Where are the fans?

Sitting in the press tribune tonight, I was quite disappointed with what I saw. I loved the field hockey matches. On pitch one, I got the pleasure of seeing the USA score the equalizer against heavy-favorite Argentina with just over five minutes to play. During the second game, Germany put on a clinic scoring five times and holding Great Britain to just one goal. What I was disappointed with is what I saw in the stands... a very small crowd.

Now I am sure tomorrow's newspaper will claim the consistent rain kept fans from the opening day of field hockey. I guess I will say that was part of the problem, but after talking with my dad who has been watching the Games religiously, he said unfilled seats are also present at beach volleyball and even gymnastics. For the record, gymnastics is not affected by rain. It's not the weather that is keeping people away, it is the ticket price.

Ticket prices for games are relatively reasonable. Rhythmic gymnastics for example sell at face value at around 30 bucks. Beach volleyball tickets are less than 5 and baseball is a whole $7.50. All the tickets are sold out, but why are the venues not filled. This is because scalpers believe the tickets are worth way more than they are. For example last night I received an email from a guy telling me he wanted 10,000 RMB for 2 semifinal baseball tickets. That is roughly $1,500. That is more than I would pay for Super Bowl tickets. So how do we get rid of scalpers that ruin the game and cause poor attendance at Olympics events?

I would like to propose the Lothrop Plan. For those in charge of the Vancouver Games in 2010 and London in 2012, feel free to further contact me about this theory. I will be more than happy to guide you. The plan is a hybrid model of Haymarket Park in Lincoln and the idea of Will Call. Here is how it would work. All tickets would be sold by will call. You could either order on line, in person, or by phone. However you would not be able to pick up the tickets until 72 hours before the event. This would cut down on the people buying the tickets and immediately reselling them. They would not have them in hand until 3 days before the event.

The second part of my plan is that if the tickets have not been claimed 3 hours before the game, they are resold at face value to the general public. Think of it this way, you could charge the face value to both the initial ticket purchaser and the guy who is actually going to the game. An empty seat and a full seat cost about the same to heat and cool. Also a full seat usually buys popcorn, soda, candy, pretzels, t-shirts, hats and programs. Also full venues make it at least look as if the locals care about the sport.

This plan is still in it's infancy stage as there are many ways it could be improved. But think about it, all the things we would like to see would happen. Those fanatics who want to go to the games could buy them weeks in advance and pick them up 3 days before the competition. Also casual fans could pick up a cheap ticket. Vendors could sell more Snickers bars. And most importantly in my mind, we could eliminate scalpers.

Cheers,
-Matt

My first great story of the Olympics

When people ask me why I want to pursue a career in sports journalism, the fame and money are not the reasons. Ask your local sportscaster if he gets recognized at the grocery store and he may say yes. Ask him if he drives a luxurious sports car and he’ll laugh in your face. So is it that I want to be recognized by the Hy-Vee sackers that I chose this career? Hardly. I truly believe that great sports stories can affect people on and off the court.

Look back and these stories that transcend the game helped define American culture. Who could forget the 1980 USA hockey team who made people believe in miracles. Or what about that first pitch in Yankee Stadium after 9/11. Barbaro captured the hearts of millions of Americans and the bond between Tiger Woods and his father Earl showed how special that father-son connection is. Cal Ripken showed us even superstars go to work everyday, and California showed Stanford that it ain’t over until it’s over.

One day before the Olympics even start in Beijing, I have already found one of these amazing stories. The athlete is South Africa’s Bruce Jacobs. Along with qualifying for his second Olympics, Jacobs is the first player of color to serve as captain for South Africa. While that is a story in itself, the story of his father is better.

Because of the conditions of the apartheid when Alan Jacobs played hockey, he was not allowed on the national team. Nobody of color was. His son Bruce was introduced to the sport when he was eight and grew up around the sport watching his dad play. He always dreamed that one day he would be able to do what his father never got the chance to, represent his country on the national level.

Jacobs called the 2004 Athens game special as he could live out his father’s dream. Four years later and 4,700 miles east, Jacobs will again be representing South Africa. While it doesn’t hold that first-time special feeling, it still retains importance Jacobs said in an interview with me today. It is tough to describe the passion in his eyes when he explained that it was special again this year. It is an honor to go he said, and a huge honor to lead my team in the Olympics.

