Rio 2016, final days and final thoughts.

I'm hanging in there in my viewing, staying roughly a half to 3/4 day behind. But I'm mostly clearing the DVR every day before I go to bed. Mostly. This weekend is the last hurrah...so I just needed to HANG IN THERE! And so...away we go!

Womens water polo (from Saturday). GOLD!!! The maidens of the water were FANTASTIC (again) in the Olympics...trailing by points a GRAND TOTAL (all matches combined) of 44 seconds! This Olympics started off a bit sad as the coach's brother died just before the start of the games, so he flew back to the US for that, and then flew back to immediately do his job with the water-women. And do it he did. After the gold medal ceremony the players lined up one by one and put their medals on him until the entire teams gold medals were hanging from his neck, each getting a giant hug before the next girl comes in. It was a fantastic heartfelt celebration from a team who adores their coach (and immediately after the final whistle blew they threw him in the water, kind of like a super-gatorade dunk..which was also very cool).

Then there was the Olympic Handball.        JUST. CAN'T. GET. INTO. IT.       And I tried. Of all the games, it just seems like a bunch of grown men running around trying to throw a ball into a net with a bunch of other guys trying to stop him, but no tackling is allowed. Wait. That's EXACTLY what the game is.

And THEN, there is Rythmic Gymnastics.       AHEM. ANOTHER. SPORT. I. CAN'T. FOLLOW.     This of all the events just seems like they took a bunch of Cirque de Sol performers from Vegas and have them throw sticks and hoops around doing yes, some incredible things...but HOW ON EARTH DO THEY JUDGE IT?? Synchronized Swimming is RIGHT BEHIND IT IN MY DISINTEREST. But at least w/ SS, you can see when things are good and when things are bad. You know, out of sync, stuff like that.

Then I watched the entire (well, mostly) womens MTB race. I liked the course...there was obviously some high-speed areas and then some rather technical areas (read that: potential to crash and get hurt) using LOTS of big rocks. The American women were nowhere to be seen, but it was quite a race in front between Sweden and Poland for 1/2, and Canadians bringing up 3 and 4. (note: this was another case of  NBC dropping the ball and my recording stopped...but THANKFULLY I was able to find the late-night rebroadcast and I got that, and was able to watch the REST of the race early this morning).

Then we had Soccer. Yes, it's the worlds most popular sport. And NO, I just don't get it. I mean, I get it...but I don't GET it.  It's SO BORING. SSSSSOOOOOOOO BBBBOOOORRRRIIINNNNGGGG. Case in point: the mens Gold medal match between Germany and Brazil. 120 minutes with a TOTAL of 2 goals scored (that time included the overtime period). But WAIT! After 120 minutes of snoozing while a bunch of guys run around a GINORMOUS grass field, suddenly we have a SHOOTOUT! And JUST AS SUDDENLY, it was VERY EXCITING! And it stayed EXCITING as man after man MADE THEIR SHOT! And just like that, all 8 men had scored, and THEN it went to SUDDEN DEATH! Each team got 1 kick, and if only 1 of those score it's over. And if they both score, or neither score, then they do it again, and again (and again...if necessary). And JUST LIKE THAT, the Brazilian goalie BLOCKED the Germans 1st attempt, and with an entire stadium of Brazilian Fans going CRAZY, the Brazilian MADE HIS SHOT! GAME OVER! Brazil had WON THE GOLD!

Who knew soccer could be SO EXCITING???

Whew...after a break to get my heartrate down and get my breathing under control, we go into the Mens 1500m race. Matthew Centrowitz from the US PULLS IT OUT and WINS!! That was a bunch of rather boring laps, followed by a REALLY EXCITING ONE! Kind of like a very short soccer game actually! And that gold in the 1500 was the FIRST for the US since 1908! I'd call that a pretty HUGE DROUGHT! Way to go MATTHEW!!! Drought-Killer!!

Then the womens 800m, which was won pretty handily by South Africa's Caster Semenya (uhm, er...yeah....THAT was a WOMAN?? Are you FREAKING KIDDING ME?? Sorry...I call BS here. Waiter, DNA Check PLEASE, lane 2. Yes, I'll wait.

