***Paris 2024 Summer Olympics: July 26-August 11*** USA dominates medal count; Finish tied w/ China for most golds - See ya in Milan 2026! (1 Viewer)

[dgreen]

Italy making no mistakes.

 

[dgreen]

Oof. Italy blocks everything and rarely hits into the block. They place their attacks really well.

 

[Uruk-Hai]

That #18 for Italy has a terrifying windup on her spikes. I'd curl up in the fetal position if I was on the other side of the net and saw that.

 

[GregR]

Oof. Well that wasn't good to wake up to.

 

[GregR]

Switch to men's water polo bronze medal game recording.

I don't have the mental make up to play water polo at a serious level. I'd end up throwing punches if I got pummeled the way they do.

 

[CletiusMaximus]

That #18 for Italy has a terrifying windup on her spikes. I'd curl up in the fetal position if I was on the other side of the net and saw that.

The US had no answer for Egonu today. Italy put us completely out of synch. Still a great run for this team to win silver in this tournament.

 

[identikit]

Gold for USA in women's cycling!

 

[GregR]

And it continues

 

[Osaurus]

That omnium cycling event is thunderdome.

 

[GregR]

And it continues

And continues

 

[GregR]

And it continues

And continues

And continues... and continues...

 

[bigbottom]

Chiles returning her bronze medal. The ruling is based on the fact that the inquiry into Chiles’ score was made 1 minute and 4 seconds after her scores were posted and the rule requires that inquiries be made within 1 minute. On the one hand, I’m a big believer in “the rules are the rules.” But I’m not sure how satisfied I would be with a bronze medal under these circumstances. The judges made a mistake. They fixed the mistake and awarded the medal to the competitor with the better score. But I get to win the medal because the request to fix the mistake was four seconds too late.

 

[Uruk-Hai]

The American wrestler in the bronze medal match has a cut on his forehead that won't stay closed. His head is bandaged, but he keeps bleeding. Will they stop a match if it doesn't clot?

 

[Tick]

By 1924, 100 years ago, the Olympics had featured:

Basque Pelato (?)
Cricket
Croquet
Horse High Jump
Hot Air Balloon Racing
Live Pigeon Shooting
Motorboat Racing
Pistol Dueling
Polo
Plunge for Distance (Diving)
Rope Climbing
Swimming Obstacle Race
Tug of War

And as a test event in 1900 - Poodle Clipping

Times change, and so does the landscape of what we consider sport. We old codgers will just have to learn to deal with it.

And most seem to make more sense than break dancing. Pistol Dueling ? Was it live ammo ?

Paintball guns.

Next up: LaserTag

They already do laser tag in the modern pentathlon.

College buddies and I have been chatting about it and think airsoft would be legit cool... every country sends their special forces.

 

[Tick]

These high jumpers are terrible

They should have split the pot

I can appreciate that they chose not to.

I don't get it. "I don't even want a gold medal if this jackhole gets one too."

 

[Da Guru]

Watched "handball" last night. Had a hard time getting into it. A great goalie in handball has about a 35% save to goal ratio and half of the saves are because her body accidently gets in the way of the ball. The net is way too big.

 

[GregR]

Switch to men's water polo bronze medal game recording.

I don't have the mental make up to play water polo at a serious level. I'd end up throwing punches if I got pummeled the way they do.

Water polo was a good watch. Close game.

 

[UncleZen]

Chiles returning her bronze medal. The ruling is based on the fact that the inquiry into Chiles’ score was made 1 minute and 4 seconds after her scores were posted and the rule requires that inquiries be made within 1 minute. On the one hand, I’m a big believer in “the rules are the rules.” But I’m not sure how satisfied I would be with a bronze medal under these circumstances. The judges made a mistake. They fixed the mistake and awarded the medal to the competitor with the better score. But I get to win the medal because the request to fix the mistake was four seconds too late.

Yeah, I wouldn't want the bronze handed to me on a technicality. You didn't really win it.

 

[Da Guru]

The US men's BB team going forward needs to pick the best 8 player rotation they can. It will be made clear this is the starting rotation.

Then add the best backup role players who are used to getting only a few minutes here and there.

Plus the games are only 40 minutes so you have to get your rotation time to play together. tough to keep playing different lineups in a 6 game season.

The players who are stars in the NBA can`t handle sitting and not getting the bulk of the playing time and pout.

Even though the guys players are as good or better. Then all the pundits giving their 2 cents. Steve Kerr even said in the NBA playoffs they rarely play more than 7-8 players. And if the 8-9 guys are in it is only for a few minutes here and there to give starters a rest.

 

[bigbottom]

Looks like the best we can do is tie China on gold medals?

 

[identikit]

Looks like the best we can do is tie China on gold medals?

I think so, yes

 

[whoknew]

Too much wine and cheese last night for the US women's basketball team.

 

[identikit]

Looks like the best we can do is tie China on gold medals?

China has an official habit of claiming other countries' medals as their own, post-Olympics.

Dastardly

 

[3 hour lunch]

Just an awful, awful first half offensively

 

[bigbottom]

Ugh. 25 point half.

 

[identikit]

The US men's BB team going forward needs to pick the best 8 player rotation they can. It will be made clear this is the starting rotation.

Then add the best backup role players who are used to getting only a few minutes here and there.