South Africa will probably not win gold. They probably won’t even medal. Jacobs won’t end up on the SportsCenter's Top 10 in the next two weeks and his face won’t cover the next Wheaties box. His story probably won’t end up in the USA Today and after his retirement after the Olympics, he will become another Average Joe. But his story is everything I love about sports journalism and why it should never die.

Cheers,
-Matt

The Mess with Wess

Today was another day of creating pre-Olympic stories for ONS. I had the pleasure to watch one of the greatest hockey players in the world, Jamie Dwyer play. After the few short moments I watched him, here is my analysis. He is fast, aggressive and can really smack that ball. After the friendly match between Australia and Germany, I was assigned to talk with German defender Timo Wess. This sounded like a pretty easy task. I looked through several photos online and focused on him on the field, as Germany was not wearing numbers. I swear I could have drawn what he looked like.

After the match I headed for the mixed zone to get my interview. There he was, just about to walk into the locker room when I said, “Hey Timo, can I get a few words.” He turned around and laughed saying “I’m not Timo, I’m Benny. Timo is over there.” Just then I had to laugh inside. Timo has a brother named Benjamin on the team. The entire time I was looking at the wrong guy.

I guess this probably served me right. My entire life I always wondered how people could possibly confuse my twin brother Brian and I. I could pick out 100 things different between us. I bet Timo and Benny can pick out 100 things that are different between them. I know how it feels to be called the wrong name, and often shrug it off and point to my brother. I’m glad Benny reacts the same way.

Which Wess is which?


Benny is on the left, Timo is on the right. It is not as easy as it sounds.

Cheers,
-Matt

What would Simon say?

Few people often remember those who come in second place. The television show American Idol is no different. People remember Justin Guarini only because of his goofy hair and want to forget about Clay Aiken because his lyrics included being invisible and watching you in your room. Pretty creepy huh? In China it is no different as second place is often forgotten.

The first week in Beijing, I had the opportunity to visit a local news outlet known as the Beijing Youth Daily. During the hour-long tour, our guide named Tony showed several of us the convergence journalism happening at the paper. In a college dormitory-sized room, two men sat chatting with a couple. Tony told us that he was a celebrity. (Tony figured this as the woman sitting next to him was beautiful. That reminded me a little of America.) I snapped off a few pictures and then set out to find out who this guy was.
After five weeks of toting around a photo asking if someone knew who this guy was, I found an answer. I was talking to a few of my Chinese colleagues at the field hockey venue when a girl nicknamed Yezi started giggling. She said this guy named Wu Jian Fei was runner-up in the Chinese version of American Idol known as Good Boy. She also said he looked as he was more of a model. After searching that name, I confirmed that he is in fact a model.

It was tough for me to believe that people can't remember who came in second. American Idol had 35.5 million viewers during the premier episode last season. But then I get thinking, who does win second. Quick without opening a new window or tab, tell me who got second in American Idol. It is a little tougher than you may think.

Second place answers: Justin Guarini, Clay Aiken, Diana DeGarmo, Bo Bice, Katharine McPhee, Blake Lewis and David Archuleta

Here's a little more food for thought. What do you think China's Ryan Seacrest looks like?
Lothrop out

Waiting for Dwyer

It has been nearly two weeks since I first stepped foot into the Olympic Green Field Hockey Stadium venue. In that short span of time, I have learned quite a bit about field hockey. Growing up in the Midwest where football is king, I had no experience with the sport whatsoever. But thanks to the knowledge and patience of a Sports Information Specialist Andy and a Olympic News Service Reporter Fidz, I have expanded my sports knowledge and mind.

This past week I have had the opportunity to watch some of the best field hockey players in the entire world. I have had the opportunity to interview coaches, chat with players, meet journalist and stand toe-to-toe with future colleagues. It has been quite a learning experience. I have learned who the best players are, who is favored to win, who has a tradition of winning and who could potentially play the role of spoilers.

I can tell you that Luciana Aymar from Argentina is one of the greatest female athletes of the generation. She plays a sport that gets little attention in North America, but when she laces up those bright pink shoes and grabs a stick, she is something else. I can also tell you that on the men's side, Teun de Nooijer is the best player I have seen in field hockey. I can tell you that fellow Dutchman Guus Vogels is one of the best goal keepers in the world, Australia's Melanie Wells is a great interview and Argentina's coach Gabriel Minadeo speaks Spanglish.

