A shout out to the Niles-Centerville Little League baseball team. They made it to the Little League playoffs. They won the US West Championship. Then went on to the World Series in Bangor, Maine.
They played West University Little League team out of Houston, Texas. Texas jumped on the board fast with a 7-0 lead. Niles-Centerville fought back. In the end, they came up short, losing 9-7.
We still think they are great! Way to go Niles-Centerville for going all the way to Bangor, Maine!
Cerrie Burnell is a 29 year old single Mom. She does everything a Mom is supposed to do. What makes her different is she was born with only one hand.
Burnell is the host of a children’s TV show called Bedtime Hour. She was chosen out of over 1,000 applicants because of her warm personality.
The selection has caused some controversy. Some parents worry that seeing handless TV personality will scare their children. But, others see it as a chance to teach children that disabled people are just fine and can contribute to society just like everyone else.
If you’d like to learn more about Cerrie Burnell, MSNBC did a story on the controversy:
The only name you needed to know in the 100m hurdles was Lolo Jones. She was the person to beat. Then Lolo Jones hit the second to last hurdle, lost her footing, and stumbled across the finish line out of metal contention.
Another American cross the finish line first only she didn’t know it. Dawn Harper ran across the finish line, looked up at the board, then yelled “What?” over and over and over. Disbelieve was written all over her face. It wasn’t until another American hurdler came over to tell her she had one the race that it started to sink in.
Harper still couldn’t grasp the magnitude of her win at the press conference for the gold medal winner. She couldn’t talk and broke down in tears.
Doesn’t anyone else have this problem? The Women’s Marathon makes me cry.
I watched most of the marathon on TV. For hours we followed Constantina Tomescu as she took a larger and larger lead. Behind her a group kept pace but at a distance.
Then they came up the city streets. The Bird’s Nest Stadium was in sight. Tomescu was the first to make the turn that took her down the road to the stadium.
When Tomescu entered the stadium, I tear rolled down my cheek. I don’t even know who Tomescu is. But, to run so far and then to finally make it to that last lap is such an achievement.
After Tomescu, a other runners came in. After that grueling run, they then had to sprint the final lap to secure their spot on the podium.
But, I didn’t really break down until the woman who had the injury entered the stadium. To see her running in pain just so she could get across the finish line was truly remarkable.
I don’t really know where they find the strength. Most of the runners know they won’t be anywhere near the medal ceremony. Yet, they get out their and run in the rain just for the glory of doing it. I think that is the real Olympic spirit.
Did you see the women’s 100m sprint final? Shelly-Ann Fraser of Jamaica blasted away the field and won her first major event.10.78 seconds at just 21 years of age.
I think more inspiring was the exuberant celebration afterwards. Fraser skipped and pranced around the track laughing to herself. She was overjoyed.
During her interview with an NBC reporter, she talked about the pride of Jamaica. Then she burst out in a case of the giggles. I found myself laughing with her. She displayed a little bit of humility and genuine joy, rather than the arrogant cockiness that some of the male sprinters displayed.
The badminton I am familiar with is the backyard variety. A net set up in someone’s backyard. Team Middle Aged against Team Perky Youth. The birdie gets hit into trees, over fences, and more often than not gets stuck in someone’s racket.
Olympic badminton is a whole different bird game! This ain’t your backyard badminton. The gold medal match between Indonesia and China was really exciting. It was fast paced. I was amazed at how hard and fast they hit the birdie. It looked more like ping pong. They had several rallies where the birdie was hit 30-40 times in a row. Unbelievable!
It was fun to watch. I must admit I was happy to see Indonesia win, though I have no connections to the country. They hadn’t won a medal yet at these Olympics. It’s nice to see each country get at least one. They played well and they deserved it.
Oscar Pistorius was born without fibulas in both legs. His legs were amputated at 11 months old. That didn’t stop the 21 year old South African from having Olympic sized dreams.
Earlier this year, Pistorius petitioned the IAAF to allow him to compete. There were charges that his artificial blade like legs gave him an advantage. The IAAF ruled in his favor stating there was no evidence that the blades made him run faster.
Friday Pistorius ran the race of his life. He had a personal best. Unfortunately, it wasn’t enough. He needed a time of 45.55 and came in at 46.25.
Pistorius will be competing at the Paralympic Games in September. However, he’ll be training seriously for the next Olympics in 2012.
You can read more about Oscar Pistorius on Wikipedia:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oscar_Pistorius#Early_years_and_education
