Friday, August 10, 2012

I Am Watching the Olympics (Day 14)

So sad.

Previous reports:





-- watching Day 12end-of-day OES and end-of-day EOES (Aug. 8)-- 

-- watching Day 13 and end-of-day OES (Aug. 9)

69 comments:

  1. Lexington's Tyson Gay is scheduled to return to the track at 1:45 p.m. Central today for Round 1 of the men's 4x100m relay. The medal race is set for 3 p.m. Central Saturday. Go, Tyson Gay!

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  2. Mom, incidentally: Thinks they should give South Africa's Oscar Pistorius, regardless, and thinks Jamaica's Usain Bolt is too cocky, regardless.

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    1. Roller skating is not an Olympic sport--but might be by 2020, per Wikipedia.

      Mom, a true city kid, told us all at breakfast this morning about playing "crack the whip" on neighborhood streets when she was a girl in Evansville. "It got pretty rough," she said. "Kids got a lot of skinned knees back then."

      It would be interesting to relate number of skinned knees with population and GDP trends over the last 100 years.

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    2. Mom on rhythmic gymnastics: "I wouldn't think that would be considered a sport, but ..."

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    3. My 3-year-old daughter is taking a nap; otherwise, she would be all over this event. She recently taped a ribbon to a Tinker Toy rod to practice for Nick's airing of "Dora's Fantastic Gymnastics Adventure" at 6 p.m. Central Monday.

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  3. Forty men's boxing medals are being dolled out today, and Team USA is in the running for nary a one.

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    1. Check that ... 20 men's boxing medals are going out today ... the gold-medal matches are Saturday and Sunday.

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  4. Our volleyball boys from Bulgaria are playing Russia in a semifinal. After losing 25-21 and 25-15 in the first two sets, Bulgaria has fought back to take an 11-8 lead in the third ...

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    1. Bulgaria's shining moment in Olympic men's volleyball was 1980, winning silver at Moscow. Bulgaria lost only two matches in the tournament--three-sets-to-none in pool play and three-sets-to-one in the gold-medal final, both to the Soviet Union. They probably do believe in miracles in Bulgaria, but it's probably a lot harder.

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    2. 17-16, Bulgaria, in the third set ...

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    3. Men's volleyball has been part of the program of the Summer Olympics since 1964, and ol' Team CCCP remains atop the historical medal table, with three gold, two silver and a bronze.

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    4. No surprise, then, that the Russian Federation has quickly emerged as a power--with a bronze in 1996 and silvers in both 2000 and 2004.

      Russia missed the podium at Beijing, however, as Brazil, the United States and China took gold, silver and bronze, respectively, in 2008. And the defending Olympic champs play in today's second semifinal, against Italy.

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    5. Russia serving, now ahead of Bulgaria, 22-21 ...

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    6. BULGARIA! Wins the third, 25-23!

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  5. Here's some of what I'm not watching today:

    -- 10:30 a.m. Central: women's BMX cycling semfinal, which includes Brooke Craine of Visalia, Calif., in the final field of eight

    -- 3 p.m.: men's basketball semifinal between Argentina and the United States

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    1. Pardon ... that women's BMX race starting momentarily is the gold-medal final, not a semi ...

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    2. Also not watching:

      -- 10:40 a.m. Central: men's BMC cycling final, which includes Connor Fields of American-but-unknown-to-NBC-and-me origin

      -- 1 p.m.: men's pole vault final, which includes Brad Walker of Spokane, Wash.

      -- 1:48 p.m.: men's freestyle 163-pound wrestling gold-medal match, which will pit Jordan Burroughs of Sicklerville, N.J., against a dude from Iran

      -- 2:05 p.m.: women's 5000m run, which includes Julie Culley of Lebanon, N.J., and Molly Huddle of Elmira, N.Y.

      -- 2:40 p.m.: women's 4x100m relay

      -- 2:55 p.m.: women's 1500m final, which includes Shannon Rowbury of San Francisco and Morgan Uceny of, again, the wind or something

      -- 3:20 p.m.: men's 4x400m relay final

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    3. And, at 1:45 Central today, I absolutely will not be watching my main man from Lexington, Tyson Gay, run with the U.S. men's 4x100m relay team in its semifinal heat. GO, TYSON GAY! AND GO, USA!

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    4. Quarantining myself from taekwondo at 2 Central, too. It's a long repechage row to hoe, but Paige McPherson of Sturgis, S.D., is now back in the running for women's welterweight bronze.

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  6. Meanwhile, back to Earls Court, we rejoin the men's volleyball semi to find our boys from Bulgaria trailing Russia, 16-14, in the fourth set ...

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    1. Russia back up, 24-23 ... Russia's match point; Bulgaria serving ...

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    2. It's over. Russia, 3-1 over Bulgaria, and on to the gold-medal match.

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    3. Brazil sweeps three sets from Italy in the second men's volleyball semi. That sets up Sunday's finals of Bulgaria vs. Italy for bronze--at 3 a.m. Central--and Brazil vs. Russia for gold.

