Who WAS the fastest man in the world?

In 1996, Canadian Donovan Bailey not only won the 100m gold medal at the Athens Olympics, but he did it in World Record time.  This should have solidified the title of “World’s fastest man”, which always accompanies the Olympic Gold medal in that event.  However, somehow, by the end of the Olympics and in the following months, the American media machine had stripped him of this title and given it to one of their own, 200m gold medalist and World record holder Michael Johnson.

 

Now, this was obviously American propaganda and didn’t make any sense at all.  The Americans claimed that because Michael Johnson shattered the 200m record by such an unbelievable amount, and due to the fact that when you split his World record in half, the time was 9.67, which was well below Bailey’s record of 9.84, he must be faster.  Solid argument, but let’s poke some holes in it.

 

1)      The title always goes to the 100m winner.  Why change now because the winner wasn’t American. 

2)      Splitting the world record in half makes no sense, since Michael Johnson didn’t have to start twice, which would have obviously shaved a significant amount off his time.  In fact, when Donovan Bailey ran the anchor leg of the relay that year, he ran it in less than 9 seconds, because he started at nearly full speed.  Add that to his 9.84, and it’s a lot less than Johnson’s 9.34.  Of course, there is always the impact of running the last 100m slower than the first 100m, and having to run half the race on a turn, which would slow him down.

3)      If Michael Johnson was the fastest man in the world, why didn’t he run the 100m?

4)      Both of their top speed’s were measured and Bailey was measured to be faster.  End of argument.  When scientists claim that the cheetah is the fastest land animal on the planet, they don’t quote how fast the animal runs over 200m, they measure it in terms of the fastest clocked speed.  When they measure Joel Zumaya as throwing the fastest pitch in baseball, they don’t measure it over 200m, but at it’s fastest speed. 

 

Unfortunately, it took a “race-off” between the two at Sky Dome a year later to determine the title holder.  It was a race-off that played into Michael Johnson’s strengths since it was being held over 150m, and since part of it was being run on a turn (Because in order to determine the world’s fastest man, you have to do it on a turn?).  Bailey even drew the ridiculously designed tight inside lane.  Yet, he was still dominating coming out of the turn, when Michael Johnson got “injured”.  Yes, the quotes are there to signify sarcasm.  Amazing how, a few years later, when MJ was losing the 200m American Olympic trial race to Maurice Green, he again got “injured” and pulled up halfway through the race.  It must suck when your body gives out every time you’re losing a race.  When Bailey won, being a crazy patriot, I was one of the 6 people partying down Yonge street in Toronto, because this debate really REALLY angered me.

 

So, argument over right?  Not so fast.  Despite my patriotism, hatred of Michael Johnson, and hatred of the American media, the events at the Beijing Olympics have forced me to re-think the situation.  Why?  Because for the first time in decades, the fastest man at both distances is the same man, allowing us to make a direct comparison of his races.and determine whether the split time argument makes sense.

 

So, Usain Bolt holds both records, run on the same track in the same meet.  Let’s look at his times.  He broke the 200m World record in 19.30 seconds, which split to 9.65 seconds per 100m.  He broke the 100m record in 9.69 seconds.  However, those who watched the race know that he slowed down over the last 20m to celebrate, look around, and pound his chest while making faces to the crowd, which significantly raised his time.  I’ve read that a “science dude” analyzed the race and came to the conclusion that if Bolt had run the last 20m with the same speed trend that he did when he broke the record for the first time 3 months ago (running full out), that he would have run a 9.58, which is lower than his 200m split time (For the rest of this post, I will assume that he ran the race in 9.58).

 

So, we argued that Johnson ran the 200m in faster split times, because he didn’t have to start twice.  Yet, Bolt, who is the worst starter in 100m champion history, ran his 100m in faster time than his 200m splits, when he ran full out through the finish line.  Considering that Bolt is a 200m specialist, it stands to reason that he ran a technically sound 200m race, did not run out of gas over the last 100m, and ran a good turn.  Since he ran the turn for the relay team, my guess is that he’s good at it.

