Wednesday, August 10, 2016

XXXI Olympic Summer Games, Rio 2016 (Day 5)

It was another fantastic night of U.S. swimming and women's gymnastics success on Channel 6, and I decided I needed to settle down and just watch and enjoy last night. 

I am so glad that it's the swimmers live and the gymnasts on tape delay. As dependable as the Team USA swimmers are, it's nerve-racking to root in real time for the swimmers through medal races that are determined by tenths of seconds--but not nearly as nerve-racking as it would be to root for the Team USA women's gymnasts in real time, as dependable as they are, because that whole sport feels like accidents waiting to happen. 

Anyway, as it is, we've got a pretty good thing going--my wife, Channel 6 and me. Last night, I watched and cheered through the live swimming in prime time. When they showed the Katie Ledecky and Michael Phelps medal ceremonies in prime time, I felt pretty good that the Team USA women's gymnasts must've won and they were holding out their medal ceremony for the big Bob Costas show closer at 11. Anyway, when Al Trautwig came on at 10 to talk us through the final two exercises as Team USA worked to protect its lead, I felt confident enough to roll over and doze on the couch, waking up occasionally whenever my wife or he reacted any too loudly. It all worked out fine. U! S! A!

221 comments:

  1. Here are the standings going into today:

    United States 9 gold medals, 8 silver, 9 bronze
    China 8, 3, 6
    Hungary 4, 1, 1
    Australia 4, 0, 5
    Italy 3, 4, 2
    South Korea 3, 2, 1
    Japan 3, 1, 10
    France 2, 3, 1
    Thailand 2, 1, 1
    Great Britain 1, 3, 2
    Germany 1, 2, 0
    Sweden 1, 2, 0
    Brazil 1, 1, 0
    Taipei 1, 0, 2
    Belgium 1, 0, 1
    Greece 1, 0, 1
    Netherlands 1, 0, 1
    Argentina 1, 0, 0
    Colombia 1, 0, 0
    Croatia 1, 0, 0
    Kosovo 1, 0, 0
    Slovenia 1, 0, 0
    Vietnam 1, 0, 0
    Indonesia 0, 2, 0
    New Zealand 0, 2, 0
    North Korea 0, 2, 0
    Canada 0, 1, 4
    Kazakhstan 0, 1, 3
    Ukraine 0, 1, 1
    Azerbaijan 0, 1, 0
    Denmark 0, 1, 0
    Malaysia 0, 1, 0
    Mongolia 0, 1, 0
    Mongolia 0, 1, 0
    Philippines 0, 1, 0
    Slovakia 0, 1, 0
    Turkey 0, 1, 0
    Uzbekistan 0, 0, 2
    Spain 0, 0, 1
    Georgia 0, 0, 1
    Israel 0, 0, 1
    Kyrgyzstan 0, 0, 1
    Poland 0, 0, 1
    Portugal 0, 0, 1
    Switzerland 0, 0, 1
    United Arab Emirates 0, 0, 1

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  2. Now on Channel 6: Bunch of people cheering and waving U.S. flags on theToday.

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  3. Now on Golf Channel: Martin Kaymer live practicing bunker shots.

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  4. Now on NBC Sports Network: Live timed cycling. I think this is a medal race. I'll probably come back to this.

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  5. Now on USA: Netherlands, up 6-4 in the first set against Australia in women's beach volleyball.

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  6. Now on MSNBC: "RYAN EASILY DEFEATS PRIMARY CHALLENGER."

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  7. Now on Bravo: One of those Real Housewives programs. I've never seen any of these.

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  8. The McDonald's commercial about healthier Chicken McNuggets and with the stripped-down version of the Cyndi Lauper song is sweet.

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  9. NBC advertises NASCAR's return to its airwaves after the Olympics, and Blake Shelton differentiates by saying that the drivers care about bragging rights (as opposed to records) and that only the winner gets on the podium (as opposed to silver and bronze winners, in addition to gold). Those are good points. I like NASCAR fine.

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  10. OK, back to the cycling on NBC Sports ... yes, this does appear to be a medal race, and the first U.S. dude to go off just wrecked! Man, that was painful to watch. He appears to be OK, and he's back to riding.