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  7. Medals:

    Men's 470 sailing: Australia gold, Great Britain silver, Argentina bronze. The United States finished 14th.

    Women's 470 sailing: New Zealand gold, Great Britain silver, Netherlands bronze. The United States finished ninth.

    Men's open-water swimming: Tunisia gold, Germany silver, Canada bronze. Alex Meyer of Team USA came in 10th.

    Synchronized swimming: Russia gold, China silver, Spain bronze. The United States did not compete in the ... um? ... heat? ... final? ... show?

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  8. My not watching apparently didn't much help Brooke Crain, who finished eighth of eight in the women's BMX final heat, or Connor Fields, who came in seventh.

    Women: Colombia gold, New Zealand silver, Netherlands bronze.

    Men: Latvia gold, Australia silver, Colombia bronze.

    Oh, immortal joy!

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  9. Medals count:

    1. United States 39 gold, 25 silver, 26 bronze
    2. China 37, 25, 19
    3. Great Britain 25, 15, 15
    4. Russia 13, 21, 24
    5. South Korea 12, 7, 6
    6. Germany 10, 17, 11
    7. France 8, 9, 12
    8. Hungary 8, 4, 3
    9. Australia 7, 14, 10
    10. Italy 7, 6, 7
    11. Kazakhstan 6, 0, 3
    12. Japan 5, 14, 15
    13. Netherlands 5, 5, 8
    14. Iran 4, 4, 1
    15. New Zealand 4, 3, 5
    16. North Korea 4, 0, 1
    17. Belarus 3, 3, 4
    18. Cuba 3, 3, 3
    18. Jamaica 3, 3, 3
    20. Ukraine 3, 1, 6
    21. South Africa 3, 1, 1
    22. Spain 2, 7, 3
    23. Romania 2, 5, 2
    24. Denmark 2, 4, 3
    25. Czech Republic 2, 3, 3
    26. Brazil 2, 2, 7
    27. Kenya 2, 2, 3
    28. Poland 2, 1, 6
    29. Croatia 2, 1, 1
    30. Switzerland 2, 1, 0
    31. Ethiopia 2, 0, 2
    32. Canada 1, 5, 11
    33. Colombia 1, 3, 4
    34. Sweden 1, 3, 3
    35. Slovenia 1, 1, 2
    36. Georgia 1, 1, 1
    36. Norway 1, 1, 1
    36. Tunisia 1, 1, 1
    39. Dominican Republic 1, 1, 0
    40. Ireland 1, 0, 2
    41. Latvia 1, 0, 1
    41. Lithuania 1, 0, 1
    41. Turkey 1, 0, 1
    44. Algeria 1, 0, 0
    44. Grenada 1, 0, 0
    44. Venezuela 1, 0, 0
    47. Mexico 0, 3, 2
    48. Azerbaijan 0, 2, 4
    49. Egypt 0, 2, 0
    50. India 0, 1, 3
    50. Mongolia 0, 1, 3
    50. Slovakia 0, 1, 3
    53. Armenia 0, 1, 2
    53. Belgium 0, 1, 2
    55. Bulgaria 0, 1, 1
    55. Estonia 0, 1, 1
    55. Indonesia 0, 1, 1
    55. Malaysia 0, 1, 1
    55. Serbia 0, 1, 1
    55. Thailand 0, 1, 1
    55. Taipei 0, 1, 1
    62. Botswana 0, 1, 0
    62. Cyprus 0, 1, 0
    62. Finland 0, 1, 0
    62. Guatemala 0, 1, 0
    62. Portugal 0, 1, 0
    67. Argentina 0, 0, 2
    67. Greece 0, 0, 2
    67. Moldova 0, 0, 2
    67. Qatar 0, 0, 2
    67. Singapore 0, 0, 2
    67. Uzbekistan 0, 0, 2
    73. Afghanistan 0, 0, 1
    73. Hong Kong 0, 0, 1
    73. Saudi Arabia 0, 0, 1
    73. Kuwait 0, 0, 1
    73. Morocco 0, 0, 1
    73. Puerto Rico 0, 0, 1
    73. Tajikistan 0, 0, 1
    73. Trinidad and Tobago 0, 0, 1

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  10. Now Russia is up, 31-18, in the second quarter of the first men's basketball semi.

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    1. Spain closing ... Russia leads, 46-43, in third ...

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    2. Spain overtakes! Heartbreak in Moscow: 67-59, final.

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    3. A lot of people think that Spain lost their group match to Brazil on purpose so that they wouldn't have to play the U.S. in the semi-final.

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  11. I wish huge rollerskating and golf events had started just yesterday and today. Only three sports have events happening right now, and that makes me want to cry.

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    1. Or we could be having some kind of weird American-football tournament going on, where, say, eight teams play a tournament in which each game lasts about as long as one normal quarter ... Thursday, Friday and Saturday for gold.

