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 12, end-of-day OES and end-of-day EOES (Aug. 8)--
-- watching Day 13 and end-of-day OES (Aug. 9)
-- watching Day 14, Isaiah 40 and end-of-day OES (Aug. 10)
-- watching Day 15 and end-of-day EOS (Aug. 11)
Meb Keflezighi of San Diego is the only U.S. athlete remaining in the marathon field.
ReplyDeleteSays NBC: "Keflezighi was born in Eritrea, a long, narrow country in east Africa, on the southwest coast of the Red Sea. It was an Italian colony from 1890 to 1941, when it was captured by the British. Ethiopia annexed the area in 1962. For 30 years there was unrest between the people of Eritrea and Ethiopian soldiers. Keflezighi grew up with soldiers often surrounding the house and remembers hiding in fear for his life, and seeing dead bodies scattered around his town. The bloodshed ended in 1993, when Eritrea formally declared its independence. Keflezighi and his family had fled to the U.S., via Sudan and Italy, eight years earlier."
Stephen Kiprotich, a 23-year-old from Kapchorwa, a town of about 13,000 people, claims Uganda's first-ever marathon medal: gold!
ReplyDeleteKenya takes silver and bronze, and baseball-capped Meb Keflezighi of San Diego rolls in fourth.
ReplyDeleteCroatia beats Hungary for men's handball bronze. France and Sweden today play for gold.
ReplyDeleteItaly beats Bulgaria for men's volleyball bronze (rats). Brazil and Russia today play for gold.
Russia beats Argentina for men's basketball bronze. Spain and the United States at 9 a.m. Central today play for gold, and a U.S. win would bring Team USA to a historic 45 golds for the London games, and I'm glad I won't be able to watch.
HURRAH! The Team USA men's basketball team--ahead by one after three quarters--gets by Spain, 107-100, for gold.
ReplyDeleteHURRAH! HURRAH! And the United States gets to 46 gold medals as Jake Varner--a 26-year-old from Bakersfield, Calif., who won an NCAA championship at Iowa State--wins 211.5-pound freestyle wrestling! United States gold, Ukraine silver, Azerbaijan and Georgia bronze.
ReplyDelete"The all-time record for U.S. gold medals in an Olympics held outside the United States is 45 -- a mark that was reached in both 1924 and 1968."
ReplyDeleteWas 45. Congratulations, Team USA circa 2012.
Meanwhile, at the not-Olympic men's golf tournament ...
ReplyDelete1. Rory McIlroy, Team GB, 10-under
2. Ian Poulter, Team GB, 8-under
3. Carl Pettersson, Sweden, 5-under
3. Justin Rose, Team GB, 5-under
5. Keegan Bradley, United States, 4-under
5. Adam Scott, Australia, 4-under
5. Bo Van Pelt, United States, 4-under
Men's volleyball: Russia gold, Brazil silver, Italy bronze.
ReplyDeleteThe gold-medal match was astounding. Brazil won the first two sets and had match point in the third--only to lose the match, three sets to two. The big change was that the Russian coach shifted his 7-foot-2 star from one position on the court to another; the change was the volleyball equivalent of shifting a left-fielder to shortstop in the middle of the World Series, the NBC commentator said.
And now NBC is airing a promo for the February 2014 Winter Olympics in Russia. "The Socchi Winter Games promise to be the most thrilling ever," they say.
I enjoyed the closing show a great deal. The big-screen Freddy Mercury was probably my favorite single element--either that, or the auto race with the Spice Girls on top of the cars. Also, I think Ryan Seacrest is a perfectly suitable recipient of the Dick Clark baton.
ReplyDeleteWait a minute ... The Who played in the closing ceremonies?... THE WHO PLAYED IN THE CLOSING CEREMONIES! ... What the heck? I watched the whole NBC broadcast, and NBC did not show the Who.
DeleteI guess this is what I get for liking the Spandau Ballet Chevy commercial. NBC shows me Annie Lennox and George Michael, but they bump the Who.
I wonder if he, too, is hacked that NBC cut out the Who:
DeleteBilly Graham @BillyGraham
Billy Graham responding well to bronchitis treatment, watched Olympics last night, ate breakfast this morning. http://www.billygraham.org/articlepage.asp?articleid=8855
10:19 AM - 13 Aug 12