Alex Cheng
Funny and sometimes shocking stories behind the scenes of major sports events are revealed for the first time in this unusual book. Alex Cheng, president of a company in California that was the North American distributor for Omega Sports Timing, shares his observations in a candid and casual style.
His company, Seagull, Inc., was involved in timing systems and scoreboards for the Olympics in Montreal and Lake Placid, Pan Am Games in Mexico City, Commonwealth Games in Edmonton, the Canada Games and many events in skiing, swimming, track and field, car racing, horse racing, rodeos, boat racing, skateboard races, firemen’s musters and other sports.
This book is sheer entertainment for anyone interested in a variety of sports from a new perspective or how a small company coped with a somewhat frenetic business. At the same time, you will learn fascinating sports facts that will impress your friends. For example:
· Did you know runners are timed to 1/100 of a second based on the first part of the torso crossing the line? How is this decided with absolute accuracy?
· Did you know the Montreal Olympics main stadium faced a grid lock of construction cranes and was only half finished when the Games began? And this is common with many Olympics!
· Did you know the beeping count-down clock next to skiers about to start their race has nothing to do with their actual start time?
· Have you wondered what it was like in the hockey stadium on the night of the “Miracle on Ice” victory in Lake Placid?
· Do you know why Olympic style sailboat racing is amazingly similar to barrel racing in rodeos? (You won’t find this anywhere else!)
About the Author
Alex Cheng yearned to run a company marketing unusual technologies from Europe. With a bit of audacity, he landed the North American rights to Olympic caliber timing systems from Omega Electronics, a division of the Swiss watch company. Because there were no established distribution channels for such exotic sports timers and scoreboards, he founded and operated Seagull, Inc. with innovative strategies both within and outside his company. The result was eight years of “fun, stress and lots of fascinating stories.”
Alex grew up in California and participated in many sports but never as a ranked competitor like those he met during his Seagull days. He did compete once in the Canadian Nationals in curling but primarily skied and raced sailboats in San Francisco Bay with his wife, Jan, for over 20 years. He and Jan still sail but are now avid snowboarders. Alex is certified as a sailing instructor and plays racquetball regularly.
He earned a BS from UCLA and an MBA from Stanford University and roams Silicon Valley as an independent marketing strategist for young companies with unique or leading edge technologies.
Getting Horns Accepted
. . . Interestingly, we started hearing complaints about the starting horns. Despite the fact that Omega horns would be used at the Montreal Olympics later that year, coaches complained that their swimmers had trained on starting pistols and the horns would be a distraction from their accustomed routine. . . . We had an idea. We invited skeptics and all interested parties to stand near Lane 8, farthest away from the starter. Then we fired the pistol at the starter’s position near Lane 1, which triggered the horns simultaneously. What everyone heard at Lane 8 was: BEEP—BANG! In other words, they heard the horns beep a fraction of a second before the pistol blast hit their ears. The time difference was about a tenth of a second. Swimming contests can be won or lost by 1/1000 of a second! It was immediately obvious to everyone there that a pistol alone was unfair to swimmers at the far lanes and they would be at a significant disadvantage without horns. We converted a lot of skeptics that day.
We ran the meet with pistol and horns, which are now standard at important swim meets.
Humbling Perspective
. . . Several times when I saw a bleacher section where dozens of foreign news reporters were broadcasting, I felt a renewed appreciation for other countries. Each foreign reporter was likely focused on his country’s own heroes. While the U.S. and other developed countries had dozens if not hundreds of athletes competing in the Olympics, there were some countries with only one or two competitors. These smaller countries had reporters tracking and following their national heroes every possible moment. I saw different announcers occasionally shout into their microphones with excitement and even jump up and down while other reporters around them were oblivious and focused on something else. It was humorous to see dozens of announcers taking turns getting excited at different times and speaking different languages, but it reminded me there is a lot more world out there than just our own country!
What Planet Did They Come From?
. . . I was at a celebration dinner for competitive swimmers where there was joyous interchange among swimmers from every country. There was the usual swapping of pins, T-shirts, jackets and addresses. The East German women were not there . . . at first. Suddenly there was a hush at one end of the room. They had arrived! What a spectacle! Marching in, the East German women’s team had huge arms and shoulders, hints of facial hair, self-conscious serious expressions and frilly dresses! Pink and yellow pastel-colored dresses! The scene was funny and pathetic at the same time. One comment I remember that was as good as any: “What planet did
they come from?” Incidentally, after the fall of the Berlin Wall, coaches of the East German team came forth with full confessions, not only for swimming but for almost every Olympic sport where steroids helped. East Germany had earned an overwhelming number of medals over a short period of time. Although the coaches and even top officials revealed what everyone had suspected, there were no individual athletes named and therefore no East German medals withdrawn.
Rodeo Barrel Racing Akin to Sailboat Racing??
This may the first time in history that these two sports have been compared (comes from dabbling in so many different sports), but there are a surprising number of similarities. Competitors in rodeo barrel races and Olympic style sailing regattas both race around a triangular course. They both must round each of the marks (barrels in rodeos; buoys or floating balloons in regattas) in the correct direction.
Both sports use a running start. All the sailboats are moving before the actual start (difficult to put on the brakes in a sailboat!) but try to be moving at full speed as they cross the start line exactly when the gun fires. (Cross early and you have to sail back and go through again; cross late and you will get bad air from sailboats in front.) In barrel racing, the competitors enter the arena at a full gallop. They hit the start line at top speed, tripping the photo cell and starting the clock.
In both sports, if you round a mark in the wrong direction or miss a mark, you are disqualified. If you hit a mark while rounding, you are penalized. The rodeo racer is penalized 5 seconds for hitting a barrel. The sailboat racer must execute two complete turns (720°) for hitting a mark. Both sports require skilled technique in approaching and rounding the marks. Too tight or too loose a turn will lose time.
