Finch Still Firing Away
By DAVE HOLLANDER,
AOL
Posted: 2008-05-05 08:28:51
She still holds the NCAA record with 60 consecutive victories, including a record 32 without a defeat in Arizona’s national championship season of 2001. She also blasted 50 homers as a Lady Wildcat. The 2004 Olympic gold medalist and face of Team USA softball comes out against the DH, recalls seeing Bill Romanowski’s juices flow in the locker room and is still waiting for a good reason why the IOC is canceling Olympic softball.
Maria Sharapova This will be the first Olympics for the Russian tennis star, who has won three Grand Slam titles.
Brad Barket/Getty Images for IMG
Laure Manaudou: The French swimmer and Gold medal winner in the 400m freestyle holds the world records for the 400m freestyle and 200m freestyle.
Getty Images
Anna Bessonova Ukrainian rhythmic gymnast won bronze at the 2004 games and earned gold at the World Championships in '07.
TATYANA MAKEYEVA/AFP/Getty Images
Demetrius Andrade The reigning world AIBA boxing champion at 152 pounds, Andrade was a Golden Glove winner in '06 and '07.
Matthew Stockman/Getty Images
Alicia Sacramone: A member of the United States gymnastics team since 2003, Sacramone has earned seven medals from three world championships.
Matthew Stockman/Getty Images
Ana Ivanovic: Serbian tennis player reached the semifinals of Wimbledon in 2007 and the 2008 Australian Open final.
Matthew Stockman/Getty Images
Jennie Finch: Pitched the USA to gold in 2004. She and her teammates have many fans, none more so than Terrell Owens of the Dallas Cowboys.
Mark Davis/Getty Images
Apolo Anton Ohno: U.S. short track speed skater won TV's Dancing With the Stars, and has earned five Olympic medals, including gold in the 500m at the 2006 games.
Frazer Harrison/Getty Images
Kris Freeman: Competed for the U.S. Ski Team in cross country at the 2002 and '06 games, finishing 14th in Salt Lake City.
Matthew Stockman/Getty Images
James Blake: No. 9 pro tennis player in the world says he plans to represent the U.S. at the Beijing games.
Vince Bucci/Getty Images
DAVE HOLLANDER: You’re a dominant pitcher but man, oh man, can you ever hit. Does this make you firmly against the DH?
JENNIE FINCH: For me, yeah. Anytime that I can hit I want to hit. One of the best things about college was I had both. I could always help my team out offensively and hopefully be tough on the mound also.
DH: Your husband Casey Daigle pitches for Minnesota Twins, subject to the DH rule in the American League. Do you tease him about only being half a player?
JF: No! He loves hitting and actually can hit. He’s done pretty well when he was with the Arizona Diamondbacks. I think he had a big-league double. I can’t really make fun of him because he’s a good hitter himself. (Editor’s note: Daigle had two hits - both doubles - in 18 at-bats with the Diamondbacks in 2004 and ’05)
DH: Does the DH rule take the some of the strategy out of the game, especially in baseball where the pitcher doesn’t have to be taken out for a pinch hitter?
JF: I don’t know if takes the strategy out. It’s just nice to see a pitcher be well rounded. When I go out and do camps for kids, I say "Don’t ever let people tell you you’re just a pitcher and that’s it. Be more than that. Be a player and play the game." But once you get to professional level baseball it is a little different because pitchers are so much more valuable. All they want is scoreless innings.
DH: Team USA is touring the colleges in preparation for Beijing. How do the NCAA players stack up against what you’ll see in Olympic competition?
JF: The competition’s been great. For us, this is the best competition we could get going into Beijing. I think we’re going to be playing some of the pro league teams come the summer but for now, this is great. The college level is at an all-time high competitively. They’re tough. So it’s good for us to get in a couple games a week.
DH: Off the field you’re busy, too. After three weeks you were fired off The Celebrity Apprentice with Donald Trump and you were the first woman to appear on "Pros vs. Joes". Which was more fun?
JF: "Pros vs. Joes" was fun because you got to mix with other great athletes and share a locker room with Bo Jackson and Bill Romanowski and Dan Jansen. At the same time, Celebrity Apprentice was fun because it was a great challenge and definitely not the norm for me as far as being in high heels and putting on business suits everyday and living in New York City. Both were good but Celebrity Apprentice felt more like a challenge.
DH: It wasn’t a challenge – at least hygienically – sharing a locker room with Bill Romanowski?
JF: It was never a dull moment. But it was fun because you got to see a different side of them. It was cool because they had been out of the game for a while so to see them put on a uniform and see their juices flow again. It was pretty entertaining.
DH: You also made an appearance on The Real Housewives of Orange County. What was that like?
JF: It was fun. One of their daughters came out and was out bat girl for a game. So they all came out to support us for the World Cup. It was neat to meet them because me and my husband are fans of the show. So it was fun to intermix with them and get to know them.
DH: You were also featured in Sports Illustrated’s swimsuit edition in 2004. How did you like that and will you do it again?
JF: I’d definitely prepare a little better before the shoot next time. (laughs) It was right after the Olympics and I was enjoying myself, not really working out too much. So I probably would do that a little more - have a better tan, that kind of thing. It was definitely interesting and uncomfortable. I’m not comfortable on the beach let alone in front of a camera. Casey and I got a trip to Bahamas out of it so that was definitely an upside!
