Rob's Blog

Missing it All

October 2nd, 2008 · Olympic Games, Spectators

The Olympic Games have come and gone, and I practically missed them. I have been traveling around Australia in a campervan (see website) with no TV and mostly out of radio range as well.

We stopped at caravan parks that have a TV room a few times and dropped in for a beer at the pub to catch a little bit of the highlights, but there is so much on, you need to sit in front of the TV all day to get a good viewing.

The U.S. Olympic men’s basketball team during the XXIV Olympic Games.

We did manage to regularly buy the newspaper to read about what was going on and to check the news updates on our mobile phones.

On a positive note, we did miss a lot of the disappointing TV coverage, and what we did hear on the radio coverage (ABC) was as usual excellent.

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Unusual Olympic Fuels

October 2nd, 2008 · Olympic Games, Sports Nutrition, Track & Field

Does fast food make you fast? Usain Bolt (which has to be one of the greatest names for a sprinter – like he was born to run fast) was quoted as saying he eats Mcdonald’s nuggets before his events as if it was some kind of wonder pill.

Similarly, Australian race walker Jarred Tallent (winner of silver in the 50 km walk) was also in the local press revealing that he fuelled himself on pizza on the eve of his race and coke during the final stages of his race. Pizza is his favorite food and he finally gave in after two weeks at the food hall right before the race. After his 20 km race he threw up during the final stages and afterward, and after his pizza binge, he was afraid it would happen again.

Where are the sports dietitians advising these athletes? Why would they risk one of the most important events in their sporting careers? They were obviously good enough to still win their races despite having junk food, but please don’t brag about it as if it helped you. There is too much fast food eaten in this world already, we don’t want our elite athletes promoting it too.

Related Pages: sports nutrition

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Lance Armstrong Returns from the Dead

October 2nd, 2008 · Cycling, Sports Medicine, Tour de France

Like Jesus, Lance Armstrong is set to rise again. The champion seven-time winner of the Tour de France, he made a comeback from testicular cancer.

After he retired from cycling, Armstrong tried resurrecting his sporting career as a marathon runner. He completed a few races over the last few years, though not spectacularly.

He has now set his comeback on the bike for the Australian Tour Down Under early next year. At 36 years of age, can we expect him to perform as he has shown he can in the past? This is a time that can catch out an athlete, with the pressure to perform in an aging body, he may be drawn back to the world of drug taking to prime his body for the exertions of professional cycling.

Don’t slip up Lance, as all the accolades from your successful career can be permanently tainted from a positive doping test.

Related Pages: Tour de France, cycling, Lance Armstrong profile

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Fast Dollars for Fast Food

October 2nd, 2008 · Olympic Games, Sports Nutrition, Track & Field

Nathan Deeks, an Australian Champion racewalker, appeared in a full-page color advertisement for the fast food restaurant McDonalds, saying that he eats ‘Maccas’ after his events, including at the Olympic Games.

I know that he was probably only trying to earn a few sponsorship bucks in return for all the effort he puts into his training, but as a sporting role model, it was such a disgusting thing to promote eating undoubtedly unhealthy food.

I don’t mind that he had the occasional fast food snack, but it is not right for an athlete representing Australia to say it so publicly. It does not say much about the dietitians at the Australian Institute of Sport (AIS) if one of their athletes comes out of there with this attitude that this is OK to do.

A few days later, a very similar-looking ad was published (obviously on purpose), with an ex-Australian Olympian and NBA star Luc Longley, promoting healthy eating, saying that he never considered eating junk food before or after competing. The ad was a welcome response to the McDonalds one, which needed to be done, but I don’t think enough ho-ha was made of it.

The government spends millions of dollars trying to address the problem of childhood obesity, including trying to get more people active and into sports, and millions are spent on the AIS getting athletes including Nathan Deeks properly prepared for the Olympic Games. I don’t think he has done his long-time supporter (AIS) any good and hopefully, he got into trouble, all for a small financial reward.

Related Pages: Summer Olympic Games
See more about sports nutrition

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Phelps the Grestest Ever?

October 2nd, 2008 · Olympic Games, Swimming

The swimmer Michael Phelps may have won the most number of Olympic gold medals ever at the Beijing Olympic Games in 2008, but does that qualify him to be called the greatest ever Olympian?

Being the world’s major sporting event, the Olympics has had its share of champions and success stories. It is always difficult to compare athletes of different sports yet alone different eras. Other notable Olympic Champions which would give him a run for his money in the best ever category include Carl Lewis (U.S., track and field), Paavo Nurmi (Finland, track and field), Larisa Latynina (Soviet Union, gymnastics), Birgit Fischer-Schmidt (Germany, kayak), and Steven Redgrave (United Kingdom, rowing). Probably others too.

Comparing Phelps to Mark Spitz is the easiest as it is in the same sport, and Phelps wins that comparison. The flaw in this argument is using the number of gold medals as the benchmark, as swimming has more medals on offer than most other sports, consequently, it is relatively easier to pick up a bag of medals.

Phelps may well be the greatest ever, but I think it is too close to call. Let’s just wait until he finishes his career. If he does the same again in London 2012, then there may be no question about him being the greatest ever.

