Lots more empty seats at the Team Eventing. I'm really annoyed with the organizers for making everything so difficult and expensive for the folks in Rio.
People say, "Well, I guess no one in Brazil cares about these sports." But that's crazy. Sports fans love sports. If the Olympics were in Paducah, you'd get a big crowd for all the events -- at least as big a crowd as we could put forward -- just because it would be fun. I'm sure the people in Rio feel the same way, but they are apparently finding it too expensive to attend the games.
I think this is a great point you've been making. Somehow or another, there should be a way for every event at every Olympics to be safely filled. Maybe you could have a giant, free fair going on in the middle of the town where the Olympics is being held, with music and food and games, etc. Then you could shuttle people to venues with unused seats within 10 minutes of the start or something.
They're showing judo now. I never comment on the judo, because I haven't the slightest idea what they are trying to do or how you score points in judo.
I do like the judo uniforms, however. It looks like the sort of thing that would be fun to wear while eating cereal and watching Saturday morning cartoons.
The judo can be really, really fast, too. I flipped on the gold-medal match in one weight group yesterday. I walked to the kitchen to get a cup of coffee, and I barely got back and they were hoisting the winner's hand into the air.
Now the Gold Zone is asking us to tweet them pictures of out television set-up for watching the Olympics. Eric, you might want to send them yours -- the flags are a great touch.
Thanks! It's winners of multiple gold medals across the top, in standings order left to right; single-gold winners down the sides alternating in standings order left to right; other medal winners along the top shelf of the cabinet, and other Rio 2016 participants in front of the Collier's Yearbooks.
In the judo, an American guy just put a guy from Uzbekistan in some sort of sleeper hold. The scoreboard was going nuts -- there was a clock counting numbers in red, and score ended up looking like this:
USA 1 0 1 UZB 0
Suddenly, the match was over the American guy won. I don't know much -- or really anything -- about judo. But even I could tell that he should have won.
Don't even get me started on the USA men's rugby team. Let's just say this: If you found a really good but retired football coach in Western Kentucky, and you let him start two rugby sevens teams that consisted only of guys who went to high school in Western Kentucky, and then he coached those guys every spring and summer from the time they were sophomores in high school until they were 22, then that team would probably win this whole tournament.
I was watching Fiji just now against Brazil, and they had a guy who looked like a 26-year-old version of Al Baker (from Trigg County), but not nearly as good. He was pretty much unstoppable, because apparently people in other cultures never learn how to tackle. Watching him run through Brazil looked like a guy playing with his kids in the back yard.
Adam Scheffer @AdamSchefter Bill Belichick told his players they will be watching Olympics as a group at 5 today when Nate Ebner, a reserve for US rugby team, competes. 1:37 PM - 9 Aug 2016
On USA now: A 6-foot-5, red-haired guy for Great Britain (who looks about as fast as New England's fourth-string tight end) sprints almost untouched for a second straight try and 14-0 lead on Japan.
And the Team USA men's volleyballers lose the third set to Italy, and that's an 0-2 start in preliminary play. Al Michaels assures us on Channel 6 that the United States is not eliminated from medal contention--but points out the next preliminary match is against Brazil, one of the gold-medal favorites.
For some reason, two Americans had to face each other in the Sweet 16 of men's individual archery. I would love to know why the draw worked out in that manner.
I love Disneyworld, by the way. CNBC ought to talk with the Disneyworld people to get their thoughts on your Olympics-attendance point, Go Heath. A monorail should be involved. Walt Disney had Olympics history, even.
There are a couple of swimming medal races tonight, and the women's gymnastics team finals are going on right now. I'm so nervous about all of this stuff. Medals today have been awarded in equestrian, canoeing, weightlifting and shooting. We've also got some fencing and judo medals to give out today.
Hey, we have an American who's going to medal in judo! An American guy and a Russia guy are judoing for the gold medal right now. As usual with judo, there's no score and I can't tell what's going on.
Here's how they described the judo on the Guardian:
"Stevens takes Khalmurzaev down, he’s reversed, on his back, 'and that’s nothing short of absolutely fabulous!' says the BBC commentator. Gold for Russia, silver for USA."
