About nine years ago, I noticed a dearth of information on the 1972 Olympic basketball final, so I wrote about it and put it on the Web. A few years later I bought my own website and started putting some more writing up there. Having that kind of written record is fun to look back on, but a decade is a long time, and it's occasionally sobering to look back on something you now feel differently about. After the Beijing Olympics, I can proudly say I've changed my mind on USA Basketball.
My proclamation in 1999 that the US Olympic basketball team should no longer feature professionals was an idea that had an extremely short shelf life, if any. My contention, which I still stand by, was that the NBA players who lit up other countries for their first few Olympiads were not Olympians in the true sense of the world. In 2004, the American team gave the biggest test to the notion that NBA players belong in the Olympics with their bickering and their embarrassing behavior. They were, in many ways, the culmination of the attitude that had caused me to write that "in the coming decades, the Olympics should be less about getting the marketability and results we desire and more about developing the type of people we want to serve as instruments of 'friendship, solidarity and fair play.'"
http://www.sportshistory.us/dream.html
Interestingly, the guy I chose to quote as an exemplar of sportsmanship ended up coaching the 2008 team that proved me wrong. Mike Krzyzewski was one of two architects (along with Jerry Colangelo) of a team that restored USA Basketball's reputation. This year's Olympians defeated the toughest field ever while displaying the kind of camaraderie that had been sorely lacking. They hung out at the Olympic village, they rooted on their teammates, and they got along. Yeah, it doesn't sound like much, but it's something that the previous Dream Teams (or whatever you want to call them) managed to fail to do.
For good or ill, the age of unspoiled amateurs competing in the Olympics is over (and it's debatable whether it ever existed). Jerry Colangelo's key insight when he took on the challenge of rebuilding Team USA was that it would take more than an all-star team. He looked at character, starting at the top, and put together a team that could play the international game while holding true to an American style of play. In 1992, you got the feeling that the Americans were playing basketball about as well as it could be played. In 2004, they were still playing well, but they looked like they were up against a style of play that was superior. In 2008, they looked like they had the best of both worlds.
I have no idea whether the basketball rebirth we witnessed in Beijing is sustainable (like the slam dunk contest, it could be something an elite player does once and then passes on for the rest of his career), but it was fun to witness. Another thing that was fun to witness was all of those traveling calls! Maybe we could have the international refs sit in on an NBA game or two a year---the looks on our guys' faces when they get called for steps are just priceless.
Tuesday, August 26, 2008
Saturday, August 23, 2008
Chicago
http://pictures.thelauves.com/chicago0807.html
After trips to the Big Apple and our nation's capital, the City of the Big Shoulders seemed like a logical choice. The impetus for this trip came from the fact that Wicked, which my sisters have been anticipating since hearing a sample on our wedding CD, is playing there. Of course, it doesn't hurt that the city also hosts Wrigley Field, Millennium Park, and a number of other really cool attractions. We arrived late on the night of Wednesday, July 9th, and checked into Hotel Monaco, a great hotel right by the river.
On Thursday morning we got on the train and headed for Wrigley Field. I was very excited for Brandi to see a game in a really big baseball town, even if that town doesn't happen to be St. Louis. Wrigley was everything I could have hoped for---we took pictures at the Harry Caray statue and the big red Wrigley Field sign, and during batting practice we got to take a really good look at the stadium. The ivy looks especially nice in person.
The Cubs fell to an all-time record of 0-4 in games I have attended, falling to the Reds by a count of 12-7. It was so much fun seeing a lot of offense at Wrigley---the Reds had seven homers, including one by Ken Griffey, Jr. (his swing, like the ivy, looks even better in person) and a Sheffield Avenue shot by Adam Dunn. The seats were a little further under the overhang than I had expected, but it ended up perfect as a light rain fell throughout the final five innings.
After the game we ate at Gino's East, Chicago's original deep dish pizza place, where we feasted on a giant sausage pizza and a really good spinach and mushroom pizza.
On Friday morning Brandi and I went out for a run through Chicago's beautiful Millennium Park, and later the whole family went on an architectural boat tour on the Chicago River. I had never realized all the differing architectural styles Chicago is home to, nor did I realize that it is such a leader in architecture. From the Tribune building to the new Trump tower to the Marina City Buildings (which I recognized from Wilco's Yankee Hotel Foxtrot album), we saw numerous amazing buildings and were treated to some great weather.
Friday night was our Wicked excursion. For the uninformed, Wicked is a retelling of the Wizard of Oz, presenting the origin stories of both the Wicked Witch of the West and the Good Witch of the, uh, Far West. The songs are very catchy and well performed, and the story is interesting in the way it makes you rethink about the Wizard of Oz. I, for one, thought they went a little too far in making every plot element dovetail with the events of the original, but I was emphatically outvoted.