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  11. Wikipedia is amazing. I just donated $10. That covers the three of us.

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  12. Wikipedia says the favorites here are Great Britain's Chris Froome, Switzerland's Fabian Cancellara, Germany's Tony Martin, the Netherlands' Tom Dumoulin and Belarus's Vasil Kiryienka.

    Here were the medalists at London 2012:

    -- Bradley Wiggins, Great Britain, gold
    -- Tony Martin, Germany, silver
    -- Chris Froome, Great Britain, bronze

    The leader at the moment is a fellow from Austria.

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  13. It looks so nice and overcast on this course. This is neat to watch.

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  14. This is one of 20 medal events today.

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  15. My wife makes a good point that it would be so awful to have the cars or motorcycles with race officials driving behind you in this race--you'd constantly worry that you'd crash and all of these people would just drive right over you.

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  16. The deodorant commercial with the women in the restroom, girding to ask for a pay raise, is so fantastic that it literally brought tears to my eyes.

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  17. I've been hearing people talk about Kristen (or Kiersten) Bell for years, and I finally saw who she is. And I honestly don't believe I've ever seen a picture of her. Well, anyway, she has a comedy with Ted Danson this fall on NBC. I sure loved Cheers.

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  18. Now the Austrian guy is back in front. It's raining again.

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  19. OK, I mentioned this is one of 20 medal events today.

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  20. The leader is now Tim Wellens of Belgium, followed by a guy from Poland. I'm doing my best to catch the names, Matthew, but Go Heath is right about NBC's minimalist graphics.

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  21. One medal event has already been completed today, and--SPOILER ALERT, BOB COSTAS FANS--it has been WON! BY! TEAM! U! S! A!

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  22. Kristin Armstrong won gold in cycling, women's time trial, at Beijing 2008 and retired. She came back to win gold in the event at London 2012 and retired. But she came back again.

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  23. Late in today's race, she trailed, and, she told NBC Sports Network, "she hurt so much." Armstrong said her coach kept asking her to decide "which color medal do you want." She said she kept reminding herself that she would have to "live with" whatever result she got today.

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  24. NBC Sports Network had footage of her crossing the finish line, stopping her bike, turning to someone on the course and asking, "Did I win?" Yes, someone told her. And then she collapsed onto the course in relief.

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  25. Cycling, women's road time trial: United States gold and Netherlands bronze.

    Happy 43rd birthday tomorrow, Kristin Armstrong, originally of Memphis, Tennessee, and now of Boise, Idaho.

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  26. Updated standings:

    United States 10 gold medals, 8 silver, 9 bronze
    China 8, 3, 6
    Hungary 4, 1, 1
    Australia 4, 0, 5
    Italy 3, 4, 2
    South Korea 3, 2, 1
    Japan 3, 1, 10
    France 2, 3, 1
    Thailand 2, 1, 1
    Great Britain 1, 3, 2
    Germany 1, 2, 0
    Sweden 1, 2, 0
    Brazil 1, 1, 0
    Netherlands 1, 0, 2
    Taipei 1, 0, 2
    Belgium 1, 0, 1
    Greece 1, 0, 1
    Argentina 1, 0, 0
    Colombia 1, 0, 0
    Croatia 1, 0, 0
    Kosovo 1, 0, 0
    Slovenia 1, 0, 0
    Vietnam 1, 0, 0
    Indonesia 0, 2, 0
    New Zealand 0, 2, 0
    North Korea 0, 2, 0
    Canada 0, 1, 4
    Kazakhstan 0, 1, 3
    Ukraine 0, 1, 1
    Azerbaijan 0, 1, 0
    Denmark 0, 1, 0
    Malaysia 0, 1, 0
    Mongolia 0, 1, 0
    Mongolia 0, 1, 0
    Philippines 0, 1, 0
    Slovakia 0, 1, 0
    Turkey 0, 1, 0
    Uzbekistan 0, 0, 2
    Spain 0, 0, 1
    Georgia 0, 0, 1
    Israel 0, 0, 1
    Kyrgyzstan 0, 0, 1
    Poland 0, 0, 1
    Portugal 0, 0, 1
    Switzerland 0, 0, 1
    United Arab Emirates 0, 0, 1

