#1) Who would have thought that two men standing up for what they believed in and not even saying a single word on the issue would face such disrespect and near banishment from their own country who they had just won the gold medal for. Nonetheless, the country certainly has come a long way in 40 years. A simple gesture of defiance morphed into a historic moment.

#2) Believe what you want about the moon landing but it was 40 years ago today that these words were spoken by Neil Armstrong.

Note: It has only been 39 years since this happened and not 40. Good job me on my fantastic subtraction skills!

Well this is some great news out of Stevens Athletics. I really did not expect to follow the fencing events but I think I am going to be watching some of them now to see Coach Sankofa and what he has to say. The original link to the article is here by Rich Coyne.

HOBOKEN, N.J. (May 20, 2008) – Head Coach Maestro Mika’il Sankofa of the Stevens Institute of Technology men’s fencing team has been selected as the NBC analyst for the 2008 Beijing Olympics. With over 30 years of experience in the sport of fencing, Sankofa was selected for his expertise as a competitor, coach and commentator at the national fencing competitions.

“This is really a tremendous honor and I’m really looking forward to calling the various fencing events,” said Sankofa. “America is sending some very talented athletes to the Olympics, and I’m looking forward to educating viewers – new to the sport – as well as bringing the excitement that Olympic fencing competitions always generate.”

A U.S. Fencing Hall of Famer and member of the 1984, 1988 and 1992 U.S. Olympic fencing teams, Sankofa will be calling the Women’s Individual Sabre event scheduled to air on the USA network on Saturday, August 9. Then on August 14, the Women’s Sabre Team event will be broadcasted on MSNBC followed by the Men’s Sabre Team event on August 17.

In 2007, Sankofa was featured in the NCAA’s 100-year commemorative book. He was recognized for having won four consecutive national championships as a New York University student-athlete marking his accomplishment as one of the 50 greatest moments in NCAA history. Furthermore, Sankofa has posted 34 wins through his four years as head coach of the Ducks. He recently helped to produce the first foilist in Stevens’ history to have advanced to the NCAA Finals.

So New York Times had an article yesterday about how athletes should be training themselves for the upcoming conditions in Beijing Olympics this August. The pollution is so bad there that the athletes are not sure how to train themselves and whether they should run in highway traffic or behind vehicles that are shooting exhaust into their lungs just to adjust themselves to the change in environment in China.

Should I run behind a bus and breathe in the exhaust? Should I train on the highway during rush hour? Is there any way to acclimate myself to pollution?

Mr. Wilber answers those questions with a steadfast, “No.”

“We have to be extremely careful and steer them in the right direction because the mind-set of the elite athlete is to do anything it takes to get that advantage,” he said. “If they thought locking themselves in the garage with the car running would help them win a gold medal, I’m sure they would do it. Our job, obviously, is to prevent that.”

Everyone sort of knows that athletes will pretty much try anything to try to get a competitive advantage and this is probably one of the most bizarre things you will see… but I guess it is this or shooting yourself up with HGH or something like that.