Our Favorite Olympic Athletes (so far)_ One of Four

Wow! A blog entry about a tweet from 2008 women's American Olympic gymnast Shawn Jonson has drawn very, very hits so far. Hopefully, that will not be the case with this one.

We are looking at some of our favorite Olympic athletes. Today, we start with American male athletes, but we will also include international athletes as well:

1) Tony Azevedo, 31, water polo, Long Beach, Calif. (was born in Brazil), Stanford University (pictured top): The United States water polo captain is one of many American athletes born on foreign soil, but fortunately even fringe right-wingers will accept athletes representing the United States irregardless of where their birth certificate is from. Team America (3-2) faces an uphill challenge as they lost to Hungary 11-6 yesterday. They lost by the same score earlier to Serbia. This result will pit the United States against Croatia (5-0) in the quarter-finals. Azevedo is part of the team that won silver at the 2008 Beijing Olympics.

2) Justin Gatlin, 30, sprinter, Brooklyn, NY, University of Tennessee (pictured center)_ Gatlin who won gold in the 100-meter relay at the 2004 Athens Olympics, had the misfortune of running against the legendary Jamaican sprinter Usain Bolt who has won the same event in the last two Olympics during the current summer games (Gatlin did not participate in Beijing). Gatlin raced the event in an impressive 9.79 seconds. Bolt's Jamaican teammate Yohan Blake took silver in the 100-meters. The National Zoo in Washington, DC, named a male cheetah cub after Gatlin.

3) Richard Lambourne, 37, indoor volleyball, Louisville, Kentucky, Brigham Young University (pictured below)_ Lambourne who has played professionally in Belgium, Greece and Poland is the libero of a so far undefeated United States team that won gold in 2008, and last defeated Tunisia.

4) Ryan Lochte, 28, Daytona Beach, Florida, University of Florida_Lochte has had both the fortune and misfortune of being on the same national swimming team as Michael Phelps. But, Lochte will leave London with two golds, two silvers and one bronze medal.

5) Chris Paul, 27, Winston-Salem, NC, Wake Forest University_ Paul is a local hero in the Winston-Salem area where he went to high school at West Forsyth, where we imagine his number is retired. Yesterday, Paul, who now plays for the Los Angeles Clippers in the NBA, scored 17 points in Team America's 126-97 win over Argentina, in which the United States only had a one-point lead at half-time against an Argentinian which has beat them in a shocking semi-final result at the 2004 Athens Olympics.

6) Galen Rupp, 26, track (10,000-meters), Portland, Oregon, University of Oregon_ Rupp won silver in the 10,000-meter race finishing second to Mo Farah of Great Britain on Saturday.

http://www.usawaterpolo.org

http://www.gostanford.com

http://www.usatf.org

http://www.usavolleyball.org

http://www.teamusa.org

http;//www.nationalzoo.si.org

http://wfu.edu

Quote of the Day/Week-Larry Bird

First of all thanks to those of you in Armenia?!*, Nigeria and Venezuela who are checking out our blog today. In honor of the upcoming 2012 London Olympics, we are quoting American athletes who won gold or silver medals at previous Summer Olympics. Last month, we did quote athletes from other countries, just ask Belarusian gymnast Svetlana Boginskaya. (**and***).

We are going with NBA Boston Celtics great Larry Bird, 55, of French Lick, Ind., because he won a team gold as a member of the Dream Team in the 1992 Barcelona Olympics; he is also one of the two subjects in a brand-new Broadway play called "Magic/Bird," which depicts the rivalry and friendship between Bird and Los Angeles Lakers great Magic Johnson.

In an excellent April 23rd article in "The Washington Post" by Preston Williams, Tug Coker, 34, who plays Bird on stage was profiled. The native of Stafford, Va., relatively close to Washington, DC, and even closer to the historic city of Fredericksburg, Va., actually briefly played college basketball at William and Mary. Coker also had aspirations of being a big-time basketball player as a youth, so in a fitting irony, he ended up on Broadway instead.

