Reflections on What Has Happened

Three Asian Olympics in a row.  I know I have mentioned this before, but I am having trouble handling it.  The ideal Olympics would be on the east coast of the US, with me on the west coast.  I would wake at about 6 am, I could watch everything live until about 9:30, then go to bed.  Rio was good, but still ended a little late for me.  And that was before my days started at 4:00 am (or 5 am for now.)  As I was thinking about this today, I was considering my Guidelines for the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing.  Guideline #1 won't change (stay strong my friends, stay strong and focused.)  But #2 may be to go full vampire.  That way you are less likely to miss anything.

Today, I was finally able to take a breath, relax and just soak in a bunch of events.  So with that, I go straight to:

Reflections on What Has Happened (Focus for this will be on US sports and medals, but we will touch on other stuff as time permits) -

1.  Did you see the start of the Men's Triathlon a few days ago.  There was a big boat directly in front of half the field and the starter STARTED THE RACE.  I have been a starter for swimming races.  Admittedly, not with 100 or so swimmers, just 6-8 swimmers.  The last thing you do, before you start, is check to make sure there is nothing unusual in the water.  You know, like a boat, blocking half the field.  What. was. the. starter. looking. at?  He (or she, but seriously, we all know this was some dumb guy) clearly was not looking at the water.  I really can't say this enough.  Big Boat.  Blocking half the field.  With that said, I'm not sure the guy driving the boat (again, you know this was some dumb guy) made the right decision by trying to quickly back the boat away, while the swimmers were diving in, some of whom were right behind him.  In another not great decision, the guy who decided to dive under the boat probably could be making better life decisions.  I understand your dream of winning an Olympic medal, but you can't win one, much less enjoy it, if you are stuck under a boat.

2.  They should plan the Olympic surfing competition around a tropical storm every time.  Not a hurricane, because that would be dangerous, but grey skies, big waves and some crazy currents made for a very entertaining competition.  And gold for American Carissa Moore.

3.  The 3x3 Basketball rules seem to be "no blood, no foul."  I'm not sure what gets the ref to call a foul and I'm certain the players have to be baffled whenever one is called.  There is almost as much contact in 3x3 Basketball as there is in Water Polo, which is basically a Jaws re-enactment.  I did enjoy watching and the US Women win two close and very exciting games in the semis and finals to win Gold. Just as exciting was Latvia's win in the gold medal game against Russia.  (Or the Russian Olympic Committee.)

4.  Speaking of, what kind of punishment is Russia serving.  All their athletes are competing.  All their teams are competing.  They are currently fourth in gold medals and third in total medals.  Every time I watch a US team competing, they are either playing "the ROC" or they have a game against "the ROC" sometime in the next week.  Ryan Murphy lost to two "the ROC" swimmers in the 100 back.  The ROC was in the finals of both 3x3 Basketball Tournaments.  Their punishment seems to be having to compete under a stupid name and denying the world the joys of the greatest national anthem whenever one of these people win a gold medal.  This is telling a Notre Dame student that the entire school cheated so they must be punished.  They can compete, in anything.  They can win anything.  While competing, instead of calling them the Fighting Irish, they will be called "A sporting student who attends Notre Dame."  But THEY CAN'T WEAR GREEN!  Or ND on anything.  They will be called ASSWAND (A sporting student who attends Notre Dame.)

5.  I was watching archery earlier today and Middle said, "These people aren't as good as the South Koreans."  Duh!

6.  Do you have to be really, really old to compete for the US in Men's Beach Volleyball?  And go watch those forty-something guys play beach volleyball and explain to me why you are sitting on the couch eating Cheeze-Its.

7.  Alix Klineman is not replacing Kerri Walsh-Jennings and she is not trying to.  No one can replace those accomplishments and that butt smacking chemistry she had with Misty May Treanor.  However, through a couple matches, I am a fan.

8.  The US Men's Basketball team beat Iran and nobody cared.

9.  Subway's product is not good enough for them to be able to afford more than one celebrity endorser.

10.  Did I mention Water Polo?  Apparently you are allowed to try to drown your opponent and if the referee ate a bad burrito, you have to sit in the corner for 20 seconds.  If the referee ate a healthy lunch, no holds barred.

11.  The videos of families celebrating at home are great.  The interviews with families at home are a disaster.  After a beach volleyball match, they gave either Kelly Claes or Sarah Sponcil headphones from a Walkman made in 1986.  Then the connection went bad.  I have yet to see one of these special "talk to your family at home" surprise moments work at all.  The connection is always bad.  NBC makes literally like a billion dollars from this, you think they could afford a premium Zoom account.

