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Volume XXXI

Chicago simultaneously weeps and cheers as it misses out on the 2016 Olympics to Rio de Janeiro ... the French are up in arms with the UCI, who they assert dealt preferential treatment to the Astana team that eventually won the Tour de France and placed another rider on the podium. Several star players are in danger of missing out on the greatest show in soccer next summer, with their nations lagging behind in World Cup qualifying... and, with Kim Clijsters returning from her retirement to win the U.S. Open this year and guys like Brett Favre still playing at an elite level, comebacks appear all the rage across the sports universe.

We’re in an exciting time of the year all around the sports world. While most American fans are so engrossed in the MLB playoffs and football seasons both professional and collegiate, there is a whole world of events occurring that cannot be discounted. As the weather cools, the action heats up all around. We may be past the Grand Slam events of the tennis season, but the season-ending tournaments are still bearing heavy competition and the hot-stove discussion is going in full force months ahead of the 2010 Australian Open. Both the UEFA Champions League and domestic leagues throughout Europe are showcasing blistering soccer action, raising the interest level at all levels of the sport as South Africa gets set to host the World Cup in less than a year. And while cycling prepares for the running of its fall classics and Cadel Evans glories in becoming the first Aussie to don the rainbow jersey of the world champion, the talk throughout the sport centers instead around the management of the past.

After a morning spent moving ten tons of green coffee beans just in from Mayan co-ops in Chiapas , all I want to do is sit back and reflect on everything wonderful from a globe’s worth of athletic events. So it’s time to take a break from more traditional American pursuits to diversify our knowledge of the sports world all around us. All aboard, because the train is heading out of the station for another take this week from A Non-Traditional Sports Fan in America ...

WORST THINGS FIRST...

After this year’s hard-fought Tour de France saw, for the first time in a long time, nobody test positive for performance-enhancing drugs, it appeared to be vindication for the UCI as they have stepped up their testing and enforcement measures in recent years to combat doping. Yet just a couple days ago the French Anti-Doping Agency (known by its French acronym AFLD) issued a report that stated the UCI gave preferential treatment to the Kazakh-based Astana squad of Tour winner Alberto Contador and podium finisher Lance Armstrong. Stating that the team was consistently the last team to be tested each day, that samples were knowing mislabeled “Outside Competition” to thwart efforts to test for all banned in-competition substances, and that there were gaps between the announcement of testing and riders’ arrival at doping control, the AFLD has asserted that the spirit of testing was compromised by the UCI.

The rift between Tour de France organizer and the UCI is well-documented; the battle between the UCI and AFLD seems to be escalating toward those proportions. When the sport is gearing up to race Paris-Tours -- another ASO-run event held within French borders -- the questions arising are not about who will win the one-day classic but about whether the French and international testers can get on the same page and carry out completely legitimate tests. Without legitimate testing, the result in an ever-skeptical world will be entirely in doubt. Yet no one is accusing Contador or recently-crowned world champion Cadel Evans of doping; the fact that each has passed dozens of tests over the past year is held by most if not all followers of the sport as indication of their cleanliness.

But we cannot discount such allegations about the testing process itself, and that is the saddest part of all. We have heard stories in other sports of players and teams being notified ahead of time when their name was about to be called for “random, unannounced” testing. The UCI, naturally, has already announced their own reaction to the “totally unfounded” accusations in the report, asserting that they may seek “a neutral partner for anti-doping tests on French soil”. But if what the AFLD has said is even somewhat true, it is another odd turn in a tumultuous legacy for a sport which was the first to conduct regular doping controls, which has seen more athletes condemned for indiscretions than any other sport, and yet is still viewed most suspiciously.

Trying to keep sports fair is a laudable goal, but it is also a fact of human nature that athletes will always work within -- and sometimes outside -- the rules to try to find any competitive advantage possible. AFLD director Pierre Bordry has said, “The international federations must understand that when it comes to anti-doping you have to be rigorous and transparent, otherwise doubts are raised which may not be founded but which are justified by the absence of transparency.” But all the transparency in the world still does not guarantee a level playing field. This is the truth which all parties seem to ignore as they profess their commitment to anti-doping actions.