OK...so NOW, while we wait for Caster's DNA results, we have the mens 5000m. Yeah...right....more soccer comparisons here for SURE. But it did get exciting in the last lap, much like the 1500. And Farah wins it (I forget which country he's from...sorry Farah), but wait! Paul Chelimo from the US takes the SILVER! We haven't had ANY medals whatsoever in this race since 1964, way to go PAUL!

BUT WAIT! Chelimo is DQ'D (DisQualified)!!! Apparently he stepped out of bounds, OR he interfered with another runner (when he was trying to get out of the box they had him in)..we don't know why, just that he's OUT. Instant replay did show he sort of touched the inside line with one step (I wasn't aware that merited a DQ honestly), and as to the interference, hmmm...that is a serious case of 'judgment call'. And there were other DQ's too, so NOW, suddenly Bernard Lagut (also from the US) GETS THE BRONZE!!! HOLY COW! What a shocker! He came in like 6th I think!

BUT WAIT AGAIN! Chelimo protested his DQ and it's rescinded! So CHELIMO AGAIN GETS THE BRONZE, and poor Bernard is out with 4th! Damn, that must hurt Bernard! Talk about rags to riches to rags!

WOW! I've never seen any Track and Field event  that was SO BORING become SO EXCITING! And this all AFTER THE FINISH! Good golly gosh...I'm hyperventilating again! Good thing I don't have any heart conditions or anything....otherwise the soccer match and the 5000m would have done me in!

And now....(remember what TJ said...breath...breath)...the womens 4x400m relay. Thankfully there was no interference or baton drop like in the 4x100, and the US ladies easily win their 6th straight gold (thank goodness, don't think I could take more excitement just now!)

And then...womens basketball. Yeah...no big surprise here, the US win it with only 3 players on the court at any one time, and one of them with 1 arm tied behind her back (just kidding, but it seems like they might have been able to do it...at least it would have made it exciting). I don't think any other country has ever won the womens basketball...but do any other countries really PLAY womens basketball? I mean, we have it in college here, and there is a PRO league...kid of hard for other countries to compete with that. Sure, a few of their players obviously went to college here, thus they have 1 or 2 players.The rest, well..they try hard. Which is what the Olympics SHOULD be about. Eddie the Eagle, remember??

Then the announcers talked some about Usain Bolt from Jamaica. He's now won the 100m, 200m and anchored the winning 4x100m relay in three consecutive Olympics. Never been done before, might never be done again. Nobody can say he isn't a pretty amazing sprinter, that's for SURE! And he's got CHARISMA too. His pointing-pose after his wins are pretty great actually! And he claims he's retiring now...the world will miss that pose for sure! Well done Usain!! Thanks for the memories!

Up next in my video viewing marathon was Mens platform diving. Yep...that's TEN METERS ABOVE THE WATER!  Have you ever gone up a 10m platform and looked DOWN at the water? Climbing up seems pretty high, but looking DOWN at the water seems WAY WAY WAY THE HELL UP THERE! Like TERRIFYINGLY HIGH! And they LEAP off the edge and DO STUFF! ON PURPOSE!! Obviously the platform divers are INSANE!! Have you ever belly-flopped (or back-flopped) just jumping in from pool level? Or even worse, off the 1m board? YEOWWWCHHHHH! THAT HURTS! Amplify that by 10! (anybody remember that one reverse dive the FANTASTIC AMAZING ALL-TIME-GREAT Greg Lougains did when he smacked the back of his head on the platform, and was knocked out instantly and fell straight back into the water, landing in a TOTAL BACK-FLOP?? Can you imagine when he woke up what THAT felt like? I mean, besides the INCREDIBLE HEADACHE??