 

So, barring any physical conditions that allowed him to run better when he ran the 100m, Bolt proved that you should be able to run the 100m faster than you run the 200m in split times.  Therefore, since Michael Johnson ran his splits faster than Bailey ran the 100m, perhaps Michael Johnson was the fastest man in the World in 1996.  I can’t tell you how much it pains me to even bring up this argument, but it has made me re-open the book on this debate, which I had closed 11 years ago.  Hopefully I’m wrong

 

Thumbs down to ME, for questioning myself and my Canadian hero.

Is Canada Sucking at the Olympics?

As I mentioned before, I listen to Bob McCown every day at 5:00 to hear what crap he’s brewing up.  This week, his “thoughts” have centered around Canada’s performance at the Beijing Olympics.  In Bob’s words, the Canadian Athletes have been an embarrassment, they have underperformed and we should only send athletes who have a shot at a medal.  This post will discuss the merits of his comments.

First off, are the Canadian Athletes an embarrassment to our country?  Yes and No.  I don’t beleive that they are embarrassing us and I don’t think that Bob believes that either, but he’s trying to show a strong opinion.  We should never be embarrssed by people who, whether they win or not, are the best in the world at what they do.  However, the fact that Canada is getting worse every Summer olympics is a little embarrassing.  Fact is, ever since 2003, when Canada won the right to host the Winter Olympics in 2010, the COC has diverted all of it’s energy and funding towards the “Own the Podium” program, meant to outright win the 2010 Olympics.  In doing so, they have largely ignored the Summer Sports and it’s starting to show.  Funding takes about 3-5 years to have an impact in the World standings and the lack of attention being placed on our Summer Sports is starting to show up in our medal count.  However, this is the right thing to do.  What would be even more embarrassing than the goose egg Canada is putting up through week 1 in Beijing, is to not finish in the top 3 in the Winters in 2010 on home soil.  In fact, Canada has hosted the Olympics twice before and has never heard their anthem played at a medal ceremony.  That’s right, twice Canada has failed to win a gold on home soil.  Unbelievably, the two times Canada failed to win a gold medal at home are the only two times that that has ever happened in the history of Winter AND Summer Olympics.  That’s embarrassing.  Once the 2010 Olympics are over, Canada should start re-diverting funds back to Summer sports.

The next question is whether Canada is underperforming at these Olympics.  The answer is no.  Every Olympic year, Sports Illustrated puts together a list of who will win every olympic medal in each sport.  Canada is listed to win 14 medals this year, anchored by predicted golds for Adam Van Koeverden and the Men’s 8 Rowing team.  If you cross reference the prediction with the Olympic schedule, Canada is not supposed to win it’s first medal until Saturday, August 16th.  That means that as of today, Sports Illustrated predicted that Canada would have 0 medals, exactly where we stand.  Just because we have a crappy team does not mean that we are underperforming.  Canada is supposed to win 3 bronzes in Wrestling and Rowing on the 16th, and is predicted to win 5 medals on Friday the 22nd.  So, everyone relax!!!  Now, does our currnet medal count concern me at all?  Of course.  Every Olympics, Canada typically only wins about half the medals they are predicted to win.  They typically supplement this with a number of surprising wins.  The fact that they have not been able to manage to win an off the board medal after the first week could mean a final medal count in the single digits.  That would be disastrous.  Frankly, there are not alot of potential medallists left that aren’t already picked to win a medal.  Alex Despatie, Karen Cockburn, the Women’s softball team and Mark Oldenshaw are all amongst the best in the world at their respective events and are not predicted by SI to win a medal.  If a few or even all of them don’t medal, Canada could end up truly having a terrible Olympics.