As for Bird, he won won three NBA titles with the Boston Celtics during his career (1979-1992), including championships in 1981, 1984 and 1986. Bird is now an executive with the Indiana Pacers, a team that lost to the Miami Heat recently in the NBA playoffs. But, his old team, the Boston Celtics fared better as they won in Game 7 over the Philadelphia '76ers by an 85-75, with Rajon Rondo of the Celtics scoring 18 points. They will now face the Miami Heat in the Eastern Conference finals.

Here is Bird's quote:

"It doesn't matter who scores the points, it's who can get the ball to the scorer."

*-I am a Turkish-American, and there is a bit of a row between Turks and Armenians. I would go into more details, but I am not a history professor at Princeton University.

**-Yes, we seriously doubt that Boginskaya has time to read our blog; she is now reportedly a gymnastics coach in Houston, Texas.

***-We believe, however, that we did actually spell her name right!

Quote of the Day/Week- Kareem Abdul-Jabbar

Well, since a quote from 1976 Olympic track gold-medalist Bruce Jenner_of all people has been_has been very popular on this blog, there is a temptation to quote him again, but not today.

Instead, we will quote basketball great Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, 65, who was actually friends with another guy named Bruce (that being Bruce Lee) as we continue to quote African-Americans who were subjects for photographer Timothy Greenfield-Sanders' "The Black List," which was on display at the National Portraits Gallery until April 22nd (this shot was not taken by the photographer).

Abdul-Jabbar remains the NBA's leading scorer with 38,376 points; he played for the Milwaukee Bucks and Los Angeles Lakers from 1969-89. Before becoming a pro basketball player, Abdul-Jabbar won three NCAA titles with the UCLA Bruins, a team that was coached by the recently-deceased John Wooden.

Here is his quote:

"One man can be a crucial ingredient on a team, but one man can not make a team."

SIDEBAR: We thought we'd promote two of our favorite cinemas today as Cine in Athens, Ga., will be screening the French film "The Kid with a Bike" and the Israeli film "Footnote" starting today. In the nation's capital, The West End Cinema is also showing five films, including "The Kid with a Bike" as well as  the documentary "Jiro Dreams of Sushi" and the Canadian film "Monsieur Lazhar," which was nominated for Best Foreign-Language Oscar.


http://www.kareemabduljabbar.com

http://www.athenscine.com

http://www.westendcinema.com

Quote the Day/Week-Charles Barkley

Ahh, yes, we could be watching the film "Man's Favorite Sport (1964, dir. Howard Hawks) with Rock Hudson and Paula Prentiss right now on TCM, but instead, we are dedicating an entry with a quote from Charles Barkley, who was not the inspiration for the 1980s sitcom "Charles in Charge" with Scott Baio of "Happy Days" fame.

Today, we are starting a month-long series of quotes from American athletes who won gold or silver at the Olympics. And, even though Barkley's Phoenix Suns lost to his friend Michael Jordan's Chicago Bulls in the 1993 NBA Finals, the Auburn alum did win two gold medals in basketball at the 1992 Barcelona Olympics and at the 1996 Atlanta Olympics as part of the "Dream Team."

Barkley lead the Dream Team in scoring during the 1992 games when he scored 30 points in a 127-83 win over Brazil. Barkley was also involved in an ugly incident when he elbowed Herlander Coimbra from Angola, in a game that the Dream Team won by an overwhelming 116-48 margin. Some players from the other teams were reportedly so delighted to be on the same court with the likes of Barkley, Jordan and Magic Johnson, that that some of them actually, allegedly sought autographs from the Dream Team members after the game!

Barkley also played for the Philadelphia 76ers and the Houston Rockets during his NBA career; he is now a commentator for TNT.

Here is his quote:

"I don't think of myself as giving interviews. I just have conversations. That gets me in trouble."http://www.charlesbarkley.com

Quote of the Day/Week-Toni Kukoc

Today, we conclude our series of quotes from Olympic athletes who won either gold or silver medals at the Summer Olympics with a quip from Croatian basketball player Toni Kukoc, who was also an instrumental supporting player during the Chicago Bulls championship run of the 1990s.

