Wednesday, August 8, 2012

I Am Watching the Olympics (Day 12)


OK, lots for the HP and Samuel L. Jackson to get to today, so we're going to get right to it. We've got a whole slew of fighting women to check in on this morning ... men's hoopsvolleyball and water polo quarterfinals throughout the day ... a bunch of track-and-field and the California state championship in women's beach volleyball to avoid until tonight's episode of The Bob Costas Show. The decathlon is already rolling, and my main man, world-record-holder Ashton Eaton of Bend, Ore., has rocked the 100m and long jump. It's story-hour day at publiclibrary.org, and my daughter is solidly in the running to be selected as flag-bearer for the Pledge of Allegiance. Mom's coming to town. Huge, huge day. Life! More Life!

Previous reports:





100 comments:

  1. The first of our fighting women on tap this morning is Clarissa Chun of Honolulu, who at 7 Central competes with a Chinese woman in women's freestyle 105.5-pound wrestling round of 32.

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    1. Clarissa Chun finished fifth in her event at the 2008 Beijing Olympics.

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    2. At 5-foot-3, Zhao Shasha of Shandong towers over her Hawai'ian foe, but, as we (I seem to remember) we always say at the HP, YOU CAN'T MEASURE HEART! Four-foot-11 Clarissa Chun is up, 5-0, after first round ...

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    3. In the second round, Chun is awarded another point, and then, after four minutes and four seconds of wrestling, she is declared the winner! It's on to the round of 16 for Clarissa Chun!

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    4. Which is scheduled to commence at 7:16 Central, so, local affiliates, we'll stay right here!

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    5. Next up for Chun is another tall tree to topple, 5-foot-2 Mariya Stadnyk of Azerbaijan. Knowing what we know about Azerbaijan, the HP is at the ready to get an early flight out of Gatwick--Michael Wilbon-style--if we get the sense of any funny business going on.

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    6. Local affiliates, please note that we are now being told that Miss Chun's round-of-16 match is scheduled for 7:24 a.m. Central. So please feel free to go microwave your second cup of leftover coffee now if you need to ...

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    7. We're underway ... if this match goes as quickly as the first, we should have plenty of time to get across town for Marlen Esparza's boxing match ...

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    8. Stadnyk leads, 2-0, in the first round ...

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    9. Honestly, Azerbaijan has won three medals in these games, and it's such a shame for their athletes that all of them feel shady in the light of that boxing story.

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    10. REPECHAGE! REPECHAGE! GLORIOUS REPECHAGE!

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    11. Women's freestyle 105.5-pound medals: Japan gold, Azerbaijan* silver, Canada AND UNITED STATES (!) bronze.

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    12. With the Azerbijani woman advancing to the gold-medal final, that put Clarissa Chun into the bronze-medal tournament. There, the 30-year-old from Honolulu wins 5-0 over a woman from Poland and then 3-0 over a woman from the Ukraine to salvage bronze. Congratulations, Clarissa Chun!

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    13. You're welcome for my not watching, Ms. Chun!

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  2. Replies
    1. Ren Cancan is up, 7-4, in the second round against Marlen Esparza ...

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    2. Cancan of Jining is the gold-medal favorite in this weight class.

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    3. 8-6, Cancan, in the third of four rounds ...

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    4. COME ON, MARLEN ESPARZA! COME ON!

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    5. Urgh! Two points apiece in the fourth round, so China's Cancan advances to the gold-medal match--against either India or Great Britain. Presumably, this result earns Marlen Esparza and the United States one of two bronze medals.

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  3. Then, scheduled for 7:48 a.m., is a women's freestyle 138.5-pound wrestling round-of-32 match between Elena Pirozhkova of Greenfield, Mass., and a woman from Latvia.

    I can only imagine that our beach-volleyball men will be in the stands cheering feverishly for Ms. Pirozhkova.

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    1. Elena Pirozhkova leads Anastasija Grigorjeva of Daugavpils, 2-1, in the second of three rounds ...

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    2. This is a round-of-16 match (not round-of-32, as I mistakenly said earlier).

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    3. 4-2, Grigorjeva, in the second round ...

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    4. Women's freestyle 138.5-pound wrestling medals: Japan gold, China silver, Mongolia and Russia bronze.

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  4. Replies
    1. For the sake of Claressa Shields, I will not be watching her women's middleweight boxing semifinal scheduled for 8:30 a.m. Central today.

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    2. Come on, Claressa! (I am not watching, but I am rooting.)

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    3. SHE DID IT! Claressa Shields has defeated Marina Volnova of Kyzyl Orda, and she will fight for middleweight boxing gold at 11:15 a.m. Central today. GO, CLARESSA!