The Guardian reports that "the sevens" have been "the hit of these games." I have enjoyed them a lot. I hope they inspire more people to go watch high school football.
Now it's time for Serena. She plays a night; Madison Keys plays in the morning.
The tennis scoreboard drives me nuts. Years ago, someone put together a set of generic scoreboards that are always used in every Olympic sport. That person was a big fan of minimalism -- they tried to figure out what was the smallest amount of information the viewer needs, and then how could that info fit into the smallest possible space.
So, for example, you don't get the names of the tennis players, nor do you get the scores of prior sets. All you get are the national flags, how many sets each player has won, how many games each player has won in this set, and how many points each player has in this game. That's it.
I don't like this. I want to see the players' names, and I really want to know the scores of the prior sets.
Medal Count:
ReplyDelete1. USA: 5 + 7 + 7 = 19
2. CHN: 5 + 3 + 5 = 13
3. JPN: 3 + 0 + 7 = 10
4. RUS: 2 + 5 + 3 = 10
Gold Zone is back in action.
ReplyDeleteLots more empty seats at the Team Eventing. I'm really annoyed with the organizers for making everything so difficult and expensive for the folks in Rio.
ReplyDeletePeople say, "Well, I guess no one in Brazil cares about these sports." But that's crazy. Sports fans love sports. If the Olympics were in Paducah, you'd get a big crowd for all the events -- at least as big a crowd as we could put forward -- just because it would be fun. I'm sure the people in Rio feel the same way, but they are apparently finding it too expensive to attend the games.
I think this is a great point you've been making. Somehow or another, there should be a way for every event at every Olympics to be safely filled. Maybe you could have a giant, free fair going on in the middle of the town where the Olympics is being held, with music and food and games, etc. Then you could shuttle people to venues with unused seats within 10 minutes of the start or something.
DeleteMadison Keys is back out on the tennis court. Her match is on serve, 3-2 in the first set. She's playing someone from Spain.
ReplyDeleteThey're showing judo now. I never comment on the judo, because I haven't the slightest idea what they are trying to do or how you score points in judo.
ReplyDeleteI do like the judo uniforms, however. It looks like the sort of thing that would be fun to wear while eating cereal and watching Saturday morning cartoons.
The judo can be really, really fast, too. I flipped on the gold-medal match in one weight group yesterday. I walked to the kitchen to get a cup of coffee, and I barely got back and they were hoisting the winner's hand into the air.
DeleteMadison Keys won the first set 6-3, but trails 3-0 in the second.
ReplyDeleteAn American boxer just won a match in the round of 16 of the lightweight division, so he moves on to the quarter-finals.
ReplyDeleteMadison Keys loses the second set, and will go to a third set for the second day in a row.
ReplyDeleteKeys is serving with the score 3-3 in the third set.
ReplyDeleteKeys picks up a break and is now up 5-3 in the third set. She will be serving for the match.
ReplyDeleteAnd Madison Keys has won again! She advances with a 6-3, 3-6, 6-3 victory. That puts her in the quarterfinals.
ReplyDeleteI'm so glad for Madison Keys. I was really impressed with her yesterday.
DeleteNow the Gold Zone is asking us to tweet them pictures of out television set-up for watching the Olympics. Eric, you might want to send them yours -- the flags are a great touch.
ReplyDeleteThanks! It's winners of multiple gold medals across the top, in standings order left to right; single-gold winners down the sides alternating in standings order left to right; other medal winners along the top shelf of the cabinet, and other Rio 2016 participants in front of the Collier's Yearbooks.
DeleteKeys beat the number-9 seed, Carla Suarez Navarro of Spain.
ReplyDeleteIn the judo, an American guy just put a guy from Uzbekistan in some sort of sleeper hold. The scoreboard was going nuts -- there was a clock counting numbers in red, and score ended up looking like this:
ReplyDeleteUSA 1 0 1
UZB 0
Suddenly, the match was over the American guy won. I don't know much -- or really anything -- about judo. But even I could tell that he should have won.
