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by: Sam Crenshaw | 11Alive Sports
Wed, 20 Aug 2008 08:32:00 PDT
Hats off to Decatur's Angelo Taylor who accomplished a number of things when he finished first in the 400 meter hurdles at Beijing this week. First, he led a 1,2,3 sweep in that event for the USA. The last time it happened was in 1960, almost 50 year ago. The second, Taylor now has something in common with another local Olympic legend Edwin Moses. Both have won the gold in the 400 meter hurdles 8 years apart. Moses won at Montreal in 1976, and in Los Angeles in 1984, but missed the 1980 games due to the US Boycott. Taylor struck gold at Sydney in 2000, but failed to qualify for the final in 2004 at Athens.. The pain and disappointment of failing to defend his title went deep for the Southwest Dekalb High School alum who sank into a depression that led him to the wrong side of the law and out of the big picture for US Track. After the failure in Athens ,Taylor was arrested for having sex with an underage girl. The incident , which was well documented, was embarassing to Taylor's fans and community, and led supporters and sponsors like Nike to back away. As he approched his mid-20s Taylor found himself on the outside looking in. In fact, at this time two years ago Angelo Taylor wasn't even competing, and working a job that just allowed him to make ends meet.. That's when Taylor connected with Innocent Egbuniki, a former Olympic Sprinter who had witnessd Angelo's performance at Sydney in 2000 . Innocent agreed to coach Taylor, but only if he was going to totally rededicate himself mind, body and spirit..Taylor found local financial support that helped him get back on track, and quickly showed that he could still clock times with the world's best, yet he manage to fly below the radar until he took first place at the US Track and Field Championships last year..I remember visiting with Taylor last summer and he reflected on his off track troubles and how he had learned from them.. At age 28, Angelo had become wiser, adjustments had been made to his diet, along with massage therapy , and meditation and prayer before every workout.. Angelo Taylor was back, but there was still one more goal that remained.. That goal, of course, was to make this year's Olympic team and run at Beijing.His is a tremendous story full of faith and courage..Angelo Taylor went to China and completed his run for redemption and in the process claimed the gold with a finish that was Taylor-Made..
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by: David Brooks | Photojournalist
Tue, 19 Aug 2008 20:33:00 PDT
One of my fellow video journalists, Steven Boissy, put a bug in Brenda’s ear about doing a story on Christianity in China. For hundreds of years, China had gotten a lot of focus from Christian missionaries. But then came China’s communist revolution and Christianity and other religions were banned until 1979. Even then, churches had to be licensed by the government. The official 3-Self Churches are closely regulated. Over the years, some Chinese have practiced their religion secretly in what are called “house churches”, meeting at people’s homes, businesses or warehouses. Recently house churches have been flourishing, perhaps because of greater tolerance by the government. Still they are technically illegal and depending on the attitude of local officials can operate in peace or might be shut down and its members arrested. Job one to do a TV story was to find a house church in China that would welcome us and our TV camera to their services. Not an easy task when you are talking about a secretive group that is always trying to stay one step ahead of the authorities. There is a saying in TV news rooms that “it is better to be lucky than good” and once again the truth of that was about to be proven. I was on the internet one day when I saw a banner ad for a group promoting a “pray for China” wrist band campaign. I sent an e-mail to the group, The Voice of the Martyrs. Todd Nettleton of the group contacted me and we began to communicate by e-mail and phone. Todd provided me with a contact in China who might be able to help. That contact referred me to someone else. Eventually I got an e-mail from someone who thought he could help me when we got to China. Once Brenda and I arrived in China, my contact gave me the e-mail addresses of some house church leaders. At first things didn’t look too promising – one congregation was afraid to talk to us, another said we could interview the pastor but could not videotape at a service. I had to go back to my original contacts for more referrals. Finally my cell phone rang early one Sunday morning. “Do you have a translator” was the first thing the Chinese woman on the line said. I had a translator call her back and everything was arraigned. The Beijing