With "The Real Dream Team" Trailing Canada 1-0, Let The Games Begin

August 14, 2008 - By Rob Baird, Special to NBCOlympics.com

Things are not going the way they are supposed to in Beijing for Head Coach Mike Candrea and the US Olympic Softball Team. Go ahead, take a seat.

Team USA trails Canada 1-0 in the top of the fourth inning of their round-robin match-up, leadoff hitter Natasha Watley at the bat, with a 3-2 count.

The United States has given up a run. In fact, they actually trail in a game.

The second rain delay Thursday afternoon was enough to wash away hopes for closure before day’s end. Play was suspended for hours before it was announced that the game would be completed after Friday’s scheduled match-up with Japan.

You mean that they did not dispose of their most recent opponent in stunning and efficient fashion? We will have to wait until tomorrow to be reaffirmed of our softball supremacy?

Within the Olympic forum, stories of heroic proportions are tossed around like clichés in a cheesy movie, as the public sifts through each one, deciding which is the most compelling. We have some genuinely inspiring story lines, and yet we have tales of unthinkable letdowns.

So-called stars refuse to shine, while never-before-heard-of Cinderellas become sentimental crowd favorites.

Questions are raised, and some are answered.

We all hope that our nations’ teams find the answers in time, just in case of a pop quiz.

After all, this is the Olympics, where it is perfectly fine to get nationalistic in the name of sports.

So the American softball team will be pushed to provide answers Friday, as they must first play Japan at 12:00 pm local time, then battle Canada in the completion of Thursday’s suspended game.

Wait a minute. Is that the same Japan that features Yukiko Ueno, the sport’s hardest-throwing hurler? The pitcher who defeated the Americans on U.S. soil at the World Cup in 2005? Yep... the same one who beat the United States in Beijing during the 2006 ISF World Championships.

The Americans will have to face a pitcher who has beaten them in the past, before trying to pull off a come-from-behind victory against a newly-confident Canadian squad.

In today's sports landscape, there are few constants. But when even this year's Patriots failed to achieve perfection, there was always the US Softball Team to give us something to rest our hats on. After all, the other Dream Team winning every game is no longer a sure thing.

But what would be the impact on the sport if that were not the case?

I see the writing on the wall already.

Will Team USA be upset? Can they come back from their first Olympic deficit since 2000? What if Canada wins? Would it be better for the sport if Team USA loses?

Let's not get carried away here, but there is certified drama washing up on our shores.

Actually, this is the absolute best thing that could happen to the sport. The 1-0 deficit, a border rivalry, and the anticipation of the game’s completion could provide all the necessary build up for a big moment, an Olympic moment.

The "Real Dream Team", as Team USA was called when it appeared on the cover of Sports Illustrated after the romp through Athens, is being pushed to the limit by our border-sharing, dollar-suddenly-strong-as-ours friends to the North.

Canada. Cana-do? Cana-don't?

Is it possible that Candrea and company could actually lose a game in Beijing? Could Canada be the team to do it?

The answer to these questions will not be known until Friday, but one thing is certain today. The bar has been set awfully high by Team USA. We have been spoiled by their greatness.

The Americans outscored their opponents 51-1 during the Athens Games, lapping the field a few times over.

They have Jennie Finch, Cat Osterman, and Monica Abbott. That’s over 18 feet of dominant starting pitching.

They feature a top to bottom lineup that could be confused for the 1927 Yankees.

The coaching staff is universally respected and experienced, and the team reflects their professionalism and approach at every roadblock.

Last, but not least, they have done it before. The U.S. Olympic Softball Team also won gold in 1996 in Atlanta and 2000 in Sydney. The team has been beaten in other competitions, but they have owned the Olympics. Players and coaches have changed, but not the expectations or the end result.

And yet some say it is this dominance that has led to the sport’s removal from the Games. There will not be any softball in 2012 in London, as the IOC has voted it out.

So let's be honest... politics have had more to do with the elimination of the sport than Team USA's Olympic dominance. The disproportionate representation of IOC voters from Europe, an area seen as lagging behind in the overall worldwide development of softball, has as much to do with the decision as the now-famous abstention in the first vote by Jim Easton. That abstention left the vote stalemated at 52-52, with only a simple majority needed to keep softball in.

Efforts to bring softball back in 2016 have begun in earnest, but what can be done?

How about a good old-fashioned barn burner to showcase the sport? How about some friendly give and take? Maybe some competition? Isn’t that what the Olympic Games are about?

The United States has faced the music before, and risen above it. As Candrea has seen, every country takes its best shot at Team USA... and then some... every time out. The rest of the world knows who is favored, and we should all be happy that they are trying to do something about it.

Canada is a solid club, with sluggers and quality pitching alike. Japan plays National League ball, but they have the closest thing to Johann Santana in Ueno. Australia is dangerous, and played Team USA tough Wednesday, only to fall 3-0. The host Chinese will also try to take it to the Americans, and leave it all out on the diamond.

It is not going to be easy for Team USA Friday, as they will face some of the toughest circumstances they have seen yet. It is the type of drama that will make people watch, and perhaps, even stare.

As the softball competition is about to go the way of the do-do bird, we will witness the continuing bittersweet celebration of the sport in Beijing. We should find a soft spot for this team, like we did for the 1980 Hockey Team, in Lake Placid, or the original Dream Team... the 1992 Men's Basketball Team, in Barcelona.

I hope we realize how good we have it before it is too late. Not only are our finest softball players ready to compete at the highest level of competition in the sport, the world’s best are lined up ready to take their best shots.

Olympic softball is the pinnacle of women's fastpitch, unlike its baseball counterpart. Future dreams of Olympic glory have been put on hold, as a generation of players will miss out on the ideal.
So what if Canada scores a run, or even wins the game? It is the Preliminary Round after all, and Team USA is virtually assured of making the Medal Round no matter what.

Maybe we will get to see how Team USA acts when the pressure's on. Now that is must-see TV.
Nothing better than watching the best when the rest take aim. The fact that we have a whole day to wait out the completion of the Canada game only adds to the drama. The stop and go nature of the game, already suspended twice for rain delays, seemed to break up any early momentum Team USA tried to build.

I am going to be watching, cheering for the women who best represent this nation in Beijing. Taking mental pictures, as we will have only memories to hold onto come 2012.

Perhaps the most enduring memories of Beijing 2008 will be forever linked to a great comeback, or a huge upset, a punch, then a counter-punch.

Again, these answers might not be immediately known, but I have one suggestion.

Climb up, jump aboard. Ride this bandwagon while you can. You have no idea how much you've been spoiled.

It is 3-2 to Natasha Watley in the top of the fourth, with the bases empty, with Caitlin Lowe and Jessica Mendoza to follow.

Somehow, I've got to believe that things are going to fall into place for Mike Candrea and company.