Now that the XXVII Olympiad is over, Tempo has a few questions:
Q. Were the women beach volleyball players required — unlike Olympians in other sports — to wear those skimpy bikinis for TV? Were they not uncomfortable and perhaps unsuitable for athletic competition?
A. The sport’s governing body says that bikinis must be worn in all international beach competition, even dictating how many inches material must be from certain body parts. Apparently it’s no big deal, as players wear them on the pro tour (coming to Chicago’s North Avenue Beach on Thursday through Sunday). Mary Binette, spokeswoman for Misty May and Kerri Walsh, said athletes prefer them brief — and this is no joke, she insists — because of the freedom of motion. “Wearing bikinis in games is so much a part of beach lifestyle it doesn’t even come up,” she said. “Besides, if you’ve ever gotten sand in your clothing, you know you want as little clothing on as possible when you move like they do. It itches.”
Q. On another sports apparel matter, after winning his bronze medal match, American wrestler Rulon Gardner left his shoes in the middle of the mat, signifying he’s quitting the sport. What is the origin of that tradition?
A. It apparently is not a plot by Asics to sell more shoes. USA Wrestling officials say it’s a long-standing symbol of retirement in the sport. In fact, even wrestling referees reportedly mark their retirement by leaving their whistles on the mat. But Dean Rockwell, 93, who coached the U.S. Greco-Roman team in 1964 and has been a close Olympics observer ever since, told us he never saw this done until a Russian did it in the 1992 Games. “Maybe it’s a publicity-kind of thing,” Rockwell said.
Q. Speaking of grappling, now that it has made an Olympic debut, what’s next for women’s wrestling?
A. Possibly headed for the beach too. The sport voted in Athens to sanction beach wrestling with an eye toward future Olympics. No word on whether women will have to wear bikinis.
Q. But will women’s wrestling get a bump in U.S. popularity after making its debut?
A. Remains to be seen. The NCAA does not sanction women’s wrestling, but females are free to try out for men’s teams. Meanwhile, six colleges offer varsity programs for women only and are recognized only by the sport’s governing body, USA Wrestling. If you’re interested, best program in these parts can be found at MacMurray College in Jacksonville, Ill.
Q. OK. Explain again, by the way, how it came to be that the U.S., which invented the sport for Pete’s sake, was not in the men’s baseball competition?
A. Simple. We got beat by Mexico in qualifying. The U.S. team was made up mostly of minor leaguers, but four years ago we used the same selection process and won the gold.
Q. Every time an Olympic diver emerges from the pool he or she takes a quick shower. Is there some no-chlorine-on-the-skin rule?
A. No, it’s not in the rules. Remember what your mother always told you: Take a nice hot shower; it will relax you. Jim Quinlivan, marketing director for USA Diving, the sport’s national governing body, says the hot shower keeps the muscles loose and comfortable in preparation for the next dive — or press conference.
Q. When did the rules in volleyball change allowing non-serving teams to score?
A. In 1998, the sport voted to switch to what they call “rally scoring” and it was used in the 2000 Olympics. This means either team can score regardless of who is serving. Before that it was a sideout system, meaning only the team serving could score. Those favoring the switch say it accelerates games, making it better for spectators. Those against say it takes aggression out of the sport since a mistake by either side means a point.
Q. Why did NBC tape-delay the airing of the U.S.-Brazil women’s soccer gold medal game by an hour Thursday afternoon, when the game could be seen live on Telemundo or followed live on the Internet? NBC did the same thing Friday, by delaying broadcast of the U.S.-Argentina men’s basketball semifinal by about an hour, again when a fan could follow it live on the Internet, including at NBC.com?
A. All of NBC’s daytime coverage, from 12:30 to 4 p.m. weekdays on WMAQ-Ch. 5, was delayed an hour even though it was aired live on the East Coast. That’s because NBC decided to follow its normal daytime “feed pattern” — its practice of delaying the network feed from New York throughout the country so that “Days of Our Lives” airs at 1 p.m. in every time zone — for the Olympics. So while East Coast NBC stations took the Olympic feed of the gold medal soccer game as it happened, stations in the central time zone had to wait an hour, just as they normally do.
Telemundo’s network feed usually goes out live to Midwest stations, so “Sala de Parejas” airs at 3 p.m. on the East Coast and 2 p.m. on WSNS-Ch. 44 in Chicago. Like NBC, Telemundo carried the Olympics according to the normal daytime feed pattern, which is why the gold medal soccer game aired live on Channel 44.
Q. How did three sisters named Farnsworth — born and raised in California, no less — become starters on the Greek women’s softball team?
A. Greece, as host, got to be represented in every sport, but could recruit non-citizens in order to be competitive if they had Greek blood. The 80-year-old grandmother, Helen, of Sarah, Janie and Stacey Farnsworth was Greek. By the way, 12 other members of the Greek softball team were U.S. citizens.
Q. What was the most overused phrase by the media during the Olympics?
A. Try “Big Fat Greek (anything).” Informal Lexis Nexis search found this a runaway leader among print journalists, and that’s not counting broadcast counterparts. Runner-up was: “It’s Greek to me.” Can’t wait for those “Chinese fire drills” in 2008.
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Winners:
Eritrea. Zersenay Tadesse won bronze in 10,000-meter run for tiny African nation’s first-ever Olympic medal.
KC and the Sunshine Band. Got lots of playing time at the beach volleyball venue.
Bud Light Olympics commercials. Spots featuring such low-exertion events as the Low Jump and 4-Meter-Relay were brilliant.
Athletes named Hamm. Mia, Paul, Morgan.
Notre Dame women’s fencing team. Incoming freshman Mariel Zagunis became first U.S. female to win a gold by taking individual sabre.
Glitter manufacturers. Got lots of free publicity on the faces of women gymnasts.
Dutch rower Simon Diederik. Left his silver medal in a taxi, but had it returned the next day.
Sunglasses at night. From Jeremy Wariner to the beach volleyball gals.
Low-rise swimsuits on men. Any lower and you would be embarrassed.
Losers:
Sammy Sosa. Bad enough he’s getting booed in Wrigley, but now Felix “Super” Sanchez has become Dominican Republic’s No. 1 hero after winning country’s first-ever gold in men’s 400 hurdles.
India. Loser in the Per Capita Medal Category: 1 billion people, one silver medal.
Ballroom dancing. Didn’t get picked up as a medal sport in Athens after being introduced as a demonstration sport in Sydney at 2000 Olympics.
Sprint Wireless Olympics commercial. Swimmer Mark Spitz working at gymnast Mary Lou Retton’s camp? So are the phone contracts that confusing too?
Francis Scott Key. Olympics may have set record for lip-syncing American athletes not knowing words to National Anthem.
Sara McMann. There’s no crying in wrestling!
Greek beaches. Sand for beach volleyball was imported from Belgian mine because grains on Greece’s beaches were deemed too coarse.
Russian gymnast Svetlana Khorkina (the name as published has been corrected in this text). She gives divas a bad name.