Ark House Church was in an apartment building not far from our workspace. I was told we were welcome to come and videotape but the only problem was building security might turn us away. I asked if a member could meet us out front and escort us in, but was told that was not possible and we would be on our own. It was suggested that I try to hide my large TV camera; however I was not comfortable with that since we are here under the Olympic umbrella and I didn’t want to appear anything but above board; besides our van carries official Olympic media markings. We had hoped to arrive before services but some important interviews delayed our departure. Finally we were off. In the van over there, our Chinese translator and driver were clearly uncomfortable. When we arrived at the building there was a gate and a security officer. As we pulled up, the guard and our driver talked in Chinese, the gate was opened and we pulled in. Our translator told us later that the security officer had asked what our business was and the driver told him we were there to pick someone up. We drove to a building at the rear of the complex and stopped at the entrance, there stood another security officer. Our plan was to exit the van as quickly as possible and head toward the building elevators looking like we belonged there. So steeling ourselves with our best game faces, we grabbed our equipment and made a bee-line for the front door and elevator. We smiled at the guard and gave our friendliest “ni hao”. It worked and in less than a minute we were in the building elevator on our way to an upper level floor. As we stepped off the elevator we could hear the faint sound of singing. Moving down the halls, we got to an apartment with no special markings except the unit number. Inside was clearly the sound of a group singing hymns in Chinese. Brenda knocked and a young woman unlocked the door and invited us in. We stepped into a small room full of people sitting in folding chairs; the walls were painted plain white and lit by a small florescent bulb. At the front of the room a small cross hung on the wall behind a simple podium. At one side of the room a woman played a console piano covered with blanket – I guess to help muffle the sound. There appeared to be about 40 or so people in attendance. Each time someone knocked on the door and came in, most people would turn to see who it was. We were told that this congregation had been forced to move more than a dozen times. Still they carried on. There may no longer be western missionaries spreading the gospel in China. Now that role has been taken on by dedicated Chinese citizens, spreading a brand of Christianity with a distinct Chinese flavor.
Brenda and I plan to broadcast our TV story about house churches on Sunday, August 24th on the 6PM news.
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by: Sam Crenshaw | 11Alive Sports
Tue, 19 Aug 2008 13:55:00 PDT
The Falcons are in regular season practice mode for this week's preseason contest against Tennessee.. Before their early afternoon workout the team released wide receiver Joe Horn. Horn had been seeking a trade to another team and had been sidelined with a hamstring injury. Coach Mike Smith said, " I am disappointed Joe didn't get to compete due to an injury, and the time missed from the teams OTAs. I feel comfortable with our receiving corp, and wish Joe all the best as he moves on". Horn, a 13 year veteran, knows this may be his final season and wants to play with a team that might be a post season contender... It was good to see linebacker Michael Boley back at practice this afternoon.. Boley left last Saturday night's game with a back injury and did not workout with the team Monday.. Look for Boley in the lineup Friday night against the Titans at the Georgia Dome... The game can be seen Friday night on MYATL36m
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by: David Brooks | Photojournalist
Mon, 18 Aug 2008 23:42:00 PDT
I stopped in a McDonalds here in Beijing for lunch. I don’t normally even eat at McDonalds in Atlanta. I guess I was craving a little bit of home and what’s more American than McDonalds? The restaurant near our hotel is on the street – no drive through here but there is a walk up window to order from the sidewalk. It was the lunch hour and the place was packed. The menu was on the wall above the servers and they also gave you a one page laminated menu all in Chinese. There were pictures of all the familiar items – Big Macs, Quarter Pounders, and Fish Sandwich. I opted for the Big Mac Meal. “No Diet Coke” I was told when I asked. The meal with sandwich, fries and drink cost me 20 Yuan, about 3 bucks. My meal was served right away. As I said it was pretty busy and the few seats downstairs were taken so I headed up stairs with my tray. I had to search a while for a seat but