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  27. Here's the stuff I'm most interested in today:

    10 a.m.:

    — Shooting, men's 50m pistol, finals

    10:30 a.m.:

    -- Madison Keys, United States, vs. Daria Kasatkina, Russia, women's tennis singles, quarterfinals

    11:30 a.m.:

    -- Fiji vs. United States, men's rugby sevens, group play

    1 p.m.:

    -- Serbia vs. United States, women's volleyball, group play

    1:15 p.m.:

    — Shooting, men's double trap, finals
    — Canoe slalom, men's kayak single, finals

    1:25 p.m.:

    — Weightlifting, women's 69 kg, finals

    1:30 p.m.:

    — Diving, men's synchronized 3m springboard, finals
    — Tennis, men's doubles, semifinals, United States (including Jack Sock!) vs. Romania

    2 p.m.:

    — Gymnastics, men's individual all-around, finals
    — Judo, women's 70 kg, medal bouts

    3:15 p.m.:

    -- Carlos Quipo Pilataxi, Ecuador, vs. Nico Hernández, United States, in boxing, men's light fly 49 kg, quarterfinals

    2:40 p.m.:

    — Judo, men's 90 kg, medal bouts

    5 p.m.:

    — Weightlifting, men's 77 kg, finals

    5:20 p.m.:

    — Fencing, women's individual foil, medal matches

    5:50 p.m.:

    — Fencing, men's individual saber, medal matches

    6:30 p.m.:

    — Table tennis, women's singles, medal matches

    8:03 p.m.:

    — Swimming, men's 200m breaststroke, medal race

    8:54 p.m.:

    — Swimming, women's 200m butterfly, medal race

    9:03 p.m.:

    — Swimming, men's 100m freestyle, medal race

    9:55 p.m.:

    — Swimming, women's 4x200m freestyle relay, medal race

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  28. OK, it always takes me several days to start to figure out how to enjoy the Olympics, and that's happening on Day 5 for XXXI Olympic Summer Games, Rio 2016. Feels good!

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  29. Weird. Go Heath's comments are showing in the "recent comments" pane but not in the source post here.

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  30. I didn't get to see the men's pistol post, but, based on the part of your crack on the NRA that I can see in "recent comments," it doesn't appear I missed much.

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    1. I don't know what the men in this country do with all the guns they buy, but apparently they don't practice shooting them.

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    2. Shooting, men's 50m pistol: South Korea gold, Vietnam silver and North Korea bronze. That's three straight gold medals in this event for 36-year-old Jin Jong-oh of Gangwon Province. Wikipedia: "Gangwon-do is known throughout Korea for its production of sundubu, a variety of soft tofu made with seawater. It is also well known for its tender beef."

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  31. OK, I was wondering where Eric was. Now I've found him. Hello, Eric!

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    Replies
    1. Yes, hello. I see this comment but not the others.

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    2. I had started my own thread -- my posts are over there. But now I'm abandoning that thread for this one.

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  32. The tennis is in rain delay. I got to see the end of Serena Williams's loss on tape on Bravo, and it was sad. She looked almost sick to her stomach, presumably from her shoulder injury. My old friend Mary Carillo wondered if it would allow her to play in the U.S. Open later this month.

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  33. Medal Count:

    1. USA: 10 + 8 + 9 = 27
    2. CHN: 8 + 3 + 6 = 17
    3. JPN: 3 + 1 + 10 = 14
    4. RUS: 3 + 7 + 3 = 13

    The USA has won a lot of gold medals since yesterday.

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  34. In the rugby, NZL trails GBR 19-21 with 23 seconds left. They were down 0-21 just a few minutes ago.

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  35. But GBR runs out the clock -- NZL loses! What a disaster for them.

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  36. The USA men have beaten France 6-3 in water polo.

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  37. Meanwhile, Great Britain was ahead, 21-0, at half on New Zealand in rugby.

