Sunday, August 7, 2016

XXXI Olympic Summer Games, Rio 2016 (Day 2)

Standings at the start of today:

Australia 2 gold, 0 silver, 1 bronze
Hungary 2, 0, 0
United States 1, 4, 0
South Korea 1, 1, 0
Japan 1, 0, 4
Argentina 1, 0, 0
Belgium 1, 0, 0
Thailand 1, 0, 0
Vietnam 1, 0, 0
China 0, 2, 3
Italy 0, 1, 1
Kazakhstan 0, 1, 1
Brazil 0, 1, 0
Denmark 0, 1, 0
Indonesia 0, 1, 0
Canada 0, 0, 1
Poland 0, 0, 1
Spain 0, 0, 1
Uzbekistan 0, 0, 1


136 comments:

  1. On NBC Sports Network now: Women's beach volleyball.

    At least I won't have a hard time getting myself out the door to church.

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  2. A bunch of rowing has been postponed. Hmmm ...?

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  3. Medal Standings:

    1. CHN: 1 + 2 + 3 = 6
    T2. USA: 1 + 4 + 0 = 5
    T2. JPN: 1 + 0 + 4 = 5
    4. AUS: 2 + 0 + 1 = 3

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  4. In the rest of the world, they rank countries by gold medals. So that ranking would look like this:

    1. AUS: 2 + 0 + 1 = 3
    2. HUN: 2 + 0 + 0 = 2
    3. CHN: 1 + 2 + 3 = 6
    4. USA: 1 + 4 + 0 = 5
    5. JPN: 1 + 0 + 4 = 5

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  5. OK, the Gold Zone is back. Two American women are up 1 set to 0 in their match with a team from Poland, but they trail 10-17 in the second set.

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  6. The Poles win the second set 21-13, and appear to be much the better team.

    Now NBC, which usually avoids medal ceremonies like the plague, is showing us the medal ceremony for the women's 10 M air pistol. But I suppose it's OK to show this ceremony, since the gold medal went to China, and no Americans won any medal at all.

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  7. Now we have an American man fencing against an Egyptian man in individual foil. The American man leads 8-2, whatever that means.

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  8. On Sirius XM Channel 7, Casey Kasem is wrapping up the countdown for August 1, 1970. Number 9 is "Tighter, Tighter," by Alive & Kicking.

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  9. The Poles are up 9-4 in the third set, and they are going to win this match. I don't really understand how the Americans won the first set.

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    Replies
    1. We watched the entire match. The USA looked the better team in the first set.

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  10. Number 8: Temptations, "Ball of Confusion." Casey tells us that this is their fourth protest song in a row.

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  11. The Poles wrap up their victory: 14-21, 21-13, 15-7.

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  12. Number 7: Eric Burdon & War, "Spill the Wine."

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  13. Number 6: The Jackson Five, "The Love You Save." At this point, every single released by the Jackson Five -- "I Want You Back," "ABC," and "The Love You Save," -- had gone to number one.

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  14. Number 5: Stevie Wonder, "Signed, Sealed, Delivered." This countdown is now really starting to roll.

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  15. The Gold Zone is doing preliminary women's gymnastics.

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  16. Number 4: Freda Payne, "Band of Gold." What a great countdown!

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  17. OK, now we have women's basketball. The USA leads Senegal 9-2 with 7:30 left in the 1st.

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  18. Number 3: Three Dog Night, "Mamma Told Me Not to Come."

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  19. Number 2: Bread, "Make It With You."

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  20. With 5:22 left in the first:

    USA 18 - 5 SEN

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  21. Number 1: The Carpenters, "Close to You."

    This is probably the best top 10 I've ever heard on the Countdown.

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  22. Meanwhile, the women's cycling road race has begun -- 84.3 miles to go.

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  23. Meanwhile, Russia has been banned from the Paralympics due to massive cheating at the 2014 Winter Paralympics.

    I come from a place where people have sometimes been known to cheat, but I can't even imagine cheating in the Paralympics.

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  24. Even Dean Smith and Roy Williams would hesitate about cheating in the Paralympics.

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  25. The score after one quarter:

    USA 35 - 9 SEN

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  26. So now we've gone to men's volleyball, where Brazil and Mexico are whacking the old ball around in front of a huge and enthusiastic crowd. Mexico won the first set 25-23, but Brazil won the second set 25-19, and the Brazilian fans are ecstatic.

