USA Wins 1-0!!

Destiny? Two months ago I posted about two American footballers who made a real impact in England this season - Clint Dempsey and Landon Donovan. Today I have the honor of posting about a historic World Cup win for the United States, secured in the dying minutes of the match by Donovan on a rebound from a Dempsey shot.

I celebrated the victory with several colleagues from Southbank - two Englishmen, a Spaniard and another American - at a nearby pub called the Old Swan. I had watched the USA's amazing second-half comeback against Slovenia there, and the bartenders and owner remember me for jumping out of my seat and running screaming across the pub to celebrate the goal that put us up 3-2. Of course, the goal was disallowed and all the Brits had a good laugh at my expense.

However, I reminded the bartender of my celebration yesterday, and he agreed to air the USA game just for me if I promised to celebrate like that again. And so it was that my colleagues and I sat watching England on two big screens and the USA on another, watched only by the handful of other Americans and the lone Algerian in the pub, with whom I shared a pleasant back and forth throughout the match.

Everyone cheered for England when they scored in the first half, but that meant the pressure was on for the USA to win. After yet another unjustly disallowed goal in the first half and too many missed chances in the second, I was thoroughly depressed and resigned to our fate. I complained to my English friends about how unfair it was, and how the referees should never be able to affect a nation's performance like this. "That's nothing," they told me. "Real injustice and real heartbreak is watching your team get to the World Cup semis and losing to the Hand of God!"

Well, perhaps there was some divine intervention in our favor today, because we certainly deserved this one as much as we did the last. When Donovan hammered home from Dempsey's rebound, I jumped wildly around our area screaming, hugging and high-fiveing everyone in sight. When the BBC cameras cut to some Americans in the crowd with a 'Yes We Can' sign, I took up the chorus and led our contingent in an exuberant 'Yes We Can' chant that surely amused all the Brits in the pub.

After all, we don't have any football songs like they do here, but if the USA continues on its current form, I may just have to write one.

Caps Comeback

At 1:30am I was falling asleep watching the game on the internet here in London, but I stayed awake just long enough to see Alex Ovechkin score a late 2nd period goal to cut the Caps' deficit to 2. At this point, I was in a quandary about whether to stay up to watch the 3rd period. As an avid Caps fan since the age of 12, I've been through more than a lifetime's share of playoff heartbreak at the hands of the Penguins, Rangers, Flyers, etc. The worst thing is the emotional rollercoaster that inevitably precedes the final flame-out; the Caps always make it seem like they're going to win, but then they don't, in spectacular fashion.

After losing Game One and going down 2-0 in the first eight minutes of last night's game, that familiar feeling of despair and disgust had taken over; I was ready to tune out and throw another season down the drain. But this season was supposed to be different - the Caps had steamrolled their way to the NHL's best record by far. I decided to stay up (partly because Anette was still wide awake writing her paper) and was thrilled when two more goals tied the game at 4. Then, of course, came the unthinkable (that always happens to the Caps) - Montreal scored with five minutes to go in the game. I cursed myself for so foolishly having allowed hope to creep in again.

But there was a different twist to the Caps' storyline last night: young John Carlson snapped a wrist shot by Habs' goalie Halak with 1:21 to go, and Swedish star Nicklas Backstrom won it after just 31 seconds of overtime, completing a memorable hat-trick. The series is now tied 1-1, and I'm certainly not getting my hopes up, but maybe I won't shave off my playoff beard just yet.

American Heroes in England

Football has been a big part of my initiation into English culture, from watching matches in pubs to chatting with people about their favorite teams (everyone's got one) and enduring good-natured ribbing from several friends for sporting my Aston Villa hat all winter long.

My colleague and I wanted to go to Fulham v Juventus tonight, but tickets at the legendary Craven Cottage, built in 1896 on the banks of the Thames in West London, were sold out. As fate would have it, Fulham pulled off the most memorable victory in the club's 130-year history. Having lost 3-1 in Turin last week, they went down 0-1 after just two minutes and looked certain to exit this year's Europa League.

However, a miraculous turnaround saw them equalize within 10 minutes and take a 2-1 lead into the locker room at half time. A penalty in the 49th minute levelled the aggregate score and set the stage for American Clint Dempsey to come on as a substitute in the 82nd minute. With just his second touch, he produced a moment of magic that will live forever in Fulham lore, and which you can click here to enjoy: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VeL1DXp-PuU

To me, Dempsey was the most exciting US player at the 2006 World Cup, and as this goal shows, his form is still superb. Landon Donovan, the US captain, has just completed a very successful loan spell with Everton, endearing himself to the English fans with precision passes and timely goals. With the scandals that have rocked the English national side in recent weeks, and the tragic injury to David Beckham at the weekend (note my British turn of phrase:-) the clash between the Yanks and our ex-masters on June 12 in South Africa is shaping up to be a cracker!

