I am a boring person. I readily admit this and am generally OK with it. I don't go out much. I rarely drink. I don't like bars. I don't even really like parties anymore. I prefer quiet evenings, with just a few people. I go to bed early. My idea of an ideal night usually involves a television and lights out before 10 pm.
I wasn't always a boring person. I used to go out late. I never really liked bars, but otherwise, I liked to be the life of the party. Come to think of it, I was kind of obnoxious. OK, really obnoxious. I learned recently that the wife of a friend of mine, who I have only met a couple times over 15 years and probably haven't seen since the beginning of my transition from obnoxious, drunk jack-ass to boring old man told her husband, "Yeah, I don't think I like him." We found that funny. I think she would like me now, she didn't like the old me.
I am fully engaged in the Olympic movement, from selection of the host city to extinguishing the flame. However, I don't really think about each host city until the previous Olympics are over. For Brazil, I was most excited about the time difference. Just one hour difference between Rio and Washington, DC. Yes!! Live swimming will be on at a reasonable hour. No tape delayed extending of my bed time to 11:40 pm, just to watch that last relay. I was very excited. See, I told you I am boring. This is what excites me.
Then, the swimming started. What. The. Fuck? (Sorry about the F-bomb, but it seemed appropriate.) Why does the swimming start at 10 pm Rio time? My swimming career was long and uneventful. I never swam a national meet. I was never even remotely close to an international level swimmer. However, I think I have enough experience to say that 10 pm is not the time that swim meets start. I know the Olympics will change their schedule to accommodate NBC and the Eastern Time Zone (see, Beijing, 2008), but who is the moron that suggested starting the swimming at 9 pm Eastern Time? I need to get to bed before 11 and I need to see the relays. These two things do not go together.
This year there is an added twist. My boys actually want to watch. I look forward to planting myself in front of the TV, with all three boys, to watch the Olympic swimming. They cheer, they yell, they jump up and down, and when things don't go well, they slump onto the couch and sulk. It's AWESOME! Except, they are becoming zombies because the swimming starts after their normal bed time. Eldest didn't make it to the Men's 4 x 200 Free Relay on Tuesday Night. Youngest didn't make it to the first event last night. Middle will stay up until he dies, unless we make him go to bed, so this works out nicely for him. Except he is exhausted. Last night I had to cut him off before the Women's 4 x 200 Free Relay. We watched it on TiVO this morning.
Sports is the ultimate reality television. There is great reward to staying up late to watch. I have jumped up and down screaming, both silently and loudly, while watching many athletic competitions, Olympics and otherwise. I have been the one sulking on the couch after a particularly brutal loss. For the swimming events, I like to see them live, as they happen, and not have to worry that a random tweet, a news notification, or even the lack of a news notification will give away the result. I want to jump up as Ledecky hits the 150 wall in the 200 free, because I can't sit and watch, and hear my boys yelling "GO! GO! GO!!" through the final 50. Relays are even better. Klete Keller v. Ian Thorpe in 2004. Jason Lezak reeling in Alain Bernard in 2008, to keep alive the dream of 8 golds for Phelps. These are two of the most exciting moments of my life (WOW! I really am a boring person). It was totally worth it to stay up for both those events. I just wish I didn't have to. I really wish my boys didn't have to.
LA 2024. Maybe that will happen. Maybe then I can watch live swimming at a reasonable hour.
Today's Olympic Story Line - Kuwaiti Fehaid Aldeehani won the Men's Double Trap Shooting competition yesterday. Aldeehani is competing as an Independent athlete, because Kuwait has been banned from the Olympics. Kuwait has been banned because they passed legislation allowing interference in national sport federations. Aldeehani is the first independent athlete to win Olympic gold. During the medal ceremony, he stood under the Olympic flag and the Olympic anthem was played. *The linked article is for information purposes, not the underlying editorial commentary in the headline and story.
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. How do you get green water during the Olympics? Of all the potential problems with Rio 2016, I'm sure no one thought, "You know, the diving pool could turn green." And how do you think the guy in charge of that water felt when he went to work and saw a green pool? You think you had a bad day, at least you didn't turn the diving pool green. At the Olympics. Then turn the water polo pool green. I have to imagine his supervisors spent hours trying to figure out if there was something worse the could do than just fire him. You know he is getting fired, but it just doesn't seem good enough. You turned the water green. At the Olympics. Is there a bigger fail in the world right now?
2. Rowing was cancelled yesterday. Now we get even more rowing.
3. I did a first yesterday and watched a good portion of a field hockey game. The US steamrolled Japan.
4. Daryl Homer won silver in the Men's Individual Sabre event.
5. Nathan Adrian always seems happy.
6. It is possible Maya DiRado is the perfect human. As if being brilliant and an Olympic medalist in both IMs isn't enough, she also swam in the 4 x 200 free relay. That gold gave her a complete set, gold, silver and bronze.
7. Kerri and April aren't supposed to lose sets. Forrer's neck injury in that match looked really painful.
8. Women's Indoor volleyball. Just good.
9. Women's Water Polo. Just good.
10. Women. Just good. But more on that later.
11. Kazakhstan? Really?
Predictions Sum Up -
1. US Men win basketball by, by, by 1000. 1000! WRONG! And oh so very wrong. Losing at halftime. Up by 5 with 4 minutes to play. Where have you gone Magic Johnson and the real Dream Team?
2. Women's Field Hockey continues the dream against Japan. Yup.
3. Walsh-Jennings/Ross don't lose a set. Again. (This is going to be like "Ledecky wins gold." I'll just cut and paste it in every couple days.) WRONG! I was feeling good about my predictions yesterday. I so richly deserve the beating I took.
4. Kevin Cordes gets silver in 200 breast. Prenot bronze. WRONG! Prenot silver.
5. Nathan Adrian gets silver in 100 free. WRONG! Bronze. And he seemed so happy about it.
6. US wins Women's 4 x 200 Relay. The legend of Ledecky grows even more. Yup.
7. In 8 years, I will write a Blog Post about the GOAT: Katie Ledecky. Pending
Predictions -
1. Phelps wins. Lochte bronze behind Hagino.
2. Murphy joins Piersol, Krayzelburg, Carey and Naber as a double backstroke winner.
3. Simone Manuel, silver.
4. US Men pull it together to beat Brazil in volleyball.
What to Watch for:
1. Track and field starting.
2. Katie Ledecky in the 800 free. We thought she looked good so far.
3. TRAMPOLINE! Except, no.
4. My love of the women.
5. Some more thought provoking stuff.
6. The return of the Wife from a week away. OK, that's good for me, but has very little impact on you.
7. And the weekend, so I can finally sit and watch, non-stop, for 14 hours straight.
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