Related Pages: swimming, Olympic Games, Beijing 2008

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Australian Top-10 Sporting Moments

October 10th, 2007 · Sport

A recent online survey for the Sydney Morning Herald asked their readers to come up with their top 10 greatest sporting moments. Although it was an online survey that anyone could participate in, most of the readers would have come form the Sydney region, which is shown by the Sydney Swans grand final win making it into the top 10. Hardly a highlight for the rest of Australia. Other than that aberration, the list looks reasonable to me.

1. Australia II’s America’s Cup victory
2. Sydney 2000
3. Socceroos qualifying for the 2006 World Cup
4. Anything Bradman
5. Cathy Freeman’s gold in Sydney
6. Kieren Perkins’s win in Atlanta 1996
7. Phar Lap
=8 Rod Laver
=8 Swans’ 2005 grand final win
=8 World Series Cricket

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Marion Jones – Catch me if you can

October 7th, 2007 · Olympic Games, Sports Medicine, Track & Field

Marion Jones has found out that no matter how fast you are, you cannot run away from the truth.

In hardly a surprise for many people, USA Sprinter Marion Jones admitted yesterday that she was a drug cheat. She had taken the designer steroid THG, which was also known as “the clear” by the BALCO laboratory.

She had vehemently denied any wrongdoing for a long time, under mounting evidence. I don’t know how she had remained clear for so long. Even the head of Balco, Victor Conte, who has repeatedly and publicly accused Jones of using drugs, was her personal “nutritionist” at the Sydney Olympics.

Now and rightly so her reputation is in tatters, and she is apparently broke. She will lose many of her records and the medals she won at the Sydney Olympic Games. I have no sympathy for her. It makes me angry that I have to give these athletes the benefit of the doubt, when all the anecdotal evidence and rumours paint a dirty picture, but unfortunately, the drug tests have failed to find any evidence, and they deny all the allegations.

It makes me think of the saying that “When something is too good to be true, it probably is”. When I watched her sprint away from the rest of the field in the 2000 Sydney Olympics 100 metre sprint, my first thought was that in such a competitive event that someone cannot be that much better than the next best sprinter in the world. And now it is shown that no one was, naturally.

Even the second placegetter in that race has subsequently been done for drugs, and who knows which other athletes in that field also had artificial enhancement. As I have said before, it is hard to enjoy watching some sports when my first thought is always whether the winner had taken drugs to get there. This applies at the least to cycling, track and field, and weight-lifting.

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Changing Umpires & Referees Minds

August 26th, 2007 · Sport, Umpires & Referees

I see it time and time again. Players jump up and down complaining about an umpiring decision, trying to convince the umpire or referee to change their mind. In years of watching many different sports at many levels, I see the same behaviour and maybe once or twice have I ever seen what appears to be an umpire who has reversed a decision, which may or may not have been influenced by the player. Players will always think that they are hard done by. I really admire a sportsperson who will get up and continue with the game despite an obvious penalty being missed by the umpire. The umpires will not always get it right, but I think they are always trying their best, as do the players.

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Barry Bonds Ball Billionaire

August 10th, 2007 · Baseball

Barry Bonds hit his 756th home run the other night, and replaced Hank Aaron as baseball’s all-time home run champion. Since then, most of the interest has been on the ball he hit, and not the achievement itself. Bonds has earned $172 million in salary as a baseball player in the last 20 years, and much more in endorsements. For the student Matt Murphy who caught the ball, he will be happy with the possible $500,000 that he may be able to get for it. Bonds 755th home run ball, caught by Adam Hughes at the San Diego ballpark on August 4, is up for auction and it is suggested that it will probably sell in the $200,000 to $300,000 range. The 755th home run ball of Hank Aaron, the previous record holder, sold for $650,000. Bonds has been under a cloud of suspicion for alleged steroid use, and if anything comes of this the value of his balls will diminish. So Murphy should be selling as quickly as he can. With all the hype of the record, many experts agree that it is best to sell the ball while there is plenty of interest.

Related Pages: baseball, Sporting Memorabilia

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Drug Tests for Golfers

August 10th, 2007 · Golf, Sports Medicine

Can golfers benefit from taking illicit drugs? One the surface many people would not believe that it could make much difference. Golf is a game of skill, and by the look of many golfers physical fitness is not a great factor. However, Tiger Woods, the best golfer at the moment and maybe the best ever, has led the way with his high level of fitness. Many young players may see that by artificially increasing their own fitness some of the riches of golf may be available to them.

There are a few areas in which some artificial enhancement could have an effect. Anabolic steroids can provide an advantage by increasing muscle strength. The stronger you are, the more acceleration you can generate in your swing and the further you can hit the ball. When you reach the putting green, another substance could be of assistance. Beta blockers can help the player relax or reduce tremors, and enable more control with your putting.

There has been talk of instigating drug testing for elite golfers. They should stop talking about it and do it now, as most major sports of the world already do. There does not need to be a major scandal for them to take action, which will only harm the sport. Putting a testing procedure in place will show the world that they are serious about the problem of drugs in sport, and show that all sports not immune to it.

Related Pages: golf, doping in sports, Tiger Woods profile

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