The Olympics

[PeaveyFury]

A couple of great 4x 100 relays from the men & women tonight to finish off swimming. Great races!

[Jimbo]

Still struggling with the schedule. Even consulted the link listed above. Set my DVR. Well, I've got seven days to get it right. I've missed three track events I was interested in. It appears ex-Badger Kelsey Card missed qualifying for the DT final by one spot. It's tough to determine exactly which events are broadcast in which slots. Some live, some delayed.

 

Mixed gender relay 4x400 made it debut in the Olympics, although contested in the last two WC's and World Relays. There was a bit of curious interest in the track community. Surprised NBC didn't hype it more. Again, wasn't clear which time slot it would be shown.

[Jimbo]

Good to see Keni Harrison medal Sunday. In 2016, the Americans were so loaded in this event that she missed out making the team, only two weeks later breaking the world record.

 

I didn't know two people could be given the option of sharing a gold. Qatar's Barshim is likely my most awe inspiring athlete, yet NBC only saw fit to show one jump and instead showed heats of the sprints. If you have some free time, I invite you to search videos of him. I saw one where the bar is set something like seven foot-plus and he hurdles it straight up. In the 2019 WC, he won gold in his home stadium and the place went nuts.

[MrTPlush]

The USA scrub team barely lost to Japan, in extras, for baseball.

[Cool Hand Lucroy]

Good to see Keni Harrison medal Sunday. In 2016, the Americans were so loaded in this event that she missed out making the team, only two weeks later breaking the world record.

 

I didn't know two people could be given the option of sharing a gold. Qatar's Barshim is likely my most awe inspiring athlete, yet NBC only saw fit to show one jump and instead showed heats of the sprints. If you have some free time, I invite you to search videos of him. I saw one where the bar is set something like seven foot-plus and he hurdles it straight up. In the 2019 WC, he won gold in his home stadium and the place went nuts.

 

Track and field is very cool. So much athleticism on display in a sport that doesn't get a ton of TV coveragr (though more and more it seems). That shared gold was a great moment, and saw it live, right before the shock men's 100 final. Morning tv wondows on Peacock are great.

[nate82]

As much grief the mens basketball team has gotten over them losing games the women's soccer team is far more disappointing. They barely made it to a medal and I wouldn't be surprised if they lose and place 4th.

[Samurai Bucky]

As much grief the mens basketball team has gotten over them losing games the women's soccer team is far more disappointing. They barely made it to a medal and I wouldn't be surprised if they lose and place 4th.

 

The USWNT didn't seem like that much of a team. It might be good to have a turnover to get some new talent on the team.

[bjkrautk]

As much grief the mens basketball team has gotten over them losing games the women's soccer team is far more disappointing. They barely made it to a medal and I wouldn't be surprised if they lose and place 4th.

 

They're only disappointing if you care about soccer. Personally, if it means not having to see Ms. Rapinoe in more Subway ads, I'm all for the U.S. not medaling in the sport.

 

Conversely, I'm thrilled for Jade Carey winning gold. Due to the odd rules surrounding gymnastics this time around, she went out and won a spot as an individual gymnast in the games through international competition, knowing that doing so would cost her a spot in the Team competition. To turn around and win gold in an event final, after finishing 8th in her other event final...is just a great story. (Not going to lie: even knowing the result since this morning, I switched over from the Brewers game to watch.)

[OldSchoolSnapper]

As much grief the mens basketball team has gotten over them losing games the women's soccer team is far more disappointing. They barely made it to a medal and I wouldn't be surprised if they lose and place 4th.

 

The USWNT didn't seem like that much of a team. It might be good to have a turnover to get some new talent on the team.

 

That team is old by any measure. This was probably something those closely follow the sport saw coming.

[Jimbo]

Did anyone notice how NBC had no mention of Richardson's pot smoking during the women's 100 final or Christian Coleman's drug suspension during the men's 100 final. Both would have been medal contenders.

 

To the uninitiated, Karsten Warholm is a rock star in the sport. That race tonight lived up to it's billing. Will be remembered for a long time.

 

Really wished NBC would give less time to the sprints preliminaries in order to get more in depth in the field event finals. They did so well in the last two Olympics and two WC's with pretty much the same commentators.

 

Tuesday night will have interesting races.

Several high profile athletes in the W 200 final.

W 800 - Athing Mu is favored for gold. Just finished her freshman year at Texas A&M and just turned pro, so that means Suzy Favor's NCAA record is safe for another generation.

W 400H - Mohammad broke the WR at the 2019 WC with McLaughlin a half-step behind. At the OT, McLaughlin breaks that record with Mohammad one step behind.

Mondo Duplantis in the PV is another rock star. A Swede who grew up in Louisiana and went to LSU for a year. Recently broke the outdoor WR.

Deanna Price is the favorite in the W HT. We'll see how much attention NBC gives these two.

[Samurai Bucky]

Did anyone notice how NBC had no mention of Richardson's pot smoking during the women's 100 final or Christian Coleman's drug suspension during the men's 100 final. Both would have been medal contenders.

