Personal Dork Assistant

國殤

Taiwan's certainly no sports powerhouse, but we've had our share of success in the last few Olympics, mostly in the more obscure sports like taekwando or archery. But thanks to the Japanese colonial period, Taiwan's real national pastime is baseball. We kicked ass in Little League for a long time, but now it's time to play with the big boys in Beijing. Japan and Korea were all-in with their top pro-league players. Americans have enough depth to be competitive even with only minor-leaguers. Not to mention Cuba is always tough on the international stage.

China, on the other hand, only got a spot in the Olympic baseball tournament due to their host-country status. China, being China, was still willing to pour resources into the unfamiliar sport, hiring an experienced American big-league manager, sending the national team out to as many tournaments and games as they could get into, all backed by the MLB's desire to break into the China market like the NBA had already done. Nevertheless, in a game which demands reps and playing time more than raw physical skill, most felt that China was in no shape to win any games against the rest of the Olympic teams.

Sure, there have been plenty of Olympic upsets over the years. But it's suppose to be about the scrappy little country overcoming the big bad, like the Hungary-USSR blood-in-the-water water-polo match, or scrappy amateurs defeating the Soviet machine like the 1980 Miracle On Ice. Instead, the big oppressor China crushes the hopes and dreams of the little island's favored Taiwan Chinese Taipei team in extra-innings, overcoming a four-run deficit in the process.

But everything unraveled for Taiwan with Yang Chien-fu on the mound. He walked a batter to load the bases, gave up a single and walked another batter. Then everything happened fast: a single, a bases-loaded walk and another single.

Hou Fenglian, China’s designated hitter, had that last single to drive in the final three runs. Sun Lingfeng reached the plate as the winning run, and he was surrounded by a swarm of white jerseys.

The devastating first-ever loss against the China team sent all of Taiwan into collective mourning, or apoplectic rage, as the case may be. Considering the extra-inning comeback, the expectations of the entire Taiwan population, and that this was going to be the last Olympic baseball tournament for a while, this one ranks must rank right up there on the Bill Simmon's Levels Of Losing scale.

At least a Level III:

The Stomach Punch
Definition: Now we've moved into rarefied territory, any roller-coaster game that ends with (A) an opponent making a pivotal (sometimes improbable) play or (B) one of your guys failing in the clutch... Usually ends with fans filing out after the game in stunned disbelief, if they can even move at all... Always haunting, sometimes scarring...

After the loss to China, CT tumbled to three more consecutive losses, all late-and-close games, ignominiously sliding out of medal-round contention. Definitely showing signs of a Level II:

The Goose/Maverick Tailspin
Definition: Cruising happily through the baseball regular season, a potential playoff team suddenly and inexplicably goes into a tailspin, can't bounce out of it and ends up crashing for the season. In "Top Gun," the entire scene lasted for 30 seconds and we immediately moved to a couple of scenes in which Tom Cruise tried to make himself cry on camera but couldn't quite pull it off. In sports, the Goose/Maverick Tailspin could last for two weeks, four weeks, maybe even two months, but as long as it's happening, you feel like your entire world is collapsing. It's like an ongoing Stomach Punch Game. And when it finally ends, you spend the rest of your life reliving it every time a TV network shows a montage of the worst collapses in sports history. Other than that, it's no big deal.

To most folks in Taiwan, the combination of the above factors means it may even rate worse than Level I:

That Game
Definition: Game 6 of the 1986 World Series... One of a kind... Given the circumstances and the history involved here, maybe the most catastrophic sports loss of our lifetime.

Well, at least we have a good analogy to explain this loss to New Englanders.

Just Peachy

We had a good time at Zuni Cafe on our last trip back to SF. The food was a bit pricey, but for the atmosphere, service, and food we received it felt like a fair value. Unfortunately we were too full for dessert, so we missed out on the famous espresso granita and the fresh fruit selection.

Well, that was too bad. Summer-time means fresh stone-fruits in California. So it's no surprise that Zuni's latest offering, for $4.50, is a nectarine:

Yep, a Blossom Bluff nectarine on a plate, with a steak knife on the side should you decide to get all dainty about it. No fancy preparations here. Hopefully they've washed it in the kitchen, at least, but couldn't have they put it on a bowl so it wouldn't roll around? Apparently even cutting the nectarine into slices would be too much of a desecration of the sacred ingredient. I mean, even the worst hole-in-the-wall Chinese restaurant would offer some sliced oranges at the end of a sit-down meal, for free, at that.

Seems a bit too emperors-new-clothes to me. On the other hand, we're plenty used to having fruit for dessert at home, so it's not all a bad idea. Maybe we'll try the fresh-fruit dessert next time we get to Chez Panisse.

Sorting Out Coffee's Contradictions

Ever since I started hitting The Coffee Bean after college all-nighters I've felt vaguely guilty about chugging down all those lattes, mochas, and straight-up coffees. Aside from the ridiculous mark-up, now somewhat assuaged by brewing my own, there was always the niggling worry about the potential adverse effects of the stimulating, yet potentially addictive, beverage. There's plenty of medical research going on, of course, but who has time to keep up with all that jazz?

Thankfully, the NY Times has stepped in and collected the up-to-date information into an easy-to-digest article. Turns out that caffeine and coffee, in reasonable doses, does not increase risk for:

• Heart Disease
• Cancer
• Hypertension
• Osteoporosis

Phew, that just about covers all the bad things I was worried about. Not to mention there are actually benefits, too.

At consumption levels up to 200 milligrams (the amount in about 16 ounces of ordinary brewed coffee), consumers report an improved sense of well-being, happiness, energy, alertness and sociability, Roland Griffiths of the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine reported.

A review of 13 studies found that people who drank caffeinated coffee, but not decaf, had a 30 percent lower risk of Parkinson’s disease.

Another review found that compared with noncoffee drinkers, people who drank four to six cups of coffee a day, with or without caffeine, had a 28 percent lower risk of Type 2 diabetes. This benefit probably comes from coffee’s antioxidants and chlorogenic acid.

Okay, so I don't drink enough to get the diabetes bonus, but I'm just happy to know that at least it doesn't hurt me on that front, especially with the family history.