Serena Williams vs Maria Sharapova; Sergio Garcia vs Tiger Woods, etc
Great Matchups?
You would think that any time I offer up Serena Williams vs. Maria Sharapova or Tiger Woods vs. Sergio Garcia, I would be going to look at tennis or at golf. I would think the same thing. However, in the past few weeks, these rivals have taken plenty of shots but not on the court, nor on the course. Instead, the shots have been “backhanded” or “driven” AT each other.

This past week, right before the start of Wimbledon, Serena and Maria exchanged backhands. And, much like a high school dust-up, the animosity centers, not around tennis, but on their respective “boyfriends”. Serena, in Rolling Stone magazine, did everything but name Maria when she said her rival was not cool, was boring, and was dating Serena’s former boyfriend, whom she described as having a “black heart.” Maria countered by returning serve when she accused Serena of dating her coach, who is married and has children. Maria, also, implied Serena’s coach was headed for divorce. Deuce!!

Sergio Garcia had some nasty remarks to say about Tiger Woods during The Players Championship. Tiger was later found not to have been at fault, but did respond to Sergio with a few trite comments of his own. Sergio made the matter even worse with a perceived racist comment about serving Tiger “fried chicken” at the US Open. Tiger said the comment was “wrong, hurtful, and clearly inappropriate.” The scores by the two appeared to be par for Tiger; double bogey or worse by Sergio.

What were Serena and Sergio thinking? We all have to vent from time to time, but not to Rolling Stone, not during a press conference. How did they think these statements would be perceived? Did they not think they would be open to disparaging remarks directed right back at them? Did they really want to take on two people whom so many fans support? Did Sergio really believe his response would not be considered racist (after all, Fuzzy Zeller got into serious public relations problems of his own with an almost identical comment)? Sponsors want athletes to be, for the most part, squeaky clean – certainly not tinged by marital scandal or racist innuendo. Talk tennis, talk golf, talk weather – then just shut up!!

When you are in the public eye, what you say becomes public! Just ask Paula Deen.

1. The Chicago Blackhawks and the Boston Bruins of the NHL are playing legendary games in the Stanley Cup Finals. It’s hard to root against these two storied franchises if you are not from Boston or Chicago. The games are really enjoyable even without a vested interest in the winner.

2. The Merion Golf Club held the US Open this week. No one shot par golf. Only 16 players were in single digits over par. Tiger Woods, Rory McIlroy, and Sergio Garcia shot 13, 14, and 15 strokes over par! Did you enjoy watching the pros suffer like we do?

3. Speaking of the US Open, I’m sure by now you have seen Shawn Stefani’s hole-in-one at #17 on Sunday. It was the first hole-in-one ever at Merion during a US Open. It does not necessarily mean you hit a great shot (his was way left of the hole and took a fortuitous bounce and rolled in the cup). It doesn’t matter how – he still put a 1 on his scorecard.

4. The Phillies have just been awful of late. A coach told me this past weekend at the high school baseball championships that the game of baseball is very simple – “good pitching, good fielding, and timely hitting”. The Phillies had none of those three elements on their latest road trip.

5. Football in June? The Lehigh Valley All-Star Football Classic is Thursday. Watch it on RCNTV. The banquet for the players, cheerleaders, coaches, parents, and friends was held on Wednesday, sponsored and televised by RCN. Jim McCarroll, Chuck Daily, and Brett Godbout, M.D. were inducted into the Hall of Fame.

The Pennsylvania State Baseball Championships

Preparation
On Friday, June 14, the RCNTV team broadcast 4 games for the Pennsylvania Cable Network (PCN). There was plenty of work that occurred prior to the games themselves in order to be prepared to do the best job possible. The crew and office staff took care of all the logistics to get 15 people to the site, set up, fed, and housed. This is our 13th year of doing these games so the process was pretty much set.

