News & Views

Best Excuse Ever

LightningCoaches in team sports often offer unusual reasons as to why their team lost. But, they would have to go big to top the excuse laid out Tuesday by North Korean coach Kim Kwang Min. 

After his squad's 2-0 loss to the US in the women's World Cup, Kim explained the defeat to the "fact" that several of his players were still suffering from being hit by lightning. Kim claimed that more than five of his players (including the goalie) were hospitalized after a practice where they were struck by lightning. He went on to say that despite the urging of team doctors to sit out of the tournament, all of the team traveled to Dresden and played in the US loss. 

Even if this is obviously not true, it still is a fabulous excuse.  And please, no references to the electrifying play of the North Koreans.   

Incidentally, the women's World Cup team from Equatorial Guinea is nicknamed the "National Lightning."  What a dream future soccer matchup that would be:  the National Lightning against a team that, according to their coach, was hit by lightning. 

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Bruce has traveled the world, both working for and covering a wide array of the sports world’s greatest events. Below is a sampling of the level of experience and perspective he brings to ifollosports.com.

OLYMPIC GAMES:  
Munich 1972, Montreal 1976, Los Angeles 1984, Barcelona 1992, Atlanta 1996, Sydney 2000, Salt Lake City 2002, Beijing 2008     
*Editor of the Official Report of the 1984 Olympic Games

PAN AMERICAN GAMES:   
Caracas 1983, Indianapolis 1987, Havana 1991, Mar del Plata 1995, Winnipeg 1999



WORLD UNIVERSITY GAMES:   
Zagreb 1987, Duisberg 1989, Sheffield 1991, Buffalo 1993, Fukuoka 1995, Sicily 1997, Palma de Mallorca 1999 

USA TRACK AND FIELD:     
World Championships (Helsinki 1983), World Junior Championships (Athens 1986), World Cup (Rome 1981), World Cup (Havana 1992), Pan American Junior Championships (Barqisimeto 1982, Orlando 1986)  Editor of USATF annual calendar project (1980-1991) and Cross Country handbook (1979-1991) 

WORLD BASEBALL CLASSIC: 
World Baseball Classics in 2006 and 2009.

ASSOCIATED PRESS     
Correspondent covering the Los Angeles Lakers and UCLA Bruins basketball, track and field, and swimming 1977-1989
  

A California native, Bruce is a 
graduate of UCLA and resides in Venice Beach.

 

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