In women's water polo, the USA crushes Spain 11-4.
ReplyDeleteIn the men's rugby sevens, JPN has beaten NZL 14-12 in pool play. That seems like a big deal.
ReplyDeleteDon't even get me started on the USA men's rugby team. Let's just say this: If you found a really good but retired football coach in Western Kentucky, and you let him start two rugby sevens teams that consisted only of guys who went to high school in Western Kentucky, and then he coached those guys every spring and summer from the time they were sophomores in high school until they were 22, then that team would probably win this whole tournament.
ReplyDeleteI was watching Fiji just now against Brazil, and they had a guy who looked like a 26-year-old version of Al Baker (from Trigg County), but not nearly as good. He was pretty much unstoppable, because apparently people in other cultures never learn how to tackle. Watching him run through Brazil looked like a guy playing with his kids in the back yard.
Adam Scheffer @AdamSchefter
DeleteBill Belichick told his players they will be watching Olympics as a group at 5 today when Nate Ebner, a reserve for US rugby team, competes.
1:37 PM - 9 Aug 2016
We have a good men's basketball game going right now: Spain v. Brazil.
ReplyDeleteOh, no. The Guardian reports that NZL's best men's rugby player is out with an achilles tendon injury.
ReplyDeleteThe NZL version of me is really hating these Olympics right now.
Halftime in men's hoops:
ReplyDeleteBRA 34 - 31 ESP
4:09 left in the third:
ReplyDeleteBRA 45 - 41 ESP
I've been doing that score wrong. Spain is the home team. With 3 minutes left in the third:
ReplyDeleteESP 43 - 45 BRA
On Channel 6 now: The Team USA men are down two sets to one (and 12-9 in the fourth set) to Italy, live.
ReplyDeleteOn Golf Channel now: Patrick Reed is (probably tape-delay) at the driving range, with a giant pile of balls in front of him.
ReplyDeleteOn CNBC now: Disney earnings are due after closing bell.
ReplyDeleteOn MSNBC now: Giant German and Belarusian men flail at one another over a ping-pong table.
ReplyDeleteOn NBC Sports Network now: Dan Patrick and David Feherty are talking about capybara sightings on the links-style Rio course.
ReplyDeleteOn Bravo now: Great Britain leads Russia, 6-5, in the deciding third set in women's singles tennis.
ReplyDeleteOn USA now: A 6-foot-5, red-haired guy for Great Britain (who looks about as fast as New England's fourth-string tight end) sprints almost untouched for a second straight try and 14-0 lead on Japan.
ReplyDeleteAnd the Team USA men's volleyballers lose the third set to Italy, and that's an 0-2 start in preliminary play. Al Michaels assures us on Channel 6 that the United States is not eliminated from medal contention--but points out the next preliminary match is against Brazil, one of the gold-medal favorites.
ReplyDeleteI never know what's going on with volleyball. Most sports are dominated by the same few countries every year, but volleyball is all over the place.
DeleteLondon 2012 men's volleyball medalists: Russia gold, Brazil silver and Italy bronze.
ReplyDeleteFinal Score:
ReplyDeleteESP 65 - 66 BRA
Spain has now lost two games by a total of three points.
Medal Count:
ReplyDelete1. USA: 5 + 7 + 8 = 20
2. CHN: 7 + 3 + 5 = 15
3. JPN: 3 + 0 + 8 = 11
Interesting.
DeleteFor some reason, two Americans had to face each other in the Sweet 16 of men's individual archery. I would love to know why the draw worked out in that manner.
ReplyDeleteI love Disneyworld, by the way. CNBC ought to talk with the Disneyworld people to get their thoughts on your Olympics-attendance point, Go Heath. A monorail should be involved. Walt Disney had Olympics history, even.
ReplyDeleteThere are a couple of swimming medal races tonight, and the women's gymnastics team finals are going on right now. I'm so nervous about all of this stuff. Medals today have been awarded in equestrian, canoeing, weightlifting and shooting. We've also got some fencing and judo medals to give out today.