Anyway..(sorry, sort of got carried away there with the sheer TERROR of jumping off a 10m platform)..the divers (this was the semifinal btw). We had TWO Americans in it! And there were 2 Chinese guys (big surprise there). And some other guys. But our 2 were doing ok, and then not so ok, then ok again...back and forth, as they slid down the list of 18 divers, until finally on the LAST ROUND, David Boudia did a good enough dive to overtake the other American Steel Johnson (great name for a 10m diver btw...Steele...I like it!). Boudia took 12th place, Steele was in 13th. Only the top 12 divers go to the final. OUCH! But Steele wasn't alone...Great Brittain's Tom Daly did NOT make the final either! (and he was expected to medal). That was a HUGE BLOW to GB's diving expectations for sure! And I think one of the 2 Chinese guys also didn't make it (THAT was a huge blow too...he's probably going to get tortured when he goes home). So in the final, well...what can you say...those Chinese guys (and girls) must have some super-secret formula of stuff they put on their bodies to NOT make a splash...they just zip on into the water with a little "sploosh" and that's it. Seems highly suspicious to me. And Chen Aisea (the remaining Chinese guy) was FANTASTIC as usual, with his collective splashes of all 6 dives being almost as much as any one dive from most of the rest. But Boudia was in 2nd and had moved his 'problem' dive to his last. He got ok scores, even though he did it better than in previous rounds...but then another stick-guy from Mexico goes and rips his landing...and viola...rips into 2nd, and Boudia now has Bronze. But wait, Boudia gets BRONZE!!! OMG, That's FREAKING FANTASTIC!!! And to find out it's Boudia's 4th overall medal...(he also took silver here in Rio in the Synchronized diving, his partner was the guy he beat out going into the final round). He also has 2 medals from London. WAY TO GO DAVID!!! (Did I mention that the 10m diving is pretty exciting? Sure, it's 1/2 of a second of death-defying excitement, followed by a few minutes of no activity whatesoever, except for some showering and hot-tubbing and such...kind of like US Football, if you take away the showering and hot-tubbing and replace it with a bunch of guys standing around).

And FINALLY! Yes...that ended the Saturday events! So NOW I'm into the FINAL DAY's EVENTS! That leads off with the long awaited Mens MTB race! (I made darn sure my DVR was going to record WAY PAST the end of this event too). There were 49 riders, and their placement on the starting line is according to their World Tour placement! UHM...So, Peter Sagan, the CURRENT Mens ROAD CHAMPION OF THE WORLD, is ranked down at something like 9,786th (just a wild guess)...considering that he DOESN'T RACE MOUNTAIN BIKES! So yep...his place is DEAD LAST! And all week the pro MTB'ers have been joking around and such, basically showing they have no respect for him and he won't be a threat. Pretty smug. I don't think they've ever watched the Tour de France in the last few years. Or any of the Spring Classics. To them, he's just a guy with a man-bun who speaks kind of (ok, I'm being kind here) funny. But if you're a guy who rides a bike, I don't think he's a guy you want to poke. That would be like a boxer poking Rocky, or a Sheriff poking Rambo, or a bad guy poking Arnold...you get the picture. He's just not the guy to poke, I think my point is well made.

And so....they're off. Instantly off the front the top 4 or 5 guys are there, and they ride around some turns and stuff, and before you can say "don't poke me", HE'S THERE! He has just passed FORTY SIX of the best mountain bikers in the WORLD! And he's SITTING IN THIRD PLACE!!! OMG, I was beside myself! And I can only guess that the guys who were poking him all week (you know, the 2 guys in front of him, and the 46 now BEHIND him) were SHITTING themselves!! (sorry for the profanity on my typically G rated blog, but YES, I was THAT EXCITED!) And THERE he sat, looking pretty comfortable in third, with the smell of doo-dah in the air all around him (just guessing there, but how could they NOT?) And there was NO VIDEO of that MOST IMPRESSIVE FEAT! I'd LOVE to see some...he must have been a MAD MAN...because it wasn't a few minutes and THERE HE WAS! I guarantee you the top guys figured he'd NEVER make it to the front before they pressed out a lead. Never in a million-gazillion years did they believe he'd be ON THEIR ASS in less than HALF of the FIRST LAP (of 7).

