SCENE Two Olympic athletes getting penalized for their bad behavior during the Beijing Games. Cuban taekwondo fighter Angel Valodia Matos was banned from all World Taekwondo Federation championships for kicking a judge in the head after disagreeing with his call. Matos then proceeded to spit on the mat before being dragged from the floor by his team. Also bad: Swedish wrestler Ara Abrahamian dropping his bronze medal on the mat during the awards ceremony saying he was robbed of the gold. As a result of his actions the International Olympic Committee stripped him of his bronze and Olympic accreditation card.
HEARD President Bush attending the USA v. China menâs basketball game where secret service got into fisticuffs with Chinese security guards in a clash over territory. (Keep it Klassy, America!)
SCENE Beach volleyball player Misty May-Treanor going through Chinese customs with her mothers ashes, only to later sprinkle them on the court after winning the semis. The American playerâs mom passed away in 2002 after a battle with cancer and Misty has been leaving her remains on Olympic courts since the 2004 Athens Games.
HEARD The USA softball team talking to ESPN senior writer Alyssa Roenigk about what it would take to come back in 2016 as Team Handball. Since softball is being taken off the Olympic program after the Beijing Games, the girls are looking to extend their sports career, even if it means coming back in a sport that has no USA representation for men or women.
— Lisa Costantini