Kukoc, now 43, won silver with the Yugoslavian national team at the 1988 Seoul Olympics, but just four years later, after a bitter civil war erupted which meant that Serbia, Slovenia and Croatia would each would have separate Olympic teams in every sport, Kukoc won silver again only this time it was for Croatia. Ironically, the team that defeated Croatia was the Dream Team of the United States which was captained by Michael Jordan, who would be Kukoc's teammate with the Bulls.

Here is Kukoc's quote:

"If you are physically ready to play, it's a matter of confidence. Your confidence goes down when you lose games, when shots are not going in."

SIDEBAR: Back on Dec. 28, 2010, in what has become one of our most popular entries, I professed to eating an entire anchovy pizza at the Red Rocks pizza joint in Washington, DC. Well last night, I replicated the feat by downing a whole small anchovy pizza at Amante Gourmet Pizza in Carrboro (Chapel Hill), NC. Call me insane, but it was delicious!


http://www.redrocksdc.com

http://www.amantepizza.com

Quote of the Day/Week- Michael Jordan

Today, we continue to quote American athletes who won team or individual medals, with a quip from the great basketball legend Michael Jordan.

Jordan won six NBA titles with the Chicago Bulls, a NCAA title with the North Carolina Tarheels in 1982, and two Olympic medals for the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics (as an amateur) and the 1992 Barcelona Olympics (as a pro, yes that was the Dream Team).

Here is his quote:

"I can accept failure, everyone fails at something. But I can't accept not trying."

Coming Attractions-Where in the Soviet Union Will We Go Next

Here are some possible or likely features we will have posted hopefully within the next week assuming we don't get a pie-in-the-face (ala the late tv great Soupy Sales).

1) This week, we finally had a chance to watch the relatively new "Conan" show on TBS with Conan O'Brien who got the shaft at NBC. On the episode I watched, Conan's guest was just-retired NBA great Shaquille O'Neal, who revealed that he likes to go go-kart racing?!

2) Though Lithuania has been in the news, as the mayor of Vilnius unceremoniously crushed a lavish car parked in a bike lane with a tank, we are probably going to go with Turkmenistan as our next destination in our "What We Learned from Google Today" series, which is currently focusing on the former republics of the Soviet Union.

3) We will be continuing our quotes from subversive artists next week. John Waters, R.Crumb and Iggy Pop are among our candidates for the quotes.

_ If you want to take your kids to the movies and you live near Lexington, Va., (one hour north of Roanoke, three hours south of Washington, DC) then the Hull's Drive-in has a lineup geared just for the little ones with a double-feature consisting of "Winnie the Pooh" and "Zookeeper." Of course, for those of us with no kids, we can always stay at home and watch the Criterion version of Ingmar Bergman's "The Seventh Seal" while munching on Milk Duds.

Special Quote of the Week- Magic Johnson

Since we quoted Larry Bird, we may as well quote his former rival and current friend Magic Johnson. The Los Angeles Lakers great shocked the world 20 years ago when he publicly disclosed that he was HIV-positive.

"The Washingtonian" has an excellent article in its current edition about how the HIV/AIDS epidemic affected the DC-Metro area in the '80s and '90s and how the recently deceased actress Elizabeth Taylor played a major role in getting then-president Ronald Reagan to publicly talk about the impending major problem at the time.

Here is the quote from Johnson:

"I tell you, it's funny because the only time I think about HIV is when I have to take the medication twice a day."

Special Quote of the Week- Larry Bird

Gazooks! Originally, we were supposed to quote the late, great Italian filmmaker Frederico Fellini here, but we dongied up, so we are including a quote from the Boston Celtics great Larry Bird, who is also the pride of Terre Hautte, Indiana.

This sounds like something that the late Rev. Jerry Falwell who resided just down the road in Lynchburg, Va., might have said as well:

"I really don't like talking about money. All I can say is that the Good Lord must have wanted me to have it."

Special Quote of the Week- Bill Russell

Today's quote comes from Boston Celtics legend Bill Russell, and it is about love, of all things:

"Most people have a harder time letting themselves love than finding someone to love them."