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  27. 7 minutes left in the 2d quarter:

    USA 41 - 14 SEN

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  28. Here's how the Guardian describes the U.S. women's road racing team:

    "The USA, a team reportedly at odds over tactics, with all four riders fancying their medal hopes, have Kristin Armstrong involved at the front."

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  29. We're getting a lot of heats in the women's 100 M backstroke right now. The Australian swim team, by the way, is known as the Dolphins.

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  30. Brazil beats Mexico 3 sets to 1 in the men's volleyball.

    We're getting a lot of fencing, but it all means nothing to me -- I don't even know how close they are to handing out medals -- so I don't have much to say on it.

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  31. 2:00 left in the 4th Quarter:

    USA 117 - 45 SEN

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  32. And now we have women's rugby. The USA makes an absolutely stupid play and gives up an easy try to Australia, who lead 5-0 after 3 1/2 minutes.

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    Replies
    1. Sorry. The Aussies lead 5-0 with 2 minutes left in the 1st.

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  33. OK, the USA women are back in this rugby game. They lead 12-5 with 2:20 left in the 2d. The announcers are very excited, because Australia is apparently the number-one team in the world.

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  34. This game is "Rugby Sevens," by the way, with seven players on a side.

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  35. But the USA defense collapses, and Australia gets another try in injury time. The game ends in a 12-12 tie. What a debacle.

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  36. Australia had already qualified for the quarter-finals anyway. I think the USA has now qualified for the quarter-finals, but I don't know.

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  37. Meanwhile we have whitewater canoeing. This is one of many upper-class sports where the Americans are simply useless.

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  38. NBC has an Australian announcer doing the canoeing.

    OK, the men's individual foil has worked its way up to the quarter-finals. An American is tied 5-5 with someone from Italy after 1 of 3 periods.

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  39. Wikipedia tells me that the USA women did qualify for the quarter-finals. They will play New Zealand, who outscored their three opponents 109-12. So I wouldn't count on a medal there.

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  40. The USA guy is going out in the men's quarterfinal of individual foil. He trails 13-7 late in the 2d (of 3) periods.

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  41. Finally, the Americans send out an athlete who knows what she's doing. Serena Williams wins her tennis match 6-4, 6-2 over Daria Gavrilova of Australia.

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  42. As someone who has 20-something children, I think these commercials about how parents don't understand what it means for their kids to work at GE are just nuts.

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  43. We have Tanith White hosting Gold Zone today. She is a former ice dancer who won a silver medal in the 2006 Winter Olympics.

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  44. I don't blame the Australians calling the swimming for rooting against the Americans -- just like I wouldn't blame Tennesseans from rooting against Alabama's football team -- but I am mystified that NBC thinks I would prefer announcers who don't want us to win.

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  45. OK, here's a real men's basketball game: Brazil v. Lithuania. This should be pretty good.

    3:29 left in the 1st:

    BRA 12 - 14 LTU

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  46. Lithuania on a roll now. They lead 23-14 with 1:20 left in the 1st.

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  47. Lithuania is up 33-19 in the second quarter, so we're stuck with Australian swimming coverage.

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    Replies
    1. This was an odd game. LTU had a huge lead at the half, and then held on for an 82-76 win.

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  48. Now Andrew Siciliano has shown up, and he tells us that the Gold Zone will keep rolling until 7 P.M. tonight!

    We're in trap shooting, where more Australian announcers are happy that the gold medal match in women's trap will be between an Aussie and a New Zealander.

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  49. Corey Cogdell of Palmer, Alaska, who is married to Mitch Unrein of the Chicago Bears, wins the bronze medal in women's trap shooting. It is her second bronze medal; she won another in 2008. The Australian announcer sounds suitably annoyed.

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    Replies
    1. It occurs to me that once Unrein retires from the NFL, he and his trap-shooting wife should probably move to Alaska and go into politics.

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  50. 12.6 miles left in the women's road racing, and the Australian accents for these announcers are so strong that I'm really not sure who's in the lead.

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  51. And now, since we had an Australian winner, we get the medal ceremony for women's trap shooting. NBC!

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  52. Cogdell's medal is a good pickup for Team USA, as, at London 2012, we failed to medal in either of today's shooting events.

    Shooting, women's 10-metre air pistol: China gold and Greece bronze

    Shooting, women's trap: Australia gold, New Zealand silver and United States bronze

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  53. By the way, the guy I wrote off in individual foil not only came from behind to win his quarter-final match, he just won a semi-final match. He's in the finals!

