Jenni Carlson NewsOK.com Blogging Community

The diagnosis might be premature, but I suspect I’ve got a serious case of Olympic spirit.

The biggest symptom: an undeterred sense of hope.

Some might even argue it’s an unreasonable, irrational sense of hope. That’s sure how it feels when it comes to the U.S. men’s gymnastics team.

Watch my latest video commentary or continue reading below:

The Americans, as everyone knows by now, have been hit by not one but two major injuries. A week or so ago, Paul Hamm pulled out of the Olympics because of injury. Then last week, just days before the start of the Games, his twin, Morgan, did the same.

In the span of a few days, Team USA went from gold-medal hopeful to podium cast-off. The popular sentiment was that the Americans wouldn’t even have a chance to win a team medal of any color.

Tonight, we’ll find out.

The team finals in men’s gymnastics starts at 10 a.m. Beijing time on Tuesday, which means it will be in prime time in America tonight. The Americans made the finals by finishing fourth in the team preliminaries over the weekend. Led by former Oklahoma standout Jonathan Horton, they showed that contrary to popular belief, they aren’t dead yet.

In fact, I’m here to tell you that Team USA is going to win a medal tonight.

The Americans, all first-time Olympians, turned in a heck of a performance in the team preliminaries. It was a heck of a performance if you think about the nerves that each of them must have been going through. Heck, two of the guys didn’t even know they were going to be competing when they packed their bags for Beijing.

That’s pressure.
And Team USA delivered.

With the experience of the prelims under their belts, I have a feeling that they’re going to perform even better in the team finals. If the Americans win a medal, it would be an amazing turnaround. Just two years ago, they finished 13th at the world championships.

Thirteenth.

Finishing 13th in the team prelims at the Olympics wouldn’t have even been good enough to get them into the team finals.

This team has come a long way, and I suspect they’re going to take one more big step tonight. Maybe it is foolish to think so. Maybe it is completely irrational to believe that this group of Americans can bring home an Olympic medal.

My self-diagnosis: sometimes having a case of Olympic spirit isn’t so bad.

The U.S. men’s gymnastics team will compete in the Olympic team finals starting at 10 a.m. Beijing time Tuesday.

Former Oklahoma standout Jonathan Horton figures heavily into the Americans’ hopes. He will compete on five of the six apparatus, and with a three-up-three-count format, every score matters. Every gymnast who competes will have their score count toward the team’s final score.

No other American gymnast is competing on more events than Horton.

No gymnast, then, will be counted on more by Team USA than he will.

Here’s a look at the Americans’ lineup for the team finals:

Still rings: Raj Bhavsar, Jonathan Horton, Kevin Tan

Vault: Bhavsar, Horton, Justin Spring

Parallel bars: Bhavsar, Horton, Spring

Horizontal bar: Joey Hagerty, Horton, Spring

Floor exercise: Spring, Hagerty, Horton

Pommel horse: Tan, Bhavsar, Alexander Artemev

American weightlifter Chad Vaughn is headed to the Olympics for the second time.

Still, there were times that he considered ending his career.

Here’s more from The Q&A with the Konawa native:

Jenni Carlson: When did you turn a corner and start to believe in your weightlifting future?

Chad Vaughn: I didn’t start (lifting) until I was 17 1/2, and usually, you start a lot younger. The junior level of weightlifting, 20 years is the cutoff, so I never did make any junior world teams. Nobody ever really at that point expected a lot out of me as far as being able to make world championship teams or Olympic teams. Actually on the 2000 junior world team, I made it up to the alternate position. It made me a little bit hungry, but I didn’t really believe I could reach the Olympics probable until 2003. I had recently won the Pan American Games. I finally admitted to myself that, “Hey, I can actually make the Olympic team.” A year later, there I was.

JC: So, you go from a junior team alternate in 2000 to Olympic team in 2004?

CV: Looking back, the past four years, I don’t want to say it’s a struggle, but any improvement has been a lot harder to come by. I look back on those first six years, and it was a lot easier and funner. You could almost go in and do any type of workout, and as long as you’re dedicated enough to stick with it enough, you don’t have any way to go but up and improve.

JC: Sounds like golfers who improve easy at first, then have trouble shaving off even a stroke after they get to a certain point.

CV: No doubt. You get to a point whether it’s a certain age or whether it’s a certain level, and any improvement is just harder to come by. In those first six years, I wouldn’t have really seen it that way, but looking back on it now, it definitely makes me appreciate it a lot more.

