The End of the Summer of 2012

As the summer comes to a close, so does this blog! I hope to continue my sports ranting at my new blog: Watch ALL the sports! Click on the logo below to see it. :-)

Farewell, summer of 2012. You've been a rollercoaster.
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Got Olympics? I do!

Warning: contains a borderline indecent amount of bragging! ;-)

I greatly regret not recording my daily impressions on the London 2012 Olympic Games in this blog. In truth, I was simply too exhausted. Insomnia and jet lag in July and August resulted in poor sleep and groggy wake. I guess that when you're done watching 12 daily hours of sports, you don't much feel like adding to it by also writing about it!

However, I did do some recording that in the long run will prove to be even more valuable. In a post last month I explained my family's habit of recording a lot of sports. Well, I outdid myself for London 2012.

In Italy, where I watched, the Olympics were broadcast live by two networks: the national syndicate Rai and Rupert Murdoch's satellite platform Sky Sports. Rai offered a basic service with 10 daily hours of live HD broadcast, focusing primarily on Italian athletes but also showing all the important finals. Sky, instead, showed the whole thing, with 13 HD channels (one even in 3D) broadcasting 24/7 and covering every event from every sport, no exceptions whatsoever. Sky's truly outstanding package is easily the most comprehensive television coverage of any sporting event I have ever seen in my life.

I recorded from both networks. Rai is free-to-air, so I tallied a total of 1,156 Gigabytes of recordings on my PVR. These were all direct transport stream 1080i files with no filtering. After picking out what I cared to keep, I ended up with 232 Gigabytes, or 44 hours of high-definition video. As soon as I have the time (and the money), I will burn all that onto 15 Blu-rays for the ultimate Olympics collection. A good half of those recordings comes from athletics and swimming, which are by far my favorite sports, but virtually every discipline is represented to some extent.

Sky Sports, instead, heavily encrypts its high-definition signal with HDCP protection protocols. While illegal workarounds exist, I didn't feel like keeping up with the required tinkering; breaking copyright law is such hard work! ;-) So even as I watched everything in HD, I only recorded in standard definition. Even so, I ended up with 21 DVDs, or roughly 42 hours of material. Much of this is the same stuff that I also got from Rai, but with another commentating team, different court-side interviews, and even some exclusive camera work by Sky's team... in short, a varied enough experience to make it worth my time and resources to archive both.

If you think it's insane to fill up 36 disks with one edition of the Olympics, you are absolutely correct. As I already explained in many other posts this summer, I am indeed insane. Plus, this is pretty much my only real hobby. So there! (Don't even get me started on NBC's piss-poor, tape-delayed, jingo-happy "coverage": for once, I was sooooo very glad not to be in the US for this!)
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Some Olympic jokes!

Compiled from various Internet sources, mostly in Italian, and translated by moi. Hilarious!

• The Greeks walked first in the opening ceremony parade. Their rental suits were due back at midnight.

• One scene showcased traditional children's nightmares, such as priest robes.

• "Hey Jude" topped off the opening ceremony, kinda like at Berlin 1936.

• The Arabian judoka is allowed to wear the veil, so long as her ippons all face Mecca.

• Italian swimmers take home no medals for the first time in decades. The swimmers blame the coaches, the coaches blame the swimmers, nobody agrees on anything, nothing gets done, and nobody knows why. It's like the Democratic Party, minus the water.

• Doped 50km walker Alex Schwazer cries: "I shot up EPO on the 29th, and when I got tested on the 30th I knew I'd get caught." This guy must have been the best cop ever.

• Chinese teen faster than Lochte in the 100. Then they filled the pool with water.

• The Chinese reject all doping charges: "Our champions are under strict control." Like their citizens.

• Syrian athlete ejected after testing positive for democracy in her blood.

• Women's 4x400 relay. The American women beat the old record set by the East Germans, who are all grandfathers now.

• World record for the Jamaican relay. They're really good at passing it around.

• Armstrong wins gold in women's cycling. I didn't know he took out the other ball too.

• Italy's success in fencing, shooting, fighting, and archery prompts parliamentary revision of pacifist Constitution.