Finally, let’s address the question as to whether Canada should send any athletes that cannot compete for a medal.  Well, this is a ludicrous statement.  If every country prescribed to this theory, some sports would only have 4 or 5 athletes competing at all, and Canada would only send a team of about 25 athletes.  That would not be alot of fun to watch on TV and especially live.  Plus, going to the Olympics can also be a development opportunity for future medal hopefuls.  When the US sent Michael Phelps in 2000, they did not expect that he could compete for a medal, but they also knew that he would be dominant 4 years from then.  What they didn’t want was him competing at the Olympics for the first time when he’s in top form.  If you were a coach in the NHL, would you want your prized prospect goaltender making his professional debut in game 7 of the Stanley Cup?  Of course not.  You would want that Goaltender to have some experience before competing in such an important competition.  I will admit that you can argue that there is really no point in sending a 32 year old to the Olympics who has no chance of cracking the top 25, but the only way to handle that is to tighten the standards that Canada has already placed on qualifying for the Olympics.  You can’t start handpicking your athletes and excluding others who deserve to be there by qualifying.

That’s my feeling on the Olympics.  Kudos to the athletes that are there and trying their best, and once again, Thumbs down to Bob McCown.

Who are the Greatest Blue Jays?

Hi everyone (Scott)

It’s been over a week since my last post, and I have been busy making arguments elsewhere as my trade in my fantasy baseball pool was protested and I had to defend the deal.  Apparently I got too much?!?!?!?  Anyway, I had two bursts of inspiration in writing tonight’s post.  First, my most loyal reader, and possibly my only reader, who was almost singlehandedly responsible for my trade not getting voted down, asked me to get back to writing.  Second, I heard one of my favorite songs of all time on the radio tonight…..”You’re the Voice” by John Farnham, and I realized, The “voice” needs to be re-awakened.  So, as a tribute to my most loyal reader, here is my list of the greatest Jays of all time.

Now, like most lists, there are rules and guidelines.  First, the list will outline the top 3 Jays at each position (plus 5 SP, 3 mid relievers and 3 closers).  Second, this list dates back to 1984.  I started to really get into the Jays that year, coincidentally their first winning season, and as much as I’d like to wax poetic about how great a 1B John Mayberry was, I never saw him play and therefore, it would all be heresay.  Next, this is only based on their careers as Jays.  In other words, Phil Niekro will not be in my top starting pitchers.  Finally, as I always do, I’ll be lending my opinion as to why these players are in the position they are on my list. 

Catcher

#3 Darrin Fletcher: Starting Jays catcher for 5 years was maybe the best all around hitting catcher in Jays history.  Was there during the almost years when the Jays threatened to be good again, but not quite.

#2 Pat Borders: Despite meeting his wife when she was 16 years old in Dunedin, he was the World Series MVP and was a rock behind the plate for the Jays golden era

#1 Ernie Whitt: This guy is one of the ultimate Jays.  He was one of the originals and has stuck with the Jays for years.  He should have been the next skipper and his dismissal is yet another idiot move in the great legacy of Ricciardi’s idiot moves

1st Base

#3 Fred McGriff: Former Home Run champ as a Jay was a rock at his position.  He was THE best hitter on the team in the late 80′s

#2 John Olerud: hitting champ in 1993 should have won more batting titles but never really re-found his mojo after his breakout season.  Had the sweetest swing in Jays history.

#1 Carlos Delgado: Career Jays leader in Home Runs, Runs and RBI was the tower of power on the Jays for over 10 years and is likely the best hitting Jay of all time

2nd Base

#3 Damaso Garcia: I just couldn’t put Nelson Liriano here and Aaron Hill is a year or two away, so by default, Garcia makes the team, even though he only played for the Jays for three of my outlined years

#2 Orlando Hudson: One of the best defensive players in the majors was only the 2nd best Jays defensive 2B.  Unfortunately was never the hitter in Toronto as he is in Arizona

#1 Roberto Alomar: In my opinion, the greatest Jay of all time.  While he only played 5 seasons in Toronto, he won 2 World Series and was the best player on both Championship teams.  He will be the first player inducted to the hall wearing a Jays uniform as he combined incredible defense with excellent hitting and speed

3rd Base

#3 Rance Mulliniks: Part of the great Gance Mulliniorg platoon at the hot corner during the early to mid 80′s.  Known for those spectacles in the field, he’s now a pretty solid commentator.

