there's something about ..... moments

Today ST features Olympics Moments.

I must say this is the best Olympics I have ever witnessed. Best Ever. The followings are my personal Olympics Moments... not necessary good but moments...

No. 10.

Singapore Paddler was not accompanied by a coach. It was such a hooha that our MP, President of STTA came out strongly against the coaching manager and staffs. In fact, the manager was sacked.


To me, this is a joke.



The paddler, Gao Ning, was sulking throughout and lost to an unseated player. He didn't even bother to fight back and the way he walked away from the table without even trying to hit back the ball shows a lack of sportsmanship.


So what if there is no coach. You are the one that is fighting out there, not the coach. Li Jiawei got a coach and still lost. It doesn't matter. You are good, then you are good. You are not, having 10 coaches next to you will not help. Gao Ning is just finding the perfect excuse not to do well.

To me, they should sack Gao Ning for that wrong attitude.


No.9

Wallace Spearmon. Second most recognisable face after Usain Bolt. For the wrong reason.

He came in 3rd in 200m but didn't realise he was disqualified for lane infringement.

He went celebrating WITH Usain Bolt round the track, probably trying to get TV airtime, knowing that the cameraman only will only follow Usain Bolt.

He dance and he make monkey faces. Everyone knew he was disqualified, except him. That was priceless.


No.8


Wang Yuegu, declared age of 28??!?!? 28?!?!?!?!??

Hello??!?! Am I the only one?!?!?!?!

IOC should investigate.

No.7

To me, that is oscar-winning performance. You either do not go to the warmups, or you complete the race. Putting up a face like that at the start-off, it's purely acting.

Yes. I believe he might not be at his full fitness. But he realised that not winning the Goal will have a bigger commercial impact on him and he decided to bail out.

No.6

Mattias Steinner's gold was totally a surprise. He struggled early on on lighter weights and no one expected him to win the Gold. He was also the "fattest" participant.

What was inspiring was not the Gold. It was the story behind him. He lost his german wife (he was russian, I think) to a car accident, and he decided to become a german so that he could be with his wife.

The manner he celebrated was both funny and poignant. He hold out his wife's photo while celebrating. That was really sweet.

No.5

The weightlifting accident that saw the elbow being dislocated is damn disturbing. Too disturbing. It's all over the net in metacafe and youtube. Go watch it.

No.4

The opening ceremony is truly classic.








No.3


Some of us have problems accepting them as Singaporeans, but all of us waited to see our National Flag being held up for the ceremony.

Once is 48 years. A rare sight.

No.2

The greatest Olympian ever. 8 Golds in 1 olympics, total 14 Golds.

It was also the manner he won some of the golds that is truly legendary.




No.1

The best races I have ever witnessed.

100m was out of the World.

200m was truly magical. 19.30sec divided by 2, you get 9.65sec for every 100m.

You know Michael Johnson's record is under threat, but to witness it, just blew you away, just like how he blew away all runners.

there's something about ..... tally

So who is the top nation at the Olympics at the moment?

It all depends which website you are reading....

If you are Chinese and British, you would follow the official Beijing Olympics website.....

If you are American and Russian, you may want to read CNN....

there's something about ..... sway

Phelps' 7th Goal in the 100m Butterfly.... was so bloody close....

Milorad Cavic was almost ensured of the Goal... Almost...It's not the case of Phelps leading all the way and win by 1/100th of a sec. It was Cavic leading all the way, ALL THE WAY untill he was about 1cm away from the wall.

1 CM.

Cavic's hand was gliding under the water, 1 cm away from winning the Goal.Out of nowhere, Phelps' chop (his hand's last stroke) came down and just manage to pip Cavic's hand only at the last CM and won by 1/100th of a sec.

Cavic lost the goal medal the hardest way. He was so sure of winning.

The photo finish below showed how Phelps did the incredible.

Phelps should be cast in the sequel to "I AM LEGEND"!

Phelps is the one on the left.

there's something about ..... silver

I was exchanging sms with a friend when Singapore was given the Silver Medal on the Podium.....

He said,"China won Gold and Silver....."

Later during the national anthem of China.... He said,"Did you see the silver medalist singing?"

These people......

there's something about ..... bolt

What a race!!!

Not since the infamous victory of Ben Johnson vs Carl Lewis, had I seen such a dominating race.

Back then..... Ben Johnson was a mile ahead..... he was so arrogant that he stare back at Carl Lewis with his finger pointing to the sky.... he did 100m at 9.79s, an impossible time at that era.... he was also on steroids.

This time round... Usain Bolt vs Powell..... Powell was expected to come in second.... Bolt is expected to win easily.... but who would have thought.... it was not only easy... he did the impossible of going below 9.7s..... with zero win-assist.... he wasn't only a mile ahead... he slowed down in the last 15-20 m....celebrating... and still got the record.

When asked "why did you slow down towards the end?"

He replied "I didn't come here to beat the world record... because I am already the World Record Holder.... I came here to win!"

