Olympic athletes with a Chicago connection
Candace Parker, Naperville; Sylvia Fowles, Chicago Sky; Cappie Pondexter, Marshall; Tamika Catchings, Stevenson: The women's basketball team "the hoops team not trying to rebuild its name" has a heavy Chicago flavor. Parker, the newest rock star of women's basketball, plays her first Olympics, after making news in a WNBA fight.
But while Fowles won't make the biggest headlines, she might well be the biggest reason the women's team takes gold. Again. It will make four straight Olympic golds.
The world is starting to catch up to the U.S. team, though. And much like the problem the men's team suffered from the past few Olympics, the U.S. women don't practice together much. But their opponents do.
If the U.S. has any weakness, it has been the inside game. That's why Sports Illustrated (page 95) featured Fowles in its Olympic Preview issue. She is the big, tough, dominant inside defensive player the team needs. Four gold medals for Chicago.
Dwyane Wade, Country Club Hills: Wade figures to be a big part of the men's basketball, which some people are calling the Redeem Team, after some Dream Teams haven't been so dreamy. The U.S. has rebuilt its program, an effort led by Chicagoan Jerry Colangelo and coach Mike Krzyzewski, another Chicagoan. Wade is the most renowned current Chicago basketball star. The team lacks height, though. And it has no more excuses. It will medal, probably with gold.
Andres Nocioni, Bulls: He won gold for Argentina in the last summer Games, and will represent the best threat to the U.S. this time. Look for him to bring his knee burns to the gold medal game, but end up with silver.
Christian Vande Velde, Lemont: After several years of a great career as one of the other guys on Lance Armstrong's team, Vande Velde isn't anyone's caddy anymore. He had a real shot at finishing on the podium this year at the Tour de France, but then had one lousy day in the mountains. Still, he finished fifth. Probable medal coming back to Chicago.
Christina Loukas. Not favored to win a medal, but a serious contender.
Jamie Schroeder, Wilmette: This is on Schroeder's bio: "He combines medical training at Johns Hopkins University of Medicine with doctoral research at Oxford University Cardiac Metabolism Research Group." He also studied mitochondrial function in the Laboratory of Cardiac Energetics. In other words, just another dumb athlete? Schroeder, in the men's quadruple skulls, figures to win a medal, but not gold.
Brian McBride, Arlington Heights, Chicago Fire; Brad Guzan, Homer Glen:
McBride is a legit, former English Premier League player. He has scored goals in two World Cups. At 36, he still has something left, and the U.S. Soccer Federation says he's considered to be the best American player ever in the air. He and Guzan, an up-and-coming 23-year old goaltender, will team up with stars, such as Freddy Adu. But the U.S. team is not likely to medal.
Jennie Finch, Chicago Bandits: Finch is the best-known women's softball player ever, partly for her great pitching and partly for her model-looks. She was on the 2004 gold-medal winning team. The U.S. is dominant in this sport, which Finch has helped to grow in popularity here. In other countries, it isn't played as much. Softball has been eliminated from future Olympics, but the sport's federation is trying to reverse that. Gold medal is almost assured.
Matt Grevers, Lake Forest, Northwestern; Christine Magnuson, Tinley Park: Grevers is Chicagoland's best shot for an individual medal. Sports Illustrated, which predicted the winners of all medals in all sports, picked him to win bronze. He beat one of the sports‚ superstars, Ryan Lochte, to get to the Olympics in the 100 backstroke. But he‚ll also be on several relay teams, and figures to come home with four medals total.
Magnuson, who is somewhat new to the world's elite in the butterfly, also is a medal contender.
Jorge Torres, Wheeling; David Neville, Merrillville, Ind. The son of Mexican immigrants, Torres has set the goal of reaching this Olympics since in the 7th grade, 14 years ago. He is an NCAA cross country champ, but it not likely to win a medal. Neville is in an impossible spot, as Americans LaShawn Merritt and Jeremy Wariner set up a classic rivalry in the 400 meters. No one is going to beat those guys. Neville can shoot for bronze, but is a longshot.
Tom Hoff, Park Ridge; Sean Rooney, Wheaton. Hoff is starting to look like an old man in volleyball. That's what I wrote four years ago, when he was leaving for Athens. Now, he's 35 and going to his third Olympics. Hoff has been part of an evolution for U.S. volleyball. The team was awful in the Sydney Games, then finished fourth in Athens. They have a real shot to medal in Beijing. Rooney, 25, is in his second year on the national team. At 6-foot-9, he's a thrilling spiker.
T.C. Dantzler, Harvey: This guy is a character. He says his claim to fame is that he never won the state championship. Now, he's trying to redeem himself. Truth is, Dantzler, a Greco-Roman wrestler, is getting plenty of national attention because he finally made it to the Olympics at 37, and because he founded, and runs, a company in Colorado Springs that does deep background checks on people. Throw in three kids, and his daily schedule is insane. He can win gold. He also can fail to medal at all. Dantzler has made habit of beating world champs, but losing to others.
Larry Langowski, Logan Square: Langowski will wrestle freestyle for Mexico, the only Mexican athlete with a Polish name. He's your typical big Polish Chicago guy, sells Italian ice in the city, and volunteers his time as a wrestling coach for Gordon Tech, where he went to school. His mother is a Mexican immigrant, which is how he ended up on that team. He's a longshot to medal.