Olympic-size apology
Yes, there have been a couple of controversies at the Beijing Olympics.
For instance, I’m not saying those Barbie Doll Chinese gymnasts were under-age, but they were recently overheard referring to the uneven bars as the monkey bars.
For the most part, however, Beijing has been a big hit and even your friendly neighbourhood sportscaster has begun to buy in. If you’ve sampled certain Sportsnet.ca scribblings in the past, you’re familiar with my anti-Olympic rants: Too commercial, too many steroids and too much IOC corruption.
However, with the help of a readership that blogged and verbally flogged me, darned if I didn’t look in the mirror. Forget about “too many” of this and “too much” of that, the fact is I’d become too negative in my Olympic attitude.
I still believe it’s important for the media to hold the IOC’s feet to the Olympic flame by making them accountable for problems that continue to plague the Games, such as baby-faced Chinese gymnasts claiming to be sweet sixteen. But for a few weeks every four years, our primary focus should be on the many competitors who conduct themselves with class and do things the right way.
I can’t say Canadian athletes “deserve” our support. After all, you can’t force someone to watch a sport they can’t relate with. For example, if synchronized diving is part of the Olympic program, why doesn’t the IOC introduce human wheelbarrow racing to track and field?
But no matter how goofy some Olympic events might seem, the athletes themselves deserve our respect and I wish that light bulb would have flashed over my noggin a tad earlier.
Let’s go (to) Buffalo!
Never before has one man done so much to get to Buffalo, N.Y.
Taking in a Buffalo Bisons minor league baseball game at cozy Dunn Tire Park has become a summer ritual. This year, however, I would have had more luck convincing Mats Sundin to make up his mind.
Three times, planned trips to Buffalo were called on account of rain and on a recent afternoon when the sun was actually shining, a traffic jam at the border forced me to turn back yet again.
Finally, with only a few games left on the schedule, I decided to make one last attempt to watch baseball in Buffalo on Wednesday night and lo and behold, I actually made it to my Field of Dreams.
When it was built 20 years ago, Buffalo’s ball park was considered to be the top Triple A facility in North America. It’s still a real gem and the grub at the concession stands is simply out of this world. I make no secret of the fact that my thought process often involves food and on Wednesday, brain and belly formed the perfect partnership. It doesn’t compare with the Michael Phelps 14,000 calorie diet that was all the rage in Beijing. However, take a look at Tother’s full meal deal in Buffalo to see if you could keep up.
— large slice of pizza, chocolate milk
— 2 large BQ pork sandwiches, side of potato salad, 2 Cokes
— large ice cream cone
Now, keep in mind Americans always go big or go home, and “large” in the USA really stands for “more chow than any sane person could possibly chew”. But I’m pleased to report that I met the minor league challenge and have now been re-called to the majors. In fact, I’ll be at the ball park on Sunday to watch the Jays get it on with the Red Sox.
And while Toronto tries to catch Boston in the wildcard race, yours truly will be wrestling with the Gourmet Beef Sandwich that comes highly recommended at Rogers Centre.
So, feel free to take part in the “Tother Taste Test” and if we happen to cross paths, let’s talk a little baseball and count calories together.