Post by rayb_14 on Aug 13, 2004 11:51:30 GMT -5
Digging for gold in Athens
By Charean Williams
Fort Worth Star-Telegram Staff Writer
Stacy Sykora plays a position she must explain in a sport with so little national appeal that she has to go to Italy to play professionally.
It's no wonder that some of the 27,650 residents in her hometown of Burleson need a minute to place her name.
"No, I'm not sure I know who that is," said Karen Ringer, the night manager of one of Burleson's two McDonald's, Sykora's favorite restaurant. "Wait, she's the Olympic star."
Sykora, 27, hopes her countrymen know a little more about her -- and the U.S. women's volleyball team -- by the time the 2004 Olympics end late this month in Athens, Greece. The Opening Ceremonies will be televised at 7 tonight on KXAS/Channel 5.
The United States has never won an Olympic gold medal in women's volleyball. But this year, the team is ranked second in the world, behind China.
"It's very important that we medal," Sykora said. "... We have a lot of experience, and we have some of the top players in the world at each position."
The U.S. team finished fourth in 2000, Sykora's first Olympics. The women's gold-medal game is Aug. 28.
Sykora, a graduate of Texas A&M University who was born in Fort Worth, is one of at least 65 U.S. Olympians with Texas ties. Others include track athletes Khadevis Robinson, who attended Trimble Tech and Texas Christian University; Jeremy Wariner, who attended Lamar High School in Arlington; and Alan Culpepper, who was born in Fort Worth.
Gymnast Courtney Kupets was born in Bedford. Swimmer Dana Vollmer is from Granbury. Judo competitor Nicole Kubes is from Fort Worth.
In volleyball, Sykora plays "libero," a defense-only position that debuted in the Olympics in 2000.
"It's almost like God knew that a libero position in volleyball was needed, because Sykora was there for it. It was a position-in-waiting for this girl," said Laurie Corbelli, Sykora's coach at Texas A&M and a member of the 1980 and '84 Olympic volleyball teams.
Sykora rarely has time to get home to Burleson, where her mother, Sherian Richards, lives. But she hasn't forgotten her roots.
"She means a lot to our community," Burleson Mayor Ken Shetter said. "We're very proud of Stacy and her accomplishments. She gives a lot of kids somebody to look up to and something to aim for, especially little girls. I have two daughters myself, and so I love the idea that they have somebody from their own hometown they can emulate."
Special from the start
Sykora's hometown knew from the beginning that she was special. Her father, Ed, saw it when he took her ice skating for the first time and she "took off like she had been on skates her whole life."
Pam Lea, who coached volleyball at Burleson for 15 years before becoming an assistant athletic director for the Fort Worth school district in 1997, saw it when Sykora started playing youth basketball in the first grade.
"When you're watching and you're comparing apples to apples, you could see that this apple was totally different," Lea said.
Richards saw Sykora's talent in her two older daughters, Kim, 33, and Keri, 30. Kim played two years of volleyball at Cooke County College in Gainesville, and Keri played basketball at Texas Woman's University. They drove Stacy to be even better.
"It was in the genes, but it was one of those deals that I ended up with some stuff, and Keri ended up with some stuff," said Kim, who lives in Azle. "Stacy got it all. Whoever said the third time was the charm nailed it."
Sykora played three sports at A&M. She was a two-time All-American in volleyball. In track and field, she won the heptathlon, after only a month of practice, in the final Southwest Conference track and field championship. She also lettered in basketball.
Her all-out style has won her a fan club that includes her Team USA volleyball coach, Toshi Yoshida.
"Before the 2000 Olympics, she misplayed an easy ball in practice, so I made her do the thousand-ball drill, meaning she had to dig a thousand straight balls," said Yoshida, an assistant coach in the 2000 Games. "That has probably never been done before or since. But she had the strength and determination to complete the drill."
Volleyball is definitely not a sport for the weak-minded.
Sykora has suffered at least five concussions -- from being hit in the face with the ball, hitting her head on the ground or bashing heads with teammates.
A concussion, Sykora said, feels like being hit by a truck. The throbbing head, queasy stomach and short-term memory loss are "scary." But she has no worries about the cumulative effects of her head injuries.