We must certainly not lose sight of the various illicit moves which athletes might take to enhance their performance, but so too must we remember that there is no definitive black-and-white line regarding this subject. We also cannot allow it to hinder our enjoyment of our pastimes. So here’s to hoping that the classics specialists can be allowed to enjoy their day in France and can be afforded the confidence that, unless they actually fail a drug test, their exploits are legitimate and worthy of applause. Whether last year’s winner Alessandro Ballan can defend his title, another classics champion pips him for the crown or an unheralded challenger can break through to have his moment of glory, these athletes work too hard to be summarily cast as guilty without a shred of evidence....

STRIKING OUT BEFORE EVEN TAKING FLIGHT...

A lot has been written about the failed bid by the American delegation to land the 2016 Summer Olympics for the city of Chicago . Famous current and former citizens of the Second City -- from media tycoon Oprah Winfrey to President Barack Obama -- flew to Copenhagen for one last chance to lobby the IOC. But while many American pundits are calling this a failure on Oprah’s part or Obama’s part or the USOC’s part, the truth is that the deck was stacked against Chicago’s bid long before selection day came around.

The United States has hosted the Olympics on seven occasions: four Summer Olympiads (1904 St. Louis ; 1932 Los Angeles ; 1984 Los Angeles ; 1996 Atlanta ) and four Winter Games (1932 Lake Placid ; 1960 Squaw Valley ; 1980 Lake Placid ; 2002 Salt Lake City ). North America is set to host the Vancouver Winter Olympics next year. The continent has been awarded the Olympics on a dozen occasions out of 46 opportunities -- in addition to America ’s eight festivals, Canada has hosted the Olympics thrice and Mexico City hosted the Summer Games in 1968.

Severed from its northern neighbor by just the man-made Panama Canal , South America has been denied for over a century a chance to host the Olympics. So when it came down to Chicago, Tokyo (which hosted the 1964 Summer Games along with Japan’s two Winter Olympics in Sapporo and Nagano), Madrid (Spain last hosted the Summer Games in Barcelona in 1992), and Rio de Janeiro, it would have been heresy for Brazil’s cosmopolitan coastal city to be denied its shot to make South America proud. With a long sports tradition and an increasing prominence in the global community, Brazil is a worthy host of the twenty-eighth edition of the Summer Olympics.

To really bring it into focus, here are a couple of charts which break down number of Olympic Games awarded by continent and country:

So Chicago should not be too disappointed. Lame duck USOC acting CEO Stephanie Streeter, who announced that she will step down from the position following the Vancouver Olympics and Paralympics and remove herself from consideration for the full-time post, should be allowed to make her decision without scrutiny to her “inability” to get the Olympics back to U.S. soil. (She made her decision to refuse the USOC gig on a full-time basis prior to the vote in Copenhagen , withholding the announcement so as not to jeopardize what chances the Chicago bid might’ve had.) And neither Obama nor Oprah should be vilified for “failing” to bring the Olympics back to their beloved home city.

There was nothing that the IOC could do besides pick Rio de Janeiro . History was demanding that South America get the chance they have deserved for many years. For a continent that has proven its ability to host big-time sporting events -- with the second-biggest international spectacle, the FIFA World Cup, having taken place on South American soil four times throughout its history -- the time was long overdue for the IOC to make this decision. Having denied Rio de Janeiro on three other occasions and other South American bids four more times, it was finally time to do right by one of the breeding grounds for many of the world’s elite athletes...

QUALIFICATION MINEFIELDS...

Unlike Chicago , some of soccer’s international powerhouses controlled their own fate from the outset -- yet are in danger of failing to qualify for next year’s World Cup in South Africa . The beauty of sports as opposed to bidding for the right to host sporting events is that existential factors fade away. The only thing that matters is the action on the field. Fantasies are realized through hard work and perseverance rather than pandering and popularity. A team cannot win on reputation alone, and doormats rarely roll over at the opening whistle.