#2 Ed Sprague: Hit the Home Run that turned around the ’92 World Series and then became the every day 3B for almost 6 years.  Too bad his synchro swimming wife has no morals or sportsmanship.

#1 Kelly Gruber: He became kind of a bum in his last year with the Jays but he was the team MVP during the late 80′s and made that great chin grazing slide inthe 92 World Series

Shortstop

#3 John McDonald: Has never won a Gold Glove because he doesn’t hit well enough.  That’s kind of weird eh!  Anyway, makes this list due to great defense and severe lack of SS on the Jays for the last 15 years.

#2: Alex Gonzalez: It’s kind of weird putting such a massive underachiever at #2, but for the same reasons at McDonald, he comes in at #2

#1 Tony Fernandez: He is perhaps the most beloved Blue Jay of all time.  In his first stint, he battled it out with Cal Ripken as the best SS inthe AL.  in his 2 nd stint, he helped them win the 93 World Series.  in his 3rd stint, as a washed up journeyman, he hit .400 into July and made the All Star team.  Every time he donned the baby blue, he found the magic.  Noone else could get away with having Amy Grant for his entrance music

Left Field

#1 Reed Johnson: He was the sparkplug on the Jays for more than 5 years and provided more hustle than the rest of the team combined.  Had an incredible 2006 season at the plate to solidify his position

#2 Shannon Stewart: Has a ccombined BAA of over .300 in his 6 seasons with the Jays.  Also stole a career high 51 bases and even had 21 Hr in his stint with the team.

#1 George Bell: Strangely, and despite all the great seasons turned in by Alomar and Delgado, he’s the only Jay to ever win the MVP.  I had a huge man crush on him in the late 80′s and was mortified to see him go.  Sad that his legacy is that he was later traded by the Cubs for Sammy Sosa.

Centre Field

#3 Lloyd Moseby: He patrolled the Middle Outfield for more seasons than any Jay and was the original star outfielder.  The “Shaker” was my favorite Jay from 1984 to 1989.

#2 Devon White:  The greatest defensive outfielder I have personally ever seen.  He made every play look effortless.  Sadly, if he had made them look a little harder, he might have gotten more press.  Made “The Catch” in the 1992 World Series.

#1 Vernon Wells: He has been up and down, hot and cold, but is the most talented CF in Jays history.  If he could avoid injury and put it all together, he could be one of the best in baseball.  Combines great Defense with great offense.

Right Fielder

#3 Shawn Green: It was a hard decision between him and Rios, but Green was a 30-30 man with the Jays and even hit 40 dingers one year.  He had an incredible arm, even though it might be the 4th best rightfielder arm in Jays history behind Rios, Mondesi and #2.

#2 Jesse Barfield: According to Lloyd Moseby, he threw lame parties, but he was the original “sort of” 5 tool player for the Jays.  He had an incredible arm, stole 22 bases one year, led the league in HR in 1986 and hit around .280 every year.

#1 Joe Carter: It personally hurts me to put him here as I was not a fan, but he provided Jays fans with their greatest moment of all time and he did knock in the runs with consistency.  Hard to knock the best run producer on the greatest team of all time.

Designated Hitter

#3 Jose Canseco: only 1 season and he hit less than .240.  But he also hit almost 50 HR and almost stole 30 bases and was alot of fun to watch……..steroids or not.

#2 Dave Winfield: Again only 1 season, but WOW.  He had one of the greatest hitting seasons ever for a 40 year old, had the winning hit in the 92 World Series, and helped create “Noise”.

#1 Paul Molitor: Maybe the greatest clutch hitter in Jays history.  Despite the fact that he was in his latter years when with the Jays, he was the best pure hitter on the team and always seemed to factor into the victories.  World Series MVP in 93!!!

Starting Pitcher

#5 Pat Hentgen: Could have put Guzman or Wells here.  However, he won the Cy Young in 1996 and was the rock in the Jays rotation for almost 7 years.  He had pinpoint control, and was Roy Halladay before Roy Halladay.

