500m) at 2012 World Championships in addition to relay silver. On 2010 Olympic bronze-medal relay team. Good 2011-12 World Cup season: 3rd in 1,500m, 4th in 1,000m — won both distances at February meet in the Netherlands. Co-wrote statement in support of Chun.

– Jessica Smith (USA): U.S. overall champion. 2012 Worlds relay silver medalist. Stuck with inline skating into her mid-20s and switched to the ice in time to be a 2010 Olympic alternate. Co-wrote statement in support of Chun.

– Alyson Dudek (USA): On 2010 Olympic bronze-medal relay team. One of Chun’s accusers.

– Emily Scott (USA): 2012 Worlds relay silver medalist. Five-time inline skating world champion, in third year with U.S. short-track team.

– Sarah Chen (USA): Only 17 (born March 15, 1995). Finished second at U.S. championships. Former track cyclist.

– Katherine Reutter (USA, not on World Cup team): Huge year in 2011: World champion at 1,500m, World Cup champion at 1,000m and 1,500m, second overall at Worlds with a a silver and a bronze in addition to gold. Won silver in 2010 Olympics (at 1,000 meters) in addition to bronze from relay. Rehabbing from hip injuries and didn’t compete at U.S. Championships but still listed as a Category I skater. Officially neutral in Chun dispute.

– Kimberly Derrick (USA): Finished seventh at U.S. championships but added to team as discretionary pick. On 2010 Olympic bronze-medal relay team. Also competed in 2006 Olympics one day after grandfather’s death. Signed statement in support of Chun. Updated with addition to World Cup team.

– Allison Baver (USA, not on World Cup team): Three-time Olympian. Didn’t make World Cup team (finished eighth at U.S. championships). One of Chun’s accusers. Has had injury problems and is also dabbling in long-track skating.

– Tamara Frederick (USA): Has World Cup experience. Finished sixth in U.S. championships but didn’t get discretionary pick, bypassed in favor of more experienced Derrick. Signed statement in support of Chun.

– Li Jianrou (China): Reigning world champion (overall and 1,500m). Second in 2011-12 World Cup at 1,000m.

– Ha-Ri Cho (South Korea): 2011 overall world champion. In 2012: World champion at 1,000m, World Cup champion at 1,500m. A decade of international experience.

– Arianna Fontana (Italy): 2010 bronze medalist at 500m. Third in 2011 and 2012 Worlds. World Cup champion at 500m.

Top finishers by year:

World Championships overall:

  • 2006: Sun-Yu Jin (South Korea), Wang Meng (China), Kalyna Roberge (Canada)
  • 2007:  Jin, Eun-Ju Jung (South Korea), Roberge
  • 2008: Wang, Zhou Yang (China), Shin-Young Yang (South Korea) // 7th – Katherine Reutter (USA)
  • 2009: Wang, Ming-Jung Kim (South Korea), Zhou // 7th – Reutter, 8th – Kimberly Derrick (USA)
  • 2010: Seung-Hi Park (South Korea), Wang, Ha-Ri Cho (South Korea) // 6th – Reutter
  • 2011: Cho, Reutter, Arianna Fontana (Italy)

2012 World Championships:

  • Overall: Li Jianrou (China), Valerie Maltais (Canada), Arianna Fontana (Italy) // 8th – Lana Gehring (USA)
  • 500m: Fan Kexin (China), Fontana, Gehring
  • 1,000m: Ha-Ri Cho (South Korea), Li, Maltais
  • 1,500m: Li, Liu Qiuhong (China), Marie-Eve Drolet (Canada)
  • 3,000m: Maltais, Fontana, Drolet
  • Relay: China, USA, South Korea

2012 World Cup standings:

  • 500m: Arianna Fontana (Italy), Martina Valcepina (Italy), Liu Quihong (China) // 6th – Jessica Smith (USA)
  • 1,000m: Yui Sakai (Japan), Li Jianrou (China), Elise Christie (Britain) // 4th – Lana Gehring (USA)
  • 1,500m: Ha-Ri Cho (China), Eun-Byul Lee (South Korea), Gehring // 4th – Katherine Reutter (USA)
  • Relay: China, USA, Japan