I haven't seen it all... yet. I am still anxious as ever to watch a real game and not just a training game. I am anxious to interview more athletes. I am anxious to see who will win, who will lose, great scores, great saves and totally embrace the sport of field hockey. I cannot lie, I am also anxious to see Australia's Jamie Dwyer play. Most regard him as the greatest hockey player in the world. He scores a lot of goals and has won countless awards and trophies, but there is another reason why I am so eager to watch and interview him. He is the best. According to sources at least, he is better at his job than anybody else is at his. What a thing to strive for.

First for the first time

I am going to take a break from the Beijing talk for just a minute to tell of something that happened today that has never happened before. First I must tell the backstory. Twenty two years ago today my grandfather's only daughter gave him the birthday gift of a lifetime. On July 30, 1986 at the age of 55, my grandpa welcomed twins grandsons into the world.

For 21 years I have had to listen to my older brother (all five minutes older) brag on how he was older than me. This year however, for the first time ever I celebrated my birthday before him. Thanks to the help of being 13 hours ahead of North America's Central Standard Time, I was 22 before my brother was. While it might not have been the Big 2-1 or even Sweet Sixteen, my 22nd birthday will be a momorable one as I was the first this year.

Happy Birthday Brian and Grandpa Dale.

Hockey Anyone?

Today I continued my training at the Olympic Green Field Hockey Stadium. While it has been the same old same old every day, last Saturday I got the opportunity to actually play hockey on the field. Our Olympic News Service Reporter Fidz and our Sports Information Specialist Andy taught the field hockey crew how to actually play. It's like most sports, watching from the grandstands is much easier than actually playing.

"Yeah, that's the ticket"

Friday morning at 9 marked the time when domestic tickets could be purchased for the Olympic Games. A news release said that around 250,000 tickets would be available. Thinking that I might have a shot to score some gold medal baseball tickets at face value (150 RMB or a little over 20 dollars), I thought I would take a chance.

Along with KOMU's Mark Welsh, Trinity Nelson and three others, we packed our bags for an overnight stay. After making a quick stop at the Wal-Mart Super Center to purchase stuff to sleep on, we made our journey to the ticket office located south of the Olympic Green. Some wanted swimming tickets, some handball, some track and field and others gymnastics. At Wal-Mart we recieved the news that only diving, baseball and one other sport would be available on Friday morning. Upon arrival, I felt optimistic about my shot at getting tickets to baseball... then I saw the masses.

It's tough to explain with both words and pictures the amount of people we saw. Mark joking said over a million, Trinity claimed 75,000 and I said I thought somewhere between 25,000-30,000. In lines that snaked back and forth, people played cards, drank beer, ate dinner and chatted with friends. People were sitting on lawn chairs, laying on yoga mats and sleeping on newspaper. The lines appeared endless.

We exited the train station and thought we would beat the mob, but we were wrong. Some of us joked that arriving 14 hours before the ticket office opened would guarantee us tickets saying "we wouldn't need to be there more than a few hours before 9." The truth is we needed to be there much earlier. After talking with some of the people in line, I found out people had been there since noon... on Wednesday.

So it's a little depressing not to get Olympic tickets, but it was quite an experience to see the energy of the Beijing Olympics. For three niche sports, the people of Beijing skipped work, sat out in the sun and waited and waited and waited. I would love to see baseball at the Olympics as this year marks its final go, but I honestly think I am not as deserving of them as some people here who are willing to fight the weather, potential line jumpers, screaming kids and boredom.

People once called me a little crazy sitting outside Best Buy for Black Friday. If I am crazy for waiting a couple of hours for three dollar DVDs, are these people crazy? I don't think so. They have waited seven years for these games. What's another 48 hours.

Checking out some of the venues

As Sunday marked one of our last free days before the games begin, I decided I would take the 50 minute subway route through three transfer stations to the Wukesong Baseball Field. I couldn't get super close so as for the field conditions, I have no opinion. The venue itself however doesn't look like much. While I was delighted to finally see something that resembles baseball in China (I haven't seen anything at all), I was a little let down on the venue itself. Athletics has the super cool Birds Nest and the Water Cube and Worker's Stadium, but Wukesong Baseball field looks like a high school field on steroids. I guess I can see why the Beijing Games will mark baseball's last hurray at the Olympics.

