Scoreboards

Unlike games of the past, we are now in a total social media and real-time technology world and the BBC has everything under control. They will be broadcasting around 2,500 sporting action hours. That is over 1,000 hours more than was accomplished at the Beijing Olympic Games. The BBC broadcast bands include BBC One, Three, One HD, BBC HD, mobile phones, tablets and web connected TV’s as well as the BBC Red Button and streaming online. This is all in addition to the two regular television stations that will be presenting the games in the usual format, with close to twenty four online streams.

Michelle Obama has a goal to get more of America’s kids involved in sports. Our First Lady is well aware of the nation’s propensity for overweight children and is avidly interested in getting them away from the screens and outside on the fields. Mrs. Obama is serious about this, as she is now partnered with The Partnership for a Healthier America and the U.S. Olympic Committee to start changing the behaviors of America’s kids. She announced the new “Let’s Move!” program at a meeting with athletes from the two dozen Olympic and Paralympic groups.

Greensboro is part of what is known as the Triad area that includes Greensboro, Highpoint and Winston-Salem, North Carolina. These cities represent some of the most thriving populations in North Carolina, a true representation of home, hearth, and American sports. Their love of their sports teams is reflected in their stadiums, the attendance of each game and the scoreboards that keep the cheering on. However, it wasn’t always so. Greensboro, like many towns of the area had to fight to get where they are.

Sports channels seem to abound on television. I probably have fifteen sports channels, displaying all kinds of games; most of which we ignore. However, a news clip came to my attention and, since it was so obscure, it drew me completely in. There are a number of areas of the U.S. as well as around the world that seem to revel in odd or weird sports games. In some cases these are just played for the sheer silliness, but in some cases, they are completely serious. I am sure that many reading this can add to this number, but I have limited it to just the top five oddest sports.

Picabo Street has been listed as the eighth talent in the world for downhill skiing. Overcoming incredible odds, she trained with the U.S. ski team at an incredibly young age and later became the first American woman in history to achieve the silver medal in the skiing downhill competition.

It has to be admitted that Picabo had an advantage. She was born near a well known ski resort near Sun Valley, Idaho. Just having these resources available, was not only an edge, but an enticement. She really didn’t have a true name for the first few years of her life. Her family called her ‘Baby Girl’ until she was named Picabo. It is actually pronounced ‘peek-a-boo’, and is the Native American name of town close by. Simply translated, it means silver creek or shining waters.

There are few athletes that have experienced intense injuries and yet gone on to an Olympic win. Rafer Johnson is one such star. Overcoming an incredible array of odds that would have removed anyone from continuing in sports, Rafer became one of the best athletes in America.

Born in 1935, Johnson and his family moved a lot, so that his father and mother could earn a living to support their family. From Texas to California, the Johnsons shared the kind of poor existence that many families experienced during those hard economic times. Rafer demonstrated at an early age that he was not only a good athlete but an excellent student. As he got older, Johnson balanced his studies with after school, weekend and summer vacations work, helping his family.

While still quite young, Rafer had a horrible accident. While playing near a plant for food packing, he got his left foot caught in a conveyor belt. The sole of his foot was pulled, eventually infection set in and it required a long period of healing. The pain of this injury would be with Johnson the rest of his life, but, he never let it get him down. It would always be the lead foot that he started out his races with.

Serena’s parents moved their entire family to a suburb area of Los Angeles when she was very young. Her father was a tennis fan and envisioned his daughters to be tennis champions. He surrounded his five daughters with video tapes and books and even began teaching his wife and himself how to play, so that he could instruct his girls. Serena and Venus Williams demonstrated the most talent and Richard Williams had Serena entered into a competition when she was only four and a half years old. In the following five years she was entered into forty nine competitions, winning forty six of them.

In today’s world, it’s difficult to believe that African Americans had such a tough road in sports. In the 1950’s, almost every state in the U.S. separated every aspect of life between ‘white and black’. African Americans were considered second class citizens and sports was no exception.

Althea’s background was from a poor Harlem family. It wasn’t until her talent was brought to the attention of Dr. Walter Johnson, an individual that promoted tennis in the community of African Americans, that Gibson saw a glimmer of hope. Dr. Johnson became Gibson’s patron and with his help she achieved some of the best tennis instruction and ability to enter higher competition levels.

Born in 1968 in Virginia, Mary Lou developed an intense love of gymnastics are an early age. She relocated to Houston, Texas to be under the instruction of Bela Karolyi, the famed Romanian coach. Her cute perkiness, combined with a very compact and strong frame led her to wins at a variety of competitions, including the U.S. Nationals and the American Cup. Her 4’ 9” size was smaller than the standard, but every ounce of her weight was pure powerhouse toned muscle.

It is rare that you can find such a combination of talent in one person. Katarina Witt has shown that she can excel as an ice skater, business woman, athlete, and television celebrity. She was nicknamed ‘fire on the ice’ and the world had not been taken by storm with the love of a skater since Sonja Henie.

Katarina was born in East Berlin, Germany in 1965; the former communist East Germany. Her love of skating began early when, at the age of five, she was skating at the local sports arena. Her style was apparent and she went under the tutelage of Jutta Mueller, one of the world’s foremost skating instructors. Even though Katarina was a growing girl, she devoted her time to her skating. Between school and 4 hours a day on the ice, she didn’t have any time left to enjoy a family or friends. But hers was a labor of love.

The 1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles brought about many changes. Not only was the city of Los Angeles rearranging every aspect of their existence to be a host city, but there was an entire buzz of new athletes that were entering the fold. One of these athletes was Jackie Joyner-Kersee.

Born in 1962, Jackie was named after Jackie Kennedy. Little did her parents know that their daughter was destined for greatness. Jackie excelled in all kinds of sports, but in high school proved her worth by qualifying for the 1980 Olympic Trials in Long Jump competition. But it wasn’t until she watched the movie about Babe Didrikson Zaharias that she made the decision to train for the track and fields event. This is a multiple disciplinary level and is considered one of the most difficult.

Born in 1961, Nadia became entranced by gymnastics by the young age of 6 years old. She was discovered and then trained by Bela Karolyi, the famed gymnastic coach. Karolyi and his wife were impressed with Nadia’s talent, but also her work ethic. Her own personal memories of that time included the fact that she continued to try, even though she fell a lot. She was only seven when she was entered into the Romanian National Junior Championship. While she finished in thirteenth place, it gave Nadia a taste of getting close to winning.