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    Replies
    1. This has all been so confusing in the last 15 minutes.

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  38. I'm going to be off for a little bit now, and then I'm going to resume commenting on wherever you're commenting.

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  39. Oh, I did want to say one more thing: I love Serena Williams, who was born in Saginaw, Michigan, and who grew up in Compton, California, and West Palm Beach, Florida, and I was surprised to see how sad I was when I read that she lost yesterday.

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  40. The Gold Zone is really great. Now I want Tanith White and Andrew Siciliano to host the NCAA Basketball Tournament with this same approach.

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  41. Fabian Cancellara of Switzerland has won the men's time trial in cycling.

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    1. Cycling, men's road time trial: Switzerland gold, the Netherlands silver and Great Britain bronze.

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  42. Also, Tanith White and Andrew Siciliano could do a Red Zone for NCAA Football. That would be tremendous.

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  43. And now we get the medal ceremony for Kristin Armstrong. Go, Idaho!

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  44. I don't want to suggest that our civilization is in decline -- after all, we have the Gold Zone -- but having the diving pool turn green is like one of those scenes at the end of Atlas Shrugged.

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  45. OK, here's a big rugby game: Fiji v. USA. The Fijians will be heavily favored, but the USA needs a good result to reach the quarterfinals.

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  46. Tanith White tells us that Fiji is ranked number one in the world.

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  47. And that's how we do it downtown! The USA breaks off a long run for try, and jumps out to a 5-0 lead. And the kick is good!

    With 1:46 left in the 1st half:

    FIJ 0 - 7 USA

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  48. But just as the USA looks like its going in for another score, Fiji breaks out of the scrum with the ball, and goes something like 80 yards to tie the game.

    And then, for reasons I don't understand, they kept playing for another 2 1/2 minutes after time had expired. Fiji went a man down, but still managed to score against a very poor USA defense.

    At the half:

    FIJ 12 - 7 USA

    I'm begging USA Rugby -- PLEASE HIRE SOME COACHES!

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  49. The second half kicks off, and the USA scores a quick try -- taking advantage of a turnover by Fiji. That's more like it.

    The kick is good!

    With 5:38 left:

    FIJ 12 - 14 USA

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  50. That doesn't last long. There's another terrible defensive mistake by the Americans, and a guy for Fiji races untouched for about 80 yards and another try.

    With 3:45 to go:

    FIJ 19 - 14 USA

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  51. And there's your ball game. Fiji, now looking like the best team in the world, quickly smothers the Americans, takes the ball, and pounds in another try.

    With 1:23 left:

    FIJ 24 - 14 USA

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  52. But wait! The Americans take the kickoff, and run it back for a try!

    With 50 seconds left:

    FIJ 24 - 19 USA

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  53. Fiji does not try to run out the clock, but goes charging down the field looking for another score. They are finally tackled, and the Americans have a throw-in deep in their own territory.

    It goes nowhere, and the game is over. Final score:

    FIJ 24 - 19 USA

    We only had 38 extra seconds at the end of the second half, and we had almost 3 minutes of extra time at the end of the first half. I'm sure there was a good reason for that.

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  54. So there were three third-place teams: Australia, New Zealand, and the United States. Australia went 2-1-0, while NZL and USA both went 1-2-0, so Australia moves on to the quarter-finals. NZL outscored its opponents by 19 points, while the USA outscored its opponents by 18 points, so NZL goes to the quarters, and the USA is eliminated by one point. What a disaster.

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  55. To be fair, we should have scored more points against Brazil. Also, we collapsed at the end against Argentina.

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  56. Mike Tirico's tribute to John Saunders on NBC just now was lovely and moving.

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  57. On Bravo now: Tennis rain delay and chitchat about Serena's loss.

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  58. On MSNBC now: Live men's trap shooting, bronze-medal match. Two guys from Great Britain are playing here, and one of them is leading the other by two.

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  59. On USA now: France 53, Serbia 51. Third quarter in men's basketball.

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  60. On NBC Sports Network: Team USA 4, Serbia 2. Women's basketball, 9:13 to go in the first quarter.

