Monday, August 6, 2012

I Am Not Watching the Olympics Closely Enough (Day 10)

How is it that I had failed to get the memo that Tyson Gay, who came up as the world's fourth-fastest man on Sunday, is a Lexington native and Lafayette High grad? How?!? Actually, I'm sure I received the memo but just failed to actually pay close enough attention to the memo. This would be my wife's educated guess, too.

Anyway, fantastic (but sad) reporting and writing in the Lexington Herald-Leader this morning on Tyson Gay's near medal miss:

Finishing fourth and just out of the medals was Lafayette graduate Tyson Gay, who was so choked up after the race, he couldn't speak. Gay's time of 9.80 would have been good enough to win every Olympic 100 gold medal other than the past two.

"I tried, man," Gay said as tears streamed down his face. "I tried my best."

Well, Tyson Gay is scheduled to return to the track at 1:45 p.m. Central Friday for Round 1 of the men's 4x100m relay. The medal race is set for 3 p.m. Central Saturday. I think I'll be resending myself that memo every day this week. Go, Tyson Gay!

Previous reports:







63 comments:

  1. Medals table:

    1. China 31 gold, 17 silver, 14 bronze
    2. United States 28, 14, 19
    3. Great Britain 16, 11, 10
    4. South Korea 10, 5, 6
    5. France 8, 8, 9
    6. Italy 7, 5, 3
    7. Kazakhstan 6, 0, 0
    8. Germany 5, 10, 7
    9. Russian Federation 4, 16, 15
    10. Hungary 4, 1, 3
    11. North Korea 4, 0, 1
    12. Netherlands 3, 2, 4
    13. South Africa 3, 1, 0
    14. New Zealand 3, 0, 4
    15. Japan 2, 12, 13
    16. Denmark 2, 4, 2
    16. Romania 2, 4, 2
    18. Belarus 2, 2, 3
    19. Cuba 2, 2, 1
    20. Jamaica 2, 1, 1
    20. Poland 2, 1, 1
    22. Ukraine 2, 0, 5
    23. Ethiopia 2, 0, 1
    24. Australia 1, 12, 7
    25. Canada 1, 3, 6
    26. Czech Republic 1, 3, 1
    27. Sweden 1, 3, 0
    28. Kenya 1, 2, 2
    29. Brazil 1, 1, 5
    30. Slovenia 1, 1, 2
    31. Croatia 1, 1, 0
    31. Switzerland 1, 1, 0
    33. Iran 1, 0, 1
    33. Lithuania 1, 0, 1
    35. Georgia 1, 0, 0
    35. Venezuela 1, 0, 0
    37. Mexico 0, 3, 2
    38. Colombia 0, 3, 1
    39. Spain 0, 2, 1
    40. Slovakia 0, 1, 3
    41. Azerbaijan 0, 1, 2
    41. Belgium 0, 1, 2
    41. India 0, 1, 2
    44. Armenia 0, 1, 1
    44. Indonesia 0, 1, 1
    44. Mongolia 0, 1, 1
    44. Norway 0, 1, 1
    44. Serbia 0, 1, 1
    49. Egypt 0, 1, 0
    49. Guatemala 0, 1, 0
    49. Malaysia 0, 1, 0
    49. Thailand 0, 1, 0
    49. Taipei 0, 1, 0
    54. Greece 0, 0, 2
    54. Moldova 0, 0, 2
    56. Argentina 0, 0, 1
    56. Hong Kong 0, 0, 1
    56. Qatar 0, 0, 1
    56. Singapore 0, 0, 1
    56. Tunisia 0, 0, 1
    56. Uzbekistan 0, 0, 1

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  2. Scores from the last day of group play in men's basketball:

    Australia 82 - 80 Russia
    Tunisia 63 - 76 Lithuania

    Russia's loss drops them to 4-1, and could open the door for the winner of Brazil (3-1) and Spain (3-1) to finish at the top of Group B.

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  3. Replies
    1. The web page for Estadio Centenario is really good.

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  4. Bulgaria and Italy are playing an epic volleyball match right now. Bulgaria won the first set 32-30 (!), and now they are tied 11-11 in the second set.

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    Replies
    1. Bulgaria wins the second set 25-20. But Italy leads 8-7 in the third set.

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    2. I've been watching this match. Funny how caustic the commentary on NBC is when they don't think anyone from the involved countries is watching.

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    3. Bulgaria wins the third set 25-19, and they beat Italy three sets to none. So it wasn't that epic after all.

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    4. There are 12 teams in this tournament, two groups of six. Four from each group advances to the knockout brackets. Bulgaria will finish atop Group A, having won four of its five preliminary-round matches. The United States (3-1) plays Tunisia (0-4) at 8 Central today, and then Brazil (3-1) and Germany (2-2) wrap up the preliminary round. Russia (4-1) leads Group B at the moment, but I think either the United States or Brazil could still take the top seed.

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    5. Did you see how Bulgaria got jobbed in the Champions' League?

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    6. Eight minutes?!? Yeah, and @heathpostdotcom Tweeted a link to your report to @Ludogoretsbg, so I look for a significant bump in HP attention in Bulgaria.