Also on a baseball note, it's too bad the US National team wasn't looking for at least a few more right handed pitchers. The crop to pick from this season was pretty weak according to a Baseball America podcast. The team included one college player in San Diego State's Stephen Strasburg passing on Missouri's Kyle Gibson. Currently the team has one open spot so the chance to see another Mizzou athlete in Beijing is still a possibility.

I also took some time to check out the basketball arena. It looks as if it has bamboo around it. Pretty interesting looking. I tried to get as close as I could to the venue, but guards and a fence kept me from getting closer. From what I have heard from many of the locals, they are anticipating the first game USA plays against China. It should be interesting. I believe it is August 10.

Food Frenzy

This blog post is a little belated as the video and information is from last Thursday night. Mark and I needed some extra time as he has helped edit the video and I have been brushing my teeth for the past four days. Want to know why? Check out the following video of one of Beijing's most unique cuisine experiences, the Donghuamen Night Market.

Lions, Tigers and Bears... Oh My

I went with a few from the group and paid the low price of 20 yuan to see the Beijing Zoo. While it was not as big as the San Diego, Omaha or Chicago Zoo, it had a huge display of Gian Pandas, many that made their way here after the recent earthquake this spring severely damaged the Wolong Giant Panda Breeding Center and Reserve. This zoo has become a very important survival tool for the Giant Pandas as 30% of the world's panda population was affected by the latest earthquake. The food supply in the area around Wolong was also jeopardized.

The zoo had many different animals, but also had the basic monkey house, reptile house and even a spot for the penguins.

The animals were not the only things the locals wanted to take pictures of. As we left the penguins, a class of students who appeared between 4 and 5 years old came to get their picture taken with us. That happened several times as like at the Forbidden City, many Chinese people there had never seen anybody that looked different from them.

Inside Chinese Newsrooms

Today we got the opportunity to visit newsrooms to two media outlets in Beijing. First we visited the People's Daily Website. The online version first launched in 1997 and has since expanded becoming one of the most influential websites in all of China.The paper has 11 versions in 10 different languages and provides a 24/7 news platform to 60 million people.

The site is a true example of what journalists have begun calling convergence. The website offers viewers audio, video, forums, blogs, animation, live broadcasts and of course the original print journalism.

The site receives support from the top leaders and even contains a Communist Party channel that was launched earlier this year. Other channels include sports, lifestyles and technology.

Their overall goal is to create a bridge from organizations such as the Communist Party to the people of China. If you are interested in reading some of the content from the site check out their site at www.people.com.cn

The second visit we made was to the Beijing Youth Daily. This newsroom operated like many of the other newspaper operations in America. There were over 20 floors of office space including floors for advertisement, layout, editing and all the other aspects of a paper's newsroom.

Like the People's Daily, the Beijing Youth Daily aimed to produce information on many different formats. While we were there, a popular singer/celebrity was being interviewed and broadcast on the site.

Our tour guide Tony explained that the Beijing Youth Daily has a little more freedom to write than the People's Daily.

Finally in Beijing

As Ted said we flew over the North Pole on our nonstop flight from Chicago to Beijing. Here are some pictures take from outside my window. Yes... I got a window seat. How lucky.



Here is another picture from my window seat of 51A. This is Siberia. There really is no civilization around.

Swimming Trials Start in Omaha

What a week it has been in Omaha, Nebraska. Last Wednesday, the NCAA crowned the Fresno State Bulldogs nationals champions at the historic Rosenblatt Stadium, and Sunday the Olympic Swimming Trials began at the Qwest Center. While I did not have the opportunity to watch the trials as I will start for Chicago tomorrow, I did spend about two hours watching warm-ups during Saturday’s open house.

The open house provided a great opportunity to meet swimming legends, pick up the free gifts from sponsors and gave me the first look at what could be the biggest controversy of the Olympic Games from the coach and athlete’s standpoint, the swimsuits. For those of you have not seen these new suits, they cover most of the body and look to cut times at the Beijing games. June 23rd’s issue of Sports Illustrated has a great article covering the controversial topic and gives great insight on both sides of the argument.

Sunday’s trials look as if they might have been postponed a day or so after recent storms damaged part of the Qwest Center. Thankfully the trials are right on schedule and will end June 6. While not everyone will ever get the chance to attend the Olympic Games, I strongly urge you to check out Olympic Trials if they are available in your area. You get the chance to see some top-notch athletes at a fraction of the cost.

A neat fact to end with, the water in the swimming pool at Omaha’s Qwest Center is 80 degrees.