Five-ring circus: The Thread of the XXXIII Olympiad

Unfucking believable.

 

An Olympic host needs to be a traffic cop, pointing you to this event and that, and provide some perspective. The best did that. Jim McKay and Bob Costas in the U.S., Brian Williams in Canada. Mike Tirico is in that category.

Bland? You want someone who is a comfortable listen, not a firebrand. Imagine if Howard Cosell had hosted on ABC. He was best in small doses, and would never have worked as a host.

 

The whole thing is terrible, but to argue the Romanian side for a second, the problem is that though Chiles' performance was better (at least after the re-evaluation), the gymnastics federation broke their own (breathtakingly stupid) rules to fix the mistake in the results. If you were taking a final exam graded on a curve and someone turned in their test 10 minutes after pencils down, you'd probably be pissed even if their test was better.

That's a faulty analogy. In this case, the "test" - her routine - was taken on time, not turned in late, as in your hypothetical. Her "test" was taken exactly how it was supposed to be taken and done on time, but graded incorrectly.

 

Watched only the last 45 seconds of the women's game. Horrible execution by the US. One player (Cooper?) travels, the commits a foul 30 feet away from the basket, then only makes 1 of 2 free throws, then doesn't close out on a 3-point shooter, who nails it. And why do you have one of your top FT shooters (Plum) inbounding the ball?

Even on the last in-bounds play no one guarded one French player, she got the ball about 30-35 feet upcourt and was able to pass to the player who hit the circus shot. Stewart was smart not to foul her on that last attempt.

 

Leslie Jones last night said "Breaking was born in the Bronx and died in Paris." That was a bit mean but I think some people did like it. I have no idea why they buried it at the very end when everyone is Olympic'ed out.

I understand why the IOC is pandering to the youth audience, but between the breaking and the skateboarding competitions full of 14-year-olds, I'm not sure how much of it is getting over. Kind of has a "How do you do, fellow kids" vibe.

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Now that everything's over, I kind of find myself wondering who's going to get the "hammer" in the NBC closing montage. I assume they're still using the Remember the Titans soundtrack (has for every Olympics on NBC since 2002), though given the way they Hans Zimmer-ified John Williams' arrangement of "Bugler's Dream" I'm not so sure.

Was thinking about it, because I think about such things. I think it's Steph Curry's three at the end. The 100 is the showcase event, but it was too close to call at the line. I'm not sure if Biles had a signature moment per se.

 

Syd’s world record?

 

Pommel horse guy? Ladecki?

 

Starman has PTMS. Post Traumatic Munich Syndrome.

 

Agreed.

Plum is one bad-ass, she’s a true PG, tough with the ball, knows when to pass, when to shoot. Nails at FT line. She was my MVP on that team.

 

I believe people in the east have the ability to watch Curry.

 

NBC opens the closing ceremonies with HERE'S JOHNNNY! What an outfit by Weir tonight.

EDIT: And then to hear "so wonderful to compete in front of my husband" by Great Britian diver Tom Daley. Good for them. If you're shocked to get dragged into the 21st Century, tough toenails.

Coronary reports coming in from all parts of redneck America and we haven't even gotten to the first commerical break.