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    7. In both 2010 and 2012, Bulgaria's entry to the Champions' League was eliminated in a game on the road where one of their players was thrown out.

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    8. Team USA whips Tunisia and clinches Group B men's volleyball.

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  5. Men's 50m rifle, three positions: Italy gold, South Korea silver, United States bronze. Congratulations to Matt Emmons of Brown Mills, N.J.

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  6. This team handball event drives me nuts. We should totally dominate this sport. Couldn't we take 20 guys from NFL training camps and simply send them over to win the gold in this event?

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    Replies
    1. I'm totally in to this thinking.

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    2. This is also how I plan for the United States to win the Rugby World Cup. But I think there are enough college football players to supply a championship rugby team and a championship handball team.

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  7. In the men's basketball, France has beaten Nigeria 79-73.

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  8. Women's laser radial sailing: China gold, Netherlands silver, Belgium bronze. "Qi Lai! Qi Lai! Qi Lai!"

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  9. Tom Hammond on daytime NBC coverage ... never occurred to me that Tom Hammond existed except on weekends ...

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  10. Bulgarians figure prominently in the men's Greco-Roman wrestling tournament, which is boiling down to medals winners in three weight classes right now.

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    Replies
    1. I keep mistaking the Belarus abbreviation for Bulgaria. In fact, Bulgaria is down to one competitor, Ivo Serafimov Angelov of Pernik, who, at 132 pounds, must beat a dude from Kazakhstan and then a dude from Japan to claim one of the two bronze medals. GO, IVO!

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    2. URGH! Almat Kebispayev of Almaty takes down my main man from Pernik, and so the Bulgarians will have to wait for Greco-Roman hardware until another day.

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    3. 132 pounds: Iran gold, Georgia silver, Russia and Japan bronze.

      185 pounds: Russia gold, Egypt silver, Kazakhstan and Poland bronze.

      264.5 pounds: Cuba gold, Estonia silver, Sweden and Turkey bronze. Heiki Nabi of
      Kärdla and Riza Kayaalp of Yozgat bring home first medals for Estonia and Turkey, respectively.

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  11. In the men's basketball, Great Britain gets its one and only win of the Olympics, beating China 90-58. China goes 0-5. Both countries are eliminated.

    Next up, a huge game between Brazil and Spain.

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  12. For the record, I'm starting to panic about our track and field team.

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    Replies
    1. Yeah, the 400m heats last night were devastating.

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    2. That's actually a big reason why there ended up being very few comments from me after the diving. Once I saw those U.S. guys flame out in the 400m, I decided to give up and get outside. Then I ended up visiting our across-the-street neighbor, who regaled me with stories of former groceries around Madisonville and Mortons Gap. Then I came inside and saw Usain Bolt obliterate the 100m field, and I called it a night.

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    3. Steering clear of track-and-field, gymnastics, diving and women's soccer results now ... radio silence ... what about Bob?

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    4. Men's 400m: Grenada gold, Dominican Republic silver, Trinidad and Tobago bronze. Kirani James, a 19-year-old from Saint George's and trains at the University of Alabama, scores Grenada's first medal. Lalonde Gordon does same for Trinidad and Tobago.

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  13. At my house, we love, love, love the Old Navy commercial about the "new girl" who isn't really new, but just appears new because of her Old Navy clothes. All through the commercial everyone keeps ooing-and-ahhing over the "new girl," and there's this other girl who keeps saying, "She's not new! She's been here since kindergarten!"

    We think the girl who keeps saying "She's not new!" is the one to play SmartGirl when they make the movie of SmartGirl's life.

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    Replies
    1. I totally, totally agree--great commercial.

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    2. The Pizza Hut commercial with the middle-aged guy, his beautiful wife, his beautiful daughter, and the beautiful daughter's horrible boyfriend does a good job of capturing how middle-aged guys see the world.

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  14. I think this Mitt Romney commercial would be more effective if they dropped all references to Romney's performance in the 2002 Olympics, and instead had a simple message from Kristi Yamaguchi endorsing Romney.

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  15. At halftime of men's basketball, Spain leads Brazil 44-38.

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  16. With 3:06 left in the game, Brazil leads Spain 79-76.

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  17. Brazil's got it now. They lead Spain 84-77 with only 50 seconds to go.

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  18. Depending on how the draw works out, the United States may have to play Spain in the quarter-finals. That happened in 2004, because our team just barely scraped into the medal round.

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  19. Brazil 88 - 82 Spain (Final)

    It looks as though Spain is going to be the 3d seed out of Group B, with Russia number 1, Brazil number 2, and Australia number 4.

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  20. ARGH! The U.S. men's beach volleyball team has been eliminated in that tournament's quarterfinals. By Latvia.

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    Replies
    1. The United States won gold in men's beach volleyball in Beijing.

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  21. At halftime, the U.S. led Argentina 60-59. Then the United States played just about the most perfect 10 minutes of basketball I have ever seen. How perfect was it? In 10 minutes, they scored 42 points. Forty-two points in 10 minutes! They outscored Argentina 42-17 in the quarter, and they lead 102-76 with one quarter left.

