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The Daily Dose/August 23, 2008
By Gaylon Kent
The Writer's Shack
Notes from around the Human Experience...The usual 'pics will return' promises are issued...
UH, HAS 'LIGHTNING BOLT" BEEN USED YET? Somewhat lost in the (deserved) cacophony surrounding Usain Bolt's unprecedented world records in the 100 meters, 200 meters and the 400 meter relay, is the fact world record 200 meter time of 19.3 seconds in Beijing is the fastest any human being has ever run. Usually the title World's Fastest Human goes to the 100 meter champion, but Bolt's 200 meters was actually faster.
It's all academic of course, because Bolt won them both, but consider this: 19.3 seconds for 200 meters comes out to 23.18 miles per hour. No human being has run that fast before. Well, maybe someone being chased by a leopard has from time to time, but that didn't happen on worldwide, live tee vee with real electronic timing, so it doesn't count, sorta like the fluke half-court shot you made at the gym didn't really win the NBA championship.
Dry, Technical Matter: What's funny - or at least not completely boring - is that Bolt's world record 100 meter time of 9.69 seconds isn't even second on the list. This is ironic because 9.69 meant Bolt, who broke his own record of 9.72 he set in May, has lowered the 100 meter world record by a full half second in the past two-and-a-half months, an utterly phenomenal feat considering it took mankind a little over eight years to get from 9.79 (Maurice Green, 1979) to 9.74 (Asafa Powell, 2007)
FunFact: Michael Johnson's 23.16 mph for his 19.32 second 200 meter world record at Atlanta, 1996 had been the fastest any human being had ever run.
Speaking of Beamon-esque: Though eclipsed, Johnson's mark remains one of the great feats in sport. For twelve years Johnson's 23.16 mph was the fastest a human had ever run, a phenomenal length of time for a sport that is measured in hundredths of seconds.
USA! USA! The Americans didn't qualify for either 400 meter relay final because neither the men's nor the women's team were able to hold on to the baton during prelims.
Higher, Stronger, Faster: Mankind has gone faster than its ever gone before in Beijing, but how about the two tenants of the Olympic motto, Higher and Stronger?
Uh-Oh: We are not getting stronger. Noted weakling Matthias Steiner of Germany claimed the super heavyweight gold medal with a combined lift of only 1,016 pounds (447 in the snatch; 568 in the clean and jerk), well below the world and Olympic record of 1,049 pounds set by Iranian (!) Hossein Rezazadeh at Sydney in 2000.
FunFact…Well, Not If You're Evgeny: Steiner beat silver medalist Evgeny Chigishev of Russia by two (2) pounds
What The Hell's Going On Here? Nor are we jumping higher, either. Russia's Andrey Silnov won the gold medal with a jump of just under 7 feet, 9 inches, well below the world record of 8 feet, .45 inches held by Javier Sotomayor of Cuba, which has stood since 1993.
Wait, There's More: Nobody other than Sotomayor has held the high jump record since Reagan Administration, a metaphor we usually only get use when describing landmark Duke football victories. Sotomayor first set the high jump mark with a jump of 7 feet, 11 inches in September of 1988.
Oh Canada: Last weekend we had pointed out that our friends from the north - Canadians, as we call them - had yet to win a medal. Any medal. And this in an Olympics where even Mongolia - Mongolia! - won a gold medal.
On Your Mark, Get Set, GO! Well, the second week provided the impetus required to get the Canucks off the schneid. Day 8, Aug. 16, saw them get three (3) medals, and the juggernaut continues, and, as this goes to press, the Canadians have now won three gold medals, eight silver, and six bronze. The 17 total is good for 17th on the medal list, better than Togo and Mauritius - wherever that is - but still behind Cuba and the Ukraine.
None of the golds are in a sport anybody cares about of course - chick wrestling, rowing and something done on a horse - but still, they are authentic gold medals, eligible to passed down to the grandkids, or, pawned at need because they were won in a sport that didn't provide a lucrative professional career or lead to large endorsement contracts.
IDENTITY CRISIS: On this date, in 1784, portions of what was then western North Carolina form a state called Franklin. It lasts for four years and is never recognized by the US government. It would eventually become part of eastern Tennessee.
Editor's Note: Simply because we can, On This Date is pleased to take a look back at the 1908 Chicago Cubs season, because that is the last year they won the World Series. Yes, that is a 100 years ago!
Let's Win Two! The Chicago Cubs, the only team still in the National League race playing today, takes two from Brooklyn by identical 2-0 scores. Orval Overall pitched a two-hitter in the first game, and Ed Reulbach gives up four hits and charitably throws in five walks, but manages to pitch a shutout.
The Cubs are still in third place, but have won two straight and five of their last six, and are starting what will be their longest winning streak of the season. With the sweep they pick a full game on the Pirates and Giants and are three-and-a-half games behind Pittsburgh, with the Giants a half-game back.
Go In Peace, Serve Honus Wagner: Pittsburgh, which would not play Sunday home games until 1935, had the day off, as did the Giants. The two will meet in Pittsburgh for four games beginning Aug. 24.
Why Don't You Convert This To Miles Per Hour, Genius? The entire doubleheader took about three hours and 45 minutes to play.
Thought For The Day: "Let's play two!" - Ernie Banks, former Chicago Cubs shortstop
Answer To The Last Trivia Question: Swimmers Jenny Thompson and Dara Torres have each won 11 Olympic medals, the second most of any American.
Today's Stumper: What is the oldest Olympic track and field record? - Answer next time!
Threats? Recipes? Trivia question answers? Email The Writer's Shack Here!
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