      Her opponent will be the winner of an in-progress semi between China and Russia. Again, for the sake of my countrywoman and my country, I will not watch.

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    4. Meanwhile, it does not appear that this bout has begun, though NBC still indicates that it was to start at 11:15 Central.

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    5. THURSDAY! The Claressa Shields-Nadezda Torlopova fight is not until tomorrow.

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    6. I am so glad you didn't watch. Thank you, Eric!

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  5. Medals today ...

    Men's K-1 1000m kayaking: Norway gold, Canada silver, Germany bronze.

    Men's C-1 1000m canoeing: Germany gold, Spain silver, Canada bronze.

    Men's K-2 100m kayaking: Hungary gold, Portugal silver, Germany bronze.

    Women's K-4 500m kayaking: Hungary gold, Germany silver, Belarus bronze.

    Team USA had no competitors in the final heats of any of these events.

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  6. Through three of today's first five events in the decathlon, my main man from Bend, Ashton Eaton, leads teammate Trey Hardee (my main man from Vestavia Hills, Texas) by 105 points. The next competitor is another 79 points back, and that Ukrainian is tops among a pack of four guys all within 40 points of each other.

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    1. Through four events, and Ashton Eaton's lead on Trey Hardee is now out to 161 points. Forty-eight points back of him is Belgium's Hans Van Alphen, who leads a pack of five within 83 points of one another.

      The fifth and last event today will be the 400m, scheduled for 3:30 p.m. Central.

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  7. Men's water polo ... Montenegro has beaten Spain in today's first quarterfinal, 11-9. Australia and Serbia are playing now. Italy and Hungary come up next. The United States and Croatia are scheduled to play at 2 p.m. Central.

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    1. Final: Serbia 11, Australia 8.

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    2. Final: Croatia 8, United States 2. I mistakenly tuned in on NBC just long enough this afternoon to see Team USA attempt a penalty shot with no time on the third-quarter clock. The ball got by the Croatian goaltender, but the score was disallowed because the U.S. shooter treaded too far toward the goal before releasing his shot.

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    3. Another disaster. I'm very disappointed in our men's volleyball team and our men's water polo team.

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  8. Men's basketball ... Russia held off Lithuania in today's first quarter, 83-74. France and Spain play next, and then it's Argentina and Brazil. The United States and Australia are scheduled to tip at 4:15 p.m. Central.

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  9. Men's volleyball ... Brazil swept three sets against Argentina already today. And later today we'll have Poland vs. Russia and Germany vs. our boys from Bulgaria.

    Happening now: Team USA lost the first set to Italy, 28-26, and now trails the second, 17-16 ... which means I will now quit paying attention.

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    1. Still appears to be ongoing ... a comeback, perhaps?

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    2. Um, no: Italy sweeps, 28-26, 25-20 and 25-20.

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    3. What an absolute, unmitigated disaster! That is just horrible.

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  10. Replies
    1. Women's 100m hurdles: Australia gold, United States silver and bronze. I did get to watch this race, and it was phenomenal, as Sally Pearson of Sydney and Dawn Harper of East Saint Louis, Ill., reversed their 2008 placement in Beijing. Congratulations, too, to Kellie Wells of Richmond, Va.

      Men's high jump: Russia gold, United States silver, Canada and Qatar bronze. Congratulations, silver-winning Erik Kynard, an Olympic rook from Toledo, Ohio.

      Men's discus throw: Germany gold, Iran silver, Estonia bronze. The United States had no competitor in the final.

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    2. Nor did I see much gymnastics ...

      Men's parallel bars: China gold, Germany silver, France bronze. No U.S. athlete was in the finals.

      Men's horizontal bar: Netherlands gold, Germany silver, China bronze. Team USA came in fifth and sixth.

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    3. But I did watch--rah!--Aly Raisman of Needham, Mass., the captain of the U.S. women's team, win gold in women's floor exercise. (Romania took silver; Russia, bronze.) She also won bronze in women's balance beam behind China and China.

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  11. I'm starting to get sad about the end of the Olympics. Not many events are happening simultaneously. I'm seeing more and more Tweets about people going back home. I never want anything to end, and everything always does.

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    1. The Nats have a four-game lead over the Braves after back-to-back extra-innings wins against Houston.

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    2. "I never want anything to end, and everything always does."

      That is a great, great sentence. And it's so true.

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  12. Lots of track-and-field on Bob tonight, presumably: Three Americans in both the women's 200m and 400m hurdles and two in the women's long jump.