For me, however, the process was greatly disrupted this year. The semifinals were to be played on Monday, which was the case for the past 12 years. This year, however, 15 of the 16 Monday games were postponed until Tuesday. One full day of preparation was eliminated. Everything was moved back a day. After Tuesday’s games were played and the championship finalists were known, a conference call was held on Wednesday morning informing all the teams of their responsibilities to the games and to me. I needed information and I needed it fast (coaches, rosters, starting lineups, statistics, human interest stories on the players and teams, historical records for the programs, coaches’ histories, etc.) The normal process allows two days – one day for gathering the information (Tuesday) and one day for organizing the information (Wednesday). There was only Wednesday this year. It all got finished with the last school to respond getting with what I needed by 3:30 on Wednesday afternoon. Additional information kept trickling in from the schools throughout the evening.

Driving to Work
The crew left for Penn State, the site of the championship games, at 9:00 and I left at 11:00. They needed to get to Medlar Field at Lubrano Park to lay all the wire, set up all the cameras, run the audio lines, and prepare the graphics for the next day. I needed to get to the hotel to sift through all the information I had gathered and prepare packets for each game for my fellow announcers. Their work is very physical, mine is mental. We all met in the hotel lobby, went to dinner and discussed the elements and concerns for the next day. Crew call was 7:00 AM; announcers’ call was 8:00 AM.

Championship Friday
Everyone was at the field by 8:30; 2 hours prior to Game One. The crew tested all the equipment; the announcers talked to the teams and their coaches. Everyone took their positions in the stadium and in the press box by 10:00 AM. “Let the games begin”. I have attached a highlight video summarizing the baseball highlights of the day. Tim Kafer put the piece together; and the musical background is from “The Greatest Game in the World” by Fran Kovalski.

http://youtu.be/BAE5xv4AsVE

There are 664 high school baseball teams in Pennsylvania; 39 District Champions; and just 4 State Champions. Congratulations to the winners!

As for our gang – We came on the air at 10:30 AM and said, “Good night, everybody” at 10:10 PM – 11 hours and 40 minutes later. In between, there were 4 games, 30 innings, with the final game of the day (naturally) going two extra innings to decide a champion. All of us believe we “hit a wall” sometime during Game Three, persevered, and got through it. It seems to happen every year. I had plenty of time to ponder the day with the 3 ½ hour ride home that followed and there are always the same two thoughts, “Job well done” and “I’m glad that’s over”.

Valedictorian, Salutatorian, and MVP’s

Academics
This past week, I read that the Parkland School District decided to no longer award the distinction of class valedictorian or salutatorian. The rule was instituted in 2009 for the class of 2013. They are not the only local schools to do this. Moravian Academy and Emmaus High School also do not list the top two students. Instead, they would list all of the students who had achieved honors as a whole. This is easy to do, since the honorees are based on grade point averages, and perhaps, other criteria. It is not subjective. I am sure a computer just simply spits out the names. In other words, the schools (computers) choose their All-Stars, but not their MVP’s.

Athletics
This academic direction is an interesting path for those of us who are, often, a part of choosing athletic all-star teams and most valuable players. And our choices are much more difficult – we do not have grade point averages or computers to make the decisions for us. We have statistics, but we all know they can lie. I have usually been able to take a list of athletes and choose an all-star team from that list. Sure, if you need to select 10, the difference between #9, #10, and #11 (who would be left out) is not always extremely clear. Then, to select an MVP from the 10 may be even more difficult, more subjective, and simply unfair. A local paper is currently attempting to select an Athlete of the Year (one male and one female) and offered up their first two nominees this week – a football player and wrestler (male); a field hockey and softball player (female). The paper will offer 5 choices for each gender and voters will choose the winners. This would seem to diametrically oppose the academic philosophy of the schools mentioned above.

The Question
So the question I pose to you – who is right? Should we honor the absolute best in academics and in athletics or is it good enough for each school just to name their All-Stars and eliminate their MVP’s? Should we get away from Top Ten lists (unless you’re a David Letterman fan) and let high schools, colleges, and employers decide, based on their criteria, who they want?

