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The Daily Dose/August 18, 2008
By Gaylon Kent
The Writer's Shack
   
Finally, we get rid of some these numbers that have been piling up here! Lots of great notes from the Human Experience, too, including Norwegian women playing handball, American men playing volleyball, On This Date, the popular, new Thought for the Day, plus Trivia and Rebecca St. James repeats (again) as the Column Four Foto!
NUMBERS GAME: Various numbers from around the Human Experience:
70 - Number years the country of Georgia was part of the Soviet Union.
42 - Number of Olympic soccer men's and women's pool play matches.
41 - Age of American swimmer Dara Torres, who won three silver medals at the Beijing Games.
31 - Number of members of the ultra-dangerous Students For A Free Tibet that have been expelled from China for having the nerve to protest for a free Tibet.
27 - Number of Olympic soccer pool play matches were only one team scored.
18 - The number of Olympic medals won by Soviet gymnast Larissa Latynina, (Melbourne, 1956; Rome, 1960;Tokyo 1964), more than any other person.
16 - The number of Olympic medals won by American Michael Phelps (Athens, 2004; Beijing, 2008).
15 - Number of Olympic soccer pool play matches where both teams scored.
14 - The number of Olympic gold medals won by American Michael Phelps, more than any other person.
9.69 - Time, in seconds, it took Jamaican Usain Bolt to run the 100 meter final in Beijing. It was a new world record.
8 - The number of gold medals won by American swimmer Michael Phelps at the Beijing Games, more than any other person has won at single Olympiad.
7 - The number of gold medals won by the previous record holder, Mark Spitz (Munich, 1972).
7 - The number of children Egypt's Ghazala Khamis gave birth to Saturday in Alexandria. She and her husband are already the parents of three girls and took fertility drugs in the hopes of conceiving a boy. Now they have four.
7 - The number of Olympic men's swimming gold medals won by someone other than Phelps in Beijng, probably because he didn't bother to enter them. These include the 50, 100, 400 and 1,500 meter freestyles, and the 100 and 200 meter back and breast strokes,
4 - The number of men's and women's swimming races that did not produce world or Olympic records. (This does not include either the men's or women's 10,000 meter races, which will be held later this week. Check your local listings.)
3 - Number of Olympic soccer pool play matches where nobody scored.
2.07 - Average number of goals scored in each Olympic soccer pool play match.
2 - The number of times Phelps has won eight medals at a single Olympiad (Athens, 2004, Beijing, 2008)
1 - Number of medals won in Beijing by the Republic of Togo. It was a bronze medal in canoeing, their first Olympic medal ever!
0 - Number of medals - gold, silver or plastic - won by Canada in Beijing.
JINX? WHAT JINX? Official Writer's Shack faves the Norwegian women's handball squad triumphantly wrapped up pool play Sunday with a 24-23 shellacking of those formerly undefeated former Commie rats from Romania. China and France finish tied for third with four points, with China talking the tie-breaker based on their 21-18 win over the French Sunday.
Dry, Technical Matter: Norway finishes first in Group A and will play Sweden - yes, Sweden - in the quarter-finals because Sweden beat Brazil Saturday 25-22 even though we didn't think they would. In the other quarter-final in the lower half, China will take South Korea. Russia, first place in Group B, will take on France and Romania will take on Hungary.
We've Got Your Jinx Right Here: Our other faves, the American guy volleyball team, already guaranteed a spot in the medal round, and is merely waiting to smack around winless Japan Monday in their Group A finale. They will take on either Germany or Serbia, neither of whom are very good, in their quarter-final Wednesday.
The Fairer Sex: Though they're not official Writer's Shack faves (we're not sure why - we love those really tight shorts they wear) the American women's volleyball team will play Russia in the quarter-finals Tuesday. If they win, they'll play either Cuba or Serbia in the semi-finals.
FunFact: Though the game was first played in Massachusetts four years after the first basketball game was played in Massachusetts, American women have never won an Olympic gold medal, though they did win silver in Los Angeles in 1984 and bronze in Barcelona in 1992.
GOING BACK, A-WAY BACK: On this date, in 1587, Virginia Dare becomes the first English child born in the New World, in present day North Carolina. Dare was born into what history calls the Lost Colony, a group of colonists of whom no trace has ever been found.
I Could've Sworn I Left Here Somewhere: Three years later, in 1590, Governor John White of the Lost Colony returns from England and can't find his settlement.
Editor's Note: Throughout the 2008 baseball season, On This Date will be taking a look back at the 1908 Chicago Cubs season. It's a great way to remind everyone - especially Chicago Cubs fans - that it's been an entire century since they last won the World Series!
Good Thing This Is A Retrospective Or We'd Be Nervous: The Cubs lose again to Philadelphia, 8-3 at West Side Park. Though the Cubs got two triples and a home run, no one had more than one hit off of Phillies pitcher Tully Sparks. Since ending July on five game winning streak, the Cubs have lost nine of 13 in August.
On The Scoreboard: The Cubs miss an opportunity to gain ground on those goddamned Pirates, who lost to Boston 4-2, and they remain 5.5 games back in the National League. The Giants, who did nothing but travel from St. Louis to Cincinnati, picked up a half-game and are two games behind the Pirates.
Thought For The Day: Carpentier did it again!, a second time, and this was the blow perfected by a lifetime of training...it rocked Dempsey to his heels, but it broke Carpentier's hand. His best was not enough. - Heywood Braun
Answer To The Last Trivia Question: Liechtenstein, competing in their 15th Summer Olympiad, has yet to win a Summer Olympic medal.
Today's Stumper: What American has won the second most number of career Olympic medals? - Answer next time!
Threats? Recipes? Trivia question answers? Email The Writer's Shack Here!
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