• The Olympic Games stand for unity, solidarity, and equality. Then why does the black guy always win?

• The Olympics were born in Greece. And will live longer.

London 2012: who won how much and why

Turnover was the leitmotif of the Games of the XXX Olympiad. Few disciplines confirmed old trends and most discovered new champions, as many sports are in the middle of a generational shift. Notable examples are swimming and cycling, but stunners have also come from athletics, diving, fencing, and football. While a discussion of the medal table isn't a full analysis of the current worldwide state of sports, it is still a valuable factual basis for such an analysis to rest.

To begin, below are the top 20 positions in the final medal count, ordered by number of total medals (as I think it should be) and not by number of golds (as many improperly do). Click on the picture to enlarge.

Some quick facts are immediately evident:

• The USA takes back the Olympics as China's home court advantage wanes. Depending on how you look at it, Beijing 2008 (see that medal table here) was either won by China or closely contested with the USA.

• China retain a solid second place, regardless, and win medals in more disciplines than any other country. This is yet more evidence of the nationwide effort, surely mandated and perhaps immoral, to raise the bar across the board. After all, this is the least you would expect from a nation of 1.3 billion individuals.

• As usual, the home country takes more than would be expected otherwise. A mere 16 years ago, at Atlanta 1996, team GB had only won one gold and a total of fifteen medals. Quite the far cry from the third place overall in the home Olympics! (By contrast, China had built up its leadership for three or four editions before Beijing, though of course the two efforts are incomparable; see above).

• No African nation is present in the top 20, the highest-ranked being Kenya at #23. Conversely, every other continent is multiply represented: 10 nations for Europe, 4 for the Americas, 4 for Asia (including the Middle East), and 2 for Oceania. It's also noteworthy that the first Caribbean nation, Jamaica, ranks in at #21... unless we consider Cuba one such nation, and we shouldn't.

• Russia is still the top European country, no doubt due in part to the remains of the Soviet sports program. However, if you only count countries that belong to the EU, then Germany, France, and Italy are the only ones in the top 10, and there are only two more in the top 20. More on the state of European sports in the next section.

• The hosts of the next Olympics, Brazil, show virtually no improvement over Beijing, tallying up the same number of golds (3) and only two more medals overall (17 to 15). I will return to this below, as this is but one element in an alarming downward trend for Brazilian sports.

Of less immediate relevance, but still interesting, are these further facts:

• The rise of Iran? The Persians have have done better than in any previous Olympics, or international sporting event in general, by earning a total of 12 medals, 4 of which were golds. However, all were won in traditionally Eastern-dominated disciplines, such as fighting and weightlifting. And of course, all were won by male athletes, as the very few Iranian women who competed did so primarily for publicity. I guess that one thing to be said for (former and current) communist regimes is that at least they grant substantially equal sporting opportunities to both sexes: you don't see such radical inequality in China, Russia, or even North Korea.

• First-time medalists. A total of 73 countries (out of 204 that have an Olympic Committee) are yet to win an Olympic medal, of any color and in any sport. That's seven fewer than in 2008, as these countries have won their first-ever medal at London 2012: Botswana, Bahrain, Cyprus, Gabon, Grenada, Guatemala, and Uganda.

• By the way, the all-time medal leaderboard has remained unaltered: USA, Soviet Union, Germany, Great Britain, and France remain the top 5. See the full list here.

• United States vs. European Union. Is the EU the real winner of this Olympics? The short answer is no, but it's more complicated. If all the EU member states competed together under one flag, they would have totaled 306 medals, which is thrice as much as the United States, including a whopping 92-46 supremacy in golds (source here). This would be a resounding win population-wise, for the EU has one medal per 1.5 million people and the US has one medal per 3 million people. But this doesn't keep track of competitor limits: in most competitions, each participating country is limited to one, two, or three athletes or teams. And as the EU is made of 27 member states, we can say that it "took" them a competitor limit up to 27 times higher than that of the US to achieve these results. Even taking into account that they won thrice as many medals, the US would have still achieved the same result with roughly 9 times fewer athletes than the EU, which is a definite win for the US. Of course, it's not that clear-cut. If the EU could rely on one central Olympic Committee instead of 27, sports funding would be managed differently and it is entirely possible that the average level would rise, as it tends to do in all large federations  But as it stands, the US still clearly dominates worldwide sports.

