August 03, 2012

SportsFilter: The Friday Huddle:

A place to discuss the sports stories that aren't making news, share links that aren't quite front-page material, and diagram plays on your hand. Remember to count to five Mississippi before commenting in anger.

posted by huddle to general at 06:00 AM - 13 comments

Wojdan Shaherkani, first Saudi Arabian woman to compete in Olympics, loses in 82 seconds.

posted by Hugh Janus at 10:37 AM on August 03, 2012

Aw, man. Wojdan Shaherkani is just full of heart.

posted by lil_brown_bat at 11:41 AM on August 03, 2012

In Danger Of Falling Behind, British Cyclist Intentionally Crashes To Get A Restart

In danger of being accused of having a sense of humour, American journalist takes everything literally to get to high moral ground.

or...

In danger of getting his team disqualified, German-speaking humourist and part time cyclist is advised to stop making jokes.

I watched his interview and thought: "If you're joking, it's not working; if you're not, that's a silly rule and you shouldn't be bragging about using it." I'm glad the medal stands - I think they might have had a riot on their hands if they'd tried to take it off Chris Hoy - but the rule should be changed.

posted by JJ at 12:13 PM on August 03, 2012

Sounds like a German trying British humour. Watching it live I thought something was clearly wrong with his bike and I'm wondering if he meant "I fell off on purpose to highlight that my bike was broken."

He ran the re-run on a spare bike.

Earlier a Polish guy appeared to deliberately pull his foot out of his pedal brace to get a restart too.

I understand the cyclists were given very clear instruction on what will and will not fly in this tournament - see the incredibly tight interpretation of the handovers.

Either way, I appreciate the French attitude to it and appreciate yet more that the Germans waived the "four year rule" that could have stopped Hindes competing for Great Britain in this Olympics.

posted by Mr Bismarck at 12:43 PM on August 03, 2012

Steve Young and the 35th son of Brigham Young, his great-great-great-grandfather, dressed in drag.

posted by rcade at 03:15 PM on August 03, 2012

Rough collision today in the U.S./New Zealand women's soccer match. Alex Morgan's knee squarely hit the forehead of the Kiwi goalkeeper, who initially appeared knocked out. I wonder if Morgan sits in the quarterfinal.

posted by rcade at 03:17 PM on August 03, 2012

So, does John Leonard have anything to say about 15-year-old Katie Ledecky's win in the 800m freestyle, or is that just "rapid development"?

posted by etagloh at 03:42 PM on August 03, 2012

Holy smokes, did you see the end of that women's 10k? Tirunesh Dibaba was just toying with the other runners until the last lap.

posted by NoMich at 05:05 PM on August 03, 2012

etagloh, I thought part of the criticism wasn't just having a personal best that shaves seconds off your time, it was the idea that for the first 3/4, Ye Shiwen was apparently fairly standard, and then- in the last legs- posted a time that was competitive with the best male swimmer in the world.

That said, I don't think Leonard's accusations have much weight; people often post their best times when they are being pushed by competition, not when they've run away from the field.

posted by hincandenza at 05:45 PM on August 03, 2012

The plan of Joe Paterno's family to appeal the NCAA sanctions has hit a roadblock: They can't be appealed.

posted by rcade at 10:53 PM on August 03, 2012

"The family contends it can appeal because Paterno was named in the consent decree and in the Freeh report."

They also contend that anyone gives a fuck what they think and that they aren't further tarnishing the name "Paterno" every single goddamn time they open their stupid collective mouth, so they've already proven themselves impervious to logic or reason.

posted by Etrigan at 12:00 AM on August 04, 2012

You're not logged in. Please log in or register.