Last night, the U.S. women won their second ever gymnastics team gold medal at the summer Olympics in London. After the win, the team’s coach, Marta Karolyi, and her former coach husband, Bela, said something interesting about this team: Whether these 2012 gold medalists are the best group of American Olympic gymnasts can be debated — though U.S. coach Marta Karolyi says they are — but they are almost certainly the best team. “That [1996 gold-medal squad] was a beautiful […]
sports
Measuring Impact: How You Feel Also Matters
I love playing sports and being in the outdoors, but I don’t have what you might call an active lifestyle. I go through spurts where my daily physical activity amounts to walking from my bed to my desk. I was mired in one of those phases a few months ago, when my younger sister, concerned about my sedentary ways, suggested that I enroll in a fitness bootcamp. I was reluctant (it required waking up at 5:30am) and skeptical (5:30am? Really?!), […]
Practicing for the Emergent
Watch this video of former Dodger shortstop, Rafael Furcal, dive to catch this ball and throw the runner out from his back. Even if you’re not a baseball fan, you can appreciate the amazing athleticism on this play. Here’s the interesting thing about it. It wasn’t luck, and it wasn’t purely talent, either. Furcal practices this play. All professional shortstops do. They know that over the course of a 162-game season, plays like that are likely to happen, and so […]