Recapping the Olympics: Day 4

Highlights and winners from Day 4 (July 31st) of the London 2012 Olympic Games:

- The US women's gymnastic team (pictured above), consisting of Gabrielle Douglas, Jordyn Weiber, Alexandra Raisman, Kyla Ross, and McKayla Maroney, won gold in the women's team all-around event, the first time the US has won that event since 1996 (the year of the 'magnificent seven'). The margin of victory - over 4 points - was also surprising. This victory likely came as a consolation for Weiber, who surprisingly did not qualify for the individual all-around event.

- After picking up a silver medal in men's 200m butterfly, Michael Phelps became the most decorated Olympian of all time by winning gold in the men's 4 x 200m freestyle relay, along with his teammates. The Olympic medal was the 19th of his career. At this point, with Lochte having blown leads in an earlier relay and an individual event, leading to silver in the former and no medal in the latter, and Phelps hitting his historic mark, talk of Lochte supplanting Phelps on the ads and magazine covers had largely died down.

The United States' women's soccer team, already having locked up their group and qualification to the elimination rounds, cruised to a 1-0 win against North Korea in their final group stage game.

- Today was the fourth consecutive day in which the host Great Britain Olympic team won zero gold medals, leading to some consternation among their fans.

Recapping the Olympics: Day 3

Notable events and winners from Day 3 (July 30th) of the London 2012 Olympic Games:

- Kim Un-Guk of North Korea won gold in men's weightlifting, setting a world record when he successfully lifted a total of 327kg (719.4 lb)! At the medal ceremony, he saluted the crowd (see above picture).

- The United States picked up two gold medals in swimming events, with Missy Franklin winning in women's 100m backstroke and Matt Grevers winning that same event in the men's. The US also won two silvers in swimming, and bronze medals in diving and judo.

- This day also marked the first time in my life I watched Olympic handball or dressage, and...all I can say is it might be the last. Those events hold no particular interest to me.

Recapping the Olympics: Day 2

Notable events and winners from Day 2 (July 29th) of the London 2012 Olympic Games:

- Kim Rhode of the US, pictured above, won a gold medal in skeet shooting, scoring a 99/100 in the final round. I have to wonder if she was disappointed with that score being not-quite-perfect.

- Dana Vollmer won the United States' first gold medal of the 2012 Olympic Games in swimming, setting a world record in the women's 100m butterfly final. The US also picked up two additional silver medals in other swimming events.

- Kelci Bryant and Abigail Johnston of the US won a silver medal in women's synchronized diving, the first medal for the US in that event since the 2000 games. The gold was won by He Zi and Wu Minxia of China. China won 7 of 8 gold medals in diving events in the Beijing games and successfully began their quest to win 8 of 8 in London.

(Image taken from the Los Angeles Times website.)

Recapping the Olympics: Day 1

Beginning a series of articles in which I recap the highlights of each day of the Olympics so far, and each remaining day as it comes, here's my recap of London 2012 day 1, plus the opening ceremony and the events which technically preceded the opening ceremony.

Caveat: I probably will not be able to keep these recaps from being United States-centric, as that's the foremost perspective I have when watching the games. I'll try my best to consider champions from other countries who stood out in my mind.

- On July 25th, fully 2 days before the opening ceremonies, the first Olympic event kicked off - soccer. As the US Men's soccer team shamefully did not qualify for the Olympic tournament, the US Women's soccer team has the duty of representing US soccer at the Games. After sweeping through the qualifying tournament with an amazing record of 38 goals scored and none allowed, the US team was likely taken aback when they found themselves down 2-0 fifteen minutes into their opening match against France. However, a 19-th minute goal by Abby Wambach of the US stemmed the tide, and the US team eventually stormed back to win their opening group stage game, 4-2. This put the US team atop their group, tied with the North Korean team who surprisingly won their opening match against Columbia. (This marked the first victory by North Korean over anyone in any televised event I can remember.)

- On the night of the 27th came the opening ceremony, which wisely did not attempt to outdo the Beijing 2008 opening ceremony in scale and simply told its own stories, the best of which was helmed by a winning combination of Rowan Atkinson (pictured above) and classically self-deprecating British wit. Overall I liked the opening ceremony, with the exception of the 'modern love story' skit which was confusing and underwhelming.

- The actual first day of the Olympics saw US swimmer Ryan Lochte start off his quest to replace Michael Phelps as the premiere male US swimmer on a high note, winning gold in the Men's 400m individual medley while Phelps finished fourth. The US also picked up two bronzes and a silver in assorted other swimming events.

- In archery, the US men's team upset favorites South Korea in the semifinals before losing to Italy on the last shot of the final round, 219-218.

- In soccer, the US women's team had an easy victory, 3-0 over Columbia, in the second group stage game, taking sole possession of first place in their group.

If you want to see a somewhat live set of information about how the US is doing in the Olympics, consult this Wikipedia page:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_at_the_2012_Summer_Olympics

(Image taken from telegraph.co.uk.)

Countdown to Real Football: 14 Days - The Preseason

In just 14 days, there will be 'real' i.e. American Football to watch on TV, starting with the "Hall of Fame Game" which serves as the first game of the first week of the NFL Preseason.

The competing teams in the Hall of Fame Game traditionally wear throwback-style uniforms and the game takes on a kind of 'opening ceremony' feel, with the commentators talking more about the coming season than the game itself. As with all preseason games, the Hall of Fame Game is strictly an exhibition match - once the regular season begins all preseason records will be wiped clean and every team will start from 0-0.

This year's Hall of Fame Game, featuring the Arizona Cardinals and the New Orleans Saints, will kick off at 8PM EST on Sunday, August 5th.

(And speaking of opening ceremonies, the London 2012 Olympics opening ceremony is on the 27th, isn't it?)

A Couple of Finals

First, a final from a week ago, which needed little enough commentary at the time:

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Spain's comprehensive thrashing of Italy left them 3-time consecutive international champions (Euro 2008, World Cup 2010, Euro 2012), a feat which no team has ever before accomplished, and a likely favorite going into the 2014 World Cup along with the hosts Brazil.

Today's Wimbledon final was a bit more interesting.

In the men's final, Roger Federer beat the UK's own Andy Murray in 4 sets to claim his 7th Wimbledon title, tied for most all-time. As the first British man to make the Wimbledon final since 1938, and with the London Olympics coming up in a few weeks, Murray was likely under intense pressure to win. He started strong, but the endurance which makes Federer so dangerous even at 30 (quite old for a tournament-level tennis player) proved too much to overcome. It was fascinating to watch Murray slowly lose his edge as the match progressed, with emotions playing out on his face, while Federer stayed at the same competitive level. Federer played and acted like a robot the whole time (up until the moment he won - see the above image.)

If Federer keeps playing at this level, he is within one or two years of becoming the greatest tennis player of all time by almost any metric.

I Also Watch Movies

I have a profile on the website criticker.com, which is a site where people can create databases of the films they've seen and what rating they gave those films. My profile is new and in no way reflects all the movies I've seen in my life - just the ones I've seen recently enough to feel confident about my rating.

Check out my profile here, and maybe consider making one yourself. Once you've rated 10 films you've seen, the website will attempt to recommend other films you might like.