JC: Take me back to the 2004 Olympics. You finished 17th. How do you look back now on that?

CV: You learn something from every competition whether you do good or whether you do bad, but especially when you don’t do as well as you’d like, you always learn more. Being the Olympic Games, being the biggest meet anybody could have, it was the biggest learning experience also. Being through that already, it’s priceless. Nobody can take that experience away from me. I’m definitely better for it.

JC: The folks at USA Weightlifting really look at you as a leader of this team. What are your thoughts about heading to Beijing?

CV: As far as being a leader, I like that roll to be honest with you. I have the urge to help anybody who wants it. I’m definitely willing to do that, and I want to do that, but I’m not wanting to push it on anybody. I know that people tried to tell me things coming up, and I’ve always had an open mind and tried to listen, but it doesn’t really mean anything unless you experience it yourself. I think most people learn a lot more on their own when they go through things, so I’m there for them to do whatever I can, but I think most people are just going to have to take their experinces on their own.

JC: What about your hopes heading into the Olympics?

CV: I definitely have goals. My main goal is to break the American record in the clean and jerk again. Not only that, but just making as many lifts as I can. The competition against yourself is really what this is all about. To me, just showing up there and lifting more weight than I ever have, whether that be one kilogram more or 10 kilograms more, that to me would be worth everything really.

The NBA, it is a’changin’.

This has been a summer of change for the best basketball league in the world, and I’m not talking about the team formerly known as the Sonics moving to Oklahoma City.

Watch my latest video commentary or continue reading below:

Half a dozen players or so have decided to leave the NBA to play ball overseas. They are chasing bigger salaries and better deals than the NBA offered them.

Boki Nachbar, who played here in the Hornets’ first year, was among the first to make the move. Even though a few other role players like him followed, the news didn’t register with most until Josh Childress spurned the NBA.

Now, in his four years with Atlanta, Childress has never been a star. But he’s not a stiff either. He averaged 11.1 points and 5.6 rebounds in those four seasons with the Hawks.

But when Childress became a free agent, the Hawks thought they held all the cards. They offered him a five-year, $33 million deal.

Olympiakos, a powerhouse in Greece, offered him a three-year, $20 million deal.

It’s worth only about $100,000 more per year than the Hawks’ offer, but the difference is, the Greek team is paying his taxes. That means Childress will clear pretty much his entire salary. Add in the fact that the value of the dollar is historically low against the euro, and he’ll be making some serious coin.

Listen, I’m not ready to sound the alarm on this. I’m not even sure it’s a trend yet. But I will say this: I’m not sure I like the NBA’s attitude about it.

Joel Litvin, the NBA president of league and basketball operations, was asked about these moves by Newsday. He said, “I think that the NBA is going to remain for a very long time the place where the best players in the world play.” He also said that the league has no long-range plan addressing the movement of players to Europe.

Uh, the NBA might want to get one.

Limitations on restricted free agents along with salary caps and luxury taxes are bound to frustrate more and more players. Heck, Sasha Vujacic, a key reserve for the Lakers, mulled a move to Russia last weekend before re-signing with the team.

The NBA needs to make sure its arrogance doesn’t keep it from addressing what seems to be a simmering issue. At the very least, it needs to keep an eye on the pot so it doesn’t boil over.

Boki Nachbar and Josh Childress might be the ones making the move now. But what if it’s Chauncey Billups and Paul Pierce in a couple years?

That’s a change in the NBA no one wants.

Bart Conner made a trip to our offices the other day.

The former Olympic gymnastics champion is going to be doing something quite cool for us and for you once the Olympics begin. He will be video blogging from Beijing. Conner, who is headed to the Games, will be taking your e-mails and answering your questions from China.

He’ll be our man on the scene.

Be sure to be on the lookout for more information on our website about how to send your questions to Bart. He’ll be honed in on the gymnastics competition, which promises to be exciting on both the men’s and the women’s side, but he’ll also be able to talk about his experiences in Beijing. How will the air quality be? What will security be like? What kind of food is he eating?

Feel free to ask Bart about anything Olympics-related, then he’ll take a few of your questions and answer them via video.

Gotta love technology.

I had a chance to sit down and chat with Bart about gymnastics and the Olympics. Check it out here.

The bracelet seems like a baseball novelty. It looks like the seam of a baseball with red stitching on white leather.

No doubt it’s a cool accessory, but it’s so much more than that.