Argentina , especially, is discovering this truth the hard way. Twice world champions and twice more runners-up, Argentina is sitting in fifth in qualifying in the South American (CONMEBOL) region and is in danger of missing the action in South Africa . Should they fail to qualify, Argentina would watch the World Cup at home for the first time in four decades since they failed to reach the 1970 Mexico tournament. The Albicelestes (so called for their sky-blue-and-white uniforms which mirror the colors of the Argentine flag) host Peru on Saturday before crossing the Rio de la Plata for a Wednesday clash with neighbor and perennial adversary Uruguay (currently just one point behind Argentina for the fifth spot that earns a play-in game with the fourth-placed North American squad).

Diego Maradona, the hero of the 1986 and 1990 World Cup squads that reached the finals in successive tournaments and won it all in their first appearance of the two, has been coaching the national team since November 2008. Alfio Basile, who after a stretch of mediocrity which saw Argentina lose at Colombia and draw against Ecuador , Brazil , Paraguay and Peru resigned following the back-breaker loss to Chile , obviously was not failing as a coach. Maradona, since taking over for Basile, has lost to Bolivia , Ecuador , Brazil and Paraguay . No amount of tactical expertise is bound to right this ship; the Argentines will need sheer luck if they are to claw their way across the Atlantic next year. By next week’s edition of A Non-Traditional Sports Fan in America, we will know for certain whether this historical powerhouse has survived to see South Africa or whether they will be forced to watch one of their continental rivals from an ocean away.

Another squad in danger of missing the party is Portugal , currently third in their group in European qualifying. Boasting the current world player of the year, Cristiano Ronaldo, the Portuguese are discovering once again a lesson which has repeatedly stung this nation: all the talent in the world does not guarantee victory. Having watched its Golden Generation -- the group of players which won consecutive FIFA Youth Championships in 1989 and 1991 and included in its ranks Rui Costa, Luis Figo, Paulo Sousa, Sérgio Conceição, and Fernando Couto -- fail to qualify for all three World Cups in the last decade of the 20th century, the Portuguese are no strangers to failure.

But it is always a shame nonetheless when a sublime talent like Ronaldo is forced to watch from the sidelines. Along with Turkey -- who took third in the 2002 World Cup but failed to qualify for both Euro 2004 and the 2006 World Cup, came back to make the Euro 2008 semifinals again at their next international tournament appearance but are on the brink of missing South Africa  -- the Portuguese have to be the biggest disappointment in European qualifying

THE URGE TO KEEP HANGING ON...

Athletes always want to play on the biggest stage possible... it is hard for sportsmen to sit on the sidelines watching other players on the field duking it out. Missing out on a big tournament is a shot at glory that the world’s elite physical specimens can never get back. It is this realization, the desire to return to battle, which has seen so many athletes reneging on their premature decisions to retire.

It is hard to see someone else doing something phenomenal and knowing that you could be doing that job yourself even better. Especially when advances in sports medicine, nutrition and training are allowing athletes to extend careers longer than ever before, those athletes who do choose to retire early are finding greater pressure than ever to return to their sport simply because they still have the talent, the experience and the knowledge to succeed. Brett Favre, the classic example of the waffling athlete, continues to produce on the cusp of his fortieth birthday. Dana Torres returned from retirement to win multiple swimming medals in Beijing last summer. Lance Armstrong returned from nearly four years off to take third place at the 2009 Tour de France. Seven-time Formula 1 champion Michael Schumacher almost returned to the Ferrari team after Felipe Massa was injured while practicing in Hungary .

And just recently tennis has seen two Belgians make their return to the sport. First Kim Clijsters, who retired to marry and become a mother, returned in August after a two-year hiatus and promptly won the U.S. Open. Prompted largely by the success of her compatriot, former world number-one Justine Henin announced her return from retirement after walking out on her chance to make history at the 2008 French Open. The question for many is not if, but rather when, Henin will be back at the top of the women’s game.

And that’s the most amazing facet of these returns -- the fact that we instinctively know that these athletes can come back and succeed quickly. Rare is the athlete who doesn’t continue to seek competition after he or she stops getting paid for it. Generally, these physical specimens remain fit for a while after they hang up their cleats or racquets or helmets, leaving their options open-ended for when the competitive bug strikes again. So keep your eyes open... there’s no knowing whether the next champion you watch is a new face or a blast from the past...

Submitted 10/08/09

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