Saturday brought with it a trip to the Museum of Science and Industry. The museum contains all sorts of interesting exhibits like glass blowing, baby chicks, and old-timey vehicles, but its most impressive feature is an honest-to-goodness U-Boat from World War II. The exhibit followed the rise of the German naval fleet, the effort to disable and capture U-Boats, and the return of this particular U-Boat back to the States.
For dinner we ate at McCormick & Schmick's after deciding not to endure a 90-minute wait at Harry Caray's. The food was great, and the waiter was extremely entertaining.
On Sunday, Brandi and I ran out to the Navy Pier, another fantastic destination that figures prominently in the city's bid for the 2016 Olympics. We all attended Mass at St. Peter's in the Loop, were treated to a refreshing but challenging sermon, and had lunch at an Italian restaurant that claims to be Chicago's oldest. I thought that the atmosphere was good but the food was pretty poor---the only underwhelming meal of the trip.
The Chicago trip was like a breath of fresh air. We weren't overscheduled, so we got to spend much of our time just enjoying a beautiful city. Next up is Italy!!!
After trips to the Big Apple and our nation's capital, the City of the Big Shoulders seemed like a logical choice. The impetus for this trip came from the fact that Wicked, which my sisters have been anticipating since hearing a sample on our wedding CD, is playing there. Of course, it doesn't hurt that the city also hosts Wrigley Field, Millennium Park, and a number of other really cool attractions. We arrived late on the night of Wednesday, July 9th, and checked into Hotel Monaco, a great hotel right by the river.
On Thursday morning we got on the train and headed for Wrigley Field. I was very excited for Brandi to see a game in a really big baseball town, even if that town doesn't happen to be St. Louis. Wrigley was everything I could have hoped for---we took pictures at the Harry Caray statue and the big red Wrigley Field sign, and during batting practice we got to take a really good look at the stadium. The ivy looks especially nice in person.
The Cubs fell to an all-time record of 0-4 in games I have attended, falling to the Reds by a count of 12-7. It was so much fun seeing a lot of offense at Wrigley---the Reds had seven homers, including one by Ken Griffey, Jr. (his swing, like the ivy, looks even better in person) and a Sheffield Avenue shot by Adam Dunn. The seats were a little further under the overhang than I had expected, but it ended up perfect as a light rain fell throughout the final five innings.
After the game we ate at Gino's East, Chicago's original deep dish pizza place, where we feasted on a giant sausage pizza and a really good spinach and mushroom pizza.
On Friday morning Brandi and I went out for a run through Chicago's beautiful Millennium Park, and later the whole family went on an architectural boat tour on the Chicago River. I had never realized all the differing architectural styles Chicago is home to, nor did I realize that it is such a leader in architecture. From the Tribune building to the new Trump tower to the Marina City Buildings (which I recognized from Wilco's Yankee Hotel Foxtrot album), we saw numerous amazing buildings and were treated to some great weather.
Friday night was our Wicked excursion. For the uninformed, Wicked is a retelling of the Wizard of Oz, presenting the origin stories of both the Wicked Witch of the West and the Good Witch of the, uh, Far West. The songs are very catchy and well performed, and the story is interesting in the way it makes you rethink about the Wizard of Oz. I, for one, thought they went a little too far in making every plot element dovetail with the events of the original, but I was emphatically outvoted.
Saturday brought with it a trip to the Museum of Science and Industry. The museum contains all sorts of interesting exhibits like glass blowing, baby chicks, and old-timey vehicles, but its most impressive feature is an honest-to-goodness U-Boat from World War II. The exhibit followed the rise of the German naval fleet, the effort to disable and capture U-Boats, and the return of this particular U-Boat back to the States.
For dinner we ate at McCormick & Schmick's after deciding not to endure a 90-minute wait at Harry Caray's. The food was great, and the waiter was extremely entertaining.
On Sunday, Brandi and I ran out to the Navy Pier, another fantastic destination that figures prominently in the city's bid for the 2016 Olympics. We all attended Mass at St. Peter's in the Loop, were treated to a refreshing but challenging sermon, and had lunch at an Italian restaurant that claims to be Chicago's oldest. I thought that the atmosphere was good but the food was pretty poor---the only underwhelming meal of the trip.
The Chicago trip was like a breath of fresh air. We weren't overscheduled, so we got to spend much of our time just enjoying a beautiful city. Next up is Italy!!!
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