2010 Olympics:

  • 500m: Wang Meng (China), Marianne St-Gelais (Canada), Arianna Fontana (Italy)
  • 1,000m: Wang, Katherine Reutter (USA), Seung-Hi Park (South Korea)
  • 1,500m: Zhou Yang (China), Eun-Byul Lee (South Korea), Park
  • Relay: China, Canada, USA

2006 Olympics

  • 500m: Wang Meng (China), Evgenia Radanova (Bulgaria), Anouk Leblanc-Boucher (Canada)
  • 1,000m: Sun-Yu Jin (South Korea), Wang, Yang Yang-A (China)
  • 1,500m: Sun, Eun-Kyung Choi (South Korea), Wang
  • Relay: South Korea, Canada, Italy

Men

– J.R. Celski (USA): U.S. overall champion. Won bronze in 2010 (at 1,500 meters) in addition to relay bronze. Then took a year off to start a film company in Seattle. Second overall in 2009 World Championships (won 3,000m); fourth overall in 2010. Still holds junior world records at 500m and 1,000m, set in 2009. One of Chun’s accusers.

– Jeff Simon (USA): Back after dealing with back problems. One of Chun’s accusers and said he would not compete on World Cup circuit if coaches were still in place.

– Travis Jayner (USA):  On 2010 bronze-medal relay team. Good 2010-11 season: World relay bronze, third in World Cup 1,000m. One of Chun’s accusers.

– Chris Creveling (USA):  Signed statement in support of Chun. New to international competition.

– Kyle Carr (USA): 2011 World relay bronze. One of Chun’s accusers.

– John-Henry Krueger (USA): Youngster finished sixth at U.S. championships and was added to World Cup team as discretionary pick. Signed statement in support of Chun.

– Simon Cho (USA, not on World Cup team): At center of skate-tampering controversy. 2011 world champion at 500m, fourth overall. On 2010 bronze-medal relay team. Finished ninth in U.S. championships.

– Jordan Malone (USA, not on World Cup team): On 2010 bronze-medal relay team but had a few problems in the U.S. championships. One of Chun’s accusers.

– Charles Hamelin (Canada): Veteran won 2010 Olympic gold at 500m. World Championship medalist in odd years: silver in 2007, bronze in 2009, silver in 2011. Great World Cup in 2009-10: 1st at 500m, 2nd at 1,500m, 3rd at 1,000m.

– Yoon-Gy Kwak (South Korea): Reigning world champion (overall, 1,000m, 3,000m). 2012 World Cup champion at 1,000m.

– Jinkyu Noh (South Korea): 2011 overall world champion and world junior champion; overall runner-up and 1,500m champion in 2012. Also World Cup 1,500m champion in 2012.

– Olivier Jean (Canada): Third overall in Worlds and won 500m, where he was also the World Cup champion. The target of the skate tampering that tore apart the U.S. team. You have to see his picture.

Top finishers by year:

World Championships overall:

  • 2006: Hyun-Soo Ahn (South Korea), Ho-Suk Lee (South Korea), Francois-Louis Tremblay (Canada) // 9th – Rusty Smith (USA)
  • 2007: Ahn, Charles Hamelin (Canada), Apolo Anton Ohno (USA) // 7th – Jordan Malone (USA)
  • 2008: Ohno, H-S Lee, Kyung-Taek Song (South Korea)
  • 2009: H-S Lee, J.R. Celski (USA), Hamelin // 5th – Ohno, 10th – Jeff Simon (USA)
  • 2010: H-S Lee, Yoon-Gy Kwak (South Korea), Liang Wenhao (China) // 4th – J.R. Celski (USA)
  • 2011:  Jinkyu Noh (South Korea), Hamelin, Liang // 4th – Simon Cho (USA), 5th – Jeff Simon (USA)

2012 World Championships:

  • Overall: Yoon-Gy Kwak (South Korea), Jinkyu Noh (South Korea), Olivier Jean (Canada) // 15th – Simon Cho (USA)
  • 500m: Jean, Charles Hamelin (Canada), Kwak
  • 1,000m: Kwak, Noh, Hamelin
  • 1,500m: Noh, Kwak, Da Woon Sin (South Korea)
  • 3,000m: Kwak, Noh, Sin
  • Relay: Canada, Netherlands, South Korea