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  61. OK, back to the live shooting on MSNBC ... one of the Great Britain dudes must've won the bronze. Now we have the gold-medal shoot between a guy from Kuwait and a guy from Italy. Except the guy from Kuwait is competing as an "Independent Olympic Athlete," because the IOC is at odds with Kuwait's Olympic committee. Maybe they tried to cheat in the Paralympics.

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    1. No, the IOC claims that Kuwait's government interfered with the Kuwait Olympic Committee.

      But of course, the Russians are free to compete.

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  62. This is the men's double trap. The 2012 medalists were Great Britain, gold; Sweden, silver, and Russia, bronze.

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  63. Every time the Olympics rolls around, I'm convinced that there must be an alternative universe where volleyball is just a huge, huge sport. The volleyballers always act like they're a big deal, and their tournament always seems to be one of the best in the Olympics -- with lots of parity and hard feelings.

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  64. Shooting, men's double trap: Kuwait gold, Italy silver and Great Britain bronze.

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  65. The country code for Kuwait is "KUW."

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  66. Now on MSNBC, we have a quarterfinal in fencing, men's saber, between Team USA's Daryl Homer, a 26-year-old who was born in Saint Thomas in the U.S. Virgin Islands and moved to the Bronx with his mom and sister when he was 5, is leading a German, 7-2 ...

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  67. London 2012 medal winners in men's sabre were Hungary, Italy and Russia.

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  68. 12-7 ... this thing goes to 15, I think ...

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  69. 13-8 ... Homer thrusts both fists into the air, and the MSNBC color commentator spits, "I can tell you in fencing celebrate at 15 not 13!" ...

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  70. 14-12 ... Homer won the 2010 and 2011 NCAA sabre titles, but then he passed up his senior season at St. John's in order to get ready for London 2012 ...

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  71. For the record, I want to note that the German fencer is yelling at the officials after every point. This guy makes Reggie Jackson look restrained.

    Oh, and now we've had to stop the match altogether to deal with the German guy.

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    1. Yeah, that guy was awful. The athletes who come up in the soccer countries who turn out not to act like that are really, really high-character people.

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  72. THAT'S IT! On to the men's sabre semis for Team USA's Daryl Homer!

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  73. Somewhere, J.J. Redick is watching this and saying, "That German fencer is a bit of a whiner."

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  74. I'm really glad Homer won. That German guy was my least favorite athlete in these Olympics so far.

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  75. When Chuck Todd first came on MSNBC, my WKU friends used to tell me how much he and I look alike. But then he lost weight, and I lost hair, and he kept his goatee, and I've gone back and forth between full beard or none at all, and that was that. Happy 20th birthday, MSNBC!

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  76. Bravo just keeps on showing the tennis matches that the Williams sisters lost. I sure hope Serena and Venus didn't set their VCRs back in Florida to tape Real Housewives reruns today.

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  77. Brazil, the United States and Japan won gold, silver and bronze, respectively, in women's volleyball at London 2012.

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  78. Team USA beats Serbia, three sets to one. That leaves the United States as the only undefeated team in Pool B of the women's volleyball tournament. (Serbia falls to 2-1.) Brazil and Russia are both 2-0 in Pool A; Japan is also in Pool A, and it's 1-1.

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  79. On MSNBC now: South Korea and Mexico in men's soccer are tied at the half.

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  80. On USA now: There's a guy riding a dancing horse, and he is somehow connected to the family of Gaston Glock, the Austrian founder of the firearms maker.

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  81. I wonder if the Glocks and the Springsteens hang out.

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  82. On CNBC: Shake Shack earnings are due after the bell.

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  83. On NBC Sports Network now: Team USA 86, Serbia 68. Women's basketball fourth quarter.

    If we want to get serious about competing in rugby and curling, we need to get the KHSAA to sponsor championships in them.

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  84. Seriously, KHSAA football is so awful, President Obama should make all of the little schools convert to rugby sevens.

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    1. No, he should not. We should go from six classes to three, but that's a discussion for another day.

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  85. On Golf Network: We're getting serious now, baby! We're doing a hole-by-hole tour of the Rio 2016 course. The men's tournament tees off tomorrow morning early.