Nastia Liukin Two-time world champion gymnast is a six-time world medalist and a four-time U.S. National Champion.
Matthew Stockman/Getty Images
Jennie Finch: Pitched the USA to gold in 2004. She and her teammates have many fans, none more so than Terrell Owens of the Dallas Cowboys.
Mark Davis/Getty Images
Becky Hammon: The WNBA star from South Dakota will play for the Russian women's basketball team in August.
Jennifer Pottheiser, NBAE / Getty Images
Luciana Aymar Named International Hockey Federation's World Player of the Year four times ('01, '04-'05, '07), helping Argentina to a bronze and silver in the last two Olympics.
ANTONIO SCORZA/AFP/Getty Images
Leisel Jones Won silver in the 100-meter breaststroke in her home country of Australia in 2000, and earned bronze and silver in the 100m and 200m, respectively, in Athens.
Paul Broben/Getty Images
Yan Zi: Tennis player from China ranks 13th in the world on the WTA tour, and partnered with Zheng Jie to win the Australian Open and Wimbledon in 2006.
Michael Steele/Getty Images
Sally McLellan: Australian Hurdler and Sprinter was a semifinalist in both the 100m and 100-meter hurdles at the 2007 Worlds.
Mark Dadswell/Getty Images
Kim Gevaert: Belgian record holder in the 60m, 100m, 200m and 400m races and won a relay bronze at the 2007 Worlds.
MICHEL KRAKOWSKI/AFP/Getty Images
Adam van Koeverden: Canadian canoe-kayak racer won gold in the 500m and bronze in the 100m the the Athens games in 2004.
Martin Rose/Bongarts/Getty Images
Maria Sharapova: This will be the first Olympics for the Russian tennis star, who has won three Grand Slam titles.
Brad Barket/Getty Images for IMG
DH: You also pitch for the Chicago Bandits of the National Pro Fastpitch Softball League. Before you became famous, did you ever do any hustling in men’s softball leagues?
JF: No, luckily for me right out of college I was able to play in a professional league and play with USA softball. In California where I grew up men’s fastpitch softball wasn’t that popular so they didn’t actually have competitive leagues to play in. So they could try to bring me in as the ringer but I’m not too good in slow pitch. I’ll take fastpitch any day.
DH: You throw so hard, I’ve seen major leaguers scared to get in the box. How much is intimidation part of your game?
JF: I think every time you step on the mound you have to put on your game face and let the competitor know you’re not there to mess around. You’re there to get them out. I think also pitching from 43 feet, me being 6-1 and I have like a 72-inch stride so by the time I release it I’m at 35 feet. From a baseball standpoint it’s definitely closer then they’re used to.
DH: And I bet if they got hit with Jennie Finch fastball it would hurt.
JF: I don’t know if it would hurt any more than a baseball. But yeah, it would hurt.
DH: The IOC is removing softball from the Olympic games in 2012. Why?
JF: I have no idea. We still haven’t been given any good reason. I think we’re wondering the same thing “Why?” It’s heartbreaking. It would be a little easier to swallow if we were given reasons why but we haven’t been given reason why. Hopefully this year in Beijing we’ll use these games to really showcase our sport on the biggest stage, the Olympics, and prove to the world that we really belong in the Olympics and get back in for 2016.
DH: So they’ve given bad reasons or they’ve given no reasons for removal?
JF: We haven’t heard any legitimate reason from the IOC. We’ve heard that we were interlinked with baseball and baseball doesn’t send their best players and they don’t comply with testing but that has nothing to do with softball. We also heard that in the vote they didn’t differentiate between voting for softball or voting for baseball. We heard they didn’t really know what they were voting on. Then we heard “the USA is too dominant.” But if you look at swimming or gymnastics the USA’s always been dominant. The Olympics is about excellence so how can you punish a team for being good? And if you look at softball as far as ratings and popularity worldwide, televisions ratings and all the criteria why they keep Olympics sports, we’re in the middle. We’re not in the bottom half of any of those statistics. So we have not heard credible reasons why we were taken out.
DH: What will this do the women’s softball?
JF: You know, hopefully not much but unfortunately [the Olympics] has really given our sport a stage. We don’t have anything like baseball has. It’s just the Olympics. Every four years we work hard to be the best we can be and prove to the world we are the best. Hopefully with the professional leagues we can continue on and with World Cup being in Oklahoma City this year we can continue to fuel the growth. The NCAA and college game isn’t going anywhere. Hopefully in 2009 we can get voted back in for 2016.
DH: I know you have strong ties to Louisiana. What do you think of people talking about a boycott in China when so much more still needs to be done here in the aftermath of Katrina?
JF: There’s so much more that we as a society need to be doing all across the world and in our own country. I think we are all trying to do what we can to make this world a better place. As far as punishing the Olympics – the Olympics is such a once in a lifetime experience. We work our entire career for that one moment. So let’s keep positive. Let’s keep religion out of this. And let’s just celebrate the Olympics for the precious event that it is. For me, the Olympics represent what we as society aspire to: a healthy competitive environment amongst the entire world. You don’t get that anywhere else but the Olympics. I think it’s time we all step back and appreciate that.
Dave Hollander is the author of 52 WEEKS: Interviews with Champions! Info
at: www.davehollander.com
2008 AOL LLC. All Rights Reserved.
2008-05-01 22:49:49