12.  Speaking of videos from home, Alaskans are CRAZY for swimming.

What to Watch for:

1.  Kelly Claes and Sarah Sponcil in action again.  Will they upgrade the headphones?

2.  Olympic golf is starting.

3.  Rowing - Women's Coxless Pair.  Must. Not. Make. Joke.

4.  Track and Field starts Friday, which I think means tomorrow night here.

5.  In 3 years, the Olympics will be in Paris, which is only 6 hours ahead.  That I can deal with.

Predictions recap:

1.  UVA Girls Silver and Bronze in 200 IM.  Huh?  I got something right.

2.  Ledecky Silver in 200 Free.  Wrong - Yeah, that's back to normal.

3.  No medals in men's 200 Fly.  Right.  When I'm not a homer...

4.  Ledecky Gold in 1500 Free, but no World Record.  Right.  But I feel like I should be penalized for not predicting the Silver for Erica Sullivan (who is an amazing person.)

5.  Britain wins 4x200 Free Relay.  US Silver.  50/50.  That homer thing is really not working out for me. 

Predictions:

1.  Dressel gets gold in men's 100 Free (I'll never learn on the homer thing when it comes to swimming, and he was wrapped in bubble wrap, so we should be good.)

2.  No US Medals in Men's 800 Free and Men's 200 Breast.  (Maybe I can learn.)

3.  Flickinger Gold, Reagan Smith Bronze in Women's 200 Fly.  (Or maybe not.)

4.  Silver for US Women in 4x200 Free Relay.

5.  Djokovic wins tennis.  Just throwing that out there now.  I'm not watching tennis, so I have no idea when, but I'm going for the Golden Slam.

6.  US Women sweep Turkey in volleyball (I really don't learn.)

The Only Certainty is Uncertainty

A few days before the Olympics, I asked each one of my family members, "if you had to bet everything you had on one gold medal, who would you bet on?"  The answers I received were Simone Biles in the individual all around, Katie Ledecky in the 1500 free and the US Men's basketball team.  My answer was the US Women's basketball team.  We are four days in and one of my family members has already lost everything.  Another isn't looking real good with that basketball team.  I am confident that Ledecky will win the 1500 tonight, but my confidence in American swimming recently has been, shall we say, a bit too strong.

Every Olympics has favorites and underdogs.  Every Olympics has surprises and upsets.  Raise your hand if you picked Tom Daley and Matty Lee to upset the Chinese and win the Synchronized Platform Diving.  Now put your hand down and stop lying.  The only thing we can be sure of is that we can't be sure of anything.  Even the South Koreans in Archery, who look like Robin Hood out there, are not a certainty.

In the Women's Cycling Road Race Anna Kiesenhofer of Austria won after an early attack, a big lead, and the fact that the Dutch forgot about her.  You read that right.  She rode the final 41 KM alone and after the main group caught the rest of the early break, Dutch rider Annemiek van Vleuten attacked at the end and crossed the finish celebrating her gold medal, only to find out later that she had not won gold, because someone else was there over a minute earlier.

In the Women's Mountain Bike race, France's Loana Lecomte was the favorite.  Not only had she won every race she entered this year, she had led the entire way in every race she entered this year.  But today wasn't her day.  Apparently, this was her only bad day this year.  France's Pauline Ferrand-Prevot was with eventual winner Jolanda Neff until she slipped and fell on a rocky uphill, then watched her bike slide down the hill away from her, then had to slide down the same hill like she was on ice.  I can't make this up.

Today, in one of the biggest shocks of the Olympics so far, Simone Biles withdrew.  A few days ago, Ledecky lost the 400 free.  Yesterday, China lost the Mixed Doubles Table Tennis gold to japan, after having a 2-0 lead.  (OK, I'm not well versed in the Table Tennis world, I still call it ping pong, but apparantly this was a HUGE upset.  I heard that on the TV and everything you hear on the TV is true.)  The US didn't win the men's 100 backstroke.  The US Softball team was not able to come back in the gold medal game.  A 17 year old won the Women's 100 Breast and Lily King got the Bronze.  Unexpected things are happening everywhere.  Someone cover Caeleb Dressel in bubble wrap, like now.

We like certainty.  Certainty provides comfort.  Certainty allows US Swimming fans to arrogantly assume the the Men's 100 Back medal is our birthright.  But, like the 4x100 Free Relay, which we won every time we swam it until 2000, all good things must come to an end.  Eventually, the Women's Soccer team will lose, uhhh..., or have lost, the Softball team won't be able to come back, the Chinese won't win diving or Table Tennis, and everyone will get old.  People in the swimming world like to say that Katie Ledecky created Ariarne Titmus.  Of course, that's what makes sports compelling.  Certainty is comforting, but can be boring.  If we knew what was going to happen, there would be no reason to watch.  And someone in my house wouldn't owe me everything they have.  you see, the US Women's Basketball team keeps winning...for now.