• The Jamaica-USA rivalry in sprint running is still alive. It may seem, because of Usain Bolt, that the USA has been lagging behind, but that is false. Jamaica has won twelve medals in sprints, four of each color, and one from almost every discipline: men's and women's 100 and 200, three out of four relays, and the men's hurdles. But the USA has won the same overall number of sprint medals and the same number of sprint golds, though Jamaica has one more silver. So while there's no competition in men's short sprints, the USA still holds water. (Or, if you want to look at the glass as half-empty, you could say that until 12-16 years ago the USA completely dominated sprint running and they no longer do so now).

Finally, these further stats are worth considering, especially as it concerns Brazil:

Best gold-to-inhabitants ratio:

1. Granada: 1 gold for every 105,000 individuals
2. Jamaica: 1 gold for every 1,350,000 individuals
3. New Zealand: 1 gold for every 1,450,000 individuals
4. Slovenia: 1 gold for every 2,000,000 individuals
5. Croatia: 1 gold for every 2,100,000 individuals

Worst gold-to-inhabitants ratio among nations with at least a gold medal

1. Brazil: 1 gold for every 67,200,000 individuals
2. Argentina: 1 gold for every 40,750,000 individuals
3. Turkey: 1 gold for every 37,000,000 individuals
4. Canada: 1 gold for every 34,500,000 individuals
5. Ethiopia: 1 gold for every 31,150,000 individuals

While the former stat doesn't necessarily indicate the "winners" of the Olympiad, the latter definitely indicates the losers. This is especially surprising for Brazil and Argentina, who have a proficient sports tradition. These federations will have to go back to the drawing board and figure out what hasn't worked. The Brazilians have a special interest in improving quickly, but four years isn't enough time to raise a generation of champions, so the home factor may be less relevant come 2016.

My Favorite Three Goals Ever Scored

Notice how I didn't say the "best" three goals. These standings are always somewhat subjective. No doubt that these three would appear in every football fan's top ten or twenty, and there may even be little question about the first, but who knows. For me, these are the most spectacular, meaningful, and pleasant to watch over and over again.

Click the player's name or the picture to see a video of the goal!

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1. DIEGO ARMANDO MARADONA
Argentina vs. England – 1986 World Cup quarterfinal – Mexico City, 22 June 1986

This match sports the two most famous goals in football history. In the 51st minute, Maradona jumped on a loose ball in the English box and punched it past the goalkeeper Peter Shilton. The inexperienced referee allowed the goal, which has become legendary as La mano de Dios (the hand of God). But only four minutes later, Maradona scored The Goal of the Century. He received the ball deep in his own three-quarters, ran 60 meters, dribbled five English defenders along the way, and deposited the ball past Shilton with a gentle touch. While no one touch or dribble in this play is individually spectacular, this goal epitomizes the full-pitch dominance of the one truly unmarkable player in the history of the Game. When Maradona had the ball, it was nearly impossible to take it away from him. His short-range and calibrated touches, combined with sublime waist and elbow movement and surprising speed for such a short (and overweight) player, made him the most fearsome winger to ever play. While he regularly displayed these features in league and international matches, never did they come together any better than in this perfect goal.

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2. MARCO VAN BASTEN
Netherlands vs. USSR – Euro 1988 final – Munich, 25 June 1988

The Netherlands landed the final on the wings of his star striker's goals. In this exciting final match, Van Basten first headed a delightful assist for his captain Ruud Gullit's goal in the first half. Then, in the 54th minute, he hit this spectacular volley. Muren's cross from the left was probably never intended to be an assist, but Marco waited for the ball to reach his chest height and then took his shot. It resulted in a hard and straight kick, and a very precise one at that. The great Soviet goalkeeper Dasaev was perfectly positioned by the near post, so Marco only had a tiny window to squeeze the ball through, and only at such a high speed before Dasaev could close in on it. And he got it. I choose this goal because it is the perfect kick: powerful, precise, and completely unexpected. From the video, its magnitude seems evident to everyone on the pitch. Van Basten looked ecstatic in his celebration, so did his teammate Vanenberg, and so did Dutch coach Rinuus Michels, who covered his face in disbelief. The goal effectively killed off the Soviet resistance, and the Dutch went on to claim their only international trophy.