I finally found a small table just being vacated. A worker immediately wiped off the table so I grabbed it. Everything tasted pretty much like home – seemed like the fries were smaller and not as salty as in the States. Still close enough to give me my comfort food fix. After a short while a group of 3 Chinese teen-agers showed up to join their moms at the table next to me. There was no room at their table so I motioned that they were welcome to sit at my table, so after a moments hesitation, they took a seat. The young man in the group told me thank-you in English and asked where I was from. He spoke pretty good English but would occasionally huddle with his sister and her friend for any words or phrases that he needed help with. When I asked him his name he told me that he didn’t like his Chinese name and preferred to be called “James” Wu. I learned he was 17 years old and in high school at a city a couple of hours from Beijing. When he graduated in two years, he planned to go to college. He took English after school at private lessons to improve his chances at going to college. James and his family had come to Beijing for a couple of days to attend some Olympic games and were staying with relatives while they were here. That morning they had gone to the track and field events where national hero, Liu Xiang, had just dropped out of competitions because of his nagging injuries. I was feeling pretty bummed too because Atlanta’s Terrance Trammell also had his Olympic hopes dashed because of injuries. James said he liked McDonalds, Kentucky Fried Chicken, and Pizza Hut. He had never heard of Dominoes Pizza even though there was one right across the street. He obviously loved sports, because he talked a lot about various sports. Basketball is his favorite and he plays it with his friends. He expressed concern that Chinese people were too short to be great players. He wanted to know how I thought the Chinese were doing staging the Olympics – I assured him these Olympics would go down as the greatest games ever. He shared with me his dream to go to Beijing University and study art. His parents watched us quietly, seeming amused and pleased that their son was able to carry on a conversation with an American for almost half an hour. Perhaps proof that all the money they had spent on English lessons had not been wasted. I have two girls about the same age as James and his sister, so I thoroughly enjoyed my time talking with this Chinese teen. He was smart, outgoing and friendly. When it was time for me to go I wished that I had some token gift I could give him, but all I had were some business cards and a badly worn copy of the Sports Illustrated Olympic Edition to offer. He lamented he nothing to give me, but I told him not to worry because I had enjoyed our conversation. I had come to a McDonalds in Beijing to get a burger but unexpectedly had made a young friend from the other side of the world.
McDonalds in Beijing
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by: Fred Kalil | 11Alive Sports
Mon, 18 Aug 2008 20:50:00 PDT
JUST WATCHING THE OLYMPICS AND CONTINUE TO BE AMAZED AT ALL OF THE ATHLETES FROM AROUND THE WORLD WHO STANDUP ON TELEVISION AND DO INTERVIEWS IN ENGLISH. I REMEMBER YEARS AGO, THE FAMOUS SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE BIT WITH GARRET MORRIS. HE PLAYED BASEBALL STAR CHICO ESCUELA AND ALL HE SAID DURING HIS INTERVIEWS WAS BAISBOL, BEEN BERRY BERRY GOOD TO ME. SOME SPANISH SPEAKERS PRONOUNCE THE V AS A B. IT WAS FUNNY. KNOW WHAT'S NOT REALLY FUNNY? MANY OF US COULDN'T RETURN THE FAVOR . I HAVE TRAVELED A LITTLE, AND EVERYWHERE WE'VE BEEN FOLKS HAVE SPOKEN AT LEAST LITTLE ENGLISH. IN COSTA RICA, A MALL IN THE MIDDLE OF SAN JOSE AND SALES ASSOCIATES SPOKE ENGLISH AND MANY SIGNS WERE IN ENGLISH. THERE WAS ONE TIME IN FRANCE WHERE A FRIEND'S WIFE REMARKED. " WHY DOESN'T ANYONE SPEAK ENGLISH AROUND HERE?" MY WIFE AND I LOOKED AT EACH OTHER AND THOUGHT "ARE YOU KIDDIN' ME?". ANYWAY, IT'S NICE THAT ALL THESE PEOPLE PLAY ALONG WITH US, SPEAK ENGLISH AND SMILE FOR THE CAMERA. OVER THE YEARS COVERING BASEBALL I HAVE REALIZED JUST HOW GOOD SOMEOF THESE KIDS SPEAK OUR LANGUAGE. MANY HAVEN'T BEEN PAST HIGH SCHOOL AND MAYBE EVEN HAVEN'T TAKEN ENGLISH IN SCHOOL, YET ARE THROWN TO THE MEDIA WHEN THEY ARRIVE FROM THEIR HOMELAND AND NEARLY EVERY ONE OF THEM I'VE ENCOUNTERED TRIES. WHAT'S THE POINT OF THIS BLOG? JUST BE PATIENT WITH VISITORS THAT DON'T SPEAK OUR LANGUAGE, NOTICE I SAID VISITORS. TRY TO PUT YOURSELF IN THEIR SHOES, IF THE MEDIA IN CHINA STUCK A MICROPHONE IN YOUR FACE AND YOU HAD A WORKING KNOWLEDGE OF CHINESE BUT WERE NERVOUS AND DIDN'T SPEAK THE LANGUAGE AS WELL AS YOU'D LIKE. IT WOULD BE TOUGH. HAVING SAID THAT WE WILL LEAVE THE NON VISITORS KNOWLEDGE OF ENGLISH FOR ANOTHER BLOG.
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