Reflections on What Has Happened (Focus for this will be on US sports and medals, but we will touch on other stuff as time permits) -

1.  Gotta love the sweep of gold medals in Skeet Shooting.  Bravo Vincent Hancock and Amber English.  Bravo.

2.  Water polo keeps rolling, volleyball keeps rolling.

3.  Our Women's 3x3 Basketball Team lost to japan.  Just when I started to feel another dominant run.

4.  Women's Soccer better figure out what's going on if they want to be the first team to win gold after winning the World Cup.

5.  Do you think they could show more Olympics tennis?  I mean, do you need one channel showing nothing but tennis 24 hours a day?  Maybe that isn't really what's happening, but it feels like it.  I don't need tennis in the Olympics, much less all over the Olympics.

6.  Speaking of, did you need to show the softball game 4-5 times?  Live last night, again this morning, again this afternoon.  I have nothing against Japan, but I am looking forward to an Olympics that doesn't happen overnight.

7.  Tropical storms are great for surfing conditions.

What to Watch for:

1.  Ledecky-Titmus II is actually tonight.

2.  Rugby coming to an end soon.  Watch it if you haven't.

3.  3x3 Basketball medal games.  Can the US win a hostoric first Gold?

4.  What will Great Britain do in the men's 4x200 Free Relay, after finishing 1-2 in the 200 Free.

5.  What will the UVA girls do in the 200 IM?

6.  Will I continue my homer ways in swimming predictions?

Predictions Recap:

1.  US Men's Gymnastics team pulls off a bronze. - Wrong - Uhhhh, no.

2.  Softball GOLD! - Wrong - Uhhhh, no.

3.  Women's Soccer - 3-0 win. Wrong - Uhhhh, no.

4.  Murphy continues the backstroke streak. Wrong - Uhhhh, no.

5.  Regan Smith wins gold, but doesn't get her world record back - Wrong - Uhhhh, no.

6.  Kieran Smith Bronze in 200 Free. - Wrong - Uhhhh, no.

7.  Lily King/Lydia Jacoby 1-2 in 100 Breast. Wrong - Uhhhh, no.  (I was at least close.)

 You have to love my consistency.

Predictions (Swimming only tonight):

1.  UVA Girls Silver and Bronze in 200 IM.

2.  Ledecky Silver in 200 Free.

3.  No medals in men's 200 Fly.

4.  Ledecky Gold in 1500 Free, but no World Record.

5.  Britain wins 4x200 Free Relay.  US Silver.

The Queen is Dead...Long Live the Queen!

Before we get to the Predictions recap section, let's just say, I was wrong.  I mean arrogantly wrong.  Here is the exact quote again, "As much as many people want to somehow turn Ariarne Titmus into the favorite in the Women's 400 Free, don't buy it.  Ledecky has something special in store and you are going to see the best ever show again how great she is tonight."  Don't buy it.  Them's some fighting words.  You would have thought my new found humility would have kept me in check.  You would have thought wrong.

So Ledecky's career is done.  It was fun while it lasted.  I enjoyed the 2021 800 free as much as any swimming event that year as I saw a local teenager take down the defending Olympic Champion in her home country.  She had a good run.  Time to move on to other things.

I have seen both the men's and the women's street skateboarding competition.  I am not well versed in skateboarding.  I know Tony Hawk.  Well, I don't know him.  I have heard of Tony Hawk.  And his video game and move into mainstream media.  I knew some skateboarders back in my day.  I was never any good, and if you knew me, you would know that skateboarding doesn't really fit the rest of the picture.  I saw Gleaming the Cube and Lords of Dogtown.  That gives me, honestly, probably anti-cred in the skateboarding world.

Regardless, I went into this with an open mind.  I have some age old prejudices about skateboarders.  Not a negative impression, just a lack of belief that they really care about the Olympics.  What I saw would have put any winter sport to shame.  Fall after fall after fall.  I saw forward falls, backward falls, painful looking falls.  I saw people doing the same thing and falling every time.  Isn't that the definition of insanity?  Maybe try something different.  But they didn't.  It appears I was wrong.  Why keep falling on your ass trying to do something impressive if you don't want to win?  I honestly believe we would have been more entertained, and the competitors would have been a lot happier, if they were just hanging out at some random skate park with no judges, no cameras and could constantly berate each other for every miss.  But they tried.  Faster, Stronger, Higher.  Or maybe just crazier and more dangerous.

Hmmm, I just saw Katie Ledecky is the top seed in two events after prelims this morning.  It appears my hubris knows no limits and she is not done.  I'll go ahead and predict a bunch more gold medals for her and see how that works out for me.

