Tradition requires me to share some Olympic thoughts. I debated waiting until the games ended and publishing one, extra-stuffed post. But the games move so fast that things that struck me in week one are bound to get over-written by events of week two. Hell, the notes I’m about to share may already be fuzzy in everyone’s memories.
Guarantee I’ve said this before, but Rugby sevens is awesome. I still have no idea what the rules are, but when a game last less than 30 minutes, do you really need to know the rules?
The US women’s full field (full pitch?) score to win the bronze medal game was insane.
Also incredible was Antoine DuPont of France, AKA The Closer, who is apparently the best regular rugby player in the world (or at least the NBC announcers said so) and moved to sevens just for the Olympics. The French play him only in the second half, with the assignment to wreck people. And wreck people he did in the gold medal game. Two goals? Tries? Touchdowns? Whatever they’re called, plus a huge play to set up another score and fueled a French comeback over Fiji, who had never lost an Olympic game before that final. The Australian announcer was awesome, calling DuPont “A walking, talking, living, breathing rugby super hero!”
3×3 basketball was more fun three years ago when the US teams didn’t suck. Canyon Barry? Seriously? Not sure of the details, but Ice Cube suggested Adam Silver blocked Big 3 players from participating, which seems dumb since the Big 3 doesn’t compete with the NBA, and none of the 3×3 players are NBA guys. Send our best players, Mr. Commish!
I still enjoy watching women’s field hockey.
Suni Lee’s smile when she landed the first pass on her floor routine in the individual events was one of the greatest things I’ve ever seen. Pure joy and relief.
I often complain about how much prime time coverage gymnastics gets. I understand it, but don’t like it. I have to say, though, I watched more this year than I’ve watched in years, and enjoyed it. Simone Biles was always amazing. Lee was fantastic. Rebeca Andrade of Brazil was spectacular. I couldn’t look away from the carnage on the beam Monday.
Of all the great images of the first 10 days of the games, this might be my favorite. Biles, the greatest gymnast of all time bowing down to her rival who bested her. The unfiltered happiness on Adrade’s face. Sometimes those hugs between competitors in gymnastics seem hollow. You could tell there was true and total respect between those two all week. And how great is it for someone as good as Biles to handle finishing second with this much class?
Rowdy Gaines remains a national treasure. The difference between him, who is over-the-top in an endearing way and also super informative and prepared, with some of the other announcers who scream for no reason or utterly fail to provide context for big moments, is striking.
NBC made a big deal of the US-Aussie swimming rivalry, which seemed bigger in a year where the US was the dominant team while the Aussies (and French) had the dominant individuals. I found it interesting that unlike some years in the past, when there was clear tension and bad tidings between the Americans and Aussies, it seemed like the swimmers got along well for the most part. Which I think I prefer. I liked the swimmers coming over and hugging after a close race, congratulating each other with smiles on their faces. That’s what the Olympics are supposed to be all about.
Good grief, I’m getting old, aren’t I?
What a week for landing on your junk! First the French pole vaulter, who apparently has a pole in his pants and may have cost himself a medal when said appendage snagged the bar the rest of his body had cleared. Then Suni Lee landed square on the balance beam with her private area. Conversation in our house when Lee fell and I gasped:
C: Dad, it’s different for us than for you.
Me: I know, but that still hurts!
I’m not getting into the discussion of gender fluidity and whatnot. I will say that I find it soooo interesting that all these conservative politicians are bravely standing up for women’s rights in athletics when they trample them in real life.
I also laugh because, let’s face it, there are a lot of very manly women in the Olympics. And some of those ladies are winning medals for the US.
I know there’s a big difference between maybe not looking super feminine and being transgender. Let’s not pretend the politicians who are screaming their outrage about trans folks are super comfortable with the butchy ladies either. There aren’t as many votes in attacking athletes who are just gay as those pols think there are in fear mongering that there are waves of young males, who happen to be world class athletes, in the process of going through years of therapy, painful medical procedures, and uncomfortable hormone treatments not to mention ostracism by family and society, so they can kick the crap out of our innocent girls in sports.
But, again, I’m not getting into it.
I think it’s hard to criticize the TV coverage too much because this is a really damn hard event to pull off. Tons of sports occurring simultaneously across France (and even in Tahiti) that you need to find announcers for. Not all of those announcers are either polished or necessarily enthused about the events they’ve been tasked with (see Kenny Albert, who could not sound less interested during water polo). Some of the production is based on a world feed NBC has no control over. So there are bound to be slip ups and errors.
That said…
Could NBC have screwed up perhaps the greatest track sprint final ever more than they screwed up Sunday’s men’s 100? Leigh Diffey announcing the wrong winner before there was an official announcement, then totally flubbing both Noah Lyles officially being proclaimed as the winner and ignoring that fellow American Fred Kerley won bronze. I get there were a lot of moving parts and much confusion in the moment. But this was one of the greatest moments in Olympic history, a scintillating race won with a huge comeback that required a photo review to determine the winner. NBC nearly ruined the moment. Keep your mouth shut if you’re not sure. The drama of the moment was far more important than anything Diffey had to say.
Diffey does the Indy 500, too. He sucks there as well.
Which gives me the perfect opportunity to again complain that we have a British announcer for one of the headline events of the games. And we get Trinidadian Ato Boldon while British viewers get American legend Michael Johnson. Dumb.
So apparently Louisiana born-and-raised Armand Duplantis pole vaults for Sweden not just because his mom is from there, but because Sweden gave his American father a job as a coach when Duplantis was about to commit to jump for the US. As a graduate of a school that has won two national championships in basketball partially because of hiring the father of a key recruit, I respect this move. As an American, though, I find it abhorrent. Deport them all.
Sadly ironic that Steph Curry finds himself in the worst shooting slump of his career at the same moment he finally gets to play in his first Olympic games.
I tried the Peacock Gold Zone channel. I like the concept on busy days, but if you don’t catch it at the right time, it kind of sucks.
Peyton Manning is quite good at the media thing. The Olympics, though? Stick to football and endorsing half the products available for purchase in your local store, buddy. Maybe this will be the moment where things finally get dialed back and we don’t see him or his brother every three minutes. Nah, they’re shameless and advertising execs lack imagination, so I’m sure there will be a whole new wave of Manning ads and public appearances when football season rolls around.
A key part of my past Olympics posts was highlighting attractive female athletes. Not to objectify, but to glorify the beauty of the human body. Now that I’m 53 I’m guessing any grace for those comments is long gone. Thus I will just say there are some drop-dead gorgeous women in these games. Of all colors, nationalities, and sizes. Especially the track sprints. Imagine being one of the fastest women in the world and also looking like a super model. Some people hit every number in the genetic lottery.
Hey, I talked about the Frenchie’s extra leg above, I’m allowed to say there are pretty ladies in the Games, too.
Have to say I enjoy Olympics without Russians. I feel bad rooting against athletes just because they come from a country run by a mad man who rigs elections, kills his opponents, and invades sovereign nations. It’s good only a handful of Russians made it and have to compete as neutral athletes. I’m a little surprised that Putin hasn’t gone the Peter Thiel route and created his own games, forcing countries that rely on Russians largesse or protection to choose them over the real games.
How shocked would 1990s me have been that Snoop Dog and Flavor Flav have been huge parts of the Olympic coverage? Or even 2000s me? Or 2010s me? What a time to be alive.