SIDEBAR: We mentioned the Turkish music show on WUVT (90.7-FM), the student-run radio station of Virginia Tech two entries ago. There is also a Greek music show that airs right before it.

I must profess that I thought female Turkish pop singer Nil Karaibrahimgil's name was long enough, but Greece has two popular male pop singers with long names, including Notis Sfakianakis and Michalis Hatzigiannis.

Special Quote of the Week- Bill Bradley

While the Republicans like Newt Gingrich are having their brewhaha this weekend in New Orleans, we thought we'd quip the NBA legend and former Democratic New Jersey senator Bill Bradley, who was among the first to endorse Barack Obama in his party nomination bid (I actually backed Hillary Clinton!).

While researching this piece, we learned that Bradley has a new book called "The New American Story" and he hosts a Sirius Satellite Radio show called "American Voices." Bradley is also the corporate director of Starbucks; we wonder if he has dropped into the Starbucks in Front Royal, Va., but he is probably a bit too busy for that.

Though he grew up in Missouri, Bradley came to prominence in New Jersey early in life as a member of the Princeton University Tigers. He won a team gold medal for the United States at the 1964 Olympics, and he was named NCAA player of the year in 1965.

Bradley then went on to play for the New York Knicks where he helped win NBA titles in 1970 and 1973, with teammates such as Walt Frazier and Willis Reed. Bradley's number 24 was also retired by the Knicks.

He was a senator for New Jersey from 1979 to 1997, and he unsuccessfully sought the 2000 Democratic nomination which went to Al Gore. Bradley was endorsed by none other than Michael Jordan, who is featured on our other blog "The Daily Vampire" today.

Here is the quote from Bradley who will turn 68 on July 28th:

"Ambition is the path to success. Persistence is the vehicle you arrive in."

Quote of the Day- Dirk Nowitzki

Today's quote of the day comes from German NBA superstar Dirk Nowitzki. The Dallas Mavericks, the team that Nowitzki captains, is currently tied 2-2 with the Miami Heat in the NBA Finals.

Though we try to be somewhat neutral here with sports (but certainly not politics...if Mitt Romney wants my vote he better start break-dancing to "Word Up" by Cameo), we are rooting for the Mavericks, a team which has yet to win an NBA title.

Here is the quote from Nowitzki; we presume this was made after a heart-breaking defeat earlier in his career:

"We weren't good enough in the fourth quarter. You have to play for 48 minutes against a team like Phoenix. They made shots off of our mistakes. We turned the ball over and you can't do that."

Special Quote of the Week_ Cheryl Miller

Today we continue with quotes from famous African-American athletes with a quip from basketball great Cheryl Miller. Her brother Reggie Miller had a succesful NBA career with the Indiana Pacers. But, he never scored 100 points in one game as his sister did in high school. Cheryl later went on to become a star player for the USC Trojans, enjoy her own pro basketball career and evolve into a succesful sports announcer.

Here is her quote:

"Every plant has to look good for at least two seasons."

Very Expensive Things To Buy Online....a Michael Jordan Jersey

Are you interested in buying an authentic Chicago Bulls jersey worn by Michael Jordan during the team's 1997-98 championship season?

Well, for $38, 461. 54, you've got a deal! (Dry-cleaning not included).

But, we're not sure if this is being offered by E-Bay or Amazon.

As for the 2009-10 Bulls, they lost to the Cleveland Cavaliers by a 96-83 margin in game one of the playoffs over the weekend. I guess a jersey worn by Brad Miller (refering to a player on the Bulls team, not the North Carolina Democratic congressman by the same name) would cost considerably less!

Know Your Mayors (20 of 21) Kevin Johnson of Sacramento, Calif.

We continue our long-running series with one of two big city mayors who once played pro hoops in the NBA. Kevin Johnson, the mayor of Sacramento, Calif., played for the Phoenix Suns in the late '80s and '90s. The Suns were one of several teams who won the Western Conference only to lose to Michael Jordan's Chicago Bulls in the NBA finals. Dave Bing, a former Detroit Pistons star and current Detroit mayor, is the other former NBA player in charge of city government.