Reflections on What Has Happened (Focus for this will be on US sports and medals, but we will touch on other stuff as time permits) -

1.  The Gold Medal Match in Mixed Doubles Table Tennis between Japan and China was accurately described as "great drama and theater."  If you are going to watch a Table Tennis Match, this is the one to watch.

2.  The US Women continue their runs in several sports, including beach volleyball, water polo and softball.

3.  Speaking of softball, Holy Cardiac Kids!  Coming back from a run down in the bottom of extra innings against Australia, then tying it in the 6th and winning in the 7th against Japan.  The gold medal game is going to be fantastic.

4.  The Mountain Bike Course was beautiful.

5.  3x3 basketball is a welcome addition to the Olympic program.  Lots of action, lots of fun.

6.  Simone Biles is so good that she can have a terrible performance (for her) and is still easily the best gymnast there.

7.  Where have you been all my life Bowe Becker?  And where did that turn come from?  The US Men won the 4x100 free relay behind Caeleb Dressel's start, Zach Apple's great anchor leg, and Bowe freakin' Becker.

8.  I need to watch more sailing.

What to Watch for:

1.  Softball Gold Medal game.

2.  Can South Korea continue the archery sweep?  How crazy is the South Korean dude in the hat?

3.  Women's soccer - big game against Australia at 4 am.  Yes.  4.  Freakin'.  AM.

4.  Ledecky/Titmus II, in he 200 Free.

5.  What can the UVA girls do in the 200 IM?

6.  Does the US Men's Backstroke dominance continue?

7.  Surfing.

Predictions Recap:

1.  As much as many people want to somehow turn Ariarne Titmus into the favorite in the Women's 400 Free, don't buy it.  Ledecky has something special in store and you are going to see the best ever show again how great she is tonight.  Gold for Ledecky.  Uhhh, oops!  Wrong

2.  Adam Peaty gold in 100 Breast (that's easy).  US is shut out of the medals.

3.  Tori Huske - silver in 100 fly.  Wrong - by 9 one hundredths of a second.

4.  The US Men will be lead by an incredible lead off from Caeleb Dressel and win gold in the 4x100 Free Relay.  

Predictions:

1.  US Men's Gymnastics team pulls off a bronze.

2.  Softball GOLD!

3.  Women's Soccer - 3-0 win.

4.  Murphy continues the backstroke streak.

5.  Regan Smith wins gold, but doesn't get her world record back.

6.  Kieran Smith Bronze in 200 Free.

7.  Lily King/Lydia Jacoby 1-2 in 100 Breast.

So, What Did I Miss?

So, what did I miss?...What did I miss?...Virginia, my home sweet, home, I want to give you a kiss.

Name the musical.

Yesterday was Divisionals.  For those of you unfamiliar with the details of summer swimming (at least in Northern Virginia, Divisionals is the big meet at the end of the summer (ignore all stars for now).  Divisionals is a long meet, usually on a hot day.  At the end of Divisionals everyone, swimmers, coaches, parents, and volunteers, wants to go home, sit in air conditioning and do nothing for the rest of the day.  Unfortunately, for most of those people, the day does not end with the end of the meet.  Most teams also have their end of the season banquet on the same day.

Yesterday morning I worked at Divisionals.  Then I watched the Women's soccer game against New Zealand.  Then i had to purchase a few things for the banquet.  Then i had to help set up for the banquet.  then I had to run the banquet.  then I had to watch paper plate awards.  Then i had to lock the closet after the banquet.  Then I got to watch Chase Kalicz win the 400 IM.

When I finally got home, settled onto the couch and started to prepare to watch Chase win the 400 IM, my mind kept singing, "So what did I miss?"  It turns out quite a bit.  And at the same time, almost nothing.

Friday morning was the Opening Ceremonies.  Then...nothing for most of the day.  I can't say for certain, but I believe the Opening Ceremonies in Beijing in 2008 and PyeongChang in 2018 were only shown on tape delay in prime time.  So those of us in the US got to watch the Opening Ceremonies, go to bed, and wake up to a full schedule of events that had already finished and were happening live, right in front of us.  It was even better than having the Olympics in our own time zone, because if a cat woke you up at 6 am, there was something to watch.

This year, I watched the Opening Ceremonies and then all of Japan was asleep.  Nothing happened on Friday.  I was all hyped up with nothing to do.  Then I went to bed and had a summer swim filled day when all the action was happening.  To make matters worse, I failed to follow The 2021 Guidelines for Watching the Olympics.  I didn't have a plan.  My priorities are not in line.  And I AM COMPLETELY DEHYDRATED!!  I am completely unprepared.  I came into this whole experience arrogant with no justification.  I've done this before.  I've done it great!  I can do it again.  It will all come back.

