Oh Fidel, You Crazy Nut

Rick Chandler — Mon, 25 Aug 2008 16:30:40 EDT

Fidel Castro may be on death's door, but he's not going to miss Olympic tae kwondo. And our favorite father figure in fatigues says that Angel Matos was perfectly justified in kicking one of the other judges in the face after a disqualification on Saturday.

Matos "as predisposed and indignant," after being unjustly disqualified, Castro wrote. "He couldn't contain himself." Castro also alleged that Olympic judges stole semifinal fights from two Cuban boxers. Cuba is accustomed to winning golds in boxing, but settled this year for four silver and four bronze medals. Overall, Cuba took home only two golds, down from nine in Athens four years ago.

"I saw when the judges blatantly stole fights from two Cuban boxers in the semifinals," Castro wrote. "Our fighters ... had hopes of winning, despite the judges, but it was useless. They were condemned beforehand."

He also said, without providing details, that the coach had been offered a bribe. How come this sounds exactly like Hank Steinbrenner?

Castro Defends Athlete Who Kicked Judge In Face [SFGate]

And This Little Piggy Smashed Your Face In

Tuffy — Sat, 23 Aug 2008 12:30:08 EDT

We've been irritated a time or six by a game official that felt they were as important to the proceedings as the participants themselves. We always had the urge to do something about them to return equilibrium to the event. However, we never got further than drafting a formal complaint and then forgetting to email it in the morning. (Also, we could never decide which federal agency to send it to.) It never really occurred to us to roundhouse kick the ever-livin' snot out of the official, but we also can barely lift our legs to carry our bloated blogging form to the fridge for our morning beer.

The fellow with the upraised foot is Angel Valodia Matos, a Cuban Olympian in the art of taekwondo. The fellow with the recently upraised face is the referee that called a disqualification on Matos for taking a few seconds too long to recover from an injury. He seems plenty healed in this photo, so we assume Matos got caught with his pajamas down for milking injury time.

Not pictured: Matos chasing another referee in a blue blazer, spitting on the floor, and being helped from the building.

Pictured: The scientific result of having a foot full of tape and fury placed against a middle-aged man's face with some velocity.

Matos rage overshadows Cha gold [BBC News]
Taekwondo Loser Disagrees, Kicks Judge's Ass [The Sporting Blog]

Deadspin: taekwondo

Oh Fidel, You Crazy Nut

And This Little Piggy Smashed Your Face In