Let me know your thoughts before the fall – I have an All-Star football ballot to fill out and the last line asks me to list my choice for an MVP!

This past Saturday night, second-base umpire Mike Estabrook called pinch runner Kyle Kendrick of the Phillies out at second base on a pick-off play in the ninth inning. Replay showed that the Milwaukee Brewer shortstop tagged Kendrick without the ball. No one saw the ball come free and roll into the bare hand of the shortstop. The Phils were down 4-3 at the time and the next Phillies batter doubled, but was left stranded. Right call = tie game; wrong call = lost game.

Baseball only uses replay for home run calls and, within the last two weeks, the umpires even got a home run call wrong. In the American league championship series last year, a Detroit player was called safe at second and TV replay showed the runner was out and the inning would have ended. Detroit scored two runs in the inning and won 3-0. There is a remedy to these bad calls. The NFL, NBA, NHL, major tennis tournaments, and some NCAA sports all use a form of instant replay. Why not baseball?

A subcommittee made up of Joe Torre, Tony LaRussa, and Atlanta Braves president John Schuerholtz will make recommendations for 2014. At first, consideration was to use replay only for a trap play and fair/foul. Now, all plays are being considered.

Baseball Instant Replay Concerns

1. Do you allow a challenge system by the managers, much like NFL football?
2. Do you use a replay official in the booth?
3. Do you use replay for all situations?
4. How much will replay disrupt the game?
5. Will it add even more time to a game which most people think takes too long now?

All these questions will be answered soon. Eliminate the arguments, take some of the pressure off the umpires, and get the call right. After all, isn’t that the most important element?

ABOVE THE EARS (SOME MUSINGS)

1. Speaking of baseball, as of May 15, there were 21 weather-related postponements, the same total as all of last year.
2. Did you know that no other state has hosted more USGA championships than Pennsylvania? The number is 80 entering 2013. Merion golf Club, the venue for the US Open in 2 weeks and Oakmont Country Club in Pittsburgh are the top two. They are the only two to host more USGA events than our own Saucon Valley Country Club which has hosted six. Saucon Valley will host their seventh in 2014 when 264 players converge at the club’s Old Course and the Weyhill course from September 5-11 for the Mid-Amateur Championship. 4,000 golfers attempt to qualify for this event. These are “true amateurs” who are over 25, with handicaps at 3.4 or less and have real jobs like the rest of us. The winner has an exemption for the Masters.
3. The NHL hockey playoffs are experiencing some good ratings for NBC and, particularly, for the NBC Sports Network. The May 29 Western Conference Semifinal Game 7 between the Chicago Blackhawks and Detroit Red Wings posted a 2.07 rating and averaged 3.354 million viewers, making it the highest-rated NHL game ever on NBC Sports Network, and the most-watched Semifinal game ever on cable.
4. Congratulations to Parkland, Tamaqua, Salisbury, and Tri-Valley for winning District XI baseball championships this past week. On to states for them and for us. We have the PIAA state championships LIVE on PCN, Friday, June 14, beginning at 10:30 AM.
5. I am hosting Sportstalk this Thursday (June 6) and the panel will be discussing the best 5 high school football players at various positions. Dick Tracy, Dennis Laub, Jack Logic and Joe Craig will offer their lists. I am putting my list together. There have been some great ones over the years Join us with your opinions. I am sure there will be many.

I am not dumb enough to think that terrific athletes or sports personalities are necessarily, also, intelligent people. But, all too often these days, there are incidents that force average “Joes” like me to wonder, smart or not, what were they possibly thinking?

Let’s start with Ozzie Guillen who recently managed the Miami Marlins. One of the reasons he was chosen was because he related well to Spanish-speaking citizens in and around Miami. So what does he do? He talks about his respect and admiration for Fidel Castro in a city where many Cubans have fled Cuba because of their hatred for the Cuban leader. What was he possibly thinking?

