With the Games now underway, I’ll probably start off each post by talking about an event from the day/night before, just to give you a sense of what every one here at the IBC is talking about.
Still some buzz from last night’s Duel in the Pool between Ryan Lochte and Michael Phelps. It was a long awaited match-up that ended with Lochte dominating in the 400m Individual Medley and Phelps not even making the podium.
It wasn’t even close. Lochte finished three seconds ahead of the rest of the field. Keep in mind, this wasn’t Phelps’ strongest event and he barely trained for the 400 IM compared to his other races that he’ll compete in during these Games.
And whether or not the two swimmers see it as a rivalry, the viewers certainly have and the storyline is sure to continue as the Games continue.
For now, they’ll be teammates as they compete in the 4x100m Freestyle Relay, a race that had an epic ending in Beijing when Jason Lezak just edged Alain Bernard of France. (How many times have you heard Dan Hicks’ epic call: “Here comes Lezak! Unbelievable at the end! He’s done it! The US has done it!”)
The Ultimate Soccer Mom
I spent Sunday logging two shoot tapes for two separate stories. One was a feed that came in from New York and was of US Women’s soccer player Christie Rampone in an interview shot at her home in New Jersey.
I was already familiar with the story about Rampone and her family because I had logged an interview with her daughter, Rylie. She has been traveling to all these places around the world following her mom and watching her play. The six year old is already on her second passport.
Kids don’t exactly have that much to say, at least not much that can make the final edited package. I remember when I logged Rylie’s interview, the producer was asking a lot of questions so that he can get maybe a decent SOT from her, but a lot of her answers were along the lines of “Uh, I don’t know.”
What was funny (or frustrating if you were the producer) was that when she was asked what her favorite place that she had visited was, she answered, “Florida”. Why? “Uh…because there’s a pool there.” Life of a six-year-old that’s been to China and Europe. Her favorite place is the one with the pool.
There was much more that I learned about the story as I logged the hour-long shoot (By the way, however long a shoot tape is, multiply that number by three and that’s how long it takes to log. So this hour-long tape took about three hours to log, plus coffee breaks.).
Most athletes stop playing when they enter parenthood. Not Christie, though she said that she never imagined being a mom and still playing at this high level.
It’s impressive. She gets up early, gets her two kids ready, makes breakfast. Gets Rylie to school. Then she goes to training. Her training is intense. There’s one part of the shoot where cameras get her with two dumbbells. She drops down on the floor, does a mountain climber, then a push up. Then she gets up and lifts each arm with a dumbbell over her head. Then repeat. If there’s anything I got from logging this tape, it’s that I’ll be integrating that whole routine into my workout.
Then she gets back and goes into mom mode again. Makes lunch for her other daughter, Reece. Plays with her kids. Picks Rylie up from school. Sometimes she has practice at whatever sport she’s playing. Then it’s dinner. Then get the kids to bed.
“I can’t even imagine not having them around and playing. I really have embraced the sport more,” Christie Rampone said. “It kinda puts life in perspective.”
As if playing and raising kids isn’t enough, Rampone has overcome other obstacles including a torn ACL back in 2001 and getting diagnosed with Lyme disease in 2010.
Her story will likely end up being one of my favorite ones from these Olympics, only because after logging that entire tape, I have so much more respect for her and other athletes who are moms.
What’s more amazing? Getting this story down to a two-minute package. Watch her story here.
DeGuzman Sports 