Plus the games are only 40 minutes so you have to get your rotation time to play together. tough to keep playing different lineups in a 6 game season.

The players who are stars in the NBA can`t handle sitting and not getting the bulk of the playing time and pout.

Even though the guys players are as good or better. Then all the pundits giving their 2 cents. Steve Kerr even said in the NBA playoffs they rarely play more than 7-8 players. And if the 8-9 guys are in it is only for a few minutes here and there to give starters a rest.

I didn't see any USA pouting.

Maybe Tatum.

But that's kind of a Tatum thing

 

[bigbottom]

Dang. Still like USA to win this given their talent, but for all those saying that winning gold was a foregone conclusion for women’s basketball, the host country seems to have something to say about that.

 

[bigbottom]

And just like that, 10 point lead cut in half.

 

[identikit]

These high jumpers are terrible

They should have split the pot

I can appreciate that they chose not to.

I don't get it. "I don't even want a gold medal if this jackhole gets one too."

Yeah, you could see that the USA guy's jump attempts were weaker and weaker, while the NZ guy's were close to being successful

 

[identikit]

Women's team just woke up

 

[3 hour lunch]

Making some layups might help

 

[identikit]

Defense will win this thing for USA

 

[jhib]

These high jumpers are terrible

They should have split the pot

I can appreciate that they chose not to.

I don't get it. "I don't even want a gold medal if this jackhole gets one too."

Yeah, you could see that the USA guy's jump attempts were weaker and weaker, while the NZ guy's were close to being successful

I thought that, too. And I assume they'd both have to agree to stop and share it? I could see why the NZ guy would feel comfortable declining in that case.

 

[Capella]

If they lose the Caitlyn Clark discourse will feed generations.

 

[GregR]

 

[bigbottom]

France with a great effort.

 

[bigbottom]

So will the US high jumper declining to share the gold medal deny USA the outright overall gold medal win?

 

[GregR]

Gold

 

[belljr]

Wow foot over line

 

[The Kansas Comet]

Wow - a few inches away from overtime there.

 

[bigbottom]

OMG! That was a crazy finish. Congrats to the USA women!

 

[Uncle Leo]

This should not have been this close.

 

[bigbottom]

Okay, I know I’m beating a dead horse, but I think it’s worth pointing out that Diana Taurasi’s stat line through three games is 2 points and 2 assists. That’s aggregate, not average. And it’s not like she’s been stuck on the bench. She was in the starting lineup for all three games I believe, with over 14 mins of playing time in each of the first two games, but ultimately sitting for most of today’s win against Germany.

I don’t know, maybe her leadership on the court was a major contributor (I only watched bits and pieces), but her +/- in the last two games against Belgium and Germany was -4 and -7 (which is pretty crazy in double digit wins). The argument that the committee simply selected the best 12 players continues to lose credibility.

Taurasi is the GOAT of women’s basketball. There was no way they weren't inviting her.

The question is: would true leadership have been for her to turn down the invite and say it was the time for a young player to get their chance and experience of representing their country?

I would say that keeping rookies off the squad is one way for Taurasi to protect her record for consecutive Olympics women’s basketball teams.

So Taurasi was a legacy pick. I get it. Then just say so. Don’t say it’s all about selecting the best basketball players.

And this was the predictable result:
https://www.outkick.com/sports/team-usa-womens-basketball-olympics-lowest-attendance-caitlin-clark

Of course, there was a packed house for the USA Belgium game. But that’s because it was neighboring Belgium fans packing the house.

My recollection is the committee chair was pretty open about the process and said they looked at international experience, leadership, experience with the national team coaches and similar team-based factors. I don't remember her claiming to have picked the 12 best players in a vacuum. I remember some tweets and such where she said the committee was not asked to consider marketability, tv viewership and the like and she talked about how they tried to stick to the process they were tasked with.

Fair enough. But that process saddled them with a 42 year old legacy pick who appears to have contributed little to nothing on the floor despite being in the starting lineup for the first three matches. And as pollars has noted, she probably won’t see the court much from here on out.

Bet they'll roll her out in the Finals at the end, if they're up big

Zero minutes in an incredibly competitive game.

 

[SoBeDad]

Wow - a few inches away from overtime there.

Or one missed free throw away from overtime. Pressure makes by the USA.

 

[Uncle Leo]

So are we done or are there other events left. We are currently tied with China for Golds.

 

[Capella]

Just a baguette short

 

[Capella]

So are we done or are there other events left. We are currently tied with China for Golds.

That’s a wrap. Most medals is the tiebreaker see ya later China

 

[Dinsy Ejotuz]

The US men's BB team going forward needs to pick the best 8 player rotation they can. It will be made clear this is the starting rotation.

Then add the best backup role players who are used to getting only a few minutes here and there.

+1

Take your best 8-man team and then fill out with situation-specific players who might play a few possessions or soak up laugher minutes.

 

[Nathan R. Jessep]

Two outstanding gold medal basketball games.

Legends were born. Legacies cemented. Long-standing records broken. Absolutely love it all.

Thanks for playing along, y'all! See ya in a couple years for the Italy winter games!

 

[GregR]

This has been an extremely enjoyable Olympics to watch. Extremely sad it is over. But at least we've got football starting up again now.