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Bits & Pieces

By Kim J. Harmon

 

Paul Hamm has been training his whole life to win a gymnastics gold medal and now that he has done it, you’re telling him it’s only because the judges screwed up while scoring the routine of another gymnast?

It never fails, does it? There will always, always, always be controversy with events that are judged arbitrarily – gymnastics, platform diving, figure skating. Although the mistake came, apparently, with the start value of a South Korean competitor’s routine rather than biased judging, it was still a judge’s mistake.

Plus, Hamm told ESPN he analyzed the South Korean’s routine and found a serious error which the judges completely missed.

Really, it is a whole lot easier to determine winners if all it comes down to is who ran faster, jumped higher, threw further or scored more points than someone else. Judges lead to controversy.

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Something really bothered me over the weekend, but it shouldn’t have surprised me being in this profession.

The United States’ swimming phenom Michael Phelps held an impromptu press conference announcing he was giving up his butterfly spot in the medley relay to a teammate so his teammate could have an opportunity to win a gold medal.

The gesture cost Phelps a chance to bask in the spotlight while tying the Olympics record of eight medals.

And after the two talking heads reporting live ooohed and aahed over the gesture of sportsmanship, the ugly specter of an ulterior motive was brought up. Why was Phelps really doing this? Come on, do we always have to question people’s motives?

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Local swimmers take note: The Dickinson and Treadwell Park swimming pools will close on Sunday, August 29, but will re-open for the Labor Day weekend – Saturday, September 4, through Monday, September 6.

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The Newtown Soccer Club’s fall season is about to begin, but you haven’t registered yet there still is time.

Go to www.newtownsoccerclub.org and click on the ‘registration’ link. The Newtown Soccer Club offers in-house teams for youths born in 1999 and older, including a senior division for high school age individuals who are not affiliated with a high school team. If you want to play in the senior division, there will be no late registration fee.

Practices for all in-house divisions will start after Labor Day and games will begin the weekend of September 11.

For additional information, visit www.newtownsoccerclub.org.

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Are you like me? Are you excited about the 2004 fall season at Newtown High School? Kyle Lyddy sure is; he has already been hard at work prepared his popular Nighthawk Nation web site for the new school year.

Kyle has some new features planned for 2003-04, like profiles for each player, a facilities pages with pictures, results from the 2003-04 seasons. I’m sure anyone with suggestions for the web site can drop Kyle an email and let him know your idea.

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Good news for us journalists: Jonathan Law and Foran are no longer members of the South-West Conference, having moved over to the Southern Connecticut Conference (SCC).

That means no brutal trips up the Merritt Parkway or I-95, getting stuck in bumper-to-bumper traffic on roads that seem to be perpetually under construction.

There will be new divisional alignments now, as well.

In all sports except football -

The Colonial Division will be Bethel, Bunnell, Joel Barlow, Masuk, New Milford, Newtown and Pomperaug while the Patriot Division will be Brookfield, Immaculate, Kolbe-Cathedral, Lauralton Hall, New Fairfield, Notre Dame, Stratford and Weston.

In football, the Colonial Division will be Bethel, Joel Barlow, Masuk, New Fairfield, Notre Dame, Pomperaug and Stratford while the Patriot Division will be Brookfield, Bullard Havens, Bunnell, Immaculate, New Milford, Newtown and Weston.

Now, if someone can just figure out how to get Weston out of the SWC, I’d be happy. Aside from Foran, Weston is the toughest trip to make.

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Speaking of football, the Newtown High School football team will open the 2004 season on Friday, September 17, at Pomperaug. Kick off is 7:30 pm.

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Congratulations to Chris Ramsey (Newtown High School Class of ‘91) on winning the national age- Ironman Triathlon championship in the 30-34 age group. Competitors in this event swam 2.4 miles, bicycled 112 miles, and then ran 26.2 miles.

Chris has been competitive in this sport for several years, competing in the continental United States., Switzerland, Austria, New Zealand, Hawaii, and elsewhere. Last month, at Lake Placid, Chris beat 329 other men aged 30-34, to win the U.S. national championship for this age group.

Watch for Chris at the Ironman Triathlon World Championship in Hawaii in October.

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I just have to ask this: Why is EVERYBODY on a cell phone these days? Who the heck are they talking to?

On a trip to Misquamicut Beach in Rhode Island last Sunday, I couldn’t turn around without seeing someone on a cell phone. There was a woman standing knee deep in the ocean on a cell phone.

A guy laying on a towel next to us was on the phone every five minutes and the conversations were absolutely inane - “Yeah, what’s up. Oh dude, it’s great. Nah, there ain’t that many people out here.”

You know, I’ve had my cell phone for two years now and the other day I checked my overall minutes; I have used fewer minutes in two years than my plan allows for two months.

There is way too much communicating going on these days.

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