What a fabulous quote!! I think he could have done 9.5 seconds with a 3.9 wind-assist.

Powell? He choked! Expected to get a silver... he came in 4th.

there's something about ..... silver

Now we know why Gold price is thru the roof, because Silver is worth $750,000.

So I have to eat my words now. I said we can only hope for Li Jia Wei to get us a bronze even when she is not at her peak. Maybe I am not wrong. It was Feng Tian Wei that did Singapore Proud.

I saw the game. It was fabulous.

Last Set. Last Game. tied at 9-9. Two more points and guaranteed a silver.

There is no space for choke. 1 choke and $750,000 will go down the bowel system. 1 point is worth $350,000.

The whole nation must be thinking "how we wish is Li Jiawei in that situation". I mean.. Feng Tian Wei??!? I can almost see the despair in our MPs at the stand. Afterall, Feng only join Singapore Last year and she has only been a Singapore Citizen since Jan this year.

But... Feng..... kept her calmness and ensure Singapore got a Siver in 48 years.... and she ensure Li Jia Wei got her share of $250k.

She deserved to have a road named after her in Chinatown.

The camera has a glimse of our MP Teo Chee Hean at the stand after Singapore won the game. He was so deadpanned. I think he either fell asleep with his eyes close... or he couldn't understand that the game was already won..... or he was cheering on the Korean Team thinking that they were Singapore....

*********

Can't wait for the 100m race later. Usain Bolt vs Asafa Powell. Current world record holder of 9.72s vs ex-world record holder of 9.74s.

Damn exciting.

*********

The sight of the weight-lifter's elbow being dislocated while lifting the weight is scary. Do a search in google or youtube. You have been warned.

there's something about ..... table tennis

Yesterday I read the news headlines that Singapore Women's Team Trash USA.

Wah... don't pray pray.... USA leh...

After I watched the Daily highlights, then I realised USA also represented by China's chinese.

So I felt better that a more superior country also can choose lousy players from China to represent them.

It's really quite amusing. It's like only Chinese can play Table Tennis.

So, basically, for all the different countries participating in Table Tennis, every player would felt like they were being cheered on. Afterall, this is Beijing.

*****************

Recently, price of Petrol went up slighly after the start of Olympics. Now it's trading around US$117 per barrel.

The main cause of the increase came from China. Everyone in Beijing kept saying 加油.

there's something about ..... olympics (no.2)

Since my wife gave birth on Monday, I have been watching alot of Olympics.

I was in the Labour Ward and I saw Ronald Susilo kenna trashed and Tao Li coming in 5th for Swimming.

Nowadays Labour Ward also got TV. Wonderful.

Naturally, Olympics is the hottest topic when visitors come to visit my wife at the Hospital. Topics like how my wife suffered through the labour is secondary. haha.

Now, ramblings on the Olympics:

Yes. Tao Li came in 5th. But if you use the swimming time and divide by the height of the swimmers, secs/cm, Tao Li will probably win the Gold Medal. The winner is like 2 heads taller than Tao Li lor.

Why did we send Ronald to the Olympics? I can understand if you have gotten beaten by World No.1 and I can say it's pure bad luck that you have to meet him in Round 1. But to have lost out to our neighbouring country? Yeah... sure.... Li Jiawei/Kelly Poon is/are too distracting and you lost. I mean... I can go and represent the country with my limited skills and I would still lose out in Straight Sets lor. Just like Ronald. What a waste of money.

I heard people criticised Li Jiawei for dragging the Flag on the ground during the Opening ceremony. I watch it again. (yes I have it recorded) It's not like she meant it. She is simply too short to be a flag bearer, and she doesn't seem to have any strength to carry the pole. So the fault lies with Singapore Commission. Helloo.... Singapore Flag leh.... Anyhow ask anybody to carry one meh.... never go testing testing one meh.... China make sure their flag will not reach the ground... EVER... even if Yao Ming is to walk with his knees....

I caught NDP on Saturday. Poor thing. Even the sky got to cry. We should have hold the NDP parade 1 weekend earlier. After watching Beijing Ceremony.... watching NDP is so painful. I can imagine this was more painful than labour.

MM Lee said that China can pull off one of the greatest ceremony is due to the sheer size of the population. I believe that is always going to be our main reasons for our continual dismay results at Olympics. But seriously, we need to examine our commission. I mean... we sent Ronald to the Olympics with a zero chance of winning a medal. We sent Tao Li for the exposure and we felt over the moon that she is now the best in Asia, with no medal. We now wait for Li Jia Wei to win us a Bronze medal, where she failed the last time round at her peak. If you look at the olympics, we should concentrate on sports where physical strength is not necessary. Like:
Air Rifle. We have a nation of NSF and Reservists and we can't find anyone to shoot accurately?
Archery. Just aim and practice hard. No push up needed.
Beach Volleyball. We have Siloso Beach. We even have our own Beach Volleyball Channel 8 comedy "Beach. Ball. Babes". So we have the culture to produce winners in bikinis.
Weight Lifting. Our last medal was from Weight-lifting. With so many strong body-builders in California Fitness and all others, cannot find someone strong meh?

