League of Their Own Olympians

 

Photo by Ribbie (2014) atop Forte Duque de Caxias in Rio

 

In these Rio Olympic games, some stories of domination are being written. In this segment called “In a League of their Own” from the Olympic desk of Ribbie’s weblog, Ribbie comments on the competition.   Ribbie was last in Rio during the 2014 World Cup, so the reporting is almost live.

The USA men’s basketball team is in a league of their own, and is expected to win Gold again. The league of their own, of course, is called the NBA.  And while other national teams sport NBA players, team USA’s roster is made up of ONLY NBA players.  Same is true of Team USA on the women’s side – an all WNBA roster.  The women have won 42 consecutive Olympic basketball games, or is it 43?  They are 58-3 all time winning Gold in the last 2 games.  The men have won 14 of 18 Olympic Golds since 1936.  Seems unfair that professional players play teams comprised of, well, in most cases, other professional players from far less competitive leagues, right?  In their first games, the NBA All-Stars beat China by 57 points and the WNBA stars beat Senegal, Africa’s best team, by 65 points. Don’t get me wrong, I like seeing these games; the lack of competition make the NBA/WNBA players seem even better than they really are, to be honest.  I don’t care for the lopsided scores; however, which must be somewhat of an embarrassment to the other teams, though to be fair, Olympians DO like playing against the best.  That said, the Olympics should be about fair competition, in my judgement, which is why I favor a return to a competiton of amateurs only.

Chinese Diving.  Wu Minxia has won more Gold medals in diving than any other Olympic diver in history and is the oldest diver, at 30, ever to win a Gold medal.  She’s still got the golden touch  and is the gold standard in the diving world.

Team USA in women’s gymnastics is in a league of their own.  They could be the best gymnastic’s team the world has ever seen.  In the team competition, they’ve left the other nations behind in the qualifying round, way behind. Simone Biles could win multiple Gold medals in the team competition, all-around and in some of the individual events, possibly as many as 5.  The others have a chance at Gold in their individual events when not up against Biles.

Beach Volleyball – the native California Kerri Walsh with partner Mysti May-Treanor won 3 consecutive Gold medals for the USA and is back for a fourth with a new partner, April Ross.  The towering 6’2″ Walsh is in a league of her own.

Team USA soccer, or football, if you like.  The USA women’s team has won Gold in the last three Summer Olympics and look to be on their way to successfully defending their title.  With the dominant captain Carli Lloyd scoring at will, team USA is clearly in a league of their own.

USA Swimming.  Michael Phelps, whose maiden wins date back to 2004, is STILL swimming and STILL winning in the pool. He’s won so many medals, he’s lost track.  Ask him.  I bet he won’t know how many he has, most of them Gold too. Mr. Phelps is undubitably in a league all his own.

The USA has been fortunate enough to have the great sisters Serena and Venus Williams represent, who have been playing in a league of their own winning 4 Gold Medals in Olympic competition. They could repeat as doubles champs.

Others leagues of their own include Italian Fencers, German and Slovakian  Canoeists, and Danish Rowers.  And the dominant French handballers, in a sport about as silly, but not quite as silly as Water Polo, where Hungary has traditionally dominated, look to be the team to beat.

Analysis of Sweet 16 matchups with Stats and Stuff

How do the Sweet 16 teams matchup?  At least in the first 4 games tonight, pretty evenly, except for the Kentucky game. In 3 of the first 4 games, the seeding differences are just 4, 3 in the case of UNC and Wisconsin.

Kentucky (1) v West Virginia (5)

Notre Dame (3) v Wichita St. (7)

Wisconsin (1) v North Carolina (4)

Xavier (6) v. Arizona (2)

Statistically, Wichita State v Notre Dame should be the closest game.  Notre Dame is one of the best offensive teams in the country and Wichita State has one of the best defensive teams in the country. Playing in Cleveland affords Notre Dame the home court advantage.  Notre Dame played a much stronger schedule during the regular season, but Wichita State has played stronger teams so far in the tournament.  So which team is really more battle ready?  Good question.  This could be the upset of the night, but not quite a Shocker.