"I always said if I die of concussion, it would be the greatest concussion I ever had," she said. "I personally don't worry about it.
"It goes with my eating habits and everything in my life. I'm just kind of free. If I get a concussion, if I get hit in the head, I always say I'm fine, even when I don't remember my name. ... They couldn't force me to retire. I wouldn't."
A free spirit
Ah, yes, those eating habits. Sykora might be the only Olympian who admits that her training table is at McDonald's. She would love an endorsement deal, she said.
"McDonald's is one of my favorite things in the whole world," Sykora said. "I don't even need money [to endorse McDonald's]. I just want to eat there for free. ... I could definitely help them out."
Sykora developed her love for McDonald's as a child because a Happy Meal was one of the few treats that Richards -- who was divorced from Ed Sykora when Stacy was 3 -- could afford for her daughters. Keri and Kim grew out of their McDonald's addiction; Stacy never did.
"But she has progressed in her diet, believe it or not," said Richards, a cosmetology teacher at Burleson High School. "Before, when she would get here, it would be, 'My feet are on the soil; find me a McDonald's.' Now, we might make it as far as Arlington. And then, by evening, she's ready for some Mexican Inn."
Sykora, whose favorite athlete is former National Basketball Association star Dennis Rodman, is definitely a free spirit.
She has 18 piercings and three tattoos. An Italian tattoo artist, whom she sometimes watches for hours, is working on a design for her for after the Olympics.
Corbelli describes Sykora as "unique with a distinctive flair" and "quirky." Yoshida calls her "animated." Lea uses "unique." Richards says her daughter is "unusual, one of a kind." Sykora's sister, Kim, calls her "an individualist."
But Sykora has a twin of sorts back home in Burleson.
Richards' first glimpse of her new dog was of him leaping off a couch onto his siblings. Sykora named him Pazzo, which means crazy in Italian.
"He loves McDonald's hamburgers, and he's hyperactive," Richards said. "This dog is Stacy in a dog's body. He couldn't have a better name."
By Charean Williams
Fort Worth Star-Telegram Staff Writer
Stacy Sykora plays a position she must explain in a sport with so little national appeal that she has to go to Italy to play professionally.
It's no wonder that some of the 27,650 residents in her hometown of Burleson need a minute to place her name.
"No, I'm not sure I know who that is," said Karen Ringer, the night manager of one of Burleson's two McDonald's, Sykora's favorite restaurant. "Wait, she's the Olympic star."
Sykora, 27, hopes her countrymen know a little more about her -- and the U.S. women's volleyball team -- by the time the 2004 Olympics end late this month in Athens, Greece. The Opening Ceremonies will be televised at 7 tonight on KXAS/Channel 5.
The United States has never won an Olympic gold medal in women's volleyball. But this year, the team is ranked second in the world, behind China.
"It's very important that we medal," Sykora said. "... We have a lot of experience, and we have some of the top players in the world at each position."
The U.S. team finished fourth in 2000, Sykora's first Olympics. The women's gold-medal game is Aug. 28.
Sykora, a graduate of Texas A&M University who was born in Fort Worth, is one of at least 65 U.S. Olympians with Texas ties. Others include track athletes Khadevis Robinson, who attended Trimble Tech and Texas Christian University; Jeremy Wariner, who attended Lamar High School in Arlington; and Alan Culpepper, who was born in Fort Worth.
Gymnast Courtney Kupets was born in Bedford. Swimmer Dana Vollmer is from Granbury. Judo competitor Nicole Kubes is from Fort Worth.
In volleyball, Sykora plays "libero," a defense-only position that debuted in the Olympics in 2000.
"It's almost like God knew that a libero position in volleyball was needed, because Sykora was there for it. It was a position-in-waiting for this girl," said Laurie Corbelli, Sykora's coach at Texas A&M and a member of the 1980 and '84 Olympic volleyball teams.
Sykora rarely has time to get home to Burleson, where her mother, Sherian Richards, lives. But she hasn't forgotten her roots.
