Saturday, August 23, 2008

Rex-Kwan-Do meltdown



Cuban taekwondo athlete banned after kicking ref


"BEIJING (AP) A Cuban taekwondo athlete and his coach were banned for life after Angel Matos kicked the referee in the face following his bronze-medal match disqualification.
Cuban coach Leudis Gonzalez offered no apology for Matos' actions.
Matos was declared the loser for taking too much injury time after hurting his leg during the men's over-80 kg (176 pounds) match. Fighters get one minute, and Matos was disqualified when his time ran out.
"He was too strict," Gonzalez said, referring to the decision to disqualify Matos.
Matos angrily questioned the call, pushed a judge, then pushed and kicked referee Chakir Chelbat of Sweden. Matos then spat on the floor and was escorted out.
Matos won the gold medal in this division at the 2000 Sydney Games, dedicating the victory to his mother, who died on the day of the opening ceremony. At the 2004 Athens Games, he finished 11th.
Matos' tantrum followed a day of confusion on the mats.
Earlier Saturday, China's double gold medalist Chen Zhong crashed out in the quarterfinals after initially being declared the winner. It was the first time a match result had been overturned since taekwondo became an official Olympic sport in 1990. "


I think it's probably uncontrolable angst about the lack of tv coverage for his sport. I'm certain a TKD player, in a world where international ping pong gets more press, would be a ticking time bomb.

Thursday, August 21, 2008

Office space practicallity

As i'm sure anyone in the cubicle jungle knows, danger lurks everywhere. One must constatly be mindfull of attack from every angle and from any person which, as i learned today, also includes the pregnant ones.

One of the office girls decided to "attack" me today and yelled out, "i'm going to strangle you" after i had applied a perfectly executed smart ass remark. As i turned around she had just broken ma'ai with both arms outstreched to strangle me. After that kind of set-up it was easy, i just stepped forward to the side breaking her balance and set her up for a Ushiro Ate (relax, i didn't drop her). I have to admit i was slighty bemused for hours that i had pulled all that off without really thinking.

But one quention remains, how do you claim real world effectiveness when you've defended yourself against an expectant mom?

Tuesday, August 05, 2008

A question on my mind.

Does anyone know how to make the world a better place? Can it be done? Is it vain to try?

I'd love to hear opinions.