Joe's Baseballism - The Sequel: A Little More Baseball Talk... & Starbucks too...

Thank you, thank you, thank you, Baseballisms.com! You have provided me with a special broadcasting experience that could very well prove to be as useful as any other to do date while on assignment at the Olympics in Beijing this summer. The only question that remains is will you be there to comfort and support me with Starbucks coffee?

For the "rest of the story" on my first Baseballism, click here:

http://baseballisms.com/the-day-everything-changed-for-baseballisms.html

My Turn on Baseballisms.com

My friend Tony Kornheiser says video blogging -"yapping" non-stop in front of a camera - is a lot harder than it looks. Actually, I haven't found that to be the case yet in my broadcasting pursuits and my latest here at Baseballisms.com is no exception. No prompts, questions, or leads - just straight-talking about baseball:

http://baseballisms.com/olympic-gold-medalist-joe-jacobi-on-dc-baseball.html

Of course this posting, following my wife's Baseballism, inevitably sets up a round of "Baseballism Crossfire."

Olympic Whitewater Trials this weekend on MSNBC

We've just finished production work on the Olympic Whitewater Trials. Please tune into the broadcast airing this Sunday, May 11th on MSNBC at 12 noon eastern time. We had a great time calling this race and working with play-by-play broadcaster Craig Hummer was fabulous. Not only is he excited to be a part of the whitewater events in Beijing this summer, but Craig joined me for a kayak lesson on the Kern River today in Kernville, California. More about our kayak outing coming next week.

Also, please check out some excellent photo galleries from the Olympic Trials in Charlotte shot by our good friend, Bob Hollifield:

http://colemanroadproductions.smugmug.com/

The Last Word On Trials....

Although the Olympic Whitewater Slalom Trials concluded a week ago, I've been slow to recover from an emotionally draining weekend in Charlotte. Back at home in Tennessee, a few runs down the Ocoee River and a few mountain bike rides with friends have helped to re-energize me but I hadn't quite found the right way to resolve my own participation at the Trials - as a coach, spectator, and as part of the media.

For me, when it comes to the last word about anything whitewater paddling, it begins and ends with Jamie McEwan. Known in whitewater cirlces as the "living legend," Jamie won America's first-ever Olympic medal in whitewater slalom at the 1972 Olympics in Munich. Equally impressive, he competed and competed well at the 2008 Olympic Trials in Charlotte at the age of 55.

In a weekend of huge emotional ups and down, nobody offered more stability and good in the world of whitewater racing than Jamie. Competing with vigor, passion, and respect, his participation continues to set the standard of what it means to be an Olympian in Whitewater Slalom racing. Check out Jamie's essay about his Olympic Trials experience.

http://jamiemcewan.com/unpublished.html

Well done, Jamie.

Quick Update from Trials....

After an intense first two days of racing here at the Olympic Trials at the U.S. National Whitewater Center, all categories are up for grabs heading into the third and final day. A few things we do know:

- By virtue of good results on Saturday, the U.S. will field a full whitewater team at the Olympic Games in Beijing.

- The event has turned out large crowds each day - estimated Saturday crowd was 5,000 spectators.

- As the photo suggests, EJ is having a lot of fun.

Full results are available at:

http://animastiming.com/2008-olympic-slalom-results

Stay tuned....

Scott and Brett

As the Olympic Whitewater Trials gets ready to start tomorrow here in Charlotte, much of the athlete media coverage has focused upon men’s kayak frontrunners, Scott Parsons and Brett Heyl. Both were my Olympic teammates during my final Olympic Games four years ago in Athens and I came to know them both in a different light on and off the water.

The test of friendship and competition is the featured element of recent stories on NPR and in the Washington Post. But for me, a fascinating part of their pursuits is how vastly different two competitors can structure such different athletic quests for our one Olympic spot and come out so close in the end. It’s the essence of marching to the beat of your own drum yet kindly acknowledging that your beat might not work for everyone else.

Scott brings an introverted, grounded, and powerful resolve to his paddling. Brett is an extrovert who draws incredible energy from engaging people of all kinds into the sport of kayaking. One’s source of energy wouldn’t work well for the other and vice versa. Ultimately, it’s not so much which way is the right way but believing in your own way to achieve excellence in kayaking at this level. There’s no problem there – all systems are ready to go.

Spending time with both Scott and Brett this week during on-river practice sessions, I can only simplify their racing and values like this – their representations of themselves and outreach to each other have not only been first-class but their pursuits have honored kayaking and the Olympic Movement at their respective cores in a way that anyone would be proud.

Eric Jackson's Chattanooga Olympic Zone Profile

Back home in Tennessee, I'm fortunate to work with WRCB TV, the NBC affiliate in Chattanooga. I host the "Chattanooga Olympic Zone" in which we profile Chattanooga-related Olympic stories for the evening news broadcast. Since my 1992 Olympic teammate, Eric Jackson, is competing here in Charlotte and houses his fabulous kayaking manufacturing company, Jackson Kayaks, just up the road in Sparta, we figured Eric was an obvious choice for our feature segment. Working in television shouldn't be this much fun and I couldn't be more thrilled that Eric and his daughter Emily will be competing here in Charlotte at the Olympic Trials. Click the link below to see Eric's Chattanooga Olympic Zone profile:

http://www.wrcbtv.com/global/video/popup/pop_player.asp?ClipID1=2409907&h1=The%20Olympic%20Zone%3A%20E.J.%20Sparta&vt1=v&at1=News&d1=183900&LaunchPageAdTag=Olympics&activePane=info&playerVersion=1&hostPageUrl=http%3A//www.wrcbtv.com/Global/story.asp%3FS%3D8210608&rnd=84621745