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    1. In five days of coverage, the Gold Zone has said nothing about golf.

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  86. On NBC now: This appears to be a replay of the men's cycling race from this morning. Why are we seeing this thing? I think medal bouts in men's judo are happening right now.

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  87. Appears to be time to check out the Gold Zone ...

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  88. Nyah, I'm afraid I'm going to mess myself up for watching the Bob Costas show tonight.

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  89. Final from women's basketball:

    USA 110 - 84 SRB

    Very game effort from Serbia, which I think of as the West Virginia of nations.

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  90. Nico Hernández, a 20-year-old from Wichita, Kansas, is fighting a guy from Ecuador in the men's light fly quarterfinals. Per his TeamUSA.org bio, "Nico works his father as a lube tech at a Wichita area trucking company."

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  91. Round 1 goes to the Ecuadorian, 2-1.

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    Replies
    1. My dad always said that in international boxing, you have to be the more aggressive boxer.

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  92. Medal Count:

    1. USA: 10 + 9 + 9 = 28
    2. CHN: 9 + 3 + 7 = 19
    3. JPN: 4 + 1 + 10 = 15
    4. RUS: 3 + 7 + 3 = 13

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  93. Taylor Eldridge in The Wichita Eagle reports that the local Cortez Mexican Restaurant has been hosting "watch parties" for Hernández's fights.

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  94. Round 2 goes to Hernández, 2-1. Third round will decide it ...

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  95. “There's so much at stake for both of these tiny, powerful men,” the NBCOlympics.com commentator says.

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  96. The Guardian says that with 3 golds and 11 medals, the British are 9th in the medals table. But in the USA method of counting -- which goes by total medals -- the British are 5th.

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  97. "They both think they've made it through to the semifinals. This is so, so, so close."

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  98. In his previous fight, Hernández upset the second seed in this weight class. AND NOW HE WINS THIS ONE, TOO! HE'S ON TO THE SEMIFINALS!

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  99. WAY TO GO, NICO HERNANDEZ! U! S! A!

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  100. Friday's semifinals in men's light flyweight will pit Cuba and Colombia in one fight and Team USA's Nico Hernández against a guy from Uzbekistan in the other. The gold-medal fight is Sunday. All four of these guys are getting medals, one way or another. The medal winners in the event at London 2012 were China, gold; Thailand, silver, and Ireland and Russia, bronze.

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  101. The London 2012 medal winners in this event were Daniele Molmenti of Italy, Vavřinec Hradilek of Czech Republic and Hannes Aigner of Germany. Only Aigner is on the start list for the final, along with guys from Italy, France, Russia, New Zealand, Slovenia, Great Britain, Czech Republic, Slovakia and (hometown-favorite Pedro Da Silva) Brazil.

    It’s 19 degrees Celsius (about 66 degrees Fahrenheit) and a little windy at the Whitewater Stadium in Rio. I love it that NBCOlympics.com is playing samba music as they describe the course.

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  102. Medal Count:

    1. USA: 10 + 9 + 9 = 28
    2. CHN: 9 + 3 + 8 = 20
    3. JPN: 5 + 1 + 10 = 16
    4. RUS: 3 + 7 + 3 = 13

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  103. Man, this is a great-, great-looking sport.

    No middles-schooler loved the old waterslide at Noble Park more than I did, but I just can't do them anymore--they make me dizzy and upset my stomach something fierce.

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  104. By the way, when someone explains to me why calling someone a cheater is worse than actually being a cheater, then I will understand a lot more about our society.

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  105. Every Olympics, I find about four or five sports where I want to start following their competitions all through the year. So far, this Olympics, those sports are rugby sevens and canoeing/kayaking.

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  106. Canoeing, men's kayak single slalom: Great Britain gold, Slovenia silver and Czech Republic bronze.

    "A K-1 final of just extraordinary quality!" says the NBCOlympics.com commentator.

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  107. Oh, excellent, they even have the medal ceremonies on the live stream. So, thanks to Joe Clarke of Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire, we're about to hear "God Save the Queen."