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    2. Leaders in the not-yet-Olympic men's golf tournament--Sweden's Carl Pettersson, Gary Woodland of Team USA and Team GB's Rory McIlroy--tee off over the next couple of hours.

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    3. Team USA's Tiger Woods is now within one stroke of teammate Gary Woodland's lead in the not-Olympic men's golf tournament.

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  12. Hurrah! The U.S. men's 4x100m relay team (which includes Lexington's Tyson Gay) and the U.S. women's 4x400m relay team appear to have both advanced from today's qualifying heats into Saturday's medal races.

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  13. Paige McPherson has gotten by a woman from Grenada in the first of two matches she would need to win today in order to come through the repechage ranks (I love writing "repechage") and salvage a bronze medal in women's welterweight taekwondo. She will now face Franka Anic of Slovenia, who lost in the semifinals a few hours ago.

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    1. YEAH! YEAHYEAHYEAH! Paige McPherson claims repechage-redemption bronze!

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    2. This not-watching thing is awesome.

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    3. Mom is watching (and playing Candyland with the now-up girl), and, last I saw, Team USA was up eight in its men's hoops semi with Argentina right before half.

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    4. Women's welterweight taekwondo medals: South Korea gold, Turkey silver, Germany and United States bronze.

      Men's welterweight taekwondo: Argentina gold, Spain silver, Great Britain and Italy bronze.

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    5. And the United States beat Argentina in men's basketball!

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  14. Replies
    1. Tiger Woods of Team USA is now along in the lead at the not-Olympic men's golf tournament. Vijay Singh, vying to not become the first Fijian to win a medal in the Olympics, is part of a six-way tie for second, one behind Woods.

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    2. Sweden's Carl Pettersson is back in the lead, one up on Fijian Vijay Singh and American Tiger Woods.

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    3. Pettersson now back to 6-under, two ahead of both Singh and Woods.

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    4. And then Sweden's Pettersson comes back to 4-under, tied with Fiji's Singh and United States' Woods for the lead through two rounds.

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  15. Women's hammer throw: Russia gold, Poland silver, Germany bronze. Team USA had no competitors in the final.

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  16. Men's 121-pound freestyle wrestling: Russia gold, Georgia silver, Japan and North Korea bronze.

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  17. South Korea dumps Japan, 2-0, for bronze in men's soccer. Brazil and Mexico play at 9 a.m. Central Saturday for gold.

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  18. The Netherlands extend their all-time medal lead in women's field hockey, with their second gold, as the Dutch beat Argentina, 2-0, today. Great Britain beat New Zealand, 3-1, for bronze.

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  19. Men's water polo has been part of the Olympics since 1900, and Hungary is far-and-away the all-time leader in medals (15) and golds (nine). Great Britain and Italy both have four all-time gold medals. Yugoslavia amassed three, among a second-best-all-time medal total of 10. Yugoslavia's last Summer Olympics was 1992.

    Sunday's medal matches in men's water polo will be quite a family reunion. Montenegro and Serbia, whose athletes both competed under the Yugoslav flag, play at 8:30 a.m. Central for bronze. Then Croatia (same deal) plays Italy at 9:50 for gold.

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  20. Women's 400m: Turkey gold, Turkey silver, Bahrain bronze. American Shannon Rowbury finished sixth; Morgan Uceny fell--and, of course, anyone who has been watching the Olympics since 1984 had to recall Mary Decker.

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  21. Men's 4x400m: Bahamas gold, United States silver, Trinidad and Tobago bronze. This result did not seem to make any of the four guys running for Team USA, but I enjoyed this race. The daughter sat on my lap and watched the whole thing, interested mostly in the baton handoffs. And Mom spent the whole time rooting for Oscar Pistorius and reminding us (correctly) how thankful we should all be for all of our blessings.

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    1. USA TODAY Sports ‏@USATODAYsports
      USA fails to win the 4x400 for first time since 1972: http://usat.ly/RyjZ4I
      10:06 PM - 10 Aug 12

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  22. My father-in-law does not believe the BMX cycling should be in the Olympics, but I kind of like these events--and think they could be solid, low-hanging-fruit candidates for quick wins in the fledgling days of the Kentucky Olympic Committee. I see a lot of kids riding these bikes around Madisonville.

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  23. How Bob Costas is looking at Tom Brokaw, as Tom Brokaw launches his preamble into his feature on the 1952 Helsinki Olympics and the pursuit of the sub-4-minute mile ... pretty much exactly how my wife looked at me as I plopped down on the couch next to her with my laptop and Googled Mary Decker Slaney images from the 1984 Los Angeles games.

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  24. Men's pole vault: France gold, Germany silver and bronze.

    Women's 5000m: Ethiopia gold, Kenya silver, Ethiopia bronze.

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  25. And--HOORAY!--United States gold, Jamaica silver, Ukraine bronze in the women's 4x100m relay. The American women set a new world record.

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  26. Mary Carillo: "Welcome to the penultimate edition of Olympic Late Night ..."

    Sigh.

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