"She means a lot to our community," Burleson Mayor Ken Shetter said. "We're very proud of Stacy and her accomplishments. She gives a lot of kids somebody to look up to and something to aim for, especially little girls. I have two daughters myself, and so I love the idea that they have somebody from their own hometown they can emulate."
Special from the start
Sykora's hometown knew from the beginning that she was special. Her father, Ed, saw it when he took her ice skating for the first time and she "took off like she had been on skates her whole life."
Pam Lea, who coached volleyball at Burleson for 15 years before becoming an assistant athletic director for the Fort Worth school district in 1997, saw it when Sykora started playing youth basketball in the first grade.
"When you're watching and you're comparing apples to apples, you could see that this apple was totally different," Lea said.
Richards saw Sykora's talent in her two older daughters, Kim, 33, and Keri, 30. Kim played two years of volleyball at Cooke County College in Gainesville, and Keri played basketball at Texas Woman's University. They drove Stacy to be even better.
"It was in the genes, but it was one of those deals that I ended up with some stuff, and Keri ended up with some stuff," said Kim, who lives in Azle. "Stacy got it all. Whoever said the third time was the charm nailed it."
Sykora played three sports at A&M. She was a two-time All-American in volleyball. In track and field, she won the heptathlon, after only a month of practice, in the final Southwest Conference track and field championship. She also lettered in basketball.
Her all-out style has won her a fan club that includes her Team USA volleyball coach, Toshi Yoshida.
"Before the 2000 Olympics, she misplayed an easy ball in practice, so I made her do the thousand-ball drill, meaning she had to dig a thousand straight balls," said Yoshida, an assistant coach in the 2000 Games. "That has probably never been done before or since. But she had the strength and determination to complete the drill."
Volleyball is definitely not a sport for the weak-minded.
Sykora has suffered at least five concussions -- from being hit in the face with the ball, hitting her head on the ground or bashing heads with teammates.
A concussion, Sykora said, feels like being hit by a truck. The throbbing head, queasy stomach and short-term memory loss are "scary." But she has no worries about the cumulative effects of her head injuries.
"I always said if I die of concussion, it would be the greatest concussion I ever had," she said. "I personally don't worry about it.
"It goes with my eating habits and everything in my life. I'm just kind of free. If I get a concussion, if I get hit in the head, I always say I'm fine, even when I don't remember my name. ... They couldn't force me to retire. I wouldn't."
A free spirit
Ah, yes, those eating habits. Sykora might be the only Olympian who admits that her training table is at McDonald's. She would love an endorsement deal, she said.
"McDonald's is one of my favorite things in the whole world," Sykora said. "I don't even need money [to endorse McDonald's]. I just want to eat there for free. ... I could definitely help them out."
Sykora developed her love for McDonald's as a child because a Happy Meal was one of the few treats that Richards -- who was divorced from Ed Sykora when Stacy was 3 -- could afford for her daughters. Keri and Kim grew out of their McDonald's addiction; Stacy never did.
"But she has progressed in her diet, believe it or not," said Richards, a cosmetology teacher at Burleson High School. "Before, when she would get here, it would be, 'My feet are on the soil; find me a McDonald's.' Now, we might make it as far as Arlington. And then, by evening, she's ready for some Mexican Inn."
Sykora, whose favorite athlete is former National Basketball Association star Dennis Rodman, is definitely a free spirit.
She has 18 piercings and three tattoos. An Italian tattoo artist, whom she sometimes watches for hours, is working on a design for her for after the Olympics.
Corbelli describes Sykora as "unique with a distinctive flair" and "quirky." Yoshida calls her "animated." Lea uses "unique." Richards says her daughter is "unusual, one of a kind." Sykora's sister, Kim, calls her "an individualist."
But Sykora has a twin of sorts back home in Burleson.
Richards' first glimpse of her new dog was of him leaping off a couch onto his siblings. Sykora named him Pazzo, which means crazy in Italian.
"He loves McDonald's hamburgers, and he's hyperactive," Richards said. "This dog is Stacy in a dog's body. He couldn't have a better name."
HE gave you all those lakes! Why don't you go fishing, to take your mind off "what could have been"?