WRONG!!!...Wrong.  Wrong.  Wrong!

I am not ready for this.  I have no idea what time it is where I am sitting, much less in Tokyo.  What's live?  What's not?  Is this the heats?  The finals?  Am I watching the same kayak competition for the third time?  I have no idea.

As I said on Friday, this is the second of three straight Olympics in Asia and I still can't figure this out.  No offense to the Winter Games, you know I love them, but you can get by with the Winter Games.  You can't in the summer.  There is too much going on.  This is a 5 sided Rubik's Cube like puzzle that not only requires planning (which I hadn't done), priorities (which are completely out of line), and hydration (which is severely lacking), but also humility, which is in dangerously short supply in my house right now.  I needed to be humbled, and as the cat woke me up at 5:45 this morning, I decided that I needed to shake off yesterday, get my priorities in check, make a plan, hydrate, and get on this Tokyo 2021 thing.  Humility served.  Humility accepted.

That said, imagine my surprise and glee last night when I learned hat the US had won exactly zero medals.  There must be something wrong for me to be happy that the US had won exactly zero medals.  But as I said, I missed a lot, and I missed almost nothing.  As I prepared to watch the first swimming final, the Men's 400 IM, I caught up on a few things.  Then I watched the US swim team start the Olympics with a gold-silver in the 400 IM.  Over the next 4 hours, the US won four more swimming medals and vaulted into second in the medal count.

Consider me inspired.  Consider me ready.  Lesson learned.  Stay focused.  Stay humble.  And when you get knocked down, get on your couch, turn on the TV, get the computer in your lap, and watch a lot of Olympic competition.

Reflections on What Has Happened (Focus for this will be on US sports and medals, but we will touch on other stuff as time permits) -

1.  South Korea seems to be really good at archery. Apparently they came in with a plan to win five of five gold medals in archery.  And they are now two for two.  Perhaps that humility thing is overrated.

2.  US Women's 3x3 basketball team looks good through the first few games.

3.  US Women's Beach Volleyball Team of Alix and April (Klineman/Ross) looks really good.

4.  US Women's Water Polo Team looks even better.

5.  Love the Cycling Road races ending on a race car track.

6.  HISTORY - Lee Kiefer becomes the first American to win a gold medal in singles foil (fencing) and her reaction upon winning the gold medal match was an example of what makes the Olympics so much fun to watch.  Anastasija Zolotic becomes the first American woman to win a gold medal in taekwondo and her reaction upon winning the gold medal match was an example of what makes the Olympics so much fun to watch.

What to Watch for:

1.  Two greatest ever get started on their 2021 journey - Simone Biles and Katie Ledecky.

2.  Women's Skateboarding - more on skateboarding from me, soon.

3.  Watch rowing while you can.  Apparently a typhoon is on its way to Japan.

4.  Triathlon, live in prime time tonight.

5.  How much of a disaster will the men's Basketball team be?

6.  Surfing.  In the Olympics.  I'm not sure what to make of this.

Predictions:

1.  As much as many people want to somehow turn Ariarne Titmus into the favorite in the Women's 400 Free, don't buy it.  Ledecky has something special in store and you are going to see the best ever show again how great she is tonight.  Gold for Ledecky.

2.  Adam Peaty gold in 100 Breast (that's easy).  US is shut out of the medals.

3.  Tori Huske - silver in 100 fly.

4.  The US Men will be lead by an incredible lead off from Caeleb Dressel and win gold in the 4x100 Free Relay.

Predictions Recap (no written record of this but I verbally announced them last night):

1.  Chase Kalisz Gold in 400 IM - Correct - but I missed Litherland with Silver.

2.  Emma Weyant Gold in 400 IM (yes, I predicted a gold/gold 400 IM yesterday) - wrong - but a very impressive Silver for the 19 year old.

3.  US Women Silver in 4x100 relay - wrong - so close, but Bronze for the women.

The 2021 Guidelines for Watching the Olympics

It has been five LONG years since we got to experience a Summer Olympics.  During this time, it is likely most of you have slipped a little, as it relates to the rules (ok, guidelines) for properly experiencing this spectacle of sport.  NBC will be showing more than 250 hours of coverage this year.  In addition to NBC, an additional five cable networks will provide coverage (USA, CNBC, MSNBC, The Olympic Channel and Golf.)  And this does not include Peacock, the new NBC owned streaming channel that is competing with so many other new streaming channels for my money, all of which combined will likely put me in the poor house.  All told, there will be more than 7000 hours of coverage.  To put this in perspective, that is almost 292 days.  The opening ceremonies of the next Olympics, the Winter Olympics in Beijing, is on February 4, 2022.  That is 196 days away.  If you did nothing but watch Tokyo 2020 coverage until the Winter Olympics, you wouldn't finish. Even I would need to sleep a little.

