Question: Who is Maris Strombergs?
Answer: He is a Latvian who upstaged the likes of Mike Day and DOnny Robinson to take the first-ever Men's BMX gold at the Beijing Games. HE was also heading into this run as the world champion, so, it was fair enough.
Question: Who is Jill KIntner?
Answer: She represented the only medal hope for the USA in women's BMX, delivering bronze behind a 1-2 combination for France.
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And the Philippines in not going to medal at these Games. Mary Antoinette Rivero lost to Sandra Saric in taekwondo, 4-1. Nice going, mother country.
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As Steven Lopez does his own taekwondo business, I am surprised that this match went south in a hurry for Marcio Araujo and Fabio Luiz Magalhaes in the third set against Phil and Todd. Mr. Dalhausser and Mr. Rogers take the Brazilians out of their neighborhood to win, 2 sets to 1.
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While Phil and Todd's Beijing Beachvolley Adventure culminated in a gold sweep for the USA, their indoor counterparts were frustrated at the grittiness of the Russians, namely Maxim Mikhaylov, Alexander Volkov and Sergey Tetyukhin in Set 3 after they were up 2 games to none. You gotta give to credit to these three guys for keeping them in the game with a 27-25 victory in the set. In volleyball, there are times where getting that final set can be difficult, especially if you are up two games to none. A lack of focus, combined with an uncanny penchant for complacency, will do you in when a match goes the distance.
The best teams in volleyball will shut down their opponents early when they are up by two sets. But those same teams also inherit the ability to rally back when they are down to their last set. This Russian side's performance was a clear example of what great teams in volleyball do when everything is on the line. Actually, the guys nearly gave the match away altogether to the Russians. THank god for David Lee. See, this is why I am proud to be from Long Beach State. It's these types of alums that are clutch when it come to these types of situations. It took them 220 rally points, but David finally got it done, blocking Maxim Mikhaylov, and taking it, 25-22, 25-21, 25-27, 22-25, and 15-13.
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Time-out to vent some steam.
What the hell is going on with my Roughriders and Galaxy? Saskatchewan is now on a 2-game losing streak. We probably need to get some calcium pills stat over to Regina because our guys are getting their bones broken faster than old hags with osteoporosis. And even with Bruce Arena at the helm we can't figure out how to win games. 1-0 defeat to Chicago. I'm more keen to follow the likes of the Chelsea, the Melbourne Victory and AFC wimbledon now. I don't think my G's will stand a chance against even the Wombles.
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And as if things haven't been bad enough for my local team today, they do. Angels fall to the Twins, 2-1. Suddenly, the phrase "consistency" comes into play. Should they have enough to win the division, the last thing Scioscia needs to come into October on a losing note. Wake the bats up boys, the regular season isn't over yet. Only good thing locally is that the Armada won. The bad things about it is that...the Armada won on a day that the Angels lost.
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