Watch my latest video commentary or continue reading below:

It is the bracelet that comes with copies of “A Life Worth Following,” a devotional journal inspired by the writings of Justin Sullivan. The Yukon High star was killed in a car accident a day after being named the 2002 state baseball player of the year.

Out of the tragedy has come hope. Not only is there a book celebrating his life, but there is also a baseball team carrying on his passion for his sport and his faith. The Oklahoma City Ambassadors a hosting the inaugural Justin Sullivan Memorial Baseball Tournament this weekend. If you go out to any of the games at Southern Nazarene or Putnam City West, look and see if the Ambassadors are wearing their bracelets.

They are a symbol of Justin.

In those days following his death, his grandfather cut up Justin’s practice baseballs and made bracelets for family and friends. They carried those pieces of Justin with them everywhere they went.

Even though the bracelets sold with the book and worn by the Ambassadors are replicas, they are still powerful.

Earlier this summer, the Ambassadors traveled to Elk City for a game. They got in only two innings before bad weather rolled in. Eventually, all the power in town went out. The only place that had electricity was a gas station with a generator. The team migrated there, looking for something, anything to eat.

Miffed at their bad luck, Cole Cleveland sulked in the parking lot before finally going into the gas station. Still in uniform, he stood at the back of the line, wishing the evening were over.

A trucker wearing a cutoff T-shirt walked up and asked about the team.

“We’re the Oklahoma City Ambassadors,” Cleveland told him.

He didn’t intend to say anything else, but he suddenly had a feeling that he was supposed to talk to this man. Cleveland told him everything — about the team, about Justin’s story, even about the bracelets.

“You know,” the man said when Cleveland finished, “I’ve heard about God all my life, but I never really felt his love until now.”

He asked Cleveland if he could have his bracelet. Cleveland rarely wore one, but for some reason, he’d put one on while he was sulking outside the gas station.

Somewhere, that trucker is driving across the country. He is wearing that bracelet, and he is taking Justin Sullivan’s memory along for the ride.

No other Texas Longhorn has ever been as beloved in Oklahoma than Cat Osterman.

Probably has something to do with the fact that the softball pitcher turned in her burnt orange for red, white and blue. Osterman is set to be the ace for Team USA at the Olympics next month.

What’s she like away from the field?

Check out the uncut version of The Q&A with Osterman:

Jenni Carlson: You’re an Olympic veteran this time around. What are these last few weeks like before the Games?

Cat Osterman: We’re definitely in countdown mode. We’re kind of excited because we’re getting ready to go over there, and at the same time, we excited because the tour is coming to a close and we know we’re in the last few weeks of preparation. We’re definitely counting down the days and ready to get over there and start playing. Obviously, the only thing we’re preparing for is being ready to play over in China.

JC: You’ve played a ton of international games. Do you still get butterflies?

CO: Any time you’re in a big game, the nerves and the juices get flowing. It doesn’t matter how confident you are; you’re just excited because you’re in that atmosphere again. We don’t get put in that this-game-means-so-much type competitive atmosphere that you get in college day in and day out. You play conference. You play postseason. That juice is there all the time. For us, once a summer, we get to play for a title, so definitely, the juices and nerves get flowing.

JC: You guys don’t open play until a few days into the Games. Does that mean you get to go to the opening ceremonies?

CO: Yes, we do get to go to opening ceremonies this time.

JC: So, this will be the first one?

CO: We’re all really excited about that.

JC: Was that a bummer in ’04?

CO: It was a little disappointing because they’re made such a big deal, but we all kind of understood. Coach put it out there and we all talked about it a little bit. It ended up, they didn’t get back until 4 in the morning, and we had to leave at 9:30 to head to the field, so it worked out better. We knew that playing is our first-and-foremost job there. We all kind of focused on that and took it in stride. But it was still a little bit of a bummer because it’s such a big deal.

JC: Have you gotten the opening ceremonies garb yet?

CO: We don’t get that until we go through processing Aug. 2 and 3.

JC: You’re an avid picture taker, so is opening ceremonies going to max out your camera?

CO: I hope so. Sometimes they don’t let us carry cameras, but I’m going to carry everything I can to try to snap as many pictures as we can possibly get.

JC: What off-field memories are most vivid for you from four years ago?