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  54. Medal Count (USA Version):

    1. USA: 1 + 4 + 2 = 7
    2. CHN: 1 + 2 + 3 = 6
    3. JPN: 1 + 0 + 4 = 5
    4. AUS: 3 + 0 + 1 = 4

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    Replies
    1. ESPN's count was wrong here. At this point, we had only 6 medals, not 7.

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  55. China picks up a gold in synchronized diving, and moves into first place:

    1. CHN: 2 + 2 + 3 = 7
    2. USA: 1 + 4 + 2 = 7
    3. AUS: 3 + 0 + 2 = 5
    4. JPN: 1 + 0 + 4 = 5

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  56. Kosovo just won a gold medal in women's judo. They have never previously medaled as a separate country, so Eric can take them off of his list.

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  57. By the way, here was SI's predicted medal count:

    1. USA: 45 + 34 + 39 = 118
    2. CHN: 45 + 25 + 15 = 85

    Now, let's remind ourselves what the count was in 2012:

    1. USA: 46 + 28 + 29 = 103
    2. CHN: 38 + 29 + 21 = 88

    So SI, in its wisdom, believes that China will win three medals fewer than it did in 2012, while we will win 15 medals more. I will be absolutely stunned if either of those things happens.

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  58. The South Korean women just won the team archery gold for the eighth time in a row.

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  59. Oh, no. Now we have men's volleyball between the USA and Canada. Naturally, the Canadians lead 24-22 in the first set. I don't know how it's possible for the USA to lose to Canada in volleyball, but I'm sure there's a good explanation.

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  60. Alexander Massialas, of San Francisco and Stanford, got pounded in the finals of men's individual foil and will settle for a silver. Daniele Garozzo of Italy won 15-8, and deserved his victory.

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    Replies
    1. This is our first medal in this event since 1960.

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  61. Here is the current medal count:

    T1. ITA: 2 + 3 + 2 = 7
    T1. CHN: 2 + 2 + 3 = 7
    T1. USA: 1 + 5 + 1 = 7
    T1. JPN: 1 + 0 + 6 = 7

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    Replies
    1. Australia still leads the International Medal Count with 3 golds.

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  62. Meanwhile, the Americans are down 2 sets to zero to the Canadians in men's volleyball. Given the great beach life in Canada, I can see why we're struggling here.

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  63. I cannot find a good web page that updates the medal count in real time. They're all about 30 minutes to an hour behind.

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  64. The count on the official Rio2016.com web page appears to the fastest. I'm going with that one for now.

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  65. Remarkably, they are playing the women's rugby quarterfinals today. Andrew Siciliano says that they are doing "two-a-days." There's no score with 3:50 left in the 1st.

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  66. Normal rugby games have two 40-minute halves. But in Rugby-Sevens, you have seven-player teams on a full-size field. So the game consists of two seven-minute halves. That gives the game a sort of 21-zip quality.

    Anyway, there's no score with 20 seconds left in the first.

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  67. And then New Zealand suddenly goes 50 yards for a try. So NZL will lead 7-0 at the half, and that should be your ball game.

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  68. In men's volleyball, Canada crushes the USA 3 sets to 0, so our effort is not off to a great start.

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  69. The USA trails 5-0 in rugby -- NZL must have missed the conversion. There's 3 minutes left.

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  70. Final score from the women's quarter-finals:

    NZL 5 - 0 USA

    This was a real shame. Our players were clearly better than the players from both Australia and New Zealand, but they appeared to have no coaching at all. If Coach Haskins could have spent a week with these girls, they would have won the gold medal.

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  71. Replies
    1. Here's an idea for the American team -- practice hanging on to the ball. Also, have some plays.

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  72. The women's rugby semifinals tomorrow are going to be Australia against Canada (I haven't seen either of these teams) and New Zealand against Great Britain. I think New Zealand will beat Great Britain. Great Britain is scrappy, and they beat Fiji, which appeared to have one really great player. New Zealand appeared in its game against the United States to have two really great players--a super-fast one who scored the only touchdown and then a giant woman who did everything else. I predict having twice as many great players than Fiji will be enough to push New Zealand past scrappy Great Britain. Meanwhile, I am rooting for Canada.

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    Replies
    1. Whatever happens to anyone else, I hope Australia beats Canada 50-0.