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    1. Appears Team USA will have two through to the men's 110m hurdles final, too.

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    2. Oh, yeah! This is looking pretty good.

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    3. Women's 200m: United States gold, Jamaica silver, United States bronze. Hooray for gold-medal-winning Allyson Felix of Los Angeles and Carmelita Jeter of Torrance, Calif., with the bronze!

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    4. Women's 400m hurdles: Russia gold, United States silver, Czech Republic bronze. Lashinda Demus of Long Beach, hooray!

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    5. Wowwee. Men's 110m hurdles: United States gold, United States silver, Jamaica bronze. Congrats to Aries Merritt of Marietta, Ga., on his gold and Jason Richardson of Cedar Hill, Texas, on his silver!

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    6. What a night for California! Misty May-Treanor of Costa Mesa and Kerri Walsh Jennings of Santa Clara win another gold in beach volleyball--this time over Jen Kessy of San Juan Capistrano and April Ross of Newport Beach. The bronze goes to Brazil.

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  13. After one quarter of men's basketball, Brazil leads Argentina 26-23.

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  14. I love the part in that Nike commercial where the American guy from Georgetown hits the game-winning shot to beat UNC in Chapel Hill.

    It's really great -- I want more commercials that feature UNC losing basketball games at home.

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  15. After two quarters of men's basketball, Argentina leads Brazil 46-40.

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  16. After three quarters of men's basketball, Argentina leads Brazil 64-54.

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  17. With 1:37 left in the game, Argentina leads Brazil 74-71. Brazil has really put on a late charge.

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  18. Brazil 71 - 76 Argentina (52.4 seconds left in 4th quarter)

    Brazil ball.

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  19. Brazil 77 - 82 Argentina (Final)

    Down the stretch, Argentina played much smarter and so they roll on into the semi-finals.

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  20. I have already said that I greatly prefer the FIBA rules to the NBA rules. And that's still true. However, that rule where you can tap a ball that's in the cylinder just makes no sense to me.

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  21. I would love to see a highlight film of LeBron's best assists in these Olympics. He makes some of the best passes you will ever see.

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    1. NBA History ‏@NBAHistory
      Wow! @KingJames historic triple double (30 pts, 14 reb, 12 assts) performance vs. Australia included zero turnovers
      1:06 AM - 9 Aug 12

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  22. In men's basketball, the United States wins its quarter-final match against Australia by a score of 119-86.

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  23. I'm watching NBC's "Olympic Zone" with the sound down. So far I saw a segment where Apollo Ohno was fencing with the American woman fencer who carried our flag into the stadium. Now they're doing a segment on an elderly woman volunteer of some sort -- they just flashed up a picture of her standing next to a young Michael Phelps (he was wearing an Orioles cap).

    Even without hearing the sound, I know Eric would be loving this show.

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    1. On yesterday's (fantastic) Today, Michael Phelps revealed to Matt Lauer that he keeps a journal.

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  24. What are the odds that the World's Fastest Man would be named Bolt?

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  25. Brittney Reese, an African-American long-jumper from Gulfport, just said that she wants to win the long jump for Mississippi.

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    1. Women's long jump: United States gold, Russia silver, United States bronze. Hurrah, gold-winner Brittney Reese of Gulfport! Hurrah, bronze-winner Janay DeLoach, who grew up on Eielsen Air Force Base near Fairbanks, Alaska!

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  26. The Olympics have now stopped so that we can watch a long excerpt from this new Matthew Perry show -- or maybe they're just running the pilot at 11:17 PM on Wednesday night. Matthew Perry is good, but this show is terrible. I can't believe we're missing the Olympics for this.

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  27. I kept waiting for them to come back to the Olympics so we could see our many gold medalists get their medals. But after that ludicrous TV show, we have gone straight to the news.

    This is the first time since 1992 that three Americans won individual track and field gold medals on the same night. It's a shame NBC wasn't that interested.

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    1. I saw about two minutes of this show after getting home from going to pick up Mom. "You know, One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest was really good, but it could've been hilarious if ..."

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    2. The Matthew Perry sitcom has been canceled.

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  28. I still can't get over NBC's decision to cut short its coverage on a night when the U.S. won eleven medals, the basketball team scored 119 points, and Americans are running first and second in the decathlon.

    That's just unbelievable.

    And their final medal count was wrong, too. They showed the USA with 80 medals; we actually have 81.

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  29. My daughter was passed over for library story-hour Pledge of Allegiance flag-bearer. A girl who had been out of town all summer got the nod; plus, my wife said, our daughter got picked two weeks ago.

    Still.

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