Beijing 2008--Got Cash?

[oiuyt]

Ok, so I decided to look up the whole which coaches get credentials thing, and lo and behold there's actually a document on the usfa website outlining how coaches are being chosen (at least in theory).

Said document says that if they receive 6 credentials that each gender/weapon will receive one. The person nominated will be the national team coach, except in WE, where the person will be selected by the High Performance Director, taking into account who the US fencer is.

If we get 6 credentials, it would be rather hard for it to be otherwise...

Mmmm, notice that the document specifies six COACHING credentials, not six credentials. In the past we have used credentials for positions other than coaches.

We also have selection procedures posted for Team Leader and Additional Officials. The Additional Officials document includes Armorer and Personal Coaches.

Those interested can find links to all of these documents on this page.

-B

[oiuyt]

You mean, the way tennis players must as a matter of course?

Last I'd heard coaching from the stands (or anywhere else, given that coaches have no other place to be) isn't permitted in tennis.

Brad Gilbert tangentially mentions this in passing in at least one of his books (probably "I've Got Your Back", rather than "Winning Ugly"), where he's discussing being in the stands for Andre Agassi and how hard it was to not be actively involved. His statement goes something along the line of disclaiming fault if he just so happens to convey information through facial expressions to his player during the match.

Unless professional tennis has relaxed their rules considerably, they don't allow NEARLY the level of coaching from the stands that one finds routinely in fencing.

-B

[Inquartata]

Exactly my point. Coaches are consigned to the stands as a matter of policy, and can be penalized for interfering even from there.

Strikes me as an eminently sound policy and one well worth adopting in fencing.

I'd settle for the return of the coach's "box" at each end of the strip, but I'd make it an isolation booth into the bargain: soundproof and locked for the duration of the bout.

[D'Art]

Would it have padded walls as well?

[jjefferies]

Interesting article in the NY Times this morning. Seems the new Visa restrictions the Chinese govt has put into place may be a problem:

Many hotels in Beijing are struggling to find guests; some large travel agencies have temporarily closed branches; and people scheduled to travel here for seminars and conferences are canceling. The number of foreign tourists visiting Beijing fell sharply in May, dropping by 14 percent, according to the city’s statistics bureau.

Beijing residents, meanwhile, are complaining that heightened security measures could spoil what was supposed to be Beijing’s long anticipated coming-out party. Despite years of careful preparation — including teaching taxi drivers English and instructing locals in how to wait in a line (not common here), and spending billions on mammoth building projects for these Games — Beijing is starting to appear less welcoming to foreigners.

“Business is so bleak,” said Di Jian, the sales manager at the Capital Hotel in Beijing. “Since May, very few foreigners have checked in. Our occupancy rate has dropped by 40 percent.”

Many other cities in China are also feeling the pain of fewer tourists, including Shanghai, where some hotels say occupancy rates are down 15 to 20 percent.

The government has publicized its determination to combat possible threats to the Games, including suicide bombings, bus hijackings and chemical attacks. In April, Interpol warned that a terrorist attack during the Beijing Olympics is a “real possibility.” And in a year plagued by riots in Tibet, protests of the Olympic torch relay, a terrorist plot to kidnap journalists covering the Olympics (according to Beijing officials) and the Sichuan earthquake, the government is stressing public safety above all else.

But Beijing appears to be less concerned about hosting a global party and more concerned with making sure no one spoils it. Officials announced Thursday that 100,000 commandos, police and army troops would be placed on high alert during the Games.

The heightened sense of alert over security threats in the capital has done something else too: it has spawned a huge number of rumors about other actions the government may or may not be taking.

Among them: a border region with North Korea has been closed to prevent security risks; foreign students and migrant workers are being asked to leave Beijing during the Olympics; all volunteers need to register with the police; bars will be forced to close early; and all outdoor parties planned for the three-week-long Olympic celebration have been banned, putting the hex on some of the entertaining events that had been planned for the Games.

The Beijing police and security officials denied some of the reports, but also, at times, insisted in telephone interviews last week that they could not disclose some security matters. Poor official communication about regulations and restrictions in Beijing may be contributing to public uncertainty and feeding the rumor mill. ........ And more.
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Anyway, people who wait till the last minute may get a bargain or then again may not be able to get in to find a bargain.

[Inquartata]

Would it have padded walls as well?

Mandatory, I should think.

Alternatively, we could just sedate certain coaches beforehand.