Or at least pick players from China that is a sure no.1 bet in the world. Not 4th or 5th best.

Talk about Weight Lifting. China women Gold Medalist in Weight Lifting.... how come they look like Indonesians?

there's something about ..... no.2

Yipppeeeee....

I welcome the new addition to my family.

there's something about ..... olympics

Singapore will have alot to do today for the NDP parade to beat Beijing in terms of boredom.

4 Hours!!!! That is like watching NDP 2 times.

Seriously, it's only the first 45 minutes or so that is so lovely. And probably the last 5 minutes where the Torching of the Flame happens. In Between.... I couldn't decide which is more exciting... the NDP or the Olympic ceremony.

I was eagerly waiting for the Singapore Team to surface. But Beijing decided that introducing participating countries in alphabetical order would mean China being introduce early. That wouldn't do. They decided that the teams should be introduced in a decending order based on the number of strokes of the country's chinese names. Therefore, they would very much ensure 中国 would have the fewest strokes and would be the Last country to come out.

Because of that, there is no bloody way to know when your team would come out. There are 204 countries... and just participating atheletes coming out take 2 hours. I remember the first country coming out was about 9pm and the last is about 11.15pm.

You can imagine the agony of just watching people you do not know walking out for 2 hours. It's like you are at the basement of Wisma Atria Underpass and you sit there for 2 hours.

I also feel slighted that most country leaders were given TV footage when their representing country was paraded, except Singapore and probably other smaller countries. Naturally George Bush was given the most footage.

Why do I want to see the Singapore Team? I wanted to know how I feel about having Lee Jia Wei carrying the Singapore Flag. I didn't feel too proud.

In fact, I got goose pimples when I saw Yao Ming carrying the Flag for China.

In fact, I almost want to cry when I saw Li Ning being the last Torch Bearer. It was a mystery until the very moment when they announced that was Li ning.

It was amazing. When the commentator was speculating on who the last Torch Bearer was... I told my wife that it might be Liu Xiang since we didn't see him during the parade. And since Yao Ming already took the torch during the relay, he wouldn't be the choice.

But when I saw some old atheletes taking turn to take the Torch... the name Li Ning came to my mind and I told my wife.

My wife said "Li ning? A Girl?"

I told her it's a famous Gynamst.

And when she saw Li Ning... she exclaimed "huh? Old man?"

Seriously, I never have thought that Li Ning would be like an uncle.

But I felt he is so fitting to be the last Torch Bearer like Mohamed Ali was the last time. He is a Legend in the early 80s.

Yes... I have been watching Olympics since the early 80s.I am such a big fan of Olympics.

In fact, I just finished watching Weight Lifting, Women's category.

It's time to continue my Olympics.

there's something about ..... tv shows

All my current favourite shows seems to be ending by next week, quite nicely before the Olympics take over our TV channels.

Apprentice is already over. Fabulous season as always.

LOST finale is coming Monday. Last week cliff-hanger is set on a cliff so bloody high, I am so tempted to watch it on the internet or read what happen.

Contender Asia should end Next Thursday on Channel 5. And what a fight last night between Singapore Zach and Mr Maia Lee. The American Commentators had a good time digging on Zidov and Maia Lee's scandal. And the number of illegal kicks below the belt (about 4 times), especially on Zidov...just make you wondered whether Zach was angry...

And Zach make Singapore Proud. I didn't think he could fight but he trashed Zidov. Yes.. Zidov was ordinary... perhaps the news of becoming a father was a burden to him... but Zach showed some potential.

Anyway, Olympics is coming. Hooray.

I love Olympics. It's the only sports franchise that allow you to watch all kinds of sports at the same time. And even some rare sports that you hardly could watch because they are deem less popular to be shown on ESPN.

I can't wait to see the USA basketball team, trying to regain their supremacy.
I can't wait to see who will win the 100m race, 200m race, 4x100m
I can't wait to see Gymnastics.
I can't wait to see Syndronised swimming.
I can't wait to see handball.
I can't wait to see if Brazil will win the soccer goal.
I can't wait to see Volleyball.
I can't wait to see table tennis between China and another chinese-from-china-now-representing-another-country.

And many other sports which I really don't mind wasting time on...

...like... weight lifting
...like... diving
...like... wrestling
...like... swimming

Plus all side dramas, like:

The opening ceremony.... Zhang Yimou so-called 15 minutes sequence... where 1 min has been leaked... and they think it's treason. So drama.

And the algae infested river.....

And the polution infested air..... will runners be able to perform under such conditions....

Will toilets be the talking point in Beijing? Remember our parents will tell us that you need to bring umbrella into the toilet when you pee.

Will LI JIA WEI win a Gold Medal in Table Tennis but the organiser wrongly played the China National Anthem?

Seriously... many more... I can't wait for Olympics to start.