CO: Obviously after winning, we did the Sports Illustrated photo shoot. We went and changed back into the uniform. We were out there for awhile. Then, the celebration that night. Our families all met us at … they called it the Nike House, but it was just a place where teams went and celebrated. We got to see our families there and hang out with each other and just kind of let loose finally. That was the best part. But the village is fun, too. You see a bunch of different athletes from a bunch of different countries, and you mingle and end up making friends.

JC: True or false — the Olympic village is like a 24-hour party.

CO: There’s a part of where they have a disco or a club. But the whole thing as a whole, no. The streets aren’t going crazy every night. There are quiet hours.

JC: I guess there is the issue of having to go compete.

CO: Yeah.

JC: You mention that interaction with other athletes. Anyone leave you star struck in Athens?

CO: The biggest thing was I got to meet a lot of Texasathletes. Like Aaron Piersol, I had never met him. We literally met clear across the world in Athens for the first time. We also met Andy Roddick. He also has a house in Austin, so I’ve seen him in Austin. To this day, he’s like, “Hey, Cat.” Knows your name. Knows what you’ve been doing. He definitely knows who I am, which is fun.

JC: I actually heard from several athletes that they interacted with Roddick in Athens. Was he just everywhere?

CO: Unlike some other tennis athletes, he stayed in the village, so I think that’s where a lot of people saw him. And he didn’t stay in his room. He went out and interacted. He was out and enjoying it.

JC: Anybody you’re hoping to meet this time around?

CO: Hopefully, we see some of the NBA guys or even some of the baseball players. We just kind of take it as we go.

JC: You have a great memory of hitters. What you’ve thrown them. What they’ve done against you. How do you do that?

CO: Honestly, I don’t know if it’s from my dad. He remembers everything down to the specific. He remembers as many games and hitters as I do, I think. Just growing up, I loved what I did and I always paid attention to minor details. I still do. So, yeah, I’m like a card catalog of games and hitters and everything else. I think it just comes from wanting to learn more and wanting to be able to improve.

JC: I know you’re big into technology. Haven’t you even called yourself a computer nerd?

CO: Uh, huh. I’m on the computer all the time. I’ve got a PDA and cell phone, so I can be in touch with e-mail and everything all the time. That’s me.

JC: Is that a release or a necessity?

CO: It’s more that my family is that way. People laugh, but my family communicates on AOL instant messenger. If I need something, a lot of times I can sign on and I know my mom and dad are online.

JC: Did your parents ever have that moment where they passed out from the cell phone bill?

CO: No, I was paying my own phone bill by the time I was a text-a-holic.

JC: You were talking about family a minute ago. You’ve got two younger brothers. What do they make of you?

CO: They’re both extremely supportive and extremely proud. The youngest one, he grasps it a little better now. When he was really little … someone was talking about what they were doing and said they saw someone famous. And my brother’s like, “Oh, yeah, well, my sister’s famous.” I’m like, “You don’t say things like that, buddy.” He just knew that I played on TV and we go to games and people ask for autographs. The older of the two told me his girlfriend is scared of me. She’s intimidated of me, and I don’t know why because I’ve always been nice to her. She’s a tennis player. He’s like, “She’s just intimidated because you’re this really good female athlete.” I was like, “That’s your problem, not mine. I don’t know what to do.”

JC: Do you get to be the big sister and go to their events much?

CO: I haven’t got to do it as much as I’d like. The younger one, I’ve been to some of his baseball games. The older of the two, I went to some of his swim meets. Hopefully, I’m hoping this next fall I can get out to some of his swim meets before he’s done.

JC: So, you’re living in Chicago, went to college in Austin, grew up in Houston. Are you more a Chicago, Austin or Houston girl?

CO: Austin is definitely where my heart is. I think I could definitely live somewhere around there just because it’s kind of got a little bit of everything. It’s a city, but it’s at the country. Where I grew up in Houston was kind of out in the suburbs. Chicago sometimes is a little bit overwhelming as far as being a big city. I don’t know if I’m a big-city girl forever. Especially in the winters, it’s not my favorite. 

Perhaps you’ve heard the name Becky Hammon.

More specifically, perhaps you’ve heard a bit about her story.

You can watch my latest video commentary or continue reading below: 

Hammon is a point guard for the WNBA’s San Antonio Silver Stars. She was born in South Dakota and went to college in Colorado. She is fair skinned and blond haired. In another words, she’s an all-American girl.

And she’s playing basketball in the Olympics for Russia.

While she is one of the best point guards in the WNBA, she doubted her chances of making the U.S. Olympic team, so she decided to play for Russia. She plays professionally there when the WNBA isn’t in season.

