The spirit of the Olympics

[Mutaman]

"Hey babe! I got a twelve inch penis!"

[In Swedish]

Splash (1984) – Freddie-John Candy

[forgetful]

I think the side stories are what make the Olympics so great.  My favorite so far:

Lily King's story of Janet Evan's being her hero after having a chance to meet her as a kid.  Then during the trials being too afraid to go up to talk to her.

Apparently, Janet Evan's little girl's hero is Lily King and Janet called Lily for the sole purpose of hoping she would be willing to talk to her daughter to make her year.

Pure joy.  That's what the olympics are supposed to be about.

[CreightonWarrior]

Lilly King is an american hero after her take down of the russian last night.

[MU82]

Cody miller's asthma vs MR. and Ms. MU82's  nightly tv watching schedule. Tough call.

I appreciate that, Muta, and I'm glad to hear you think our TV schedule is every bit as interesting as another sappy Olympic side story.

BTW, we ended up watching Ray Donovan and then John Oliver, who did an amazing piece on how the gradual phasing out of print newspapers threatens the very fabric of our society.

By the time we were done watching those shows, talking by phone with our daughter and taking our dog out for tinkles, there was no time for the Olympics at all! And yet somehow, we survived!!

Tonight: The Night Of and probably Samantha Bee's show recorded from last night.

I'll keep y'all posted!

[wadesworld]

I appreciate that, Muta, and I'm glad to hear you think our TV schedule is every bit as interesting as another sappy Olympic side story.

BTW, we ended up watching Ray Donovan and then John Oliver, who did an amazing piece on how the gradual phasing out of print newspapers threatens the very fabric of our society.

By the time we were done watching those shows, talking by phone with our daughter and taking our dog out for tinkles, there was no time for the Olympics at all! And yet somehow, we survived!!

Tonight: The Night Of and probably Samantha Bee's show recorded from last night.

I'll keep y'all posted!

If you haven't given men's volleyball a shot, watch it sometime this week.  If you are unamazed, something is wrong with you.  US plays at 1 today.  Streaming online and I would think will be on NBC, as their first match was on Sunday evening.

[GGGG]

I'm glad that people care about the Olympics.  My wife watches it constantly for two weeks.  I just have no interest for the most part.  I don't really care about swimming, volleyball or many of the sports that are contested.  I watched some over the weekend and Sunday night.  But last night I watched a two hour documentary on water rights on the Colorado River that I recorded last week.  Discovery did it.  Good stuff.

[Benny B]

I'm glad that people care about the Olympics.  My wife watches it constantly for two weeks.  I just have no interest for the most part.  I don't really care about swimming, volleyball or many of the sports that are contested.  I watched some over the weekend and Sunday night.  But last night I watched a two hour documentary on water rights on the Colorado River that I recorded last week.  Discovery did it.  Good stuff.

Could you give us a brief rundown of the water rights, perhaps in a separate thread?

[GGGG]

Could you give us a brief rundown of the water rights, perhaps in a separate thread?

Too many rights.  Not enough water.

[MU Fan in Connecticut]

If you haven't given men's volleyball a shot, watch it sometime this week.  If you are unamazed, something is wrong with you.  US plays at 1 today.  Streaming online and I would think will be on NBC, as their first match was on Sunday evening.

They need to make up that game where they got schooled by Canada.  Canada was making miracle shots all night. 
My thought watching, was "This is not the volleyball I remember anymore?!"  The volleyball players are all like NBA-sized players now. 

[MU Fan in Connecticut]

Lilly King is an american hero after her take down of the russian last night.

That was a good watch.
The Russian woman swimmer failed (3) PED drug test and was suspended briefly.

[ChitownSpaceForRent]

They need to make up that game where they got schooled by Canada.  Canada was making miracle shots all night. 
My thought watching, was "This is not the volleyball I remember anymore?!"  The volleyball players are all like NBA-sized players now.

Brutal, need to serve and pass better. No matter how big or athletic the volleyball players are now, it's still a serve and pass game. We'll see, besides at the middle and Libero, there's a ton of young talent on this team. Probably will be better in 2020 but still a very talanted team.

Wade, is there anyone coming through the ranks who can take over Shoji's spot in the upcoming years?

[drewm88]

Too many rights.  Not enough water.

The Water Knife by Paolo Bacigalupi. Novel set in a future time where that issue has changed the world. Fun read.

[wadesworld]

Brutal, need to serve and pass better. No matter how big or athletic the volleyball players are now, it's still a serve and pass game. We'll see, besides at the and Libero, there's a ton of young talent on this team. Probably will be better in 2020 but still a very talanted team.

Wade, is there anyone coming through the ranks who can take over Shoji's spot in the upcoming years?

Evan Enriquez (not sure I have the spelling right) is going into his junior year at Stanford and is a complete stud. He'll be in the gym soon after his college career is over. But Shoji is one of the top 3 liberos in the world and isn't old. He played a bad match but he's phenomenal overall. He'll be the starting libero through the 2020 Olympics.

They need to make up that game where they got schooled by Canada.  Canada was making miracle shots all night. 
My thought watching, was "This is not the volleyball I remember anymore?!"  The volleyball players are all like NBA-sized players now. 

They will be alright. That was the worst possible matchup to draw for the first match. A team that you should beat, but a team that is big and athletic and, most importantly, hot. To add to that, it's a team you see a lot so they have a game plan ready to go for you, and it's a team with nothing to lose. With a young team (USA) you're going to have opening match jitters, so the team with nothing to lose has the advantage of just going out and being aggressive.