Dennis Rodman visits the North Korean leader, Kim Jong-un, who runs death camps and oppresses his people. Rodman said, “He’s a good guy to me. He’s my friend.” Rodman totally disregarded all of the tragic history of the country and the man. Rodman’s statement implies that those who have suffered have earned their suffering. Otherwise this “good guy” would not have done these evil things. Dennis, what were you possibly thinking?

Sergio Garcia, one of the most recognizable members of the PGA tour and loaded with product endorsements, attacks Tiger Woods for an unsportsmanlike incident which turned out to be totally inaccurate. He not only doesn’t retract what he said, but he also doesn’t apologize and further tarnishes his image with a racist comment about serving “fried chicken” if he had Tiger over for dinner. All he had to do was ascertain the facts about the incident and keep his mouth shut. He didn’t do either! Instead of continuing to be a popular golfer, he will lose future endorsements and constantly hear a chorus of boos from the galleries. He goes from good guy to bad guy because of an incorrect interpretation. What was he possibly thinking?

Notre Dame went to College Football’s National Championship game last year with freshman quarterback, Everett Golson. Golson was looking at three more years playing the most glorious position at college football’s most historical football institution and the adulation that comes with THAT territory. All he had to do was just stay in school. However, Everett Golson is no longer enrolled because of “poor academic judgment.” We do not know what he did – cut classes, cheated on tests, had someone take his tests, failed too many courses – the list could go on and on. The bottom line and most obvious question is, “What was he thinking?”

I could certainly give you more examples – NBA’er Andrew Bynum bowling on a bum knee, causing him to now have two bum knees; NBA’er Amare Stoudamire punching a glass fire extinguisher following a loss to Miami; Lance Armstrong’s arrogance in denying his use of illegal substances when he knew he had been caught; etc., etc. I wish I could understand what they were thinking. But, alas, I cannot!

ABOVE THE EARS (SOME MUSINGS)

1. I have tried to watch the Phillies, but their pitching is bad and the hitting is worse. They are getting to be an old baseball team and it is showing.

2. Heartbreak occurred at the Indianapolis Speedway again for the Andretti family (Mario, Michael, Marco). Marco was right there, kept all the locals in front of the TV, and, once again, fate dealt a stunning blow with a caution flag that cemented defeat and a fourth place finish for Marco. The family says there is no curse; I do not believe in curses; but, if I did, the Andretti history at Indianapolis would certainly qualify as one.

3. Tiger Woods, whose golf schedule is certainly limited, has agreed to play in the Turkish Airlines Open in Europe. Why there, you may wonder. There is a $7 million purse. Still wondering?

4. I needed to prepare for the District XI baseball championships over the holiday weekend. It is very difficult to get information when schools are not in session. I finally got everything I needed Monday night at @ 10:30 (after numerous phone calls to coaches). I worked all day Sunday with what I had. Guess what? The games were rained out on Tuesday and one of the games (already done) was moved and will not be televised. I am not complaining; just a little venting. Thanks for listening.

5. I am hosting Sportstalk next Thursday (June 6) and the panel will be discussing the best 5 high school football players at various positions. Dick Tracy, Dennis Laub and Joe Craig will offer their lists. Join us with your opinions. I am sure there will be many.

Most guys know that men don’t really talk seriously to each other most of the time. In fact, it is a rare “guy” conversation that is not laden with put-downs and jokes about the other person. Very often, if you say something nice about yourself, the response is, “Does your shoulder hurt?” This implies that it must be physically difficult to “pat yourself on the back”.