#4 Jimmy Key: Another rock and who could forget the way he tipped his hat to the crowd during the 92 World Series after he was passed over during the ALCS, but then pitched a gem in game 4 of the series.  He was the greatest Jays left hander.

#3 Roger Clemens: Obviously will never be remembered as a Jay, but he won the Cy Young both seasons for the Jays, and won the ptiching triple crown both seasons as well.  Put together two incredible winning streaks with the team and was as close to a sure victory as there ever was with this team.

#2 Dave Steib: He was easily the best Blue Jay during the 80′s and could have been a superstar had he gotten run support or played with any other team.  Seeing him go crazy during the 92 World Series despite not playing since April made the celebration that much sweeter.

#1 Roy Halladay: Has been the best pitcher in the AL over the past 7 years and has more complete games than 4 teams during that time.  He has incredible command, goads hitters into ground balls and never loses his composure.  I feel so confident when he is on the mound.

Middle Reliever

#3 Dan Plesac: The most reliable left hander to come out of the bullpen for 4 years.  He was lights out on lefties and pitched over 80 games twice.

#2 Mark Eichorn:  He won 14 games in and era when middle relievers didn’t win that many games.  He even had a successful second stint with the team years later

#1 Paul Quantrill:  Before Paul came along, the all-star game was always dominated by Starters and Closers.  Then Paul Quantrill came along and was so dominant for so many years that they had to put him on the team.  Since then ,there is atleast 1 mid reliever on the team every year.

Closers

#3 Duane Ward: This is deceiving since he is maybe the 2nd best reliever of all time on the Jays.  Had he been classified as a mid reliever, he would be #1.  He may be the first ever set up man as the Jays are given credit for inventing the role in the late 80′s and early 90′s.  He was the most reliable reliever in Jays history

#2 BJ Ryan: He has fought injuries and missed an entire season, but in 2006, he put up the best relief season in Jays history and maybe won the team 8 or 9 games that they would have lost without him.  He plugged the closing hole.

#1 Tom Henke: One thing for sure, he made you sweat.  It was a rare occurance for Henke to not let the tying run on base, but he always seemed to close it up.  He was the Jays first true closer and ultimately their best

Anyway, hope you enjoyed my take on the 38 greatest Jays.  For the record, this list is correct.  There is no way you can say anything that will change my mind, but I’d love to hear your opinion anyway, if for nothing more than to hear how stupid you are.  Super Kudos to you if you can change my mind.

Why do People Love Soccer (Football)?

I was listening to the Fan 590 in Toronto the other day and Bob McCown was discussing the MLS All-Star game held at BMO field in Toronto.  Before even beginning the segment, he referred to soccer fans as Suckers & Saps, and then went on to ask how it is possible for so many people to love such a boring game.   Then he inferred that those who do love the sport (4 Billion people incidentally) are idiots.

First off, watching any sport in which you are uneducated will be a less than exciting experience.  Rugby looks like an amazing game, but I don’t get it, so it’s terribly boring to me.  Many North Americans (including myself and Bob McCown) are in love with Baseball, but it is quite possibly the slowest sport on earth and anyone who doesn’t understand it would compare it to watching paint dry.  However, that doesn’t make us who are fans of Baseball, Suckers & Saps.

I’ll admit, I’m not the biggest Soccer fan in the world, although I would say that I’m one of the more educated North American born followers of the sport.  However, i just attended my first live soccer game last week and other than Euro and World Cup, I don’t watch alot of it on TV.  But when you watch enough of it and understand the game for more than just the # of goals, it is a very exciting sport to watch.  It’s also fun seeing the true fans of the sport get so worked up over every game and goal.