Bjørndalen's Catharsis

As he glided into place at the shooting range and hoisted his rifle to take aim at the final five targets, Ole Einar Bjørndalen flashed a stare so intense that there could be no mistaking the importance of the moment, or the ferocity of his desire. His ice blue eyes bore down on the targets for a fleeting half-second, then he flipped his hawk's eye blinder down and majestically shot a 'full house,' sending millions of Norwegians and 'OEB' fans around the world into ecstasy.

Yesterday's relay victory was all the sweeter because of the enormous disappointment he has shouldered throughout these Olympic Games, and indeed ever since the 2006 Games in Torino. Although he is the undisputed King of Biathlon, with every possible achievement and statistic to prove it, the fact is that Ole Einar Bjørndalen - despite his famously exhaustive physical and mental training - had cracked under the pressure in his previous eight Olympic events.

In 2002, he foreshadowed Michael Phelps's haul by winning all three biathlon events and the relay - a historic total of four golds out of four. In 2006, however, he was shockingly passed just before the finish line in the 12.5km pursuit and lost gold to Vincent Defrasne. In the 15km mass start, he missed two targets at the final shooting and agonizingly slipped from gold to bronze.

In Vancouver, OEB fans were hoping for redemption, and a restoration of Bjørndalen's infallible image. What happened? An incredible three misses on the very first prone shooting immediately destroyed his chances in the sprint and the pursuit. Two more misses at the final shooting in the 20km caused another bitter choke, as he giftwrapped the gold for his protege, Emil Hegle Svendsen. Finally, an unheard-of seven misses in the mass start led to his worst-ever finish in a World Championships or Olympics, 27th out of 30.

After that unbelievable fiasco, he tried to see the humorous side of his colossal failure, saying, "It shouldn't be possible to shoot that badly." Inside, though, the depths of his despair must have been unfathomable. In the days that followed, he apparently had several phone conversations with a mental trainer as he tried to steel himself for the relay.

As he skied out for the final leg even with Austria's Christoph Sumann, snow falling heavily as it had throughout the relay, the anticipation couldn't have been greater. 40-year old Halvard Hanevold, in his last race before retirement, turned back the clock in the first leg and 21 year-old Tarjei Bø gave Norway a glimpse of its biathlon future with a lightning fast, penalty free second leg. Emil Hegle Svendsen maintained the lead in the third leg, meaning that were defeat to come, it could only have been blamed on Ole Einar.

Hearts were in mouths as he missed twice on the prone shoot, but he coolly reloaded and hit both targets with his extra bullets, while Sumann suffered a melt-down, missing four and so incurring a penalty loop. From then on, Bjørndalen was alone in the pine forest, with only the sound of his skis, his poles and his breathing to accompany him. Oh, and of course, every athlete's greatest nemesis - his own thoughts.

Imagine, then, the pride, the relief and the jubilation when he fired five out of five on that last shoot. The King of Norway, as he gave Ole Einar a congratulatory hug, said, "Did you really need to make it so exciting?" Perhaps, if Bjørndalen truly were infallible, he wouldn't have had to make it so nerve-wracking. But because he is human - "I was nervous before my leg," he said afterwards - the celebration of his achievement is, for me, that much more profound.

Historic Day for Norway!

After a disappointing start to the 2010 Winter Olympics, Norway finally lived up to expectations yesterday with three medals in biathlon: gold from Tora Berger and Emil Hegle Svendsen, and silver from Ole Einar Bjørndalen. Two days ago, cross-country skier Marit Bjørgen broke the drought by winning the sprint for Norway's 99th ever Winter Olympics gold, making yesterday's golds numbers 100 and 101. Norway is the winningest nation in Winter Olympics history with 291 medals (followed by the USA with 237) - not bad for a nation of just 4.5 million people, although they are 'born with skis on their feet,' as the saying goes.

Anette was particularly proud of Marit and Tora for taking the first golds of 2010 and giving the Norwegian women some much-deserved attention. Tora's gold was the first ever by a Norwegian woman in biathlon. After poor shooting in the sprint left her in 33rd for the pursuit, she shot 20 out of 20 targets in that race to move all the way up to 5th - a Herculean effort. In her gold medal 15km run, she hit 19 out of 19 targets (an amazing 39 in a row over 2 competitions) and only missed on the final target, but she was too fast on her skis for anyone to catch her.