Based on the numbers, Kentucky should blow West Virginia out of the gym.  Kentucky has one of the most balanced teams in the tournament.  West Virginia has the worst defensive team probably of any remaining from the Midwest and West Regions.  During the regular season, they ranked 346th in defensive rebounds,and 246th in blocked shots. By contrast, Kentucky was 3rd in points allowed and 2 in blocked shots.  This does not bode well for the Mountaineers who also ranked 282nd in field goal percentage. Ironically, they weren’t totally bad on offense, ranking 36th in points per game.  And as horrible as they were overall as a defensive team, they excelled in one area – steals.  West Virginia led the nation in steals per game.  I’d like to think Bob Huggins could somehow throw Kentucky off their game, you know, find a way to steal it, but they just don’t have the weapons to compete with the Wildcats. It won’t be a blowout, but it won’t be very close either.

I don’t think Arizona and Xavier will be much of a game frankly.  First, Arizona has a decisive home court advantage playing in LA.  Like Kentucky, Arizona is one of the most balanced teams in the tournament.  Statistically, they ranked high on offense and defense: 6th in points per game and 15th in points allowed; 13th in defensive rebounds.  Xavier ranked 195th in points allowed and they blocked about as many shots per game as West Virginia did, which is to say not very many.  Now admittedly, the Big East had a decent league this year, but Xavier lost to some really crappy teams in the regular season like Long Beach State, DePaul, Seton Hall and Creighton, programs that were once competitive, but are on the decline.  Plus Xavier had a rather uninspiring season finishing 6th in the Big East. Now you could say, “but they are on a roll.” True, but look who they’ve played so far in the tournament – an 11 seed, Ole Miss and the 14th seeded Georgia State Panthers, the feel good but not real good team. Likewise, Arizona hasn’t been challenged either playing pitifully weak teams in Ohio State, a 10 seed and Texas Southern, a 15 seed out of the Southwest Athletic Conference.  Xavier will be in it for a while, but Arizona should pull away and get the bench some playing time.

The Wisconsin North Carolina game may be the best one of the night.  North Carolina has one of the best offenses in the country:  2nd in rebounds, 2nd in assists, and 17th in points per game. By contrast, Wisconsin ranks 204th in offensive rebounds, 165th in assists and 67th in points per game.  It’s a wonder they won so many games this year.  On the defensive end, Wisconsin is in the top 10 in points allowed, BUT they are horrible at rebounding, one of the worst teams in the country in forcing turnovers and an abysmally weak shot blocking team.  The question in my mind is can the Tar Heels stop Frank Kiminisky? If UNC can shut down or limit the lanky 7 footer from Lisle, IL, to say 12 points or less, they’ll win the game handily.  It won’t be an upset exactly, despite the seedings because the ACC has proven to be a much more competitive conference this year than the Big Ten with 5 teams still in play vs. the Big Ten’s scant 2 in the mix, one after tonight.

Let the #Marchmadness continue!

2015 NCAA Tourney 2nd Round Odds and Ends

From the Sports Desk of Ribbie’s Weblog, your source for twisted coverage of March Madness.  Here are some stats and facts you might not have seen yet:

• The lowest winning score in a game:  56 – (3): Arkansas, Dayton, Butler
• The lowest combined score in a game: 104 – Butler 56 – Texas 48.
• Lowest losing score in a game:  48 – Texas
• Highest number of bids by state: 5 – Texas and Indiana
• Most # of loses by a state in second round play:  5 Texas – Texas, Texas Southern, Baylor, Stephen F. Austin, SMU
• Highest scoring game:  BYU 90 v Ole Miss 94 (First Round)
• Most teams by conference still alive:  6:  ACC, Big East, Big Ten
• Most teams by state still alive: 4 – Ohio: Cincy,  Dayton, OSU, Xavier; IN: Indy, Valpo, Butler, Notre Dame NC:  UNC, Davidson, Duke, NC St.
• Rhyming Couplet Matchup:

The high and mighty Dayton Flyers

Will play the saintly Providence Friars

Stay tuned for continued “coverage” of or more aptly, musing, rantings and ravings on the 2015 NCAA Hoops Tournament.  Let the madness continue!

2015 March Madness – 68 of the not so great

Are you mad for March?  Are you ready for March Madness?  I am and so are 68 NCAA basketball teams.  Let’s have a look at who is in and see what we can see.  One quick note:  there are quite a few no and new shows.

