Olympic Thoughts

I really like Coco Gauff. She's the present and the future of American tennis. I'm rooting for her to win the gold medal in Paris and the US Open next month. However, there is no reason why she should have been the flag-bearer for the United States. This is Gauff's first time competing in the Olympics. The people honored to carry/hold the flag should have multiple trips to the Olympics, and for America, multiple medals from previous games. 

Staying with the opening ceremonies, I was stunned seeing Rafael Nadal carrying the torch. I understand that he's loved in France for winning 181 French Open titles, but he's from Spain. The torch should be reserved for home-country athletes. I'll give a comparison. Nikola Jokic from Serbia is arguably the best active player in the NBA. Even if he wins the NBA MVP each of the next 4 years and the Denver Nuggets win all of the NBA titles during this time, he's not going to carry the torch in Los Angeles in 2028.

I'll make an exception to this statement. Let's say you are an Olympic star from a nation that is never going to host the Olympics. Think Usain Bolt. The International Olympic Committee is not going to have the games in Jamaica, so he could be part of lighting the torch in a different country. Serena Williams and Carl Lewis should (and will) be part of the opening ceremonies in LA. No reason for them to be part of the Paris torch ceremony. 

Early prediction for lighting the torch in LA in 2028: 2-time Olympic gold medalist and one of the most famous people on earth: Michael Jordan.

Enough criticism. Let's get to the good stuff.

Go to the 4:25 mark of the US women's rugby highlight video. Ilona Maher is just awesome.

I've really enjoyed watching handball. I don't understand all of the rules, and there seems to be a foul on every play (and it's extremely difficult for goalies to make saves), I have two questions.

1. Why is one player (and sometimes two players) always in the corner and get the ball maybe once every 15 possessions?

2. Who decided to use a car horn blast in handball? (Go to the 4:30 mark of this video to hear it). I have flashbacks to being at a friend's house and my dad honking from the car to pick me up!

NBC showed a fantastic segment of Mary Carillo with a snail farmer and an escargot restaurant. If I can find it, I will share it here later. (Of course, NBC Sports isn't allowed videos to be played on sites other than YouTube.)

Teremoana Teremoana is a great name and looks extremely intimidating in the boxing ring. I'm rooting for him!

I miss Ric Blas not being at the Olympics. (If you don't know who this is, please go through my archives including my interview with him.)

Enjoy the games!

Photos by Team USA; Corbis/VCG via Getty Images; Dan Himbrechts/AAP Photos

Pittsburgh Trivia

In the earlier days of this blog, I regularly had Trivia Tuesday posts. They became less and less popular, so I stopped writing them. While I have no plans on bringing the Trivia Tuesday posts back, I thought I would try some old-school Pittsburgh trivia questions. Please leave your answers in the comment sections below.

1. Who was with Quinn in the morning?

2. Where does the place go crazy every 16 minutes?

3. Who said it would?

4. Fill in the blank: Don't say Olds, say ________ Olds.

5. What is the name of this sticker?

6. What is just minutes from the mall and on what street is this located?

7. What is Edgar Snyder's original phone number? (No area code necessary.)

8. What is Rusted Root's most-successful song?

9. Who is this?

10. What restaurant (probably best known for their roast beef sandwiches) had the slogan, "Fast Food with Style?"

Good luck! (There are no prizes, so please don't cheat. Even if there were prizes, still don't cheat.)

I Killed Dr. Ruth

When I worked at The Ohio State University, my organization created a speaker series. This series was a fundraiser from donors in the Columbus community since the speakers didn't really appeal to most 18-24 year old college students. For example, Ira Glass of This American Life was one speaker. I didn't know anyone at the time in that age range that listened to NPR. While I don't remember any of the other speakers, there was one exception of an individual who appealed to college students and beyond: Dr. Ruth Westheimer.