2012 World Cup:

  • 500m: Olivier Jean (Canada), Charles Hamelin (Canada), Liang Wenhao (China) // 10th – Simon Cho (USA)
  • 1,000m: Yoon-Gy Kwak (South Korea), Jinkyu Noh (South Korea), Jean //5th – J.R. Celski (USA)
  • 1,500m: Noh, Da Woon Sin (South Korea), Kwak // 10th – John-Henry Krueger (USA)

2010 Olympics:

  • 500m: Charles Hamelin (Canada), Si-Bak Sung (South Korea), Francois-Louis Tremblay (Canada)
  • 1,000m: Jung-Su Lee (South Korea), Ho-Suk Lee (South Korea), Apolo Anton Ohno (USA)
  • 1,500m: J-S Lee, Ohno, J.R. Celski (USA)
  • Relay: Canada, South Korea, USA

2006 Olympics

  • 500m: Apolo Anton Ohno (USA), Francois-Louis Tremblay (Canada), Hyun-Soo Ahn (South Korea)
  • 1,000m: Ahn, Ho-Suk Lee (South Korea), Ohno
  • 1,500m: Ahn, Lee, Li Jiajun (China)
  • Relay: South Korea, Canada, USA

 

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mma

MMA: Where have all the hardcores gone?

Posted on by Beau Dure

In mixed martial arts, the fanbase is divided into two camps — “hardcores” and “casuals.”

“Casuals” are fans who were late to jump on the MMA bandwagon and are most prone to respond to big names. They know Brock Lesnar, but they’re a little hazy on Cain Velasquez. They aren’t well-versed in the grappling aspects of MMA. For a while, the dividing line was after the Forrest Griffin-Stephan Bonnar fight in 2005 that propelled the UFC to greater heights.

“Hardcores” can earn their credentials in a few different ways. They might be experts in technique, either striking or grappling. They may have been around since the days of Pancrase or at least Pride’s heyday. They’re not homogeneous — some appreciate the pro wrestling roots of Japanese MMA, some hate pro wrestling and want MMA to strive for legitimacy and professionalism akin to other major sports. They’ll argue about the sport’s history the same way college-rock diehards will argue whether Automatic for the People was R.E.M.’s masterpiece or further evidence that they’d sold out.

In the EliteXC days, the UFC was the hardcore fans’ choice. EliteXC was betting the farm on the lie that Kimbo Slice was one of the world’s best heavyweights. Not even Kimbo believed that. The UFC was mostly a meritocracy. Some fans insisted that the UFC merely had some of the world’s best talent, not all of it, but the UFC was not something to ignore. The title belts meant something.

The Ultimate Fighter has often divided hardcores. The first season yielded the spectacular Griffin-Bonnar fight and several legitimate UFC stars, so even if hardcores scoffed at the drunken shenanigans in the house, they were willing to pay attention. As the TUF talent has grown weaker, hardcores have been more likely to say, “Oh, I haven’t watched since the fifth season.” They may have come back for the heavyweight season, which mixed in a few good prospects along with a true test of Kimbo Slice’s fighting skills, and the featherweight/bantamweight season drew a lot of curious looks at a largely untapped talent pool. But beyond that, the hardcores are an audience that would need to be won back.

The 15th season (first on FX) was designed to do just that. The fights were live. The drama in the house was toned down. It was less of a reality show and more of a tournament for prospects that played out in real time. But the ratings weren’t great. Perhaps the new Friday night time slot was a problem, though I’m inclined to think hardcores know how to work a DVR.

Season 16 went back to the old format, and the promos showed plenty of confrontations in the house. Honestly, I thought the ratings would go back up, capturing people who may claimed they didn’t like reality-show nonsense but secretly craved it. That hasn’t happened.

And that brings us to the week’s blockbuster news: Chael Sonnen and Jon Jones will be the coaches on the show’s 17th season. Then Sonnen, who has never won a UFC fight at light heavyweight, will fight Jones for the light heavyweight title.