In addition, Tokyo is the second of three straight Olympics in Asia.  This means three straight games when most of the action happens overnight here, and all of the athletes are asleep (or doing other overnight activities) while we are all awake in America.  So figuring out how to navigate the 6 channels, streaming service and 7,000 hours of coverage can be daunting.  You have to have a plan and you have to be vigilant.

So, I give you my Guidelines (or Rules) for watching the Olympics, copied from, amended and updated for 2021.

1.  No sex.  This is, always has been, and always will be Rule #1.  I have received a lot of push back o this rule.  There are people, several of them, who believe that sex and proper Olympics watching are not mutually exclusive.  I have said it before, and I will say it again, if you have the time and energy to have sex during the next two weeks, you just aren't trying.  This experience requires focus and sacrifice.  Every spare moment needs to be used to its fullest towards your Olympic experience.  Never mind what the athletes are doing in their spare time.  They earned that right with their athletic achievements.  You need to focus, and time spent in the bedroom (or anywhere else not focused on Olympic programming) is simply a waste.  So, tell your sexual partner that you are taking a break.  Of course the time change gives you one more night before the action, I mean the competition, gets going.  So you have tonight.


2.  If you don't have a DVR, we just can't be friends anymore.  Seriously, what is up with that?  Don't tell me anything about streaming channels and YouTube and "I saved money by cancelling cable."  This is the Olympics.  At the end of a pandemic.  You need cable and a DVR.  Otherwise, you are just not prepared.  Streaming is not going to cut it.  You will barely be starting to watch track and field before the Winter Olympics start.  I have recently finished my deleting barrage to prepare for the next two weeks.  Sure, there were some tears from those small creatures who inhabit my home, but everyone has to sacrifice.


3.  Check TV listings.  This is where the plan comes into play.  It bears repeating, 7000 hours of coverage.  Seven.  Thousand.  You need to know what is on, where it is on and when it is on.  Otherwise, it is likely you will miss the archery, the speed climbing or maybe even trampoline.  We simply can't have that.


4.  Prioritize.  In all seriousness, decide what you want to watch and see when it is on.  This is a unique experience.  Rarely do you get to watch trampoline on TV.  If that is your thing, and I highly recommend it for about 3 minutes but no more than 3 minutes, find out when trampoline is on and watch.  (This was directly taken from the 2016 Guidelines, because it is that good.)


5.  Watch something new.  Take advantage of the opportunity to watch something you have never watched before.  I recommend a Judo match, because that is one baffling experience.  If you watch a Judo match, and know nothing about Judo, don't learn anything before you watch.  Just watch and try to figure out what the hell is going on.  There are plenty of opportunities - Team Handball, Judo, Fencing, Archery, Table Tennis, Speed Climbing.  Seriously, watch Speed Climbing.  Spiderman, and Spidergirl live.  Don't stick to just the spotlight sports.


6.  Get inspired.  Every Olympic, I am inspired to get into the pool and start swimming again.  This year, I am already swimming again, but it will inspire me to push a little harder.  If you ever had any dreams of athletic glory, it is very easy to get inspired by the Olympics.  The successes, the failures, the stories, the scenery, the music are all inspirational.  If you need more inspiration, make a game of it.  Every time Rowdy Gaines says someone is getting a draft, do 5 push ups.  Every time he mentions that someone only breathes to one side, do 5 sit ups.  Every time you see an attractive athlete, do 5 jumping jacks.  If you see someone wearing a mask without covering their nose, go for a 2 minute jog.  If you are creative, you can find a lot of games to play.  Regardless of how, use the inspiration.  The Olympic motto is Citius, Altius, Fortius.  This means Faster, Higher, Stronger.  Not Fastest, Highest, Strongest.  Be inspired to go faster, higher and stronger.


7.  Watch as a family.  This is really fun.  Let the kids experience the joy of winning and the pain of losing through some of the greatest athletes in the world.  Learn a little about the athletes and the sports and Japan.  Let them see what it takes to be that good.  Maybe they will be inspired, maybe they won't.  Regardless, fun for the whole family.


8.  Hydrate.  Good God, how did I forget this for the past several Olympics?  To get through this you need to be on top of your game.  Water is life and you need a lot.  Not so much that you need a bathroom break every 15 minutes, but peak performance requires proper hydration.  Get a good water bottle and use it.  Hydrate, hydrate, hydrate.


9.  Check out this Blog.  I will be on, regularly if not daily.  You get to experience my observations, my thoughts, my predictions and my suggestions for things to look forward to.  Eventually, I will repeat my always in demand You Are Beautiful.


