The 135th Kentucky Derby was one of the greatest horse races in history. Add the background stories of the lowly horse, the injured trainer, the exuberant jockey and you have a great American legend in the making.
Oh, yes…the best thing may be there were no fist bumps on TV after the race. Just like the good ol’ days.
May 7th, 2009 | Good Bad Ugly, Thrill of Victory
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PROBLEM:
The U.S. team lost the last three Ryder Cups and the last five of six. It was also without the benefit of the world’s top ranked player, injured Tiger Woods. (The Ryder cup competition is biennial between a team of professional golfers from the United States and from Europe.)
SOLUTION:
As is the custom, the U.S. Ryder Cup captain is a former PGA Tour player. This year the honor went to Paul Azinger. Mr. Azinger decided to work outside the box. He applied a team structure based upon military Special Forces/Navy Seals units. Instead of the usual organization of one large 12-player team, Mr. Azinger utilized three four-player cells. Each cell had players with common personalities or playing styles. The second major modification Mr. Azinger introduced was utilizing a corporate team-building consultant to help assemble the cells and then motivate them.
The United States won the Ryder Cup, played September 19-21. The final points total was 16 1/2 to 11 1/2.
September 30th, 2008 | American Ingenuity, Thrill of Victory
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The opening ceremonies of the Beijing Olympics used two little girls to sing an ode to the motherland. But it was not a duet. It was 9-year-old Lin Miaoke lip syncing to the vocal of 7-year-old Yang Peiyi. The Chinese government thought Yang Peiyi was not attractive enough to be a face of China during the Olympics.
More the 1.3 billion people in China and they cannot find one attractive singer. How sad.
August 14th, 2008 | Good Bad Ugly, Thrill of Victory
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Congratulations to Michael Phelps for becoming the all-time record holder of Olympic gold medals. On Wednesday in Beijing, he won his 10th and 11th golds, winning the 200-meter butterfly and as part of the 4×200 freestyle relay. Four athletes shared the former record of nine golds: Americans Carl Lewis and Mark Spitz, Soviet gymnast Larissa Latynina, and Finnish runner Paavo Nurmi.
Also, Michael Phelps may not be done mining for gold.
August 13th, 2008 | Thrill of Victory
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In Beijing on Monday a funny thing happened to the French. They had promised to “smash” the Americans in the ol’ swimmin’ hole during the 4×100m free relay. They lost.
Congratulations to Americans Michael Phelps, Garrett Weber-Gale, Cullen Jones, and Jason Lezak. They beat the French in smashing style. They won the gold. They set a world record with a time of 3:08.24.
August 11th, 2008 | Thrill of Victory
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Congratulations to Padraig Harrington of Ireland. He won the PGA Championship at Oakland Hills in the Detroit suburb of Bloomfield Hills. This is his second in a row of golf’s four majors and the third of the last six played.
August 11th, 2008 | Thrill of Victory
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Hosting the Olympics is often a coming out party for an emerging country or exciting city. Showing the world the progress the host has made.
Tokyo, Mexico City, Rome, Atlanta, Seoul.
Thus, it was to be for China and Beijing.
Instead, we get: harassed press, internet censorship, alarming pollution, banned Chinese athletes.
And the games have yet to begin.
August 1st, 2008 | Good Bad Ugly, Thrill of Victory
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Congratulations to Padraig Harrington after winning the British Open golf championship for the second year in a row. And what style. Great approach shots on the last two holes. Last year’s win was a little ugly. But this year he skillfully proved he is a fine and deserving champion.
July 22nd, 2008 | Thrill of Victory
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