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  22. The U.S. men cruised to a 126-97 win over Argentina. I can't get over how many points they can score in a 40-minute game.

    We now move on to the quarter-finals, where we will face Australia.

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  23. Wow. At age 35, Felix Sanchez wins his second consecutive Olympic gold medal in the 400m hurdles--and he matches his time in the 2008 final. Sanchez, a New York City native who went to school in California, earns the medal for the Dominican Republic, the country's first of these games.

    Silver goes to Michael Tinsley of Little Rock, Ark. Hurrah! And, with the bronze, it's Javier Culson of Ponce, Puerto Rico. That's his country's first medal.

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  24. Men's 231-pound weightlifting: Ukraine gold, Iran silver, Poland bronze.

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  25. Men's sprint cycling: Great Britain gold, France silver, Australia bronze.

    Men's trap shooting: Croatia gold, Italy silver, Kuwait bronze. That's Kuwait's first medal. "May you always enjoy good fortune!"

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  26. Women's uneven bars: Well, heck. Gabby Douglas misses the medal stand. Russia gold, China silver, Great Britain bronze. Aliya Mustafina of Moscow--daughter of Fargat Mustafin, a 1976 Olympic bronze medalist in Greco-Roman wrestling--finally shows a little happiness.

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  27. NBC just told about how Bulgarian Yordan Yovchev got jobbed at the 2004 Athens Olympics in gymnastics rings. A competitor from Greece, Dimosthenis Tampakos, fell on his landing but was still awarded gold; Yovchev was given silver. "It was wrong," said the NBC commentator, who is not Scott Hamilton.

    Yovchev, now 39, competed in his sixth Olympics in London.

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    Replies
    1. Men's rings: Brazil gold, China silver, Italy bronze.

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  28. Women's shot put: Belarus gold, New Zealand silver, Russia bronze.

    Women's steeplechase: Russia gold, Tunisia silver, Ethiopia bronze.

    Men's vault: South Korea gold, Russia silver, Ukraine bronze.

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  29. Medals count:

    1. China 31 gold, 19 silver, 14 bronze
    2. United States 29, 15, 19
    3. Great Britain 18, 11, 11
    4. South Korea 11, 5, 6
    5. France 8, 9, 9
    6. Russia 7, 17, 18
    7. Italy 7, 6, 4
    8. Kazakhstan 6, 0, 1
    9. Germany 5, 10, 7
    10. Hungary 4, 1, 3
    11. North Korea 4, 0, 1
    12. Netherlands 3, 3, 4
    13. Cuba 3, 3, 1
    14. Belarus 3, 2, 3
    15. New Zealand 3, 1, 4
    16. South Africa 3, 1, 0
    17. Ukraine 3, 0, 6
    18. Japan 2, 12, 14
    19. Australia 2, 12, 8
    20. Denmark 2, 4, 2
    20. Romania 2, 4, 2
    22. Brazil 2, 1, 5
    23. Poland 2, 1, 3
    24. Iran 2, 1, 1
    24. Jamaica 2, 1, 1
    26. Croatia 2, 1, 0
    27. Ethiopia 2, 0, 2
    28. Canada 1, 3, 6
    29. Sweden 1, 3, 2
    30. Czech Republic 1, 3, 1
    31. Kenya 1, 2, 2
    32. Slovenia 1, 1, 2
    33. Dominican Republic 1, 1, 0
    33. Georgia 1, 1, 0
    33. Switzerland 1, 1, 0
    36. Lithuania 1, 0, 1
    37. Grenada 1, 0, 0
    37. Venezuela 1, 0, 0
    39. Mexico 0, 3, 2
    40. Colombia 0, 3, 1
    41. Spain 0, 2, 1
    42. Egypt 0, 2, 0
    43. Slovakia 0, 1, 3
    44. Azerbaijan 0, 1, 2
    44. Belgium 0, 1, 2
    44. India 0, 1, 2
    47. Armenia 0, 1, 1
    47. Indonesia 0, 1, 1
    47. Mongolia 0, 1, 1
    47. Norway 0, 1, 1
    47. Serbia 0, 1, 1
    47. Tunisia 0, 1, 1
    53. Cyprus 0, 1, 0
    53. Estonia 0, 1, 0
    53. Guatemala 0, 1, 0
    53. Malaysia 0, 1, 0
    53. Thailand 0, 1, 0
    53. Taipei 0, 1, 0
    59. Greece 0, 0, 2
    59. Moldova 0, 0, 2
    61. Argentina 0, 0, 1
    61. Hong Kong 0, 0, 1
    61. Saudi Arabia 0, 0, 1
    61. Kuwait 0, 0, 1
    61. Puerto Rico 0, 0, 1
    61. Qatar 0, 0, 1
    61. Singapore 0, 0, 1
    61. Trinidad and Tobago 0, 0, 1
    61. Turkey 0, 0, 1
    61. Uzbekistan 0, 0, 1

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