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3. PELÉ
Santos vs. Atletico Juventus – Campeonato Paulista 1959 –  São Paulo, 2 August 1959

There are two kinds of football fans: those who say that Pelé is the best player of all time and those who say that Maradona is. Me, I don't care: they were different kinds of athletes who played different styles of football in two radically different periods of the game's history. Pelé does have the statistical upper hand with his 1,284 goals scored, though many of those came in an easy league and he never played in Europe. As for his best goal, O Rey himself has always picked this one as his personal favorite. Unfortunately that match was not filmed, but the goal has been recreated on the computer thanks to drawings and first-hand accounts. That's what the video above shows. Pelé dribbles two defenders plus the goalkeeper with three consecutive sombreros. A sombrero is an incredibly difficult touch in which you lob the ball high enough above the opponent's head that he can't head it, and yet quickly enough that you can grab it on the other side before he turns around and does so with his feet. It requires great skill and perfect timing, and of course Pelé had plenty of both. The result is a highly spectacular goal and easily the most technically difficult of the three that I have chosen. However, I don't give it the top spot for two reasons: (1) a tiny bit of doubt remains on the veracity of the accounts of the goal on which the CGI reconstruction is based; and (2) it was scored in an unimportant match against relatively unskilled defenders. But it is still a feast for the eyes!

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So these are my three. As I said, thankfully there are many more excellent goals in history. Cruijff's 40-meter missile against Italy in 1978; Totti's stunning volley against Udinese in 2000; Panenka's trick penalty at Euro 1976; Rivaldo's numerous bicycle kicks; Platini's and Del Piero's delightful a feuille morte free kicks; and the list goes on. But again, this list is based on personal preference and relative importance.
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Some more excellent end-of-summer events

It's not all about the Olympics in August, though as it's the single most-hyped event of the year, I had totally neglected to include these in my calendars. Plenty of pleasant surprises here to keep sports addicts like myself entertained for a few more days before the start of the football seasons. They are as follows:

JULY 28. TROPHEE DES CHAMPIONS 2012. The French supercup is contested between the winner of the 2011-12 French national football league (Ligue 1) and the parallel 2011-12 French league cup knockout tournament (Coupe de France). This year, it's Montpellier against Olympique Lyonnais. As with much summer football, it's played in the U.S., in NYC to be precise. While not something to brag about, supercups are always the season's first trophies, and as such put the winning team in an excellent "mood" for the upcoming season.

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AUGUST 11. SUPERCOPPA ITALIANA 2012. Same as above: the Italian supercup is contested between the winner of last year's Serie A league and the winner of last year's Coppa Italia league cup, in this case Juventus-Napoli. It will be a rematch of the Coppa Italia final, which Napoli won 2-0. This match is also played abroad. As has been traditional in the last few years, Italian supercup finals are played at the "Bird's Nest" stadium in Beijing, which hosted the 2008 Olympics.

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AUGUST 12. FA COMMUNITY SHIELD 2012. Same story for England: the winner of the Premier League (Manchester City) versus the winner of the FA Cup (Chelsea). This is usually played at Wembley, but as the old stadium is undergoing major renovations it will be at Villa Park in Birmingham instead. As these two teams were the most -- surprisingly! -- successful European teams of last season, this should be one for the books. Of course, if you follow my blog you know my loyalties are smack-dab in the middle of Kensington!

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AUGUST 12. DFL-SUPERCUP 2012. Guess what? The German supercup, where Bundesliga and DFB-Pokal winners battle it out for German supremacy. Yeah that sounds weird. Last year, Borussia Dortmund won both the league and the league cup, so here they play Pokal runners-up Bayern Munchen. This will be interesting because last year Bayern achieved the worst possible record for a major football team: three-time runners-up, in the domestic league, the domestic league cup, and the Champions League. The second-place plague is a tough motherfucker to beat, so I will definitely be rooting for Heynckes' boys this time around (unlike in Munich last May... obviously!)

