So sad.It's your last weekday to stream Olympics at work. Here's the best of Friday's schedule: usat.ly/NrPKYQ
— USA TODAY Sports (@USATODAYsports) August 10, 2012
Previous reports:
-- watching opening day and the opening ceremony (July 27)
-- watching Day 1 and the men's cycling road race (July 28)
-- watching Day 4, a men's basketball update, badminton jive, "culture war" jive, end-of-day OES and end-of-day EOES (July 31)
-- watching Day 6, men's basketball update, end-of-day OES and end-of-day EOES (Aug. 2)
-- watching Day 7, end-of-day OES and end-of-day EOES (Aug. 3)
-- watching Day 10, men's basketball update, end-of-day OES, end-of-day EOES and 2008-2012 OES comparison (Aug. 6)
-- watching Day 11, boxing sadness, end-of-day OES and end-of-day EOES (Aug. 7)
-- watching Day 13 and end-of-day OES (Aug. 9)
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!
ReplyDeleteIt appears that NBC plans to include coverage of today's heats as part of the prime-time show, so this should be a very touching episode of The Tom Hammond Show. Gay and Hammond were both Lexington Lafayette High School Generals!
DeleteThe Generals' colors are red, white and blue.
DeleteLafayette High School, which opened in 1939 to replace Picadome High School, was originally built with WPA federal funds. It was named for the Marquis de Lafayette, the French general who gained fame in the Revolutionary War. His family also granted the school permission to use their family coat of arms as its logo.
The school building was totally renovated in 1998, and the stadium overhaul was completed in the fall of 2010.
What makes our school special
Lafayette is an academically driven, strong, traditional school. We are home to the School for the Creative and Performing Arts' gifted and talented program as well as the district's pre-engineering program.
Lafayette continues to grow advanced-placement and personalized student opportunities through smaller learning communities and National Governors Association grants.
Steeped in tradition, Lafayette holds numerous academic, athletic and extracurricular titles.
Mom, incidentally: Thinks they should give South Africa's Oscar Pistorius, regardless, and thinks Jamaica's Usain Bolt is too cocky, regardless.
ReplyDeleteRoller skating is not an Olympic sport--but might be by 2020, per Wikipedia.
DeleteMom, 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.
Mom on rhythmic gymnastics: "I wouldn't think that would be considered a sport, but ..."
DeleteMy 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.
DeleteForty men's boxing medals are being dolled out today, and Team USA is in the running for nary a one.
ReplyDeleteCheck that ... 20 men's boxing medals are going out today ... the gold-medal matches are Saturday and Sunday.
DeleteOur 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 ...
ReplyDeleteBulgaria'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.
Delete17-16, Bulgaria, in the third set ...
DeleteMen'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.
DeleteNo surprise, then, that the Russian Federation has quickly emerged as a power--with a bronze in 1996 and silvers in both 2000 and 2004.
DeleteRussia 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.
21-all in the third ...
DeleteRussia serving, now ahead of Bulgaria, 22-21 ...
Delete23-square, Bulgaria serve ...
DeleteBULGARIA! Wins the third, 25-23!
DeleteHere's some of what I'm not watching today:
ReplyDelete-- 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
Pardon ... that women's BMX race starting momentarily is the gold-medal final, not a semi ...
DeleteAlso not watching:
Delete-- 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
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!
DeleteQuarantining 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.
DeleteMeanwhile, 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 ...
ReplyDeleteRussia still leads, 19-18 ...
Delete19-all, and Bulgaria serving!
DeleteBulgaria up! Serving 21-20 ...
DeleteRussia back up, 24-23 ... Russia's match point; Bulgaria serving ...
DeleteIt's over. Russia, 3-1 over Bulgaria, and on to the gold-medal match.
DeletePour old Bulgaria.
DeleteBrazil 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.
DeleteMedals:
ReplyDeleteMen'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?
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.
ReplyDeleteWomen: Colombia gold, New Zealand silver, Netherlands bronze.
Men: Latvia gold, Australia silver, Colombia bronze.
Oh, immortal joy!
Medals count:
ReplyDelete1. 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
Now Russia is up, 31-18, in the second quarter of the first men's basketball semi.
ReplyDelete35-29 in the third ...
DeleteSpain closing ... Russia leads, 46-43, in third ...
DeleteSpain overtakes! Heartbreak in Moscow: 67-59, final.
DeleteA 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.
DeleteI 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.
ReplyDeleteOr 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.
DeleteLeaders 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.
DeleteTeam USA's Tiger Woods is now within one stroke of teammate Gary Woodland's lead in the not-Olympic men's golf tournament.
DeleteHurrah! 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.
ReplyDeletePaige 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.
ReplyDeleteYEAH! YEAHYEAHYEAH! Paige McPherson claims repechage-redemption bronze!
DeleteThis not-watching thing is awesome.
DeleteMom 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.
DeleteWomen's welterweight taekwondo medals: South Korea gold, Turkey silver, Germany and United States bronze.
DeleteMen's welterweight taekwondo: Argentina gold, Spain silver, Great Britain and Italy bronze.
And the United States beat Argentina in men's basketball!
DeleteYEAH! Jordan Burroughs, not watched by me, wins men's freestyle 163-pound wrestling: United States gold, Iran silver, Russia and Uzbekistan bronze.
ReplyDeleteOpines NBC: "With Russian superstar Buvaisa Saitiyev – the gold medal winner in 1996, 2004 and 2008 at 74kg – retired, Burroughs will have a chance to become the face of not just his weight class, but also Olympic Wrestling."
Ten sports now live--and that's not even counting the not-Olympic men's golf tournament. Plus, the Miami Dolphins and Tampa Bay Buccaneers play a little non-Olympic American football in a mere three-and-a-half hours.
ReplyDeleteTiger 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.
DeleteSweden's Carl Pettersson is back in the lead, one up on Fijian Vijay Singh and American Tiger Woods.
DeletePettersson now back to 6-under, two ahead of both Singh and Woods.
DeleteAnd then Sweden's Pettersson comes back to 4-under, tied with Fiji's Singh and United States' Woods for the lead through two rounds.
DeleteWomen's hammer throw: Russia gold, Poland silver, Germany bronze. Team USA had no competitors in the final.
ReplyDeleteMen's 121-pound freestyle wrestling: Russia gold, Georgia silver, Japan and North Korea bronze.
ReplyDeleteSouth Korea dumps Japan, 2-0, for bronze in men's soccer. Brazil and Mexico play at 9 a.m. Central Saturday for gold.
ReplyDeleteThe 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.
ReplyDeleteMen'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.
ReplyDeleteSunday'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.
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.
ReplyDeleteMen'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.
ReplyDeleteUSA TODAY Sports @USATODAYsports
DeleteUSA fails to win the 4x400 for first time since 1972: http://usat.ly/RyjZ4I
10:06 PM - 10 Aug 12
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.
ReplyDeleteHow 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.
ReplyDeleteMen's pole vault: France gold, Germany silver and bronze.
ReplyDeleteWomen's 5000m: Ethiopia gold, Kenya silver, Ethiopia bronze.
And--HOORAY!--United States gold, Jamaica silver, Ukraine bronze in the women's 4x100m relay. The American women set a new world record.
ReplyDeleteMary Carillo: "Welcome to the penultimate edition of Olympic Late Night ..."
ReplyDeleteSigh.