All Posts Tagged With: "Olympic"
From Wukesong and the Olympic Basketball Stadium
The shiny new basketball arena is a glittering achievement, more so when you step inside and realize they’ve imported everything you know about the West’s basketball product — including dancers and stunt teams — to Beijing. I elaborate in ESPN The Blog.
I was there for two sets of doubleheaders: Spain-China and South Korea-Brazil in the afternoon with Wang Kexue (which means “science”), U.S.-Czech Republic and Russia-Latvia for the nightcap with Zhang Peng.
Two thoughts that weren’t used in my ESPN entry:
1. Have you seen Brazil’s uniform? Let’s just say that when that team took on Australia a couple days later, it was a sight that could’ve made fashion designers blind.
2. For all the talk of this being a “sold out” Olympics, there were lots of empty seats for the opening of this basketball tournament. Granted, it’s women’s basketball, but still — I was surprised to see so many seats, especially for the Spain-China game, which turned out to be a thriller. In fact, three of our games were close — Brazil-South Korea went into overtime, and Latvia-Russia had several momentum shifts — and the other game, U.S.-Czech, was great for the way the Americans dominated.
Here was our view in the evening from our box seats:
Olympic Dream, Crushed
Joy is where you find it in this life and finding it can be difficult.
The last thing I ever want to do is dump on anyone’s happiness, as long as your happiness doesn’t involve goring my ox, in which case you can take it up with my ox.
So if you’re among the millions who are filled with joy at the prospect of watching the Olympics in a couple of weeks, good for you. I hope it brings you great pleasure.
But the Olympics aren’t my cup of tea. Not even the Chinese Olympics. Half the sports are so unwatchable you never see them outside an Olympics, most of the rest involve athletes so obscure the networks have to show “packages” before the competition so you can manufacture a rooting interest in the Woman’s 500 Meter Flatwater Kayak Race. And no, I didn’t make that up.
The official slogan for Beijing 2008 is One World, One Dream. It is a lie. Without going into the politics or
pollution or propaganda of the thing, that slogan is simply not true on its face.
Just ask Geno Espineli.
You’ve never heard of Geno Espineli? Fair enough. Here’s his “package.”
Eugene Macalalag Espineli, of Philippine ancestry, was born in Houston Texas 25 years ago. A six-four, 195 pound left-hander, he pitched for Texas Christian University and the University of Texas during a three-year, so-so college career. He gave up a few too many hits per inning, his earned run averages were a little high, but he threw strikes and strike throwing lefties are a valued commodity in baseball, so the San Francisco Giants took a chance on him in 2004.
It wasn’t much of a chance, they drafted him in the 14th round, the 430th player picked overall. The 14th round is the province of suspects, not prospects.
At 21 Geno Espineli went to Oregon to play for the Salem-Keizer Volcanoes in the low, low minors. He did okay. During the next four years he rose, slowly, through the Giants’ farm system, doing stints in San Jose, Fresno, Connecticut and back to Fresno again. Gradually, over hundreds of innings and dozens of bus rides through Podunk USA, he began to put it together. His wins went up, his ERA went down, his funky left handed sling began to fool some batters, he became a “specialty reliever” and his stock started to rise.
Finally, this year, great news. Geno Espineli was chosen to be a member of the American Olympic Baseball Team! All his hard work, rewarded, his talent, recognized. I don’t know the man, but I must imagine that this son of Filipino immigrants must have been thrilled. Geno Espineli, American, was going to Beijing to play baseball, America’s Pastime. It must have seemed like a dream.
One World, one Dream, but not his dream. Geno Espineli will not be going to Beijing. A Giants’ reliever got hurt, there was a spot on the staff, Geno Espineli “got the call.” He left Fresno and went west, not to Beijing, but to San Francisco. His choice, his dream.
On Sunday Geno Espineli appeared in his first major league game, pitching a perfect 8th inning against Milwaukee in a Giants’ 7-4 loss.
On Wednesday, with the Giants trailing the Washington Nationals 4-3, their new leftie came in and pitched for the second time, getting two outs to end the top of the eighth inning, allowing only a harmless walk. The Giants rallied for thee runs in the bottom of the eighth to take a 6-4 lead and that was the final score.
And Eugene Macalalag Espineli, Filipino-American pitcher, 430th pick in the 2004 amateur draft, bats left, throws left, got his first major league win.
Geno Espineli will never get the chance at Olympic gold. Baseball has been dropped from the Olympic roster; after 2008, baseball and softball are dead and gone, the first sports eliminated since polo in 1936.
So go ahead, fans of archery, wrestling and trampoline, have a blast this August watching badminton, fencing and rhythmic gymnastics, fill your gullet with modern pentathlon, handball and taekwondo. Enjoy watching the Olympic athletes of the world as they live their dream.
But I’m going to be watching Geno Espineli and dozens more like him as they live their American Dream in The Big Leagues. For guys like me and Geno, the Olympics are just two weeks of static in the middle of the pennant race.