Well, I don’t care if at the end of this blog you feel that way because I am going to pat the RCNTV team on the back. This past week, the Lafayette Sports Network was named one of five finalists for a 2013 College Sports Media Award. The announcement came from the National Association of Collegiate Directors of Athletics (NACDA) and the Sports Video Group (SVG). There are Major Network/Professional categories and College/University categories. LSN was nominated for “Best Live Game and Event Production”

Submissions had to be an uninterrupted 5 minute segment of a broadcast. There were a record number of entries (a 28% increase) that were viewed by the judging panel. The submissions were designated as worthy of Honorable Mention and 5 were selected as nominees for the award. Also nominated, along with LSN, were Florida State University, the University of North Carolina, and two Southland Conference telecasts.

LSN submitted the broadcast of Lafayette’s men’s basketball game vs. Bucknell. Lafayette senior guard, Tony Johnson, hit a pull-up jumper with 4.5 seconds left to give Lafayette a dramatic 63-62 victory.

You can view the segment at http://www.goleopards.com/genrel/051613aaf.html
The other nominees can be viewed at https://vimeo.com/channels/527414

RCNTV is proud of our 15 year relationship with Lafayette and executive producer, Scott Morse. We are, also, especially proud to be nominated for this prestigious award. This is, by the way, the first time Lafayette has submitted an entry.

The winners will be selected by a panel of judges and announced at a ceremony on May 29 at the SVG College Sports Summit in Atlanta, Georgia.

Enough! My shoulder hurts!

ABOVE THE EARS (SOME MUSINGS)

1. No Triple Crown again this year. Orb, the Kentucky Derby winner could do no better than fourth at the Preakness. The drought is 36 years. Affirmed was the last horse to do it in 1978. He was the 11th. Will there ever be a 12Th?

2. It appears that the idea of a Superconference, the merging of the Lehigh Valley Conference and the Mountain Valley Conference, is dead for the time being. I see no reason to resurrect the idea. The LVC would gain nothing.

3. The Phillies appear to have so many weaknesses, are below .500 and, yet, as I write this, they are only 3 games out of second and 4 ½ games out of first.

Parity has sure produced the ability for mediocre teams to stay in the race.

4. Congratulations to Whitehall High School for winning their first LVC Baseball Championship. They beat an outstanding Parkland team for the title. Winning the LVC title usually is a jinx for the team as it tries to win Districts and move on to the state playoffs. Stay tuned.

5. By the way, the District XI high school baseball championships are Tuesday, May 28 and Wednesday, May 29. RCNTV will be there for the LIVE telecasts from Coca-Cola Park.

You’re invited to join us!

The college basketball rules committee is meeting this week to discuss shortening the shot clock for men’s basketball. As I am sure you know, the current shot clock for men is :35 seconds and, ironically, for women it is :30 seconds. I have already written that I feel that the shot clock for women should be the same as for men, certainly not shorter. Now, do I like the idea of the men going to a shorter shot clock?

First, let’s look at the reasons for the discussion. The average scoring this year was 67.5 points, the lowest since 1952. There was also a great deal of complaining that the games lacked action and were boring.

There are two possible reasons for these stats and the complaints. Perhaps there are fewer shots, less shooting talent, better defense, poorer officiating, etc. Obviously, there are many more potential reasons than just having to put up more shots because the clock demands it. It seems like so many bad shots are taken now. The average shooting percentage this year was the lowest in 48 years. The defense is certainly emphasized more than ever and allowed to be more physical. In fact, I would argue that officials are letting much more go on defense. Statistics show that fewer fouls were called this past season than any NCAA season since the stats have been kept. Many college coaches firmly believe that scoring is down simply because of the way the college game is officiated.

I agree with the coaches. The shot clock does not need tampering. It is time to officiate the game as it should be and the game will change. Reward offenses that work for a good shot, not a desperate one. The physical play of college basketball is in two words, too physical!! Call the fouls that should be called and defenses will adjust. Scoring will go up if much of the pushing and shoving is eliminated.

If the NCAA wants to change the shot clock, take a closer look at women’s basketball.