 

To the uninitiated, Karsten Warholm is a rock star in the sport. That race tonight lived up to it's billing. Will be remembered for a long time.

 

Really wished NBC would give less time to the sprints preliminaries in order to get more in depth in the field event finals. They did so well in the last two Olympics and two WC's with pretty much the same commentators.

 

Tuesday night will have interesting races.

Several high profile athletes in the W 200 final.

W 800 - Athing Mu is favored for gold. Just finished her freshman year at Texas A&M and just turned pro, so that means Suzy Favor's NCAA record is safe for another generation.

W 400H - Mohammad broke the WR at the 2019 WC with McLaughlin a half-step behind. At the OT, McLaughlin breaks that record with Mohammad one step behind.

Mondo Duplantis in the PV is another rock star. A Swede who grew up in Louisiana and went to LSU for a year. Recently broke the outdoor WR.

Deanna Price is the favorite in the W HT. We'll see how much attention NBC gives these two.

 

We were able to go into the NBC Olympics app on our Roku and see a lot more coverage than I had ever seen before. It helped in the high jump and long jump for the field events to get a better idea of who is who.

 

I was not a fan of the split screen in wrestling, though...

[nodakfan17]

Wow, the US did not qualify for the 4x100 final.

[FVBrewerFan]

Wow, the US did not qualify for the 4x100 final.

 

That's what happens when you don't practice with the same four guys.

[nodakfan17]

Wow, the US did not qualify for the 4x100 final.

 

That's what happens when you don't practice with the same four guys.

You’d think they’d learn after struggling in this event for years. I remember watching the Rio coverage and listening to the broadcasters call out the lack of exchanges practices.

[Underachiever]

Wow, the US did not qualify for the 4x100 final.

 

That's what happens when you don't practice with the same four guys.

You’d think they’d learn after struggling in this event for years. I remember watching the Rio coverage and listening to the broadcasters call out the lack of exchanges practices.

Not sure what was more painful to watch, the US exchanges or the interview with the team after the race. Agree with the above that the process in picking and practicing the team needs to change.

[Outlander]

Jamie Westbrook of the Brewers has struggled a bit during the Olympics but had a big game today. He homered in the 4th and singled/scored in their 5 run 6th inning to help Team USA advance to the gold medal game.

[Jimbo]

Wow, the US did not qualify for the 4x100 final.

That's what happens when you don't practice with the same four guys.

 

The USA was never in this one. That Brit commentator on USA Network observed that the USA is spanned across four times zones while European countries are more compact, making easier for them to assemble and train together. Also, keep in mind a relay is made up of a "taxi squad" of eight members.

 

I believe it was London the relay showed up with bibs hand written with a Sharpie. Disorganization goes back several Olympiads.

 

As speculated above, nada a mention on Mondo or Deanna.

 

Add one more to the list of persona non grata by NBC, no mention of Caster Semenya during the 800. Athing ran a great race, but you gotta think Caster would have taken gold. If you don't know who she is, look it up.

 

1500 is a crazy event. Defending champ Centrowicz is out despite running faster than Hocker. Ex-Badger Oli Hoare (AUS) made it to Friday's final.

 

Alison Felix competes Friday as well. What went down at the Trial nine years ago still sticks in my craw.

 

Finally, Nashotah's Molly Seidel finally gets to compete in the marathon. Televised live at 5 pm Friday on USA. The USATF no longer contests the marathon the same week as the track events, holding it usually three months earlier. So Molly and the other two earned their spots in Atlanta on Leap Day 2020 before C-19 delayed the Olympics.

 

It's the final weekend, so the teams sports will be finishing up.

[BrewersSuperCollector]

I've watched zero Olympics other that searching for the clip on Biles dropping out. I understand the Basketball gold medal game is at 9:30pm tonight. Trying to find a schedule is not really easy...Is the game on NBC at 9:30 tonight or on the Peacock or something else?

[PeaveyFury]

I'd assume it'd be on one of the ancillary networks, as I doubt they'll air the full basketball game on their main primetime coverage. But it'll be on TV someplace rather than Peacock.

[OldSchoolSnapper]

It's on regular NBC

[PeaveyFury]

It's on regular NBC

 

Well, I stand corrected and am very surprised.

[OldSchoolSnapper]

The ratings have been a disaster so I wasn't all that surprised they stuck with high-profile basketball players when the gold medal game happened to conveniently fall during US prime time, though it is probably a bit later in the night than they'd want. There is always a chance Durant scores 50 and every NBA fan tunes in.

[Vgmastr]

Molly Seidel from Brookfield, in only her third career marathon, wins the bronze and becomes only the third American woman to medal in the marathon. It was a very fun finish to watch.

[MrTPlush]

Seidel couldn’t mutter much when being handed the phone during her post run interview, but she did let her family know one thing:

 

“Please drink a beer for me.”

[MrTPlush]

USA edged out France for gold in basketball. Certainly not the most pretty run to gold, but they achieved it again none the less.