• First timers:  North Florida, UC Irvine, Buffalo.  No offense North Florida, but I didn’t even know you had a school, much less a team, but, nonetheless, welcome….and good luck!  Hey, Buffalo.  We don’t hear much about your college hoops team.  I don’t suppose you folks are the Buffalo Buffalos?  No?  Oh, the Buffalo Bulls, not to be confused with the bad news Buffalo Bills.  Interestingly, the team is coached by Bobby Hurley, of Duke fame, and has a roster of only one kid from the State of New York (Buffalo) who went to prep school in Virginia.
• Thirty-three states and DC sent teams to the tournament.
• Texas and Indiana have the most teams in the big dance with (5) – TX: TX Southern, UT, Baylor, SMU and SF Austin; IN: Purdue, Butler, Notre Dame, Valparaiso, Indiana.
• The Big State of California where basketball does not reign supreme this year has only 3 teams representing: UCLA, UC Irvine and San Diego State.
• Florida produced one team:  North Florida, the home of the Ospreys – not sure if the mascot is a bird or a helicopter.
• Tennessee produced one team:  the Belmont Bruins from Nashville.
• There could be an all Texas and or former SWC conference final: SMU vs. Texas or Ark vs. SMU – but it won’t happen.
• Wofford has a fitting mascot:  the Terriers!

Let the madness begin!

Why Boston should not host the Summer Olympics

Dear Reader,

Boston was selected to compete to host the 2024 Summer Olympics, which I think is a really horrible idea for the following 5 reasons:

1. Friendliness. Not that Boston couldn’t be a good host city.  It could and most likely would be, if people were on their best behavior.  However, Bostonians are not generally known for their friendliness, but neither are they, or I should say, we, as I live here, neither are we hostile.  At best we are indifferent to tourists, and sometimes, maybe quite frequently, mildly annoyed at them but otherwise reasonably tolerant.  International tourists will not find the sort of southern hospitality they might have encountered elsewhere, say in Atlanta during the 96 Olympics – you know, “how ya’ll doin?”, ya’ll doin aight?”, nor will you find the curiosity factor, “where ya’ll from?”. To Bostonians, unless you live in the neighborhood where you were born, you are an outsider and will be given the cold treatment, which is a survival mechanism, so don’t take offense. The best you can hope for is to get honked at to get the hell out of the way, or to receive a “you all set?” from your waiter.
2. Food.  Boston has some good food, but does not compare to other major cities in the U.S. like NYC or Chicago and doesn’t really have a very attractive local culinary staple, unless you count Clam Chowder, and in my book soup doesn’t count.  And lobster, well, that’s Maine’s claim, not Boston’s.  Try finding a good barbecue, a brisket, a cheesesteak, or even a decent pizza – and sandwiches in the city, forget about it.  Make your own.
3. Parking.  There is none. Period. And traffic is bad enough as it is, the Big Dig notwithstanding. Bostonians are notoriously bad and rude drivers and the roads here are little more than cow paths.  There’s no grid pattern for navigation purposes which renders even GPS useless.
4. Accommodations.  I think most tourists would have to stay outside of Boston – way outside, like Maine, Vermont, New Hampshire and Connecticut because there just aren’t enough beds.
5. Venues.  They’d have to be built, because there’s not much here besides the Reggie Lewis Track Center at Roxbury Community College, the basketball gym at the Garden, the Football stadium in Foxboro, out in the sticks – over an hour from Boston and the soccer field at Pagil Playground. Boston would have to build something like 4 stadiums costing upwards of a billion dollars, not to mention the added expense of all the security needed. Ultimately this will mean higher taxes for Bostonians. Look, Boston is so congested with buildings and narrow alleys that they’d have to tear old stuff down to build the new.  If Boston were selected, they should just build out on the Boston Harbor Islands,which, by the way, has good views of the shipping lanes, Logan Airport and the occasional whale.

I’d just be happy to host another World Series and leave the Summer Olympics to the Romans.

Respectfully,

Ribbie,

Boston, MA

Dismantled Brazil Could Still Finish 3rd

Well, I didn’t predict the winner – I had Brazil.  But I did predict that the losing team would score 1 goal.  You see, I had Brazil beating Germany 2-1.  I never imagined that in a semi-final World Cup game a team would/could score 7 goals. 7 goals! Germany completely dismantled Brazil with seemingly little effort, scoring 3 goals in 3 minutes and 5 goals total in the first 29 minutes.

I happened to be watching the game in Rio in the comfort of a friend’s apartment drinking sangrias (fittingly so it turns out). And good thing, because if I had been down by the beach drinking caipirinhas watching the game on one of the Jumbotrons set up on Copacabana beach, just down the street, who knows what might have happened to me.  I’m not saying I would have been attacked or anything, but I do look more German than Brazilian and don’t speak Portuguese. And trust me, the vendors make a beeline for me at the beach, marking me as both a tourist and a probable gringo with dollars. No one has yet to ask me, “Alemao? or “Sprechen Sie Deutsch?”