ABOVE THE EARS (SOME MUSINGS)

1. Sergio and Tiger had a war of words this past week in The Player’s Championship. Sergio accused Tiger of not being very well liked on the tour and Tiger accused Sergio of being a whiner. Finally, a little bit of NASCAR in golf. I like it! PS – I bet both golfers were probably right about the other.

2. I have been on vacation the past two weeks and, for the most part, away from news and sports. Good food and good times take the place of reality quite nicely.

3. The sport that was most available during my vacation was soccer. I just don’t get it. Looks like fun to play, but I just cannot get excited about one goal every 45 minutes or so. Shorten the field, eliminate off-sides (think basketball fast-break here), take a few players off the field and you will have more goals and more excitement.

4. I want to thank Scott Barr and Randy Kane for being guest bloggers the last two weeks. Wrestling and auto racing were their topics. It was nice to give those sports some space here.

5. It is good to be back at the desk and I am looking forward to the LVC high school baseball championship this week. Behind the mic is where I like to be.

Gary will be returning with a new blog post the week of May 13. This week, he’s asked race announcer Randy Kane to guest blog. RCN TV viewers should recognize Randy from the Grandview Speedway broadcasts airing April through August each year. Click here to read Randy’s bio from the RCN TV “Our Broadcasters” page.

Local Racing and RCN TV: A Perfect Marriage

By Randy Kane

Randy Kane – Guest Blogger

Now underway full-speed, the local racing season and RCN TV’s coverage from Grandview Speedway is a perfect marriage!

Some may recall RCN TV began its coverage of motorsports at Nazareth Speedway. Seventeen years later, when Nazareth Speedway closed its doors, RCN TV showed races from the Flemington Fair Speedway for three years. Finally coverage moved to the high-banked clay oval in Bechtelsville, PA, Grandview Speedway, where it has been going strong for the past 13 years.

RCN TV has been part the local racing scene for close to 36 years – quite impressive, to say the least. And the fun part of it is that I’ve had the good fortune to be their racing broadcast announcer throughout all those years. As a racing journalist, it has been, and continues to be, a pure joy.

I think there are as many viewers in the area who watch local racing coverage as there are who watch televised NASCAR races. NASCAR brings in more money with its big national sponsors; however, local racing, in my opinion, is much more fun and exciting to watch. Whereas NASCAR races can sometimes go on forever, the local competition is shorter, faster, entertaining, and keeps viewers on the edge of their seats during every broadcast. NASCAR’s Sprint Cup Chase – the last ten races of the season – to crown the year’s champion is not as popular as you might think, plus all the better cars start every event out in front when the green flag waves. In addition, watching the qualifying time trials is like watching paint dry.

Local events are shorter. The winners get paid less. The better cars, usually, start further back in the starting line-up. Every racer has community business people sponsoring their car. Local racing puts a lot more fun into that complete package; and the fact that viewers can see it all on their televisions in their own living rooms, well, you just can’t beat it. RCN TV is the only television network that has been there, all these years, bringing it to you.

RCN TV coverage is a tremendous boost for the local racing teams. Racers can use the RCN TV broadcasts as a tool to attract potential sponsors – during a race a sponsor can be mentioned or seen or talked about often, as a result. The track benefits when viewers see the kind of racing that goes on and coverage gets those viewers to visit and see races in person. Bottom-line: racing attracts new fans through TV broadcasts.

As I mentioned earlier, doing the local racing broadcasts all these years has been a pure joy. Watching racing grow and the driving talent improve at the track through the years becomes a very interesting and fun path to follow. Racing almost never gets old. It only gets better with age. Kind of like a fine wine. You learn to truly appreciate the sport by being involved for years.

And, when you realize just how long RCN TV has covered the local racing scene and what their broadcasts have meant to the teams and tracks throughout the area, you’ll understand soon enough that local racing and RCN TV, together, have formed a perfect marriage. It is something that should last for many more years to come. There’s little doubt.