Let’s look at why it is so popular.  Soccer, obviously, is the most embraced sport in the World by a landslide.  Every single country in the World plays it and even Canada has a higher registration level in Soccer than it does for Hockey.  No joke!  Why is this so?  First, most team sports require a specialized venue and a heap of equipment to play.  Soccer requires nothing but a ball and a little open space.  Hockey requires expensive equipment, a specific season, and a patch of clean ice.  Not easy.  Baseball requires some equipment, level ground and atleast 10 people to make it even remotely enjoyable.  Not easy.  Basketball requires only a ball, but you need a court and a net.  Not always easy.  Football only requires some open space, but you need some serious body armour to keep from getting hurt.  Even if you’re playing flag football, you still need a handful of people to make it work.  Not easy 

Soccer on the other hand, requires only one spherical object of a number of different materials or sizes, and some sort of open space, whether that be indoors or outdoors.  Plus, you really only need two people.  There is not a simpler game in the world to just pick up and play, and certainly not a cheaper one.  Plus, kicking a ball around is just a natural thing people do.  Even if you were born on a desert island and didn’t even know soccer existed, I’ll bet you would be playing some version of soccer with a coconut.  It’s just natural.  Fottball on the other hand; Having someone bend over, moving your crotch up to them and having them pass you a ball between your legs is just not natural. 

Because of the simplicity and the low cost nature of soccer, it is the #1 played sport in almost every country around the World.  With that many people playing the sport, naturally alot of people are going to watch the sport.  What other sport can you watch an African team and a Eurpoean team play to a draw.

Now, I think that, like many things Bob does, he does to get a reaction.  And, I’m playing right in to his hands by spending my time writing this Blog.  But, in case he really does believe that he’s smarter than 4 Billion people, I say thumbs down to Bob.

How’s Cito Gaston Doing?

I will be the first to admit that I did not like Cito Gaston in his first stint with the Toronto Blue Jays.  Yes, he won the 2 World Series in 1992 and 1993 that stand out today as 2 of my favorite moments in sports, but let’s face it, I probably could have managed them to a World Series with the teams that Pat Gillick put on the field.  I was always of the belief that Cito was a lazy manager, who typically left his pitchers in too long and never used his bench (“trenches” excepted in the 1992 WS), or altered his line-up to maximize their output.  He was also terrible at managing kids.

What I will admit is that maybe that’s what the team needed back then.  They had great Starting Pitching and a fantastic 1-2 closing punch but were lacking in middle relievers.  Plus, their starting 9 were all all-star calibre players and the bench wasn’t always needed.  They also did not have a great wave of young players coming up at that point as they were typically traded away for Superstars before they made it to the big team.

I will also admit that I did not show any more enthusiasm when he was hired back to replace John Gibbons this year.  It seemed to be a bad short term solution that would reap little benefit.  Most people have agreed with this and have not seen a turnaround in the team as they are still hovering around .500.

However, putting my dislike aside and diving into the numbers, he’s actually done a pretty solid job thus far.  The team has enjoyed a 16-12 record that has actually brought the team back to .500.  Plus, he has squeezed 5.0 runs/game out of an offense that was only producing 4.0 runs/game under John Gibbons.  Granted, the pitching is now letting up 4.2 runs/game as opposed to 3.9 under Gibbons, but consider the fact that #2 and #3 starters Marcum and McGowan have missed a combined 7 out of 12 starts under Gaston.  Imagine, with how the offense was running under Gibbons, how much lower this team would have been if they had been missing those two pitchers.

I guess it sort of makes sense.  I always thought that Gaston was a great hitting coach and should have stayed in that position for his career.  This team needed to improve their hitting and they now have one of the best hitters’ managers in Gaston.  He has also done a great job of using his bullpen and his bench.  He has frequently mixed up the line-up and has achieved a higher yield from his hitters as a result.  He has even stuck with Adam Lind (the kid) in the Outfield and Lind is putting up by far his best performances under Gaston.  Which makes me re-visit my earlier theory that maybe his style back in the early 90′s was based on the players and team that he had.

This is an early prognosis, and I may be retracting this when the Jays hit the skids again, but it seems that Gaston actually employs an adaptive approach to his managing style, which begs the question as to why he has been out of work for the last decade.

Therefore, my verdict on Cito Gaston’s performance so far:  “KUDOS”

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