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By Cliff Rold - If it’s always darkest before the dawn, let’s hope the two face saving wins turned in on day five for the U.S. Olympic Boxing team was some sort of symbolic 5 AM. Through the first round of the 2008 Beijing Olympics, it’s not all bad.
It just could have been better.
Two of the best Medal hopefuls…out, one before competition began due to weight struggle. Two not so hopeful hopefuls…also out. Still, five of eight active competitors seeing the second round is nothing to sneeze at and as an American I’ll continue to cheer.
Everyday BoxingScene readers have probably caught on to the Olympic fever being experienced by this scribe and one Jake Donovan. The fever is easy to understand. Both of us are young enough to have the energy to keep up with the action and old enough to remember.
Remember what some might ask?
Remember the Olympics as they once were and only on a case-by-case basis still are. I remember the 1984 and 1988 Games vividly. Then as now, Gymnastics, Diving and Swimming competitions were center stage sports. Basketball was played by the best young amateur Americans. Track and Field and Boxing were on the front page.
Times change we suppose, but not always for the better. Take Basketball for instance. From 1936-1988, the Americans won all but two Gold Medals at Games they competed in. In 88, America settled for the bronze and the format changed forever. America wouldn’t let the slight of not settling for a Bronze slide; we would send out very best, our professionals. Three of four Gold medals since came home, but with them went a little more of the innocence of the Games.
This isn’t stated with some whimsy about good ol’ days…at least not entirely. In the old days, it was known that the Soviet bloc and other communist nations often competed with an unfair advantage. They had athletes trained to compete in not just one Olympics but a series of them. We sent our best child athletes to compete with adults in too many sports from around the globe.
And when we won under those conditions, victory was all the sweeter.
That essential sweetness has been lost in recent years. Professionals dot the Winter Hockey Games now, eliminating the chance of there ever being another ‘Miracle on Ice’ and Beach Volleyball in prime time during the summer just doesn’t feel all that significant. We still get some great moments of course. Michael Phelps is a beast and watching a lady gymnast fall flat on her back only to get up to finish with her arms held high is still worth a goosebump or two. The mainstream of NBC Olympic coverage gives us a good mix of old and new school. [details]
It just could have been better.
Two of the best Medal hopefuls…out, one before competition began due to weight struggle. Two not so hopeful hopefuls…also out. Still, five of eight active competitors seeing the second round is nothing to sneeze at and as an American I’ll continue to cheer.
Everyday BoxingScene readers have probably caught on to the Olympic fever being experienced by this scribe and one Jake Donovan. The fever is easy to understand. Both of us are young enough to have the energy to keep up with the action and old enough to remember.
Remember what some might ask?
Remember the Olympics as they once were and only on a case-by-case basis still are. I remember the 1984 and 1988 Games vividly. Then as now, Gymnastics, Diving and Swimming competitions were center stage sports. Basketball was played by the best young amateur Americans. Track and Field and Boxing were on the front page.
Times change we suppose, but not always for the better. Take Basketball for instance. From 1936-1988, the Americans won all but two Gold Medals at Games they competed in. In 88, America settled for the bronze and the format changed forever. America wouldn’t let the slight of not settling for a Bronze slide; we would send out very best, our professionals. Three of four Gold medals since came home, but with them went a little more of the innocence of the Games.
This isn’t stated with some whimsy about good ol’ days…at least not entirely. In the old days, it was known that the Soviet bloc and other communist nations often competed with an unfair advantage. They had athletes trained to compete in not just one Olympics but a series of them. We sent our best child athletes to compete with adults in too many sports from around the globe.
And when we won under those conditions, victory was all the sweeter.
That essential sweetness has been lost in recent years. Professionals dot the Winter Hockey Games now, eliminating the chance of there ever being another ‘Miracle on Ice’ and Beach Volleyball in prime time during the summer just doesn’t feel all that significant. We still get some great moments of course. Michael Phelps is a beast and watching a lady gymnast fall flat on her back only to get up to finish with her arms held high is still worth a goosebump or two. The mainstream of NBC Olympic coverage gives us a good mix of old and new school. [details]