The men's race was phenomenally exciting, with both Svendsen and Bjørndalen seeking revenge after dismal performances in the sprint and pursuit. Svendsen, like Berger, hit 19 of 19 but missed his last target, giving Bjørndalen the chance to overtake him with a clean shoot on his final round. However, the King of Biathlon also missed, and had to ski his heart out to cross the line 9.5 seconds behind Svedsen. Bjørndalen's silver gives him medals in championship events (either World Cup or Olympics) in 14 straight years, a longevity record that may only ever be tested by Svendsen, the Prince of Biathlon, 12 years his junior.

So, I've been waiting years to bear witness to such a day, ever since I became hooked on biathlon in Oslo in 2004. Anette and I were screaming at the TV and biting our nails throughout the races, which we watched on BBC but listened to in Norwegian over the internet. Norway couldn't be happier today, and all eyes now turn to the mass start competitions on Sunday and the relays next week.

CAC Swimming Champs '08

The Capital Athletic Conference (MD, DC, VA, PA) Swimming Championships finished up last weekend, hosted by my alma mater St. Mary’s College of Maryland. Six years ago, when I was a student and swimmer there, we couldn’t have hosted the event because we had just one 25-yard pool. Now there’s a state-of-the-art natatorium and SMCM have become annual hosts. Our women did well, the men are improving, and no one in the CAC this year beat my times from 2002: 59.29 in the 100 breast and 2:10.07 in the 200 breast. One year I’ll make it back for Alumni Day to see the new pool and see if I can still hang with any of the current swimmers.

Ole Einar Bjørndalen

I know it's quite a leap from Kenyan violence and sustainable development to the relatively esoteric sport of biathlon (skiskyting) but if this blog is to be a reflection of my life and interests, then this post is long overdue. I moved to Norway in January 2004 to live with Anette and was immediately drawn into the world of biathlon. I quickly realized that Ole Einar was one of those athletes at the absolute pinnacle of his sport - so good his every move seems effortless, head and shoulders above the rest of the competition. This was also the time that I learned to cross-country ski (at the age of 24!!) and as my love of zooming through the snow-blanketed Norwegian forests grew, so did my love and respect for the sport of biathlon.

Four years later I'm as mad about biathlon as I was about baseball as a kid growing up in Maryland. Although I'm living in Tanzania and don't have a TV right now, I still managed to check the results of the recent IBU Biathlon World Championships online. Ole took gold in the pursuit, but was surprised by his 22-year old teammate Egil Hegle Svendsen in the sprint and the mass start. It was an auspicous week for the future of Norwegian biathlon, and should make for an exciting '08-'09 season leading up to the next Winter Olympics in Vancouver in 2010.

As I was digesting the news of Svendsen's improbable victories over his mentor, I realized why baithlon has smitten me the way it has - it's so much like swimming! For fifteen years I trained alone in pools all over the East Coast and lived for those few minutes of all-out competition at championship events. Although my teammates are lifelong friends and we shared the unique camaraderie of training and competing together, swimming is ultimately not team sport, it's intensely personal. There's no comparison to football, baseball, basketball, etc. So when I watch Bjørndalen gliding through the forest, then stopping alone to shoot down his targets before his competitors arrive, I get flashbacks of the 200 breast, my pull-outs, my turns, my strokes per length, and I am transported in that way that only sports can trasport a person - to the sublime!

So here's to Biathlon, Norway, Swimming, and the endless pursuit of self-improvement. It took me 15 years to break a minute in the 100 breast, and Ole Einar's got his eyes on gold in Vancouver.

SMCM SWIMMING

Klose Named SMCM Athlete of the Month

Men’s Swimmer Honored For Record-Breaking Performances In Month of February

St. Mary’s City, Md. -- Alexander Klose has been selected as the St. Mary’s College of Maryland Athlete of the Month for February of 2002. Klose, a sophomore from Bethesda, Maryland, helped the men’s swim team to a second-place finish at the Capital Athletic Conference (CAC) swimming championships held February 15-17, at Mary Washington College. It is the highest finish ever for a St. Mary’s team at the CAC swimming championships.At the championships, Klose set two individual school records and was part of a relay team that also set a school record.

In the 100 breaststroke, Klose claimed his first CAC individual title, finishing with a time of 0:59.29, setting a new school record in the process. He just missed out on an NCAA national cut time by one tenth of a second.Klose claimed his second CAC individual title in the 200 breaststroke, finishing with a time of 2:10.07, also good enough for a new school record. He missed the NCAA national cut time by just seven one-hundredths of a second. As a member of the 200 medley relay, Klose set a third school record at the championships by helping the team finish in 1:39.33, which was good for second place behind only Mary Washington in the relay. As a team, the St. Mary’s College men’s swimming program finished the season with a dual meet record of 5-3 overall and 4-3 in the CAC. The team achieved their highest-ever finish at the CAC championships, finishing with 312 points, good for second place behind conference champion, Mary Washington College.