Johnson, who turned 44 on March 4 (I turned 40 on the same day), has become a high profile mayor because Sacramento is California's capital and because he was a star player in the NBA. He has appeared on Fox, CNN and MSNBC as well as "The Colbert Report" on Comedy Central.

The Sacramento mayor, a Democrat who was sworn into office in 2008, regularly consults with his counterparts, including Mayor Michael Bloomberg (New York), Adrien Fenty (Washington, DC) and Cory Booker (Newark, NJ). Both Fenty and Booker were profiled earlier in this series.

Johnson has also met with President Barack Obama three times since becoming mayor to disccuss regional issues.

Sacramento is the seventh largest city in California. It is also home to Sacramento State University and the NBA's Sacremento Kings.

Dr. Oz Competes in Celebrity NBA All-Star Game

Dr. Oz (Mehmet Oz) was among the competitors in last night's NBA All-Star celebrity game in Arlington, Tex. The game featured Dallas Mavericks' owner Mark Cuban, actor-comedian Chris Tucker, actor Anthony Anderson ("Law and Order") as well as the musicians Common and Pitbull.

The East won the game over the West by a 41-37. I had a hard time finding the score of the game which I partially watched at a restaurant in Roanoke, Va., where Dr. Oz's show airs at 3:00 p.m. on WSLS/Channel 10 on weekday afternoons.

Thankfully, my friend Jeff in North Carolina found the score for me! (I almost gave up several times!).

We are posting an entry about the game because Dr. Oz is now the most famous Turkish-American in history. Though other Turkish-Americans, like the late, great record producer Ahmet Ertegun of Atlantic Records, progressive talk-show Cenk Uygur (love his show, and his politics!) and Washington, DC, hairstylist Nuri Yurt (the personal hairstylist for Hillary Clinton) not to mention pro female wrestler Lisa Marie Varon/Victoria (who is also half-Vietnamese) have made a prominent name for themselves in their fields.

There are also two highly regarded NBA players from Turkey, including Mehmet Okur of the Utah Jazz, who has previously played in an All-Star game, and Hidayet (Hedo) Turkoglu of the Toronto Raptors.

A blog for the Utah Jazz said that anyone who actually watched this game likely had no social life and too much time on their hands, and from what I could tell there were a lot of missed shots, especially by Cuban, but it looked like all the 'players' had a good time. The game was coached by Magic Johnson (pictured here) for the losing West team and Alonzo Mourning for the East team, which I believe Dr. Oz played for.

Dr. Oz is the son of Mustafa Oz, who was also a doctor in Cleveland, Ohio, where the Oz family resided. Dr. Oz actually maintains dual citizenship with the United States and Turkey, according to Wikipedia and he served in the Turkish army.

The more famous Dr. Oz came to prominence for becoming one of America's leading heart surgeons. I actually got an email from him after I talked to him about an appearance on "The Charlie Rose Show." But, he was soon 'discovered' by Oprah Winfrey and the rest is (pardon the cliche) history. I doubt he would answer my emails now as he probably gets thousands a day!

Dr. Oz, who performed an actual prostate exam on his nationally syndicated show last week, actually does not (reportedly) treat patients who smoke which is ironic because Turkey has a large segment of the population which smokes though anti-smoking have recently been passed throughout the country!

The celebrity doctor also has a Twitter page in which he jokingly said that he looked forward to slamming the backboard on Friday night!

Quote of the Week- Clarence Thomas

Today's Quote of the Week actually complements our other Quote of the Week by filmmaker Spike Lee, whose politics is 'slightly' to the left of Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas, who is considered to be the most conservative member of the Supremes. He has admitted that he has libertarian, anti-government leanings, so perhaps he's a subscriber to "Reason" magazine.

This quote from Thomas (yes, it is his quote!) almost made me fall out of my chair, and you might fall out of your's too:

"I've been partial to Malcolm X, particularly his self-help teachings."

Lee made a well-regarded biopic about Malcolm X called......."Malcolm X." I was the only white person in attendance when I saw the film in Roanoke, Va., at a now-closed movie theatre in 1992.

