Zonderland Wins Netherlands' First Men's Gymnastics Gold

Epke Zonderland, known as the Flying Dutchman, wowed the crowd and easily won Olympic gold in the men's high bar. (Thomas Coex) 

Gymnastics is one of many ever-changing sports in the Olympics. As athletes continue to get stronger and the routines get bigger and bigger, what is necessary to win gold has evolved as well. Men's high bar is an excellent example of this. A number of rule changes have allowed gymnasts to perform bigger moves that are higher risk. But with the risk, there is definitely great reward.

With news of these new routines coming to light, many people gathered to see what was in store for this Summer Olympics. One of the first gymnasts to compete in the high bar was American star Danell Leyva. He competently performed a routine that was scored a 7.2 difficulty level. In years past, that would had been Olympic gold worthy. However, the crowd knew that we were just getting warmed up in the North Greenwich Arena.

The reigning Olympic and world champion Zou Kai of China was expected to be the favorite to repeat. His solid routine of a 7.9 difficulty left many thinking that it was all over. Then, Fabian Hambüchen of Germany took center stage. His impressive performance from start to finish catapulted him into first. After Hambüchen finished, he let out a yell in exclamation. What he didn't know was that his time in first place was short lived.

The next gymnast to perform was Epke Zonderland of the Netherlands. He is known as the Flying Dutchman for his willingness to fling his body through the air throughout his daredevil routines. Zonderland has been considered to be one of the world's best on high bar, but what was missing from his resume was that he had never won an Olympic medal.

Zonderland opened his routine with three straight release moves that had absolutely no pause in between them. He was a blur throughout as he flew higher and higher. As the Flying Dutchman finally landed, he let out a roar as the crowd cheered. His performance was so incredible that it has been described as "unprecedented." The judges rewarded Zonderland with a score of 16.533, a number so high that it is rarely seen outside of vault. The next gymnast, American Jonathan Horton, simply laughed and shook his head. He knew that neither him nor anyone else could hope to match or exceed Zonderland's incredible mark.

What makes the performance even more special for Zonderland is what it means to his country. His gold medal is their first ever in men's artistic gymnastics and only their second overall. Their other was a women's team gold way back in 1928. Zonderland told reporters, "It's unique to be in a Olympic final if you're a Dutch gymnast, but winning the gold is bizarre. I worked so long to achieve a result like this. This is amazing." The Flying Dutchman put an aerial display that won't soon be forgotten because of the majesty and power that he displayed throughout his performance.

Denmark and Germany Win Group B Openers

With EURO 2012 under way, many eagerly awaited the opening games of Group B. The group commonly referred to as the Group of Death saw Denmark square off against the Netherlands and Portugal play Germany.

Michael Krohn-Delhi celebrates after scoring in the 24th minute. (Carl Recine)

With the other three teams among the favorites to win the tournament, Denmark was the clear underdog of the group. However, they didn't let that show against the Netherlands. In the 24th minute, the Danes caught a break when the ball came loose in the box. Michael Krohn-Delhi found the ball, dribbled around two Dutch defenders, and buried the tough angle shot. The Dutch had countless opportunities to tie, but they were all either off target or saved by Stephan Andersen. Their best opportunity came following a poor turnover by Andersen. Arjen Robben's left-footed blast struck the post. The Danes did a good job holding possession and did enough to hold on to pull off the colossal upset.

Mario Gomez celebrates his game-winning header in the 72nd minute. (Martin Meissner)

With Portugal and Germany on tap, we hoped we were in for a great match and neither side disappointed. For the first 70 minutes, both sides had quality opportunities, but struggled to finish. German coach Joachim Loew decided he would try subbing veteran striker Miroslav Klose for Mario Gomez. Just then, the Germans had an opportunity. Sami Khedira sent a cross into the box that was deflected off a Portuguese defender. The ball found Gomez's head, and he was able to square his body in time to bury it. The Portuguese desperately tried to find an equalizer. They had a plethora of opportunities, but they all went begging. German goalkeeper Manuel Neuer came up with two stellar saves late to help seal the win. The Germans were the better side, but it was a hard fought battle from start to finish.

The Group of Death received a big shakeup right from the start. Portugal and the Netherlands both have zero points and will likely need to win both of their final games to have a shot at advancing. Denmark, who no one gave a chance in this group, now has three points and is confident to play spoiler to a couple more tournament favorites. The Germans have to be pleased earning three points as well from their opening game. Group B's next matches will take place on Wednesday, June 13.

Friendly Fire: A Look at Some of the Action on 11/15/11

New U.S. Men's National Soccer coach Jurgen Klinsmann has taken a lot of heat for how much the team has been struggling. Since Klinsmann took over, had been outscored 5-2 and had a record of 1-4-1. The team dropped to 34th in the latest Fifa rankings and finished last year 6-8-3, their worst record since 1994.

Coach Klinsmann decided to change his lineup formation. To help make up for a lack of scoring, he changed in to a very offensively minded 4-4-2. On a fog-filled night the U.S. got to test their new lineup in a World Cup rematch with Slovenia. The U.S. attack responded with three goals and some desperate defending and great saves by Tim Howard gave the U.S. a 3-2 victory.

The U.S.'s old coach, Bob Bradley, was in action with his new team as well. Egypt started well against Brasil, but then the Brasilians took over. Brasil had no shortage of good opportunities on the attack. Jonas scored the only two goals of the game and almost had a third in Brasil 2-0 win.

A weakened Uruguay team pulled off a stunning victory in Rome 1-0 over Italy. Uruguay was without four of its best players do to injuries and fatigue. In the 3rd minute, Sebastian Fernandez scored for Uruguay. Despite Italy's large edge in shots and shots on goal, Urugauy did enough to keep them from scoring.

Germany is starting to look like the best team in the world after a convincing 3-0 win over the Netherlands, who is the #2 ranked team in Fifa's current rankings. Prior to this, Germany finished World Cup qualifying with a perfect 10 wins in 10 games. In this friendly, Mirslov Klose scored one goal and had assists on the other two.

The #1 ranked team and defending World Cup Champions, Spain, got all the could ask for and more from Costa Rica. Costa Rica controlled the first half and led 2-0 at the intermission. Spain played better in the second half, but couldn't find the net until David Silva finally scored in the 83rd minute. David Villa added another in the 90th minute to help Spain salvage a 2-2 draw in a game they could have easily lost.

Fifa's current rankings: http://www.fifa.com/worldranking/rankingtable/index.html