The game was an embarrassment to watch and I am sure an embarrassment and shock to all in the soccer community, Brazilians and Germans alike.  A 6 goal differential is the largest defeat a host country has ever suffered in a World Cup game and 7 is the most goals ever scored in a semi-final game.  And it’s too bad it happened in the way that it did.  Brazil had two men down essentially – star Neymar and captain Silva…but they did have the home field advantage with the support of the entire soccer crazy nation.  Soccer is a religion here.  An addictive drug one could say that keeps the masses distracted from the many problems Brazilians face from wealth inequality to corruption.

Whether Brazilians will forgive their team for their pitiful performance remains to be seen.  Many left the stadium before the first half even ended.  After the game, some of the players and the coach apologized to the fans and the country.  Players were praying on the field as if asking god for forgiveness for their sporting sins. The Brazilian team can only hope for a victory against the loser of the Holland and Argentina match – certainly no small feat.  It would be a consolation prize that could help heal the damage that Germany inflicted and restore the people’s pride and faith in their national team.

Brazil Can’t Possibly Lose, Can They?

Futbol reigns supreme in Brazil. The national team known for its jogo bonito (beautiful game) has advanced to the semi-finals to play Germany, a team they last played and lost to in an international match in 2011.  They are 9-0-1 in their last 10 games and have won 42 straight home games since 1992.  Germany on the other hand has a record of 7-0-3 in their last 10 games and has the distinction of being the first country to reach 4 World Cup semi-finals in a row. But can they win? The last time they made it to the finals in 2002, they played Brazil and lost.  They last won the World Cup in 1990, defeating Argentina, a rematch that is theoretically possible.

Notwithstanding the history, the European, Latin American showdown should be close. Germany remains reasonably healthy, having lost only one player to injury, defender Shkodran Mustafi. Brazil on the other hand will be playing without two of its starting players, Neymar, who fractured a vertebra in the game against Colombia and Silva who was served a one game suspension in the same match. The fact that two of Brazil’s most important players are out may neutralize Brazil’s home field advantage in today’s match in Bello Horizonte, Brasil. May, but will it?

One cannot underestimate the power of the home country advantage and I certainly won’t. In the 19 previous World Cups played, the host country has won 6 times.  And that kind of advantage for a powerhouse may be very difficult for Germany to overcome. France was the last host country to win the World Cup back in 1998.

On a personal note, I have the good fortune to be in Rio and to have the option of watching the game where I am staying with family and friends or to go the beach just down the street and watch it with fans who worship soccer as if it were religion. Watching it on the beach would be nice, especially if Brazil wins, but I prefer the comfort of a couch and a big screen TV, as opposed to the sand and a jumbotron screen.  To be honest, being more of an introvert, I don’t much like crowds, especially ones where alcohol and fireworks are combined.  And I am a bit of a wimp too when it comes to celebratory cannon booms and displays of fireworks that have loud reports.  It all reminds me too much of war and suffering. Of course, soccer is a kind of war, and teams in this tournament have used violent physical contact as a weapon to weaken the opposing team, as Brazil knows all too well.  And like war, the losers will suffer.

My prediction:

Brazil 2 Germany 1

And then there were 8

From the cluttered Sports Desk of Ribbie’s Weblog:

Highlights from the second group of Sweet 16 games and a few other oddities:

• In a losing effort, Tennessee had fewer turnovers, more rebounds, more steals and more blocked shots (8) than Michigan
• Michigan outperformed Tennessee in all the shooting categories.
• Louisville went only 13-23, 56.5% at the free throw line; KY, 22-27, 81.5%.
• UConn shot a better 3 point percentage, 47.4%, than Iowa State’s field goal percentage, 46.4%
• UConn made 91% of their free throws – 20-22; Iowa State 40% – 6-15.
• UConn is 3-0 at Madison Square Garden this season.
• The Big Ten reigns supreme with 3 teams left:  WI (2), MI (2) and MI State (4); SEC has 2:  FL (1), KY (8)
• Last #8 National Champion: 1985 – Villanova.
• Big Ten record – 9-3; SEC – 9-1.
• The Lowest seeded teams in the Elite 8 are: Dayton (11), KY (8) and CT (7)
• # of Elite 8 match ups between teams that have played before this season: 0
• # of teams that have not faced an Elite 8 team this year: 1 – Dayton
• Place Dayton finished in the Atlantic 10 conference: 6th.
• Number of 11 seeds to reach the final four:  3: VCU (2011); Geo. Mason (2006); LSU (1986)
• Kentucky’s record against Elite 8 teams:  0-3, losing twice to FL and once to MI St.
• Florida’s record: 35-2.  # of losses to Elite 8 teams: 2 – UConn, WI
• Most games against Elite 8 teams: MI – 6; record 3-3: Wins – WI, MI St. (2); Loses – AZ, WI, MI St.
• Number of coaches in the Elite 8 with one or more championships: 3 – Billy Donovan (2); John Calipari (1); Tom Izzo (1)