So, there you have it.  My guidelines for experiencing the Olympics from afar (meaning we aren't in Tokyo.)  Use these as you see fit, except for #1.  That is a hard line rule.


Reflections on What Has Happened (Focus for this will be on US sports and medals, but we will touch on other stuff as time permits) -


1.  Uhh, the Women's Soccer Team lost.  That wasn't good.  Observations from the Opening Ceremonies will come tomorrow.


Predictions Sum Up -


1.  No predictions, yet, so...huh.  This isn't very exciting, so far.


Predictions -

This will start tomorrow.


What to Watch for:


1.  The games actually begin, so get to bed early, wake up early and start watching.  Oh, and try not to let something silly like a 5 hour swim meet that your own kids are competing in get in the way. Or a Banquet to celebrate the end of their season.  Yeah, these were poorly planned.

Ready! Set! ...

 Go?

 Here we are, about 12 or so hours from the Opening Ceremonies of what promises to be the MOST.  BIZARRE. OLYMPICS.  EVER.

 OK, so maybe the 1980 Olympics in Moscow with no Americans and the Soviet Union winning everything that didn't have a British dude named Sebastian in it was bizarre, but I'm not sure it will match this year.  Are they going to have spectators at the Opening Ceremonies?  Who are the athletes going to be waving to?  Who will they be filming?  Will they do a crowd shot?  Are they currently in the midst of making 70,000 cardboard cutouts to fill the seats? Will they still go to commercial just before the Latvians enter the stadium?  Will all the athletes be wearing masks?  So many questions and I have done nothing to answer any of them.  I am just looking forward to a massive surprise tomorrow morning.

Yes, tomorrow morning.  NBC is hyping the morning Opening Ceremonies.  Because who doesn't want to wake up and watch the Opening Ceremonies.  I, honestly, purposely have left tomorrow morning free for the Opening Ceremonies, so I'm good.  (Uhhh...to those of you I am coaching tomorrow, there is this cool invention called a DVR.  I will be coaching and we will be there the whole time.  This is not an excuse to skip practice.)  But there may be people who have to do things like, I don't know, go to work.  The Wife comes to mind.  She already missed the soccer debacle on Wednesday because, hello, 4:30 am?  Is it possible the US team was still on US time?  I hope so.

NBC is also hyping how excited the Japanese are for the Tokyo Games.  I'm not saying they are lying, but this seems kind of like one of those late night shows where they ask someone who the President is and the answer is "Uhhh...George Bush?"  I think they found the 17 people in Japan who are excited for the Olympics and interviewed them.  They skipped the vast majority who see it as a COVID breeding ground in a country with less than 20% vaccinated.

I, for one, am excited.  As is Bob.  Bob told me he was so excited he even watched softball on Tuesday night.  For Bob, that is excitement.  For those of you who don't know Bob, let's just say you are missing out.

My excitement was not tempered by the Wednesday morning that will not be spoken of.  (See, soccer, US, 3-0 loss.)  OK, it was tempered briefly.  But now that I am a mere half day away from learning if they will go to commercial just before Latvia enters the stadium, again.  My excitement is right back where it belongs.  I'm even beyond watching softball excitement.  I'd be willing to watch at least 2 minutes of trampoline.  And we all know after one minute, you realize you are watching trampoline and you quietly change the channel and pretend nothing happened.  I'd go to 2.  Maybe 3.  That is how ready I am.  It has been 5 years since the Summer Olympics happened and over three since Jessie Diggins wowed us with her historic finish and gold medal. (I see you Kikkan Randall and I know you were right there winning that medal with her.)  Why shouldn't I be excited?  Let's get ready to do this!

Over the next three weeks we have the pleasure of watching some of the best athletes in the world compete at the highest level.  We also get to watch a bunch of other athletes, who are not the best in the world, compete to be the best they can be.  And we get to see this in a bunch of different sports, most of which we don't get to see, or don't bother watching, any other time.  The Olympics are a big money-sucking, corrupt mess of whatever, usually protested by someone, definitely showcasing athletes using illegal substances, and with a lot of warts.  But at its most pure, it is entertainment of the highest order.  People with amazing talent putting their hearts, minds, bodies and emotions on the line, in front of the world, with the goal of being the best they can be, or the best in the world, or the best ever.  Why shouldn't I be excited, indeed?

I am ready.  I am set.  And I am about to go.  In the next few days, the swimming will be the highlights of the Olympics and my life (not just in Tokyo, but also in Franklin Glen on Saturday and hopefully at CSL All Stars in 9 days.)But, as always, I will find some nuggets outside of the pool to share with you, my 6 loyal readers.  We will start tomorrow with the rules of watching the Olympics.  Those of you who have been with me for the last 8 years know that NOW is the time for physical intimacy with, well, whoever you get physically intimate with, because starting tomorrow, your focus, energy and time awake must be directed towards your Olympic experience, not your.. "other" experiences.  That is, has always been, and will always be, Rule #1.  We will review the rest of the rules and share them with you tomorrow.  Then, we are literally off to the races.  And the jumps.  And the shots.  And the twists.  And the hits.  And...and...and...