Italy just completely dominated a really good France team Sunday. My guess is the US will be ready to play and today's match against them is very competitive. Beat 1 of Italy or France and you most likely move on. Beat both and you definitely move on. And with Poland and Russia (the only 2 threats in the other pool) both missing players, if you get out of your pool there's a good shot at a medal.

[warriorchick]

That was a good watch.
The Russian woman swimmer failed (3) PED drug test and was suspended briefly.

The IOC were really pu$$ies when it came to banning the Russians.  They let the folks in charge of each individual sport decide which Russians could compete and who couldn't.   The International Paralympic Committee, on the other hand, banned the entire Russian team.   What does it say when you go easier on able-bodied athletes than your brother organization does on disabled participants?

IMO, an athlete should get at most one failed dope test.  After the second one, you're automatically banned for life.  That gives everyone one  "Oh, I didn't realize that the supplement my coach gave me contained a banned substance," mulligan, and after that, you are simply a dirty cheater.

[ChitownSpaceForRent]

I was really pleased with Russell's performance. Sander was bad, Priddy wasn't any better. Holt and Lee looked slow, hopefully they have their legs under them now. But you're right, they should be fine so long as they don't miss a ton of serves, which funny enough was the problem with the women's team yesterday as well.

[keefe]

The Water Knife by Paolo Bacigalupi. Novel set in a future time where that issue has changed the world. Fun read.

Milagro Beanfield War

[Spotcheck Billy]

That was a good watch.
The Russian woman swimmer failed (3) PED drug test and was suspended briefly.

As far as I can determine she served a suspension for a drug test failure in 2013 and then failed a test this year for having taken Meldonium which was just added to the banned list January 1. She was re-instated because it is assumed she may have tested positive for Meldonium that was in her system prior to the ban's start 1/1.

I was just glad to see that King didn't lose to her after all of the bulletin-board material she provided to Efimova.

[brandx]

Too many rights.  Not enough water.

A man of few words!!

That really was a classic reply.

[MU82]

If you haven't given men's volleyball a shot, watch it sometime this week.  If you are unamazed, something is wrong with you.  US plays at 1 today.  Streaming online and I would think will be on NBC, as their first match was on Sunday evening.

Thanks for the suggestion but I didn't see it till the match was over. I was too busy, anyway. Even I do a little work every now and then!

[dgies9156]

As for Olympic spirit ...

It would be difficult to find a more cynical Olympic observer than I am.

You have not met me. I refuse to watch even a moment of the olympics this year. I find the Imperial Wizards of the IOC make even the most corrupt of Illinois politicians look angelic. Why should I give a small fraction of a rating point to a group so disgusting?

Plus I live in Chicago and the way our city and our country was treated back in 2009 when these olympics were awarded was disgusting. I hope the wizards are enjoying their Zika-infested sewer. Call me a sore loser if you will, but I have pride in our city and region and I don't take kindly to what the wizards did to us (even though I am kinda glad from a financial standpoint we didn't get it).

I hope everyone who watches enjoys it. Just count me out!

[WarriorInNYC]

I was just glad to see that King didn't lose to her after all of the bulletin-board material she provided to Efimova.

I don't mean to be particularly coming after you, but I think the notion of bulletin-board material is blown out of proportion, especially at this level.  If Efimova can't get up for the Olympic final without a 19 year old calling her out, then she doesn't belong.  Especially considering the comments were made a day or two prior.  Its not like she all of a sudden could have trained harder or focused more.

But I am glad she backed up her talk.  She swam with a ton of confidence.

[MU82]

You have not met me. I refuse to watch even a moment of the olympics this year. I find the Imperial Wizards of the IOC make even the most corrupt of Illinois politicians look angelic. Why should I give a small fraction of a rating point to a group so disgusting?

Plus I live in Chicago and the way our city and our country was treated back in 2009 when these olympics were awarded was disgusting. I hope the wizards are enjoying their Zika-infested sewer. Call me a sore loser if you will, but I have pride in our city and region and I don't take kindly to what the wizards did to us (even though I am kinda glad from a financial standpoint we didn't get it).

I hope everyone who watches enjoys it. Just count me out!

Nice!

You sound like me with the BCS. For 10 years, I did not watch one second of one bowl game in protest of the sham system.

I still don't watch the Beef O'Brady Bowl and Bowling Ball Bowl, but I have watched some of the playoffs the last couple of years.

Sometimes, each of us has to do his/her own protest over something he/she feels strongly about. Bravo to you!

[barfolomew]

Call me a sore loser if you will, but I have pride in our city and region and I don't take kindly to what the wizards did to us (even though I am kinda glad from a financial standpoint we didn't get it).

I am SUPER glad from a financial standpoint we didn't get it. I shudder to think how many unused venues would be falling apart around the city and suburbs 10 years from now.
Plus, could you image how much SOCCER PLAYERS would be bitching about the turf at Soldier Field?!

I am in favor of the idea of picking a couple of small, underdeveloped countries and having multiple (permanent?) olympics there.

[brandx]

Thanks for the suggestion but I didn't see it till the match was over. I was too busy, anyway. Even I do a little work every now and then!

Bite your tongue, 82.

[Galway Eagle]

Would Chicago really have that many unused venues? Between soldiers field, Northwestern, UIC, Allstate arena, Toyota park, wrigley and comisky (never the "cell"), would we really have that many unused stadiums that would've been built? Probably beach volleyball (hopefully temp) but that's all I'd imagine.