Full Day

I am sitting here watching the US Women play France in soccer.  They just told us that we could be watching the US Women play Puerto Rico in volleyball on another network (we knew that, we have that game paused at the moment), or we could be watching the US Women playing Argentina in field hockey.  A friend of mine just texted me that he has been watching archery on-line.  He hooked his computer up to the television so he could watch  on-line Olympic events on the big screen.  It is a busy day indeed.

I started the day by violating a piece of my own advice.  No.  I didn't have sex.  That's a hard line rule.  I let my Olympic watching experience get delayed by a 5 hour swim meet that my own kids were swimming in.  That really put me behind the 8 ball.  How am I supposed to catch the men's cycling road race, the beach volleyball, indoor volleyball, water polo, shooting, archery, my first ever Olympic field hockey game, rowing, swimming an who knows what else, when I don't even find myself in front of a TV until 1:00 pm?  Damn kids.

To make matters worse, I woke up at 4 am and couldn't get back to sleep.  By 5, I gave up and got up.  Of course, there was nothing on TV.  Where is an Olympics in Japan when you need one?  Hopefully, I have the same sleeping problems in 4 years when the Games are in Tokyo, and I can take advantage of a ridiculous time change.

Random side note - the Brazilians continue to boo Hope Solo and have started the "Zika" yell again.  I don't get it.  They apparently want all of America to think they are anti-hope and pro-Zika.  And Hope just had a great save, proving Brazilians are on the wrong side of both these subjects.

The swim meet went OK.  Middle had one really good swim and one not so good swim.  Eldest had two pretty mediocre swims.  The whole family needs a much needed break from swim meets all the time to sit around, do nothing and watch an unreal amount of Olympic coverage.  Which is what we have done since 1 pm today.  Except the Wife, who went grocery shopping.  All praise the Wife, without whom we would be eating Chick-Fil-A, McDonalds and Chipotle all week, while she goes away for 5 days.  Who knows, if I have to cook, that may happen anyway.

Halftime of soccer, back to volleyball.

And we will jump right into the sections.

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) -

Where to even begin?

1.   The first medal of the Olympics was awarded to...the US.  Virginia from Virginia won the 10 meter air rifle.  Who knows what the 10 meter Air Rifle is?  I don't, but I don't care.  Virginia Thrasher, a rising sophomore at WVU, from Springfield, VA won the first gold medal of the 2-16 Olympics.  For those of you keeping score at home, Springfield, VA is about 15 miles from where I am currently swimming.  How cool is that?

2.  Rowing started.  We watched some single sculls and some 4 person.  Mary Whipple, who I love, did commentary.  Mary Whipple was a great coxswain, and is a two time Olympic Gold Medalist.  But she sounds like a chipmunk.  A little distracting.

3.  I flipped to NBCSN for a minute and Table Tennis was on.  I went back to Beach Volleyball and Eldest asked to watch more Table Tennis.  I take back that "watch with the kids" advice.  Send them away to watch The Legend of Kora on their Kindles while you watch Olympics in peace.

4.  Katie Ledecky dropped a pretty ridiculous split in the 4 x 100 free relay.  Keep in mind she is a distance swimmer, the best ever.  The 100 free is a sprint.  It is possible she is better than we thought.  That is just plain scary.

5.  The cycling road race was a bloodbath.  I understand that they want it to be challenging, but I saw more crashes in one race today than in 3 weeks of Tour de France coverage.  Yeah, I watch that, too.  I have problems.

6.  Despite the late start, we managed to catch cycling, volleyball (beach and indoor), water polo (another baffling sport), table tennis, rowing, swimming and soccer.  I am hoping to catch some judo.  And archer, but I may have missed my chance at that.

Sadly, the Wife is leaving us for a week, starting tomorrow morning.  So we need to have a little family dinner now.  No one is cooperating with my obsession today, except Eldest who is REALLY GETTING INTO THIS OLYMPICS THING!  That is awesome.  So, a couple predictions, and we will catch up tomorrow.


Predictions -

1.  Women beat France in soccer.
2.  Silver for Women's 4 x 100 free relay.
3.  Gold for Chase Kalisz in 400 IM.
4.  Silver for Maya DiRado in 400 IM.
5.  Silver for Conor Dwyer in 400 free.

Eldest just said he loves binge-watching the Olympics.  I'm so proud.  And so leaving.  Sorry so short.  Full report tomorrow.