Keeping Score

Our Olympic roundup begins with a note from Kamloops mountain biker Catharine Pendrel’s blog (cpendrel.blogspot.com): “The cafeteria is open 24hrs/day. We can always get cereal, salad, Asian, Halal, Mediterranean and international cuisine. Oh yeah, and McDonald’s! It’s actually pretty popular . . . particularly when people have finished.” . . . Greg Cote, in the Miami Herald: “Between events, in his spare time, (U.S. swimmer Michael) Phelps has freed Tibet, solved the crisis in Darfur, brokered a human-rights policy with the Chinese government and refurbished the Great Wall.” . . . More from Cote: “It has been a fabulous Olympics for the entire American swimming program, whose men’s and women’s teams in Beijing include not only Phelps, but also several other people whose names I can’t recall.”
Ian Hamilton, in the Regina Leader-Post: “There was a pregnant pause — four days — between Canada’s second gold medal of the Olympics and its third. It seems only fitting, then, that No. 3 was delivered by a guy named Lamaze. . . . One more from Hamilton: “Chinese acupuncturist Wei Shengchu spent the Games walking around Beijing with more than 100 needles bearing miniature national flags stuck in his scalp. He obviously misunderstood somebody, because he told everyone he was representing the host country in the modern pintathlon.” . . . Mary Carillo, most familiar in her role as a TV tennis analyst, was in Beijing doing off-the-beaten-track reports for NBC. She notes: “My children . . . got dozens of text messages that said, ‘Your mom just ate a scorpion on television.’ That one seemed to get a lot of attention.” . . . Cam Hutchinson, in the Saskatoon StarPhoenix: “This has been the one Olympic Games when I never know what time it is. So, where is Brian Williams when I need him?”
Before Michael Phelps there was Mark Spitz. Asked by ESPNews about the many world records set in the pool at Beijing, Spitz replied: “Did anybody measure the pool?” . . . Bret Lewis of KFWB radio in Los Angeles: “I don’t want to complain about NBC tape-delaying the events, but (the other) night I watched a swimming race. And the winner was Mark Spitz.” . . . Nancy Franklin, in The New Yorker: “The network offered more hours than had been shown in all previous Summer Olympics combined, and yet, during the first week, only three people were ever seen in prime time: Michael Phelps and the beach-volleyball players Misty May-Treanor and Kerri Walsh.” . . . Old friend The Sports Curmudgeon makes a point: “Let me put two items in juxtaposition here. First, women’s beach volleyball is on NBC a whole lot. Second, softball will not be included in future Olympic Games. Now, just suppose that Jenny Finch pitched in the same uniform that the women’s beach volleyball players wear. Do you think NBC might exert some influence on the IOC to keep softball in the Olympic Games?”
Reader Mike Giachino, in a letter to the Los Angeles Times: “NBC’s Olympic coverage is so delayed on the West Coast that by the time it is seen the Chinese gymnasts are actually 16 years old.” . . . My Olympic memories are topped by the smile on Kamloops shot putter Dylan Armstrong’s smile as he was interviewed by CBC-TV’s Elliotte Friedman, and Hazelton wrestler Carol Huynh, her hand over her mouth, as she listened to O Canada, having won the country’s first gold medal of these Games. . . . Chris Erskine of the Los Angeles Times, in a memo to the U.S. Olympic Committee: “Where exactly are the women in women’s gymnastics? I’ve got more meat on my thumb than most of these poor kids. Here’s a tip: The No. 19 at Langer’s Deli — the warm pastrami, with a layer of coleslaw across the roof. Juicy as a steak, this pastrami. In fact, I’m sending these scrawny Tinker Bells some Langer’s right now, in honor of all their good work this week. Please tell Bela Karolyi to keep his fat paws off.”
The New York Post ran a story on Phelps eating 12,000 calories a day. The headline: Phelps’ Pig Secret: He’s Boy Gorge. . . . Headline at TheOnion.com: Green-clad Olympic archer steals gold medals from rich, gives them to poor. . . . Gotta think that Braden James of our town and Jill Henselwood will have lots to talk about the next time they get together. James is an up-and-coming rider who trains under the tutelage of Henselwood, who was on Canada’s medal-winning equestrian team in Hong Kong this week.
Jerry Crowe of the Los Angeles Times dug up some Williams-related information. He pointed out a week ago that “NFL rosters this summer are dotted with 36 players named Williams, according to researchers at STATS LLC, but no one with that surname has ever been inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame. By contrast, former Angels manager Dick Williams last month became the fourth Williams inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame (joining Ted, Billy and Smokey Joe), yet no one named Williams is currently active in the majors.” . . . Another summer is almost over and not only does this city not have a quality slo-pitch facility, but a shovel has yet to hit the ground. And that’s a real shame. . . . In case you missed it, Tampa Bay Rays manager Joe Maddon ordered up an intentional walk to Texas Rangers slugger Josh Hamilton on Sunday. With the bases loaded and two out in the bottom of the ninth. The Rays were up 7-3 at the time; they won 7-4. The Society for American Baseball Research reports that it was believed to be the fifth time that has happened since 1990.
In Philadelphia, the city where Santa Claus once got booed during an NFL game, the Phillies recently lost four straight to the Los Angeles Dodgers and the Daily News ran a picture of shortstop Jimmy Rollins hanging his head and this headline: CAN’T HOLD YOUR BOOS? . . . Headline at Fark.com: Umpires, MLB agree to instant replay. Umpires, MLB agree to instant replay. . . . The Notre Dame Fighting Irish is scheduled to unveil a statue of former head coach Lou Holtz on Sept. 13. “They needed some place for the pigeons to land,” Holtz told the Orlando Sentinel. “I just hope people don’t look at it and think it’s Robert Redford. That happens to me all the time in airports.”

Gregg Drinnan is sports editor
of The Daily News. He is at
gdrinnan@kamloopsnews.ca.
Keeping Score appears Saturdays.