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    Replies
    1. He's probably a big fan of Stoke City F.C. They finished 9th in the English Premier League last season, just ahead of Chelsea.

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  108. Somebody from the International Canoe Federation (ICF) is on hand for the Joe Clarke medal ceremony.

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  109. Well, that was all wonderful. Congratulations, Joe Clarke of Stoke-on-Trent!

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  110. The USA women's volleyball team is coached by Karch Kiraly, who is trying to become the first man to win volleyball gold as a player and a coach. (I'm not sure the coaches actually get a gold medal, but you see the point.)

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    1. This is exactly the sort of stuff I figured went on in the volleyball world. Somewhere there's an alternative universe where Karch Kiraly is the most famous athlete of all time, and Michael Jordan is about as famous as Karch Kiraly is in our universe.

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    2. Except, maybe in that alternative universe, Michael Jordan is a volleyball player, and Karch Kiraly played basketball.

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    3. This is an interesting question. I'll ask Smart Girl about it.

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  111. Earlier today, Xiang Yanmei, 24-year-old from Baojing, Hunan and a 2015 nominee for China Central Television female athlete of the year, won the women's 69kg weightlifting event. Kazakhstan and Egypt won silver and bronze, respectively. This was a good gold pickup for China, as the London 2012 medalists in this event were North Korea, Romania and Belarus.

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  112. I've decided that what they should do is have lawyers at the fencing. Each fencer would have his or her own lawyer. And then, after every point, there'd be a little argument about what happened. And then they'd rule. After watching the fencing, and seeing all the posturing that goes on, I really think this suggestion could save time.

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  113. Here's another idea for the fencing. Put all 32 fencers in a giant castle, with chandeliers and flags all over the place. Then they fight it out. Once the judges declare you to be dead, you have to leave the castle. In the end, there is only one fencer left, and he or she is the winner.

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  114. Replies
    1. If you type in "USSR Weightlifter," the first hit on Google is Vasily Alekseyev -- as it should be.

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    2. Weightlifting, men's 77kg: Kazakhstan gold, China silver and Egypt bronze.

      Good day for Egypt.

      Delete
  115. Meanwhile, the USA men's basketball team is in a rare old scrap with Matt Dellavadova (sp?) and his fellow Aussies. With 45 seconds left in the first quarter:

    AUS 27 - 29 USA

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  116. At the half:

    AUS 54 - 49 USA

    Carmelo Anthony -- who is a beast in FIBA -- is doing his thing, with 17 points. But Cousins has already picked up 3 fouls and Durant is 2-10 from the field. For the Aussies, Andrew Bogut is 6-6 from the field with 13 points, and they have made 5-8 from three-point land.

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  117. I take it back. In any alternative universe, basketball would be a bigger deal with volleyball.

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  118. 2:40 left in the 3d:

    AUS 65 - 67 USA

    Under FIBA rules, by the way, defense is basically impossible.

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  119. The FIBA officials have been waiting for a game like this for years. They're calling fouls against the USA all over the place.

    1:27 left in the 3d:

    AUS 67 - 67 USA

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  120. End of the 3d:

    AUS 67 - 70 USA

    The USA held AUS to 13 points in that quarter; that's very good defense.

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  121. 9:00 left:

    AUS 72 - 70 USA

    Americans have gone ice cold.

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  122. Carmelo Anthony comes back to tie the game at 72, but misses the free throw.

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  123. Anthony hits a three, to put the USA up 3, but AUS comes back with a quick basket.

    And then Anthony hits another 3. He has 25 points, and the last 8 in a row.

    Under FIBA rules, he is one of the best players in the world.

    7:08 left:

    AUS 74 - 78 USA

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  124. Aussies take a bad shot, and USA gets the rebound. But Durant, who is having a nightmare of a game, misses a three.

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  125. Irving makes a jump shot but the Dellavadova responds. 6 minutes left:

    AUS 76 - 80 USA

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  126. Anthony makes another three to put the USA up 7.

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  127. Klay Thompson misses a wide open three, and the Aussies score at the other end -- but then Irving scores to put the USA up 7.

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  128. But Patty Mills is on fire! He's got 26 points, and he hits another layup.

