Notebook: All for Ali

By Gannett News Service

ATHENS, Greece - Iraq light flyweight boxer Najah Ali got a big assist from the U.S. Olympic Committee in his Olympic effort.

Ali and his coach, Maurice ``Termite'' Watkins of Houston spent nearly six weeks training with the U.S. Olympic Boxing Team, and Ali forged a strong friendship with the U.S. boxers.

When Ali took the ring for the first time at the Olympic Games on Wednesday against Korea's Hyok Ju Kwak, he had not only Watkins in his corner, but U.S. boxing head coach Basheer Abdullah. Ali won 21-7 to advance to the final 16.

``I was very happy to see Ali perform the way he did,'' U.S. Head Coach Basheer Abdullah said. ``It was a good feeling, you have to feel it to really understand the emotions that were going through my body because I know the struggles that he has in his country. He wanted to represent his country and get a (win), and I am very happy for him, Iraq and Termite.''

Attendance watch

ATHENS, Greece - Attendance figures are being posted the next day by the Athens Organizing Committee, and they're trending in the right direction, though plenty of seats are still empty.

Tuesday's ticket sales were 230,304 - 62 percent of capacity. Those numbers were up from 156,237 and 54 percent on Monday.

Sellouts were reported for water polo, swimming, men's basketball, Greece men's volleyball, Greece women's soccer, canoe/kayak and the fencing finals. Lowest figures were reported for baseball (26 and 28 percent capacity for two sessions), boxing (20 and 28 percent), and soccer at Thessaloniki, where only 3,106 fans watched the U.S. women's game and a men's game in a 24,494-seat stadium (13 percent).

Pirates of the Caribbean

ATHENS, Greece - Maybe it's something in the water - the Caribbean waters.

First Puerto Rico shocked the United States in men's basketball, now it's the Dominican Republic's women's volleyball team humbling the United States by a score of 26-24, 22-25, 27-25, 23-25, 19-17 in Wednesday's pool play in Athens.

Going into Wednesday, the United States, one of the gold-medal favorites had won 24 of 25 matches and nine in a row against the Dominicans. The Dominicans had never won an Olympic match.

Sounding a lot like one of the basketball players, middle blocker Danielle Scott summed it up: ``It's a great win for them and a historical loss for us, but we can't focus on that. We have two other matches that we have to play. We have to rebound, hope for the best and rise to the occasion.''

Bookend golds

ATHENS, Greece - Kim Rhode, 25, of El Monte, Calif., who won the gold in women's double trap when the event was introduced to the Olympic Games in 1996, added gold on Wednesday in the event's Olympic swan song. It is being eliminated after 2004.

Rhode, who is studying to become a veterinarian, could be in for a more spirited reception when she returns home than she experienced as a 17-year-old.

``Well, in 1996 they threw a parade in my honor,'' she said. ``A lot of my friends and family met me at the airport. I can't imagine what the reaction will be this time. Probably a lot the same. But this time, I will probably go to a lot more parties. (Laughing) Sorry, Dad.''