I have to wonder if Lee and Thomas have ever met in person. Perhaps, they've sat beside each other at a New York Knicks or Washington Wizards game. Perhaps, not!

Major NBA Games Friday Night

As many who follow this and my other blog The Daily Vampire regularly (all three of you) might know, I have REALLY gotten into sports a lot within the last three or four months.

I am really following the NBA like a hoops fanatic, even to the point where I stay up late to check the score of a meaningless L.A. Clippers game on the West coast.

On Friday night, there will be 13 games, which means all but four NBA teams will be in action.

ESPN will televise the game between the L.A. Lakers and the New York Knicks at Madison Square Garden starting at 8 p.m. The late game will be between the visiting Chicago Bulls and the Phoenix Suns. The Lakers should win even they're on the road since they have a better team than the Knicks, even though the New Yorkers have improved this year.

I think the Suns will probably beat the Bulls though they had an awful East coast road trip, and the Bulls are better this year though they have a long way to go before replicating the glory years.

Other games will include a talented young Sacramento Kings squad visiting Florida for a game with the Orlando Magic. The Milwaukee Bucks go to Canada to face the Toronto Raptors, which features Turkish player Hedo Turkoglu, one of my favorite players in the NBA (alas Toronto is not scheduled to be on national tv in the United States this year). The Bucks have a great rookie player named Brandon Jennings, whom I'm told is a delight to watch (the Bucks aren't on tv much either).

The struggling Miami Heat head to DC to play the Washington Wizards, who are also having hard times since star player Gilbert Arenas is indefinitely suspended for a gun-in-the-locker-room fiasco. The Portland Trail Blazers play the Boston Celtics in bean town. Both teams are playing well right now.


A hot Charlotte Bobcats team travels to Georgia to play an exceptional Atlanta Hawks team. And, the game between the Oklahoma City Thunder and the Memphis Grizzlies in Elvis country should be a dandy as the Thunder has a terrific second-year player named Kevin Durant (who you can follow on Twitter) and the Grizzlies have an exceptional young player out of USC named O.J. Mayo.

Here are my picks for Friday night's games. The star denotes an upset pick:

Orlando Magic over Sacramento Kings
Dallas Mavericks over Philly '76ers
Toronto Raptors over Milwaukee Bucks
Miami Heat over Washington Wizards
Charlotte Bobcats over Atlanta Hawks*
Boston Celtics over Portland Trail Blazers
Detroit Pistons over Indy Pacers
Ok City Thunder over Memphis Grizzlies
New Orleans Hornets over Minnesota Timberwolves
New York Knicks over L.A. Lakers*
Houston Rockets over San Antonio Spurs*
Phoenix Suns over Chicago Bulls
Golden State Warriors over New Jersey Nets

UPDATE_ I went 7-6 with these picks, which is pretty bad but not as futile as the New Jersey Nets' record which is like 3-40 (not kidding!).

The Friday night winners were Orlando, Philly, Toronto, Miami, Atlanta, Boston (in OT), Indy, Memphis, New Orleans, LA Lakers, Houston, Chicago and (of course!) Golden State.

The

Athletes Helping with Haiti Relief Efforts

Haitian-born Philadelphia '76ers player Samuel Dalembert traveled to Haiti along with former NBA star Alzono Mourning to help relief efforts there this week. They went there along with members of the charity group Project MediShare.

Here is a part of Dalembert's statement about the visit:

"I tried to be strong," Dalembert said. "But that was enough for me. There are a lot of homeless children looking families and the situation is so critical there. So many people lost everything."

We have a sister entry about this matter on our sister blog "The Daily Vampire."

Quotes of the Week- from Billionaires.....

We have an quip from Donald Trump on our other blog "The Daily Vampire." The idea for quotes from two respective billionaires came to me since April 15 is just around the corner.

I have often if I would become a Republican if I made lots of money. Mark Cuban, who is actually to the left of me (I'm a centrist Democrat) is proof that there's no worry.

For those who don't know, Cuban is the eccentric owner of the NBA's Dallas Mavericks. He seemingly never misses a game.

"As always, I hope the (San Antonio) Spurs lose 82 games," Mark Cuban.