Today’s “Behind the Mic” blog is written by long time RCN personality Scott Barr. Scott’s on-air career began in 1984 with the District XI Girl’s Tennis Championship, won by Monica Yurkonic. Since that debut, he has covered a wide range of sports, including kick boxing, track and field, lacrosse, soccer, volleyball, football, and baseball. Most of our viewers, of course, will know him for his work with District XI wrestling. The 2012-13 season was Scott’s 29th season covering “the nation’s best high school wrestling.” Fans across the valley have heard him call “Give him six!” after a pin, while working with three legends of Lehigh Valley sports—Gary Laubach, Ray Nunamaker, and Jim Best. Outside of RCN, Scott helps small businesses set up retirement plans for their employees, and lives in Macungie with his wife, Melissa, and their four children, ages 6 to 22!

Quick—without Google—name the five events in the Olympic Modern Pentathlon.

It’s a sport that may continue to be included in the 2020 version of this worldwide festival of competition. As you know by now, wrestling will not. There is plenty of finger-pointing, from FILA to the IOC, but the bottom line is that this decision is heinous, and reeks of politics.

The IOC stated, in their own report:

“The board voted after reviewing a report by the IOC program commission report that analyzed 39 criteria, including television ratings, ticket sales, anti-doping policy and global participation and popularity. With no official rankings or recommendations contained in the report, the final decision by the 15-member board was also subject to political, emotional and sentimental factors.”

Allow me to interpret—they gathered the facts, but didn’t really use them. They had important numbers available, but made this decision based on “emotion and sentiment”. Does anyone else smell corruption? Maybe I’ve been listening too much to Glenn Beck.

Wrestling, as an Olympic sport, dates to 1896, and is responsible for some of the great Olympic memories. Local fans, of course, will remember Bobby Weaver running around the arena with his 8 month old son, celebrating his gold medal in 1984. I still get choked up watching that one. Some may recall Wilfred Dietrich’s amazing suplex of the 500 pound Chris Taylor in 1972—find it on YouTube—it is the most spectacular throw in wrestling history. Other moments, American and otherwise, are equally memorable. To remove this sport is a travesty.

Further, it’s not hard to imagine that the elimination of Olympic wrestling would cause a death spiral to the sport overall. Title IX has already damaged our sport dramatically, and the IOC decision could well finish it off. Since 1972, 669 colleges and universities have dropped their programs. Of the 79 Division I programs that remain, how many would fold if Olympic dreams were suddenly torn away? Once that happens, the high school programs can’t be far behind.

There are those who say that the sport is tough to watch, difficult to understand, and doesn’t translate well to television. For the casual viewer, clearly, these are valid. My response is equally clear—hogwash. All of these arguments can be made for dressage, rhythmic gymnastics, synchronized diving, and other events that seem to be safe from Olympic cuts. That’s right—dressage—an event where, as near as I can tell, is best described as “horse dancing”.

The final vote has yet to be cast on this decision, as this will happen in September of this year. I do not have a good feeling about it. The IOC, above all, is a political group, and their intent is clear. Dan Gable, the great American champion, is hoping that a petition with 2,020,000 signatures can sway their opinion. I hope he is right. Gable is not a man accustomed to losing, but the battle of FILA vs IOC is lightweight vs super heavyweight.

I would love to tell you “here’s what we need to do” in order to save this sport. I truly fear that the die has been cast. FILA has changed leadership, and is campaigning with urgency, but it may be far too little, and smells of desperation. Certainly, the IOC is used to outrage, and expects a good amount in the face of this decision. Dan Gable is a competent ambassador, and a passionate leader. If a miracle is needed, he may be the only one capable of delivering.

By the way — the modern pentathlon? Pistol shooting, 200 meter freestyle swimming, horse show jumping, fencing, and cross-country running. A cool event, really, but unless you are from a formerly Communist-block country, you don’t care. In 2005, the IOC affirmed its place in the competition, but will vote again in September of this year. Somebody’s out.