Dr. Ruth was exactly like she appeared on television. A small woman with a distinctive accent talking frankly about topics many people don't discuss openly. I don’t remember what she had to say (this was 20+ years ago), but she signed books after her talk. I mention this because I recently thought to myself that I would write a post about Dr. Ruth and the fact that I have a signed copy of her Sex for Dummies book (“For Dummies” books were a really popular genre back then) when she passed away. The book is in a box somewhere in my home, and I haven’t seen it or thought about Dr. Ruth in years. And just randomly, I thought about a potential blog post about this topic within the last week or two. 

So now, I feel somewhat responsible for her death. Therefore, I’m writing to apologize to Dr. Ruth’s family and friends. It seems like she lived a very full and fulfilling life. May her memory be a blessing.

Photo by Chris Delman/AFP via Getty 

No One Cares About My Fantasy Team

Back in April, I wrote this:

I've mentioned multiple times that I have been in the same fantasy/rotisserie baseball league since 1992. I have won the league just twice during this time in 2014 and 2016. My team is off to an amazing start where I'm in first place in 8 of the 10 categories and have a huge lead in overall points. Since it is only April, I figure there's no way that my team can keep up this pace. My apologies in advance to Mookie Betts, Fernando Tatis Jr., Elly De La Cruz, Zac Gallen, Tyler Glasnow, and William Contreras who I expect will all get injured in the next few months.

Sure enough Mookie Betts, Fernando Tatis, Jr., Xander Bogaerts, Zac Gallen, Javier Assad, and now Tyler Glasnow have all been on the injured list. J.T. Realmuto, who I acquired in a trade, is also hurt.

Except for Assad, all of these players are or have been all-stars. Somehow, I'm hanging on to first place with guys like Hunter Goodman, Brett Wisely, Donovan Solano, Michael Toglia, Kyle Freeland, and the corpse of Chris Taylor, all playing prominent roles on my team.

Still, if some of these guys get healthy, I like my chances. (Please come back soon Mookie and Fernando!)

Potomac League

While I don't remember how I learned about it, I took the boys to several Potomac League baseball games in Tysons last summer. They had a great time. It's an intimate experience watching collegiate baseball players play, and you're so close that you can clearly see and hear all of the action.

We've attended two games so far this season, and in the first game, all three boys got league T-shirts, Pedro Tulo (10) participated in an on-field dizzy bat race, and The Moose (13) and Luigi (6) competed in a between-inning bocce ball contest where they rolled a ball from near the pitcher's mound to get the ball closest to home plate. (Luigi defeated his brother and two other older kids.) I think my kids are well-known among the league since they are the only kids approaching players for autographs after the game.

Despite going to games the last two summers, I didn't really know much about the league. So I sent some questions to the league, and intern Ella was nice enough to respond. 

1. When did the Potomac League begin?

The Potomac League had its first season last summer in 2023, previously it was known as NVCL. 

2. How does the league find players to participate? Is there someone that recruits local high school graduates now playing in college?

Players are knowledgeable about the league due to many reasons. Capital One Park is the home field for Marymount University, and all of the coaches in the league are high school coaches in the area. These players are all primarily from the Northern Virginia area, and players recruit college teammates, and coaches recruit former players.

3. How are the teams selected? Is there a draft?

Yes, players are selected by a draft that is held in the middle of spring.

4. It seems like each team plays about 5 days a week. Do some of the players have other jobs or internships during the summer?

Yes, some players do have jobs while playing in the league. We try to plan our schedule so that teams play at different times during the week, which in turn helps those who have internships or jobs be able to work a bit later during the week if they are in the 6:45 game.

5, For you personally, how did you get involved with the league? Has it been everything you hoped it would be?

I found out about the league through my Athletic Communications Director at Marymount University. We are lucky enough that Capital One Park is our home field and I was able to apply for the internship last year. I loved it so much, I decided to come back for a second year. We have a great group of players, a wonderful fan base & a strong leadership committee that makes showing up everyday easy!

Thanks to Ella for answering my questions. Since my kids are still young enough for free admission, it only cost me $10 to attend a game ($5 for a ticket and $5 for parking). Great deal. While this isn't the major leagues and I prefer a grass field to a turf one, the games are competitive and fun to watch. If you're in the DC/Northern Virginia area, check out a game.

More information about the Potomac League is available on their website.