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  73. The Williams sisters have lost the first set of their doubles match, and just allowed a break to open the second set. So they won't be around much longer.

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  74. The ESPN medal count has finally updated.

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  75. The Gold Zone is now showing four events: women's doubles (featuring, for a change, an Australian announcer), men's basketball (Croatia v. Spain), women's beach volleyball (Germany v. Egypt), and women's singles table tennis (Japan v. N. Korea).

    I really like the Gold Zone.

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  76. Meanwhile, the gutty Nats eked out a 1-0 victory over Madison Bumgarner and the San Francisco Giants. Wilson Ramos's homer in the 7th was the difference. Huge, huge, win for the Nats.

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  77. For table tennis, by the way, NBC is going with a British announcer.

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  78. Now the Gold Zone is taking us to the final of men's 123-lbs weightlifting. GOOD FOR YOU, GOLD ZONE!

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  79. The Williams sisters, down a set, are tied 2-2 in the second set. Venus does in fact look very ill.

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  80. The Czechs go up a break, and lead 3-2 in the second set. I have to eat, and the Gold Zone will be wrapping up soon, so I will sign off now.

    Once more, here is the medal count:

    1. ITA: 2 + 3 + 2 = 7
    2. CHN: 2 + 2 + 3 = 7
    3. USA: 1 + 5 + 1 = 7
    4. JPN: 1 + 0 + 6 = 7
    5. AUS: 3 + 0 + 2 = 5
    6. KOR: 2 + 2 + 1 = 5
    7. RUS: 1 + 2 + 2 = 5

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  81. I'll still be around to comment on other posts tonight, but I don't want to give anything away.

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  82. Yeah, I watched her in her singles match against a woman from Belgium yesterday. She took a 10-minute-or-so break in the middle of the match, and she was within two games of winning the match. She couldn't put away the match, though, and the Belgian came back and won in a tiebreaker in the third set. It was sad to see her lose like that. I really enjoy the Williams sisters.

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  83. The Chinese women are just amazing at the synchronized diving. Amazing.

    Diving, women's synchronized 3m springboard: China gold, Italy silver and Australia bronze

    Wu Minxia, a 30-year-old from Shanghai, becomes the first woman to win diving gold in four straight Olympics.

    This event was a standings blow for Team USA, as we scored silver at London 2012. They might've explained this on the Bob Costas prime-time show, but it does not appear the United States qualified a team for this event for Rio 2016.

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  84. Replies
    1. This is the eleventh time Bob Costas has hosted prime-time coverage of the Olympics.

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    2. When I was in college, I assumed that there would be a whole series of big-time sports announcers. It turns out that it's pretty much been Costas (born 1952), Al Michaels (born 1944), Marv Albert (born 1941), Jim Nantz (born 1959), and Joe Buck (born 1969). That's it. That's the list.

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  85. Croatia beat Spain 72-70 in men's basketball.

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  86. I messed up the equation in my 2012 "Event-Balanced Olympic Points (E-BOP)" proposal, but I stand by the basic argument.

    Anyway, diving is awarding medals in eight events at Rio 2016, so that means each event has 12.5 points up for grabs. I'm thinking winning a gold should be worth as much as winning a silver and bronze put together, so I'm awarding 50 percent, 30 percent and 20 percent for gold, silver and bronze, respectively. That means, in the case of this women's synchronized 3m springboard, 6.25 E-BOPs for China, 3.75 for Italy and 2.5 to Australia.

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  87. The gymnastics is not really my thing--it just makes me too nervous--but I do love putting Al Trautwig at the mike for the prime-time show.

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  88. I think this might be the medal deal for women's floor exercise. Team USA won this event in London, and Ally Raisman, who did the winning, is one of the U.S. competitors this year. The other 2012 medal winners were Romania, silver, and Russia, bronze.

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  89. Swimming, women’s 100m butterfly: Sweden gold, Canada silver and United States bronze

    Sarah Sjöström, a 22-year-old from Salem in Stockholm County, claims Sweden’s first women’s swimming gold. The London 2012 medal winners the United States, China and Australia. The U.S. gold winner in 2012, Dana Vollmer of Syracuse, New York, was the 2016 bronze winner for Team USA.

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  90. On second thought, I'm going to do 1,000 E-BOPs per sport, not 100.

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  91. Swimming, men's 100m breaststroke: Great Britain gold, South Africa silver and United States bronze

    Adam Peaty of Uttoxeter, England, sets his second world record of the games, and Cody Miller of Billings, Montana, takes bronze, edging teammate Kevin Cordes of Naperville, Illinois, who takes fourth.

