blamebrampton (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
blamebrampton) wrote2008-09-17 12:11 am
blamebrampton) wrote2008-09-17 12:11 am
I CAN'T WATCH!
It's the gold medal match of the men's wheelchair basketball and I might actually die of nervousness. I think it's finished in the real world, but I can't stop watching the replay to find out.
Canada has Patrick Anderson, the best player in the world. Australia have several very good players, including Troy Sachs, a man who I interviewed in 1999 and who is as tall in his sports chair as I am standing up. When he's standing on his prosthesis, it's just embarrassing. Nothing worse than talking to strange men's bellies.
It is SUCH A CLOSE GAME, with the lead seesawing and excellent play on both sides. There are seven minutes left and I am finding it hard to breathe. Of course, that's mostly because I still have gunk in my lungs, but the tension is NOT HELPING.
To distract myself, let me give you an update of other essential Paralympic news. In rugby, Australia goes up against the US for the gold after an amazing win against Canada, with Canada and Great Britain playing for the bronze. If you have any opportunity to watch either game, I recommend it highly. To describe the play, it's like polo crossed with rollerderby, crossed with football. And a bit of rugby. Played by very fast lunatics.
Oh good grief, one minute ten to go, five points in it. ARGH!
OMG! Australia won! 72:60! And the commentators have gone completely mad! And I cannot blame them in the least. I think Troy Sachs might be having a little cry, and I can't blame him, either, he's been wanting that medal since 1999 at least.
Oh god, now David Weir and Kurt Fearnley are racing the 1500m ... ARGH! Fearnley crashed! It's like watching the Monza Grand Prix all over again as the chairs skid on the wet track! David's taken it, and Fearnley's pushed back from a wipeout to the bronze! Oh I hope Kurt can win the gold in the marathon tomorrow, if anyone deserves it, it's him.
Thank goodness there are only a few hours of coverage a day, I have things that need to be done! At least my Darkfest fic now has a beginning, and an end, and a yawning gap between the two. But it's a step up from just the end!
Canada has Patrick Anderson, the best player in the world. Australia have several very good players, including Troy Sachs, a man who I interviewed in 1999 and who is as tall in his sports chair as I am standing up. When he's standing on his prosthesis, it's just embarrassing. Nothing worse than talking to strange men's bellies.
It is SUCH A CLOSE GAME, with the lead seesawing and excellent play on both sides. There are seven minutes left and I am finding it hard to breathe. Of course, that's mostly because I still have gunk in my lungs, but the tension is NOT HELPING.
To distract myself, let me give you an update of other essential Paralympic news. In rugby, Australia goes up against the US for the gold after an amazing win against Canada, with Canada and Great Britain playing for the bronze. If you have any opportunity to watch either game, I recommend it highly. To describe the play, it's like polo crossed with rollerderby, crossed with football. And a bit of rugby. Played by very fast lunatics.
Oh good grief, one minute ten to go, five points in it. ARGH!
OMG! Australia won! 72:60! And the commentators have gone completely mad! And I cannot blame them in the least. I think Troy Sachs might be having a little cry, and I can't blame him, either, he's been wanting that medal since 1999 at least.
Oh god, now David Weir and Kurt Fearnley are racing the 1500m ... ARGH! Fearnley crashed! It's like watching the Monza Grand Prix all over again as the chairs skid on the wet track! David's taken it, and Fearnley's pushed back from a wipeout to the bronze! Oh I hope Kurt can win the gold in the marathon tomorrow, if anyone deserves it, it's him.
Thank goodness there are only a few hours of coverage a day, I have things that need to be done! At least my Darkfest fic now has a beginning, and an end, and a yawning gap between the two. But it's a step up from just the end!
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The basketball has some degree of commonality with the rugby/murderball. The most common injury in both is broken fingers and there are a huge number of personal and team fouls in the average game. But the basketball is a little more technical, both in terms of countdowns of who can be in what part of the court for how long, and in terms of the tricks of successful offence and defence.
The shooting is very much like able-bodied basketball, obviously without the slam-dunks, but with more turnovers in the circle as teams send their tallest players in to take any rebounds. It's very exciting to watch, though a more elegant excitement than the gladitorial rugby ;-)
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