I responded on Bloody Elbow with a flippant comment that “There are no hard-cores.” I thought I had explained a bit more, saying that the UFC must think there are no hardcores (I decided to drop the hyphen after looking around for common usage) if they’re just going emphasize Sonnen’s big mouth over a legit title contender, but I see now that I must have hit “send” before typing the rest. Oops. No wonder I got called out on the board and on Twitter.

Coincidentally, I talked with a colleague yesterday who has been around since the old days, and we talked about the size of the hardcore audience. It’s hard to pin down. Hardcores have kept up a lively presence on the Internet, with thriving news sites and a multitude of blogs. But what percentage of the audience is hardcore?

My colleague thinks hardcores’ enthusiasm has dimmed as the UFC has spread itself too thin, putting together weaker cards. I’m torn. Sure, the UFC has come up with some remarkably weak co-main events and third fights on the main card, leading to the cancellation of a major pay-per-view card when the Jones-Dan Henderson fight fell through and left nothing viable to call a main event. But shouldn’t hardcores also be interested in seeing fighters on their way up the ladder? Aren’t they the ones who hop on Facebook three hours before a pay-per-view so they can watch the prelims?

That takes us back to this question: Should we define “hardcores” as people who want to watch as many fights as they can, or are they people who just want to concentrate on the proven or promising fighters?

The next question: Is the TUF audience hardcore, and are they tuning out because they think the fighters have no future? Or is it casual, and have they tuned out because they’ve seen all the reality drama before?

Then what about the Bellator audience? Are they hardcores? And will they watch as Spike puts together another reality show that sounds an awful lot like The Ultimate Fighter but with Bellator rather than the UFC as the prize at the end? (Or do Bellator and Spike think casuals are so habituated to watching MMA on Spike that they won’t notice the brand name has changed?)

“Casuals” may be easier to predict. Give them a big name and an outsized personality, and they’ll respond. But that buzz has to come from somewhere — if their hardcore-leaning buddies aren’t telling them they need to check out Ben Henderson, they won’t. And the hardcores are a little more difficult to predict. They’re a temperamental bunch, and I say that with a lot of respect.**

The good news about the hardcore audience is that they’re not going to go away. Casuals may come and go, but hardcores have too much respect for the sport to abandon it entirely. The danger for the UFC is that hardcore fans are willing to look beyond it.

So I don’t know how big the hardcore audience really is. But I know they’re important. And I know stunts like Sonnen on TUF will not make them happy.

* – Apologies if the headline gets that awful Paula Cole song stuck in your head.

** – Am I a hardcore? Honestly, I’d feel like a poser if I claimed that. I may have been one of the first mainstream sports guys to catch on to the sport — I was USA TODAY’s first official beat writer — and I’ve gone back to watch everything from the first four UFC cards to every TUF episode. But I was lucky to work with Sergio Non, who had an encyclopedic knowledge of every fighter from at least the past 12 years. I have other colleagues in the media who can go point-by-point through the finer elements of jiu-jitsu or covered UFC cards when the sport was still virtually underground. I can go beyond the big names — some of the best fight cards I’ve seen were WEC cards that didn’t draw many other viewers on Versus — but I know my limitations. And I hate pro wrestling.

 

1
cycling

Livestrong’s legacy and Lance Armstrong

Posted on by Beau Dure

A thoughtful espnW roundtable on Lance Armstrong raised a good question: How valuable is Livestrong, anyway?

(One question needs to be addressed: One participant says people might see Livestrong Park and wonder where the funds are going. But unless the reporting is wrong, the funds are going to other way.)

The roundtable links to this Outside magazine story from earlier in the year that questioned a lot of Livestrong’s practices, from its strong-arm approach to the media to the nebulous emphasis on “awareness.” The latter is turning into a hot topic in cancer charities these days — is it time to put away the ribbons and pick up some lab microscopes?

But the Outside piece, while occasionally blunt, is fair. It doesn’t shy away from the good that Livestrong has done.

The more official watchdogs — Charity Navigator, Charity Watch and the Better Business Bureau — give Livestrong good grades.

Then you get to the intangibles. How many people were inspired by Armstrong’s recovery? How many people found hope through Livestrong?

Time will tell if any of those intangibles translate to numbers.

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