2014 Sweet 16 Tournament Geography and Stuff

From the sports desk of Ribbie’s Weblog, here are some more interesting facts about the Sweet 16 teams as they head into action tonight.

• Number of teams from states that do not border any other states with teams left in the tournament: 2 – Texas, Connecticut
• # of private universities: 4 – Stanford, Louisville, Dayton and Baylor
• Games between border states: 1 – Arizona v. San Diego State
• Games between private universities: 1 – Stanford v. Dayton
• Game of lowest seeds: Stanford (10) v. Dayton (11)
• 1 v. 4 games: 3 – VA (1) v. Michigan St. (4); FL (1) v. UCLA (4); AZ (1) v. San Diego St. (4)
• Number of states with teams in the the Sweet 16 that Kentucky borders: 3 – Tennessee, Ohio (Dayton), VA

I know, BORING, so let the games begin.

Maddening 2014 March Madness Fact and Oddities

March Madness is upon us once again and 32 teams still stand tall, some taller than others. So which teams are left after the first two rounds?  How many conferences? How many states? These and other questions will be answered. To paraphrase some babbling Pink Floyd – I know I am mad, I’ve always been mad, even when I’m not mad, I’m mad…can’t really do anything about it anyway…except compile statistics and odd facts about a basketball tournament.  Read on you crazy hoop heads.

High and Lows:

• State Highs:  3 – TX: Baylor, Stephen F. Austin, Texas; CA: Stanford, San Diego State, UCLA

• States Remaining: 23

• Conference Highs:  4 – ACC: NC, Pitt, VA, Syracuse; Big 12: Iowa St., KS, Baylor, Texas; Pac 12: AZ, UCLA, Stanford, OR

• Conference Lows: 0 – Conference USA, Mid American, et al.

• All Conference Final 4: 1: Big 12: Iowa St., Kansas, Baylor, Texas

• Final Four Madness: Stephen F. Austin (12), Harvard (12), North Dakota St. (12), Mercer (14)

Mascot Breakdown:

• People – 7: Tennessee Volunteers, SF Austin Lumberjacks, Dayton Flyers, San Diego State Aztecs, NC Tar Heels, Michigan St. Spartans, Virginia Cavaliers

• Cats – 5:  Pittsburgh Panthers, Memphis Tigers, Arizona Wildcats, Kentucky Wildcats, Villanova Wildcats

• Birds – 5:  Stanford Cardinal, Louisville Cardinals, Kansas Jayhawks, Creighton Jays, Oregon Ducks

• Bears – 3: UCLA Bruins, Mercer Bears, Baylor Bears

• Weird Animals – 2: Wisconsin Badgers, Michigan Wolverines

• Colors – 2:  Syracuse Orange, Harvard Crimson

• Bovinae – 2:  Texas Longhorns, North Dakota State Bisons

• Fruits – 1: Syracuse Orange

• Grains – 1: Wichita State Shockers (stalk of wheat)

• Natural Disasters – 1:  Iowa St. Cylcones

• Doll – 1: Saint Louis Billikens

• Swamp Dwellers – 1: Florida Gators

Interesting Matchups:

• All Cat Final Four:  KY Wildcats, Villanova Wildcats, Arizona Wildcats, Pitt Panthers

• All People Final Four:  Virgina Cavaliers, Tennessee Volunteer, San Diego St. Aztecs, SF Austin Lumberjacks

• Top Public U Final Four: UCLA, Virginia, Michigan, Wisconsin

• Top Academics Final Four: Harvard, Stanford, Wisconsin, Michigan

• Great Mascot Battle:  Wolverine, Badger, Gator, Tiger

Let the madness continue!