    The 2012 winners in this event were South Africa, gold; Australia, silver, and United States, bronze.

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  92. Now the women’s 400m freestyle, and Katie Ledecky of Washington is the big favorite. France, the United States and Great Britain won the medals in this race at London 2012 ...

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    1. Katie Ledecky grew up in Bethesda, Md., and attended the Stone Ridge School of the Sacred Heart. She will go to Stanford in the fall.

      Virginia Thrasher grew up in Springfield, Va. and attended West Springfield High School. She's currently a student at West Virginia University.

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    2. It's like the kids in DC gave up on waiting for their professional teams to win, and decided to go win things for themselves.

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  93. And Leah Smith of Pittsburgh takes bronze! Great Britain scores silver.

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  94. Latest Medal Count:

    1. USA: 2 + 5 + 4 = 11
    2. CHN: 3 + 2 + 3 = 8
    3. ITA: 2 + 3 + 2 = 7
    4. JPN: 1 + 0 + 6 = 7

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  95. Cool ... Leah Smith's great uncle was Billy Conn, about whom Frank Deford wrote this amazing thing.

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  96. The Maya Angelou commercial for Apple is beautiful.

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  97. Yea! A CNN breaking-news alert appears on my laptop screen. I've grown to dread these. But this one is about Katie Ledecky's world record! Sports is so fantastic.

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  98. OK, men’s 100m backstroke semis … Team USA won gold and silver in this event at London, and they have the top two qualifiers for tomorrow night’s final in Rio—but they will not be favored, the NBC guys tell us. We’ll just have to root extra hard for Ryan Murphy of Jacksonville, Florida, and David Plummer of Norman, Oklahoma, tomorrow.

    Hey, here’s Ryan Seacrest.

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  99. Oh, I'm so nervous for Michael Phelps.

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  100. Here's Dominique Wilkins signing autographs for youth on a commercial for a diabetes medication.

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  101. Kathleen Baker of Winston-Salem, North Carolina, and Olivia Smoliga of Glenview, Illinois, advance out of the women’s 100m backstroke semis. Emily Seebohm of Australia, the 2012 silver winner, also makes it to tomorrow’s final. So does Katinka Hosszú of Hungary, who crushed a world record in another event yesterday.

    The London gold medalist was Team USA’s Missy Franklin, but she didn’t qualify in this event this time. Australia and Japan won the silver and bronze, respectively, in 2012.

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  102. I like that Walmart commercial with the Whitesnake song just fine. We have a new Walmart up at Hanson, and it's pretty nice, actually. It uses skylights doing the day, and that makes for a much better shopping experience.

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    Replies
    1. It's a fine commercial, as long as everyone has realistic expectations for their first day of school.

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  103. MICHAEL FREAKING PHELPS! HE JUST DID IT AGAIN!

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  104. Medal Count:

    1. USA: 3 + 5 + 4 = 12
    2. CHN: 3 + 2 + 3 = 8
    3. ITA: 2 + 3 + 2 = 7
    4. JPN: 1 + 0 + 6 = 7

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  105. Michael Phelps says that "we wanted to bring that relay back on American soil."

    He's right. The relays are the best. I love the relays.

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  106. After the first leg of the 4x100m freestyle relay, Team USA is in second place behind France. Michael Phelps of Baltimore dives in the water, and Team USA is still behind France when he tags the wall. But then he zips by the leader under the water on the turn and puts Team USA in the lead through two legs. The United States protects the advantage through the final two legs, and Team USA takes gold, ahead of France and Australia. France, United States and Russia won gold, silver and bronze, respectively, in 2012, so this was a nice pickup for Team USA.

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    Replies
    1. Way to go, Michael Phelps of (Frank Deford's) Baltimore; Caeleb Dressel of Green Cove Springs, Florida; Nathan Adrian of Bremerton, Washington, and Ryan Held of Springfield, Illinois.

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  107. And CNN sends out another happy breaking-news alert.

    Phew. That was excellent!

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  108. OK, the annual pictures of Aly Raisman's parents watching her do her routines are just terrific. Hooray for those people.

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  109. Aw, that's sweet ... Phelps's rookie teammate, Ryan Held, breaks down on the medal stand during the national anthem. Wow. What a night. That was fantastic. Hooray for the Olympics!

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