Commentator trashes Taekwondo, gets trashed himself

Over the course of my 20 or so years as a sports commentator, I've said some outrageous things, baited the odd athlete or owner and may have even challenged one or two of them to prove to me that their ridiculous sport was worthy of respect, never mind praise.

I remember Buffalo Bill Steve Tasker taking me hard to the turf at Skydome, in Toronto, back in the late 90's when I offered him the chance. Oh, that was also just after I told the punt returner extraordinaire that beating a guy one on one looked kind of elementary. Shortly after the post-practice interviews were done, Tasker obliged and, uh, reframed my perspective on that. Actually, no he didn't. Because I'm a slow learner. A couple of years after that, at a Toronto Argonaut media training camp day, I decided I might be able to sidestep linebacker (now Argos' special teams coach) Mike O'Shea in one of the "fun" drills. Suffice it to say that since it was "fun" I failed in a much less painful way than might have been.

After seeing Australian commentator Sam Newman get his smartass carcass thumped by Olympic Taekwondo competitor, Safwan Khalil, I'm glad I didn't take it too far with anyone in any kind of combat sport.

I might have been tempted to do just that during the Olympics, myself. And with Taekwondo.

I couldn't stop giggling when watching those competitions, although they weren't nearly as chuckle worthy as dressage or race walking. What set me off was the fact that the governing body for Taekwondo is the World Taekwondo Federation. While watching Olympians spin, kick and punch while wearing what appeared to be oversized pajamas and floatation devices, I thought it hilarious that the acronym for their governing body is WTF. Because, as I watched, was thinking exactly that. "WTF?"

Newman might have been better advised to make fun of dressage or race walking, turns out. Not sure how you get your comeuppance from a dressage competitor, unless they get their horse to do a little dance on top off you after first bucking you off. I suppose, if that rider's horse is owned by Mitt Romney, the full weight of the Republican Party could be brought down upon you. Or at least a good scolding from Clint Eastwood might be arranged. And race walkers? Surely the best they could do is rub your face in it by beating you to a transit stop and getting the last seat on the bus.

Thank you, Sam, for taking the punishment that could have been handed out to any commentator of bad judgment and sharp tongue. Let his experience in getting royally romped by an Olympian in a "silly" sport stand as a cautionary tale to anyone who thinks they can deride and decry and then hope to stand their ground.

And thank you, Sam, for providing us with some hilarious viewing and taking your punishment with good grace and a terrific sense of humour. His apology at the end of the video is priceless, as is the moment he first realizes that pissing off a master in Taekwondo has him in deep, deep you-know-what.

Remember. No matter the sport, no matter the skill, if somebody is among the world's best at it they will beat you soundly at that endeavour, no matter what it is or how comical it seems to be. In the case of sports commentator Sam Newman vs the Taekwondo Olympian, I have to ask the question:

Sam, WTF were you thinking?!