    3:57 left:

    AUS 80 - 85 USA

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  129. Anthony responds with another 3! He's 9-14 from behind the arc, and the USA leads by 8.

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  130. Mills misses a 3, and the USA gets the rebound.

    3:05 left:

    AUS 80 - 88 USA

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  131. Thompson can't make anything. He misses again, and he's 2-9 in the game. Dellavadova takes advantage.

    2:40 left:

    AUS 82 - 88 USA

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  132. But Irving responds, and the USA is back up 8. And then Thompson fouls Mills, and the Aussies are in the bonus.

    Mills makes both of them. With 2:11 left:

    AUS 84 - 90 USA

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  133. Irving misses a runner, and Mills scores at the other end.

    1:45 left:

    AUS 86 - 90 USA

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  134. AND IRVING HITS A THREE! USA back up by 7!

    But Dellavadova scores at the other end.

    1:07 left:

    AUS 88 - 93 USA

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  135. With the shot clock down to 3, Anthony throws up a 35-footer, which misses. But Paul George grabs the rebound!

    51.1 seconds left:

    AUS 88 - 93 USA

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  136. And then Irving is trapped. He tries to throw it to Anthony, who loses it, and the Aussies will have the ball.

    36.3 seconds left:

    AUS 88 - 93 USA

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  137. Australia shoots and misses, and Durant has the rebound.

    27.8 seconds left:

    AUS 88 - 93 USA

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  138. They throw the ball in to Irving, who is immediately grabbed by Dellavadova. Irving goes to the line.

    He misses the first one.
    He makes the second one.

    27 seconds left:

    AUS 88 - 94 USA

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  139. The USA has scored 24 points in the 4th quarter, and all 24 came from Anthony or Irving.

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  140. Mills shoots a wild three, and there's a wild scramble for the rebound. George and Dellavadova go flying out of bounds. USA ball with 20 seconds left.

    Irving is fouled with 17 seconds left.

    He makes the first one.
    He makes the second one.

    AUS 88 - 96 USA

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  141. Another miss from Australia, and Durant is fouled with 6.5 seconds left.

    He makes the first one.
    He makes the second one.

    AUS 88 - 98 USA

    That's your final score. What a great game!

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  142. Irving and Anthony are two of my favorite players, and they came through!

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  143. Anthony: 2-6 from 2-point range, 9-15 from 3-point range, 0-1 at the line -- 31 points and 8 rebounds.

    Irving: 5-10 from 2-point range, 2-5 from 3-point range, 1-2 from the line -- 17 points and 5 assists

    Durant: 2-13 from 2-point range, 2-4 from 3-point range, 2-2 from the line -- 12 points and 4 rebounds

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  144. Medal Count:

    1. USA: 10 + 10 + 9 = 29
    2. CHN: 9 + 4 + 8 = 21
    3. JPN: 6 + 1 + 10 = 17
    4. RUS: 4 + 7 + 3 = 14

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  145. You're counting Russian medals now?

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    Replies
    1. It's the IOC's count, not mine. I am interested to see if Japan can hold them off.

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  146. OK, back home for the women's 200m butterfly swimming ... China, Spain and Japan medaled at London 2012 ...

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  147. Now it's the 100m mens freestyle, and Nathan Adrian of Team USA is trying to defend a London 2012 gold ...

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    Replies
    1. In the final second or three, 18-year-old Kyle Chalmers of Port Lincoln, Australia, overcomes Adrian of Bremerton, Washington, in the middle of the pool. Chalmers claims gold for Australia. Pieter Timmers of Belgium swooshes by on the outside for silver, and Adrian takes bronze for Team USA.

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  148. Earlier this evening, Kazakhstan and the United States won gold and silver, respectively, in the men's 200m breaststroke. Josh Prenot, a 23-year-old from Sedalia, Missouri (KFVS country!), got Team USA onto the podium after it failed to medal in the event in London.

    Good day for Kazakhstan.

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  149. Oh, excellent! The NBC commentators just mentioned the Reitz High School Panthers. That's where my siblings went to high school in Evansville!

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