I.  Can't.  Wait!

The US Olympic Swim "Team"

 Is swimming a team sport?

I have debated the answer to this question with several people.  There are various ways to answer the question.  At its core, the answer is no.  Swimmers competing in a pool swim in their own lane, with no assistance from any teammates, staring at the black line at the bottom of the pool, or at some rafter in the ceiling during backstroke (unless you are outside where the sun will be in your eyes no matter what the weather, what direction you are going and what time it is), all by themselves.  When your arms feel like they weigh 100 pounds on the last 50 of the 200 fly, or your lungs feel like they are on fire off that last turn in the 200 back, or you have to swim the last 100 yards of the 400 IM, your teammates can't help.  There is no help defense, no one blocking for you, no substitutes in the middle of the game, no one giving you a perfect pass for a tap in goal.  It is you.  In your lane. All alone.

If you watched the Olympic Trials every day, you would argue the answer is yes.  NBC has shown several scenes of swimmers being embraced by hordes of teammates after earning their trip to Tokyo.  The Florida crowd practically attacked Caeleb Dressel.  We also saw scenes of Clair Curzan and Tori Huske being embraced by teammates.  After going 1-2 in the 200 IM Kate Douglass and Alex Walsh celebrated together, college teammates joining each other in a trip to the Olympics.  And Annie Lazor practically drowned Lilly Kin, her training partner, after they went 1-2 in the 200 Breast.

In a little over 24 hours, the US Olympic Swim team will be final.  Up to 12 of them will be relay only swimmers.  They will have a teammate with them, not while in the water, but in each of their races.  When it comes to relay teammates, the best example is Jason Lezak.  Michael Phelps needed many teammates to win his 8 gold medals in 2008 (he was in three relays, so three teammates each), but Lezak pulled a super-human feat to keep the quest for 8 golds alive in the 400 Free Relay. 

Relays are fantastic, and swimmers, like Lezak, often find that they are able to accomplish something in a relay that they could not do just for themselves.  The relay is a team event, but does that make swimming a team sport?  I would still argue no.

It is not the relay, it is not the celebration, it is not the race.  It's the work.  Swimming is hard.  Yes, all sports and all exercise are, or can be, hard.  But swimming is lonely.  You don't breathe, or at least you don't breathe as much as you want.  Practice is often at un-Godly hours of the day.  there is that black line at the bottom of the pool.  Your teammates are the ones who get up at the same time as you.  They are the ones getting in cold water with you.  They are the ones pushing you to work harder during those long practices.  They laugh and cry with you.  Sometimes, they are the ones who go to breakfast, or for a longer practice brunch, or for those really long practices lunch, with you.  That is where the team is in the sport of swimming.  They can't help you in the competition, but they are invaluable in the preparation.

Predictions results:

Men's 800 Freestyle - Bobby Fink, Ross Dant - so close!
Men's 200 Breast - Nic Fink, Will Licon - This one out of two is a real trend.
Women's 200 Fly - Hali Flickinger, Regan Smith - nailed it.
Men's 100 Free - Caeleb Dressel, Zach Apple - nailed it.

These I did (see below), but didn't publish:

Women's 200 Breast - Lilly King, Annie Lazor - right 2, wrong order.
Men's 200 IM - Chase Kalisz - Michael Andrew - there was a trend developing last night
Women's 100 Free - Abbey Weitzel, Olivia Smoliga - so close.

Predictions:

Men's 100 Fly - Caeleb Dressel, Tom Shields
Women's 200 Back - Regan Smith, Phoebe Bacon (a battle a year in the making)
Women's 800 Freestyle - Katie Ledecky, Erica Sullivan

What to Watch for:

1.  Who gets more Olympic spots - Michael Andrew or Caeleb Dressel?
2.  Does Simone Manuel have one last Olympic bid in her?  (If not this year, she could be back in 2024.)
3.  Could we really get more absurdly close races?
4.  How will the number caps (26 total men and women, 12 relay only swimmers) play themselves out?
5.  What happened yesterday?

I'll answer #5.  Remember that glowing discussion of summer swim a few days ago.  Last night we were enjoying a summer swim social event.  An ice cream social.  Lots of swimming children, eating ice cream and playing.  Teammates, ages 6-18.  At one point, the Wife turned to me and beamed, "I love summer swim."  Then Eldest broke his finger.  Summer...you never know what to expect.