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 Sports Chick
July 19, 2004 What The Hell is Going On? By: Marty Coultas Welcome back Milwaukeeworlders. I apologize for the week off, but with all of the calamities and mishaps that have happened in professional sports over the past few weeks, I felt I needed to take a step back; gather my thoughts and opinions and adjust my negativity towards the professional sporting world and reconsider many of my past opinions and remarks. With that said, do I have some serious issues to voice to you; my fellow sports fans this third weekend of July. Here We Go....... As the Olympic swimming trials are in full swing and a powerhouse American team is being selected, I am reminded of a Mysty moment that occurred four years ago before the Olympic games in Sydney. On a misty March morning in the year 1979, an American child was born. As her mother looked out the window of the hospital she was struck by the beauty of the early morning and named her new girl Mysty Dawn. Last Sunday the person that was born on that misty dawn experienced a beautiful twilight. Not the time of day but the end of a career that saw ultimate success. Mysty Dawn finished last in the finals of the qualifying round for the super competitive 200 Fly. She was beaten by a teammate from the 2000 team as well as a new kid noone had ever heard of. Why, you ask, would I feel a twinge of emotion about this unrecognizable swimming phenomenon? Well, simply Millwuakeeworlders, because she has been an NCAA champion and swimmer of the year and has competed at the “world level” for more than ten years and also for a brief time held the short course (small pool) world record in this event. But surprisingly, people like her are actually not that hard to find. In fact, there are five or six people with those same credentials who come from Madison or Milwaukee. Why do I care? Because Mysty Dawn accomplished something that the dime a dozen crowd never does. Let me explain.... If you think that the elite swimmers in the Olympics are a bunch of hard working kids who go to school all day and practice before and after their academic commitments, while holding down part time jobs as well as studying, you would be very, very wrong. These swimmers have contracts with Speedo and Catalina and some, like Jenny Thompson even have their own clothing lines. The headlines in October 2000 belonged to Amy Van Dyken, (A millionaire spokesmodel), Dara Torres (A 1994 Sports Illustrated swimsuit model) and, of course Susie O’Neill who was the world champion, world record holder and multi-millionaire endorser from Australia. There was NBC interviewing and doing up close and personal stories about Jenny, Amy, Dara and Susie. And, oh by the way, there is also a qualifier from Stanford University who happens to be a friend of Chelsea Clinton, In other words................. Claim to fame a friend of Chelsea. As those October days went by and prelims were held, somehow, Mysty made it through to the Olympic final. She had lane 8, which is about the same as starting at the 33 spot in a NASCAR race. No chance, O’Neill was in lane four and all the other “real world class” people were in lanes 3,5 and 6. The gun sounded and 2 minutes and five seconds later Mysty Dawn was the Olympic champion in the 200 Fly and held the Olympic record as well. She knew that the turbulence in her lane from the other lanes as well as from the outside wall would be so great that she needed to be in front of it to avoid it. She went out fast and no one saw her way out there and when she should have faded in the last fifty, a new wave of energy overcame her, and to the disbelief of an Aussie crown cheering for the anointed Susie, it was Mysty not Susie who had won. A college girl who got up in the morning and then came back to the pool in the evening while going to class and doing other projects had just whipped “Madame Butterfly” in hostile territory in the Madame’s signature event. Why the emotion in me? As I watched her fail to make the team this year, I was envious that she had achieved what every kid that got up at five in the morning to practice swimming dreams of achieving. They aren’t out there thinking about modeling or sports reporting or making money. They are dreaming about being the Olympic Champion. Fame can be fleeting, riches can be gone but for the student athlete who competes, it is about the pursuit and achievement of dreams. Mysty Dawn Hyman was once and will forever be the Olympic Champion and that fact will remain for all time. Gold medal dreams fulfilled!!! In Other Random Thoughts........ It was interesting viewing Ernie Els cough it up against an unknown at Royal Troon on Sunday. I don't really mean that, I actually sort of like Ernie, but the reason I say it is because that is what the national media morons would say about Tiger if he had been the one who had choked on Sunday. Now they can sing the praises of the unknown from rural Illinois, Todd Hamilton, and he deserves the praise. But, as I said, if had been Tiger who lost the playoff, the media would have a field day beating up on him. It has become so ridiculous, that one of the New York morons even worked it out and figured that if Ernie won and Tiger finished 17th that Ernie would become the number one. I am sick of it. Speaking of unfairness let me see someone else bring this up.... Tsk, tsk, tsk. Regina Jacobs, five-time USA National woman's champion in the 1500 meters, retired from track on Friday. On Saturday, it was announced that she was about to be banned from the sport for steroids and other drug use. Oh, I know, I know, it is like an epidemic on the American track and field team. So what is the big deal with another one? Just this Milwaukeeworlders. Suzy Favor Hamilton placed second to Jacobs on four of those national championships. Suzy, as you know is a Wisconsin girl who still lives here, trains here and runs the 1500. She is a natural beauty and natural talent and I emphasize natural. Suzy doesn't do drugs. While she has had her fair share of failing to live up to expectations, she is still one of the elite women athletes in the world and the fact that she has had to take a back seat to a woman who has been secretly taking performance enhancing steroids is not only shameful, it is also unfair. To have to have your time as the best in the business denied because of a cheat is tragic. She has worked hard, stayed clean and deserves to have been the American champion. Perhaps Suzy can still get her chance but what has happened before should be rectified and Regina Jacobs and all the rest of these drug-induced cheaters should be stripped from the record books and the people who actually won should replace them. If it is swimming, track and field or baseball, the record books should be free of the chemically induced records. Even the home run records. Are you listening Mr. Selig? The home-run records of everyone who has been chemically enhanced. But that would mean that the record of Roger Maris would still be intact and that Aaron’s 715 would still be untouchable. We won't see it happen......... But we should. Oh yeah, one last thing. Did you know that Michael Phelps quest for seven gold medals in the Olympics was really about more than a quest to become immortal? Speedo has offered Michael $1,000,000 if he equals or exceeds Mark Spitz 30 year old record. Just so you know, it is always about the money. With that said Milwaukeeworlders, after two weeks without my voice being heard, I feel much better having this off my chest. The world of sports is a crazy, crazy thing, but without it Milwaukeeworlders, what would we have to bitch about every Monday morning. Until we meet again, please remember to keep your ears open and your noses clean.Marty the Sports Chick
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