Her decision created something of a firestorm. ESPN jumped on the story, and Team USA coach Anne Donovan had some strong words for Hammon, questioning her patriotism.

I’ve got questions, too, but they have little to do with patriotism. We’ll get to those questions in a minute.

There are at least eight other American-born athletes who are headed to the Olympics to play for other countries. Chris Kaman, the Los Angeles Clippers center, will be playing for Germany. His connection — his great-grandparents were German. There are two other men playing basketball for Russia, where they play professionally. There is also a guy pole vaulting, another wrestling and another boxing for Mexico. One gal is playing basketball for Mexico. The Canadian softball team will also have a gal who’s an American.

Rules allow for a limited number of foreign-born athletes to play for teams in the Olympics, and if you’re up in arms about these Americans playing for other countries, be sure to realize that the U.S. Olympic contingent has its fair share of foreigners.

The Americans will send athletes who aren’t Americans to Beijing to compete in everything from table tennis to marathon and badminton to triathlon.

Which leads back to my questions.

Where is the uproar about these athletes? The scrutiny and the indignation over Becky Hammon was pretty intense, and yet, no one seems to be screaming about Chris Kaman trying to help Dirk Nowitzki win a medal. No one seems to be up in arms about a guy named Langowski wrestling for Mexico.

Is it because Hammon is playing for Russia? Are the Cold War feelings still hot when it comes to Olympic competition?

I don’t know the answer to those questions. The only thing I do know is that the Olympics are supposed to be about the best of the best from each country going against one another. Apparently, the part about “from each country” is up for interpretation.

Lots of times, we don’t realize what we’ve got until it’s gone.

That seems like the case with Bobby Murcer.

You can watch my latest video commentary or continue reading below:

The baseball legend died over the weekend, and much has been written and said about just how good he was. The five-time All-Star who played for the Yankees, Giants, Cubs and then Yankees again became as successful in the broadcast booth as he was on the field. In essence, Murcer was a star from his prep days at Southeast High until the day he died at Mercy Hospital.

And still, we didn’t realize what we had in Murcer.

He was even better than we knew.

That much became obvious to me during the past couple days. Saturday evening, I started making calls to folks who knew Murcer not because he was a baseball player, but because he was a friend. All of them told the most amazing stories about Murcer.

Gary England, the legendary weatherman, was a longtime friend of Murcer’s. As he shared with me some of his photos, he recounted remarkable snapshots of Murcer’s life.

There was one with a big group standing outside a firehouse in New York City. Seems that any time Murcer walked by a firehouse, he would go inside and meet the firefighters. He shook hands with thousands over the years.

Then, there was the photo of Murcer on the day he retired. He was standing in the aisle of a tour bus that was headed from Yankee Stadium to a fancy shindig in Jersey. The folks on the bus — every last one was from Oklahoma.

We all knew that Murcer was a gem, and still, we may not have realized just how brilliant he was. In his death, we can fully see how wonderful his life really was.

Got a chance to meet Sam Presti up close and personal on Thursday.

Even after a short time around the general manager of OKC’s new NBA team, at least one thing is certain — the guy is a hard worker.

You can see it.

Literally.

Presti might be the palest person I’ve ever seen. Maybe that has something to do with the fact that he’s spent the last few years in Seattle, a place where the sunshine is in short supply, but I have a feeling it has more to do with Presti. This is a guy who has worked his way to one of the NBA’s top spots at the ripe ol’ age of 31. 

It’s difficult to work on your suntan when you’re inside a gym or at a desk all day.

Maybe Presti is just a big believer in sunscreen; he could be a poster child for those use-your-SPF campaigns. But really, this seems like a guy who doesn’t spend a lot of time golfing or chilling at the lake or grilling out in the yard. This is a guy who spends his time on basketball, whether that means scouting prospects or working the phones or plotting the next move. 

After many of the cameras and the reporters left Thursday, Presti talked about how basketball became an all-consuming passion when he was in high school. Every day since, he suspects, he’s thought about basketball. He’s schemed. He’s planned. He’s obsessed.

No doubt that has only increased since Clay Bennett and Co. chose Presti as its general manager a year ago.

Perhaps Presti will get a little more sun with the team moving to Oklahoma City – our fair city does have a few more sunny days than our good friends in the Pacific Northwest — but then again, there is more work to do than ever.

Don’t expect Presti to be doing ads for Hawaiian Tropic any time soon.