ReplyDeleteWoowee ...
Hey, we have an American who's going to medal in judo! An American guy and a Russia guy are judoing for the gold medal right now. As usual with judo, there's no score and I can't tell what's going on.
ReplyDeleteOh, the Russian guy appears to have won. This was the half middleweight division, by the way.
ReplyDeleteRussia is banned from the Paralympics, but they can compete here.
Here's how they described the judo on the Guardian:
ReplyDelete"Stevens takes Khalmurzaev down, he’s reversed, on his back, 'and that’s nothing short of absolutely fabulous!' says the BBC commentator. Gold for Russia, silver for USA."
Well, at least the BBC was happy.
Medal count:
ReplyDelete1. USA: 5 + 8 + 8 = 21
2. CHN: 7 + 3 + 5 = 15
3. JPN: 3 + 0 + 9 = 12
For the record, no one celebrates like the fencers. They make Deion Sanders look restrained.
ReplyDeleteNow the USA is playing Brazil in men's rugby. With 1:33 left in the first half, the USA leads 7-0.
ReplyDeleteDon't even get me started on the USA's game with Argentina this morning.
ReplyDeleteAt the half in men's rugby:
ReplyDeleteUSA 14 - 0 BRA
In the rugby, we have beaten Brazil 26-0. On the other hand, Fiji beat Brazil 40-0.
ReplyDeleteExcellent about the judo silver! That's very great. Team USA didn't medal in the event in 2012. Oh, yeah, I remember Travis Stephens of Wakefield, Massachusetts, from London.
ReplyDeleteBronze medals go to Japan and the United Arab Emirates.
Stevens, with a "v" not "ph"--sorry.
DeleteArgentina and Fiji are tied at 7 at the half in men's rugby.
ReplyDeleteArgentina is putting together an upset on Fiji ... 14-7 with about a five minutes.
ReplyDeleteThey are still using the wrong flag for China. I'm really surprised that the Chinese haven't made them change flags.
ReplyDeleteFiji storms back, though, and now leads, 21-14 ... Fiji looks terrific.
ReplyDeleteThe Guardian reports that "the sevens" have been "the hit of these games." I have enjoyed them a lot. I hope they inspire more people to go watch high school football.
ReplyDeleteNow it's time for Serena. She plays a night; Madison Keys plays in the morning.
ReplyDeleteThe tennis scoreboard drives me nuts. Years ago, someone put together a set of generic scoreboards that are always used in every Olympic sport. That person was a big fan of minimalism -- they tried to figure out what was the smallest amount of information the viewer needs, and then how could that info fit into the smallest possible space.
So, for example, you don't get the names of the tennis players, nor do you get the scores of prior sets. All you get are the national flags, how many sets each player has won, how many games each player has won in this set, and how many points each player has in this game. That's it.
I don't like this. I want to see the players' names, and I really want to know the scores of the prior sets.
I totally agree.
DeleteAlso, there is no screen setting on either of the TVs in my house that allows for all of the small scoreboard to actually be visible.
DeleteWow! Here's the USA women's soccer team. I haven't seen them before. They are playing Columbia in a remarkably empty stadium.
ReplyDeleteNow this is a sport where the minimalist scoreboard works.
The 21-14 score in favor of Fiji held in the match with Argentina.
ReplyDeleteBad news for two American icons. Serena Williams is down a set and a break in her tennis match. She will have to come back from 1-3 in the second set.
ReplyDeleteHope Solo gave up a silly goal against Columbia. But her teammates have bailed her out. Columbia and the USA are tied 1-1 after 42 minutes.
I don't know who Serena is playing, because the minimalist scoreboard doesn't give names. It's someone from UKR.
ReplyDeleteSerena has fought back to make it 3-3 in the second set. The Gold Zone is going off in eight minutes. It's up to Bob Costas now.
ReplyDeleteElina Svitolina of Ukraine defeats Serena Williams of the USA, 6-4, 6-3. So Serena is out.
ReplyDeleteWell, that's a blow.
ReplyDelete