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AUGUST 16. PALIO DI SIENA. The palio (= pall) is the historical horse race in downtown Siena, Italy, which is run in some way shape or form since 1656. Two are held each year, one on July 2 (this year's was disappointing) and one on August 16. The latter is much more important. The town of Siena is divided in contrade, neighborhoods, and each selects a horse and a rider to represent it in the palio. What's peculiar is that there are no rules surrounding the race. Since there is no money and no prizes at stake other than honor, you can do whatever you want, provided it is legal under Italian law. So it's not uncommon for contrade to bribe others to go slower or even not race, for horses' and riders' services being bought and sold for sexual favors, and even for less-than-sportsmanlike conduct during the race itself. Some of this, no doubt, is urban legend, but knowing the fervor with which Siena lives its palios, it's not at all unbelievable. The race itself, which is about two minutes long, is often highly spectacular and garnished with falls, pushing, shoving, and the whole she-bang of medieval awesomeness. You may have seen the palio featured in the latest Bond movie, Quantum of Solace, as 007 pursues a fellow spy across Piazza del Campo and in the streets and over the roofs of Siena.

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AUGUST 19 & 26. SUPERCOPA DE ESPANA. The Spaniards' own supercup is often a matchup of Barcelona and Real Madrid, who consistently dominate the domestic football scene, and this year is no exception. This is the only super cup that is contested in the "old" format, over two legs, so that each team plays one match at home and one away. The winner is determined on aggregate score with the usual away goals rule. What better way to start the season off than with a Clásico? Oh yeah: with TWO Clásicos! And as a Chelsea fan, let me be the first to chant "fuck off Mourinho!"

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AUGUST 31. UEFA EUROPEAN SUPER CUP. Finally, the supercup big daddy of them all: the winner of the UEFA Europa League versus the winner of the UEFA Champions League, the two most prestigious international continental club tournaments. This year it's a never-before-seen match-up between Chelsea and Atletico Madrid, two teams reborn from the ashes that have very high expectation for this season. How awesome is it that Di Matteo's men can start 2012 with two pieces of silverware in less than two weeks?! I really hope so. Also, this final is played at one of the world's most beautiful sports venues: the Stade Louis II in Monaco, near Montecarlo. Its gorgeous decorative nine arches, gentle ambiance, great lighting, and excellent seating placement make it a real pleasure to watch sports at.

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Then, of course, all major European football leagues begin right after the Olympics:

• August 11 – French Ligue 1, 2012-13 
• August 18 – Spanish La Liga, 2012-13
• August 18 – English Premier League, 2012-13
• August 23 – German Bundesliga, 2012-13
• August 25 – Italian Serie A, 2012-13

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Ernie wins British, Tiger takes third

Ten years after his last win in a Major, Ernie Els takes back the Open Championship that had last crowned him in 2002. The South African rallied from five shots back in the final round to win, no doubt also thanks to Adam Scott's professional suicide. The Aussie, in the lead for much of the final round, double-bogeyed once and finished the round with back-to-back-to-back bogeys at 16, 17, and 18.

That's not to say that Els was handed the win: in the four days at Lytham, Els was the only player in the field to never round above par: 67-70-68-68 = -7. An impressive performance from a player who is seriously hard to dislike and who hasn't won as much as he should have (but don't tell Colin that).

Tiger's performance was pretty good, considering. I'm tired of using that qualifier and I want to go back to the days where he won Majors by 8-stroke margins, but I suppose that's a first-world problem if I ever heard of one. Here he displayed excellent control in the first two rounds, both closed in 67. He began to slip on Saturday, but was still tied for third. And then, just like Snedeker, he sank badly in the final round. But whereas Scott's decline was gradual, Woods' was marked by a nightmarish triple-bogey at 6 after two horrible putts, and despite the most amazing bunker exit I've ever seen. Bah. Eventually...

Overall, the Open was pretty interesting, with a generally high level of play and a few memorable shots. I just hope this awesome weather holds up for the Olympics!
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