So now...sure, they're all riding much lighter now (after crapping themselves repeatedly)...and they go to a commercial break, and when they come back (this before the end of the FIRST lap), he's gone. Apparently he had a flat front tire. And you know what? On this 3 mile loop, there's only ONE PLACE to get stuff like that! SO... if you flat out on the course, you get to ride your flatted tire (OR you can also carry it) to that ONE SPOT to get a new one! Does that just seem WRONG to anybody else? I mean, how about putting new tire's at a FEW places on the loop? Would that be CRAZY?? I know in the road racing they realize that losing a race because of a mechanical is not right...so they do their best to insure that doesn't happen (tho it still does, but you have to give them an A for trying...I mean, we have about 900 cars and motorcycles with bikes and tires on them in any given road race). So after Sagan FINALLY gets his new tire, the front group is well gone, along with any realistic chance. It's like having a flat 4k out of a road race finish. Sure, you will get a tire, but the front group is gone with the wind and you wont' see them again until after the race.

But I digress. So. Sagan's great hope of a WORLD CHAMPION ROAD RACER winning (or even placing) in the Olympic Mountain Bike race is dashed to the rocks. He only lost a few minutes due to that flat, and we never really heard or saw much of him after that...the announcers treated him like he was just some roadie in sheeps clothing (of note: Sagan was riding the exact same bike as the guy who won Silver...a Specialized, but I don't now which model...other than it was a full suspension). He finally ended up something like 9 minutes down from the winners when the mud settled. And those 2 guys who WERE in front of him for that very exciting and crap-filled half a lap? They took 1/2...the #1 guy from London took 2 here, and the #2 guy from London took #1 here. And a Spanish guy took Bronze. I kept hoping to hear that Sagan was coming back, and would eventually challenge for 3rd...but he had another mechanical issue later in the race I heard...just in case he had ANY hopes of SAGAN'ing this race and powering his way to the front...again. And so endeth a grand experiment. Nice try anyway Peter! And just imagine...had he WON (or placed), we the unsuspecting public would be subject to HEARING HIM SPEAK!! OMG...now THAT is a nightmare! Good thing he's good on a bike and makes great money there...as he will likely NOT do very well as a public speaker, NOR will NBCSports be hiring him along with Christian and Bobke (that last bit is just my opinion btw).

And THEN...after all that excitement, we have mens indoor volleyball! (I LOVE VOLLEYBALL). The US Men had lost to Italy in the SemiFinals, and were nowplaying Russia for the Bronze (who was beat by Brazil in the other Semifinal). The US won that match, tho I only got to see some of it (they didn't air it until AFTER the gold medal match between Brazil and Italy). It was quite a close 3 games (score wise)...but Italy was just KILLING THEMSELVES with BAD SERVES!  I think they had a total of 18 in the 3 games (yes, they lost ALL THREE). But they were all very close. Just think...18 points they GAVE AWAY. And then losing each game by around 2 or 3 points. But that all said, you can't take ANYTHING AWAY from the Brazillian team! They were pretty fantastic! One thing about the mens volleyball...they have some HUGE GUYS who can jump about 2 feet ABOVE a basketball rim! And when you consider the top of the mens net is7'11and 3/4" high, they are WAY above the net! It's quite a sight to see a back-row hitter just flying the friendly skys (of United)...and then just RIPPING THE COVER off the ball! I'm amazed there aren't more blockers with broken fingers...that ball is going by real quick and in a HURRY. And so....Brazil won all three games and that was that. The host country team won both Soccer AND Volleyball (coincidentally, the 2 most popular sports in their country, and in that order). They've been a volleyball powerhouse for quite some time now, and for good reason. They were awesome to watch for SURE!

And finally...I got to see SOME of the US match against Russia. And OMG was it CLOSE! We won 2, they won 2, so it goes to a 5th tiebreaker game to only 15! And we were UP....14/11, then 14/12, then 14/13 (I'm DYING at this point!)...but FINALLY we put the game away, 15/13! And that is that...the US men win the Bronze!!

Wow...I'm BEAT! And this doesn't even include any events I missed from the prime-time show tonight (Sunday). I also recorded the closing ceremony...I'll try to watch that tomorrow...maybe it will give me closure, so I can let go and get on with my life.

BUT WAIT!! The VUELTA started YESTERDAY!!! (sadly, I'll get ZERO coverage of that Grand Tour dag-nab-it!) I'd LOVE To give day by day analysis of a Grand Tour...I feel like I'm really on to something here after the Olympics!

And so...rest now. Good night.