2024 Summer Olympics

That could very well be her last public performance. If so, what a way to go out.

Agree: Celine Dione’s performance was simply beautiful.

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For some reason, the co!or guy’s voice on the US/NZ match reminds me of Bagwell.

France put a hurt on the great Figi rugby team, 28-7. France’s DuPont is a man among men.

For some reason, I’m getting the Spanish broadcast.

France beats Fiji in the gold medal match of the Rugby 7’s tournament (which actually kicked off the Games last Wednesday). Sadly, the USA bowed out in the quarterfinals. This is the first Olympic match Fiji has ever lost.

Don’t believe the commentators who said this is France’s first Olympic medal in rugby. It’s their third. They took silver in the 1920 and 1924 Olympics. The USA beat them both times in what can be rightly called some of the greatest upsets in sports.

After the French lost the 1924 match, the last time the Olympics were in Paris, the crowd literally rioted in the stands. Several American supporters were beaten unconscious and the team had to be escorted off the pitch under police escort. The IOC, horrified and shocked by the crowd rioting, decided to eliminate rugby from the Olympics until the sport was reintroduced in its abbreviated from (7’s) for the 2016 Games in Rio.

He’s one of the greatest ever rugby players. What he continually does on the pitch is amazing.

Do you know why the Olympic committee chose to go with 7’s instead of the Union style with 15?

There were several reasons from what I remember reading. First, just a hell of a lot easier to host a two to three day 7’s tournament instead of a multi week 15’s tournament. And 7’s tournaments are usually a huge party in the stands, which the IOC really liked. The bigger issues were safety and logistics. At the international level, you really need at least five days of recovery between matches. There just isn’t enough time to have a proper 16 team tournament in a two week long Olympics with that kind of schedule. You’d also need multiple venues because a single pitch wouldn’t stand up to that many matches being played on it.

Personally, I’d love to see some flexibility here by starting the 15’s tournament two weeks before the Olympics with pool play, then have the knock out and medal rounds during the Games themselves. The interest would be massive and you could also have the 7’s tournament coincide with the 15’s medal games. Sadly, I doubt that’ll ever happen.

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Katy Ladecky is only 27! Seems like she’s been around for 20 years.

When I was 12-13 I made friends with a guy who was a gymnast. Once I went to see him practice. It began with me watching him and a few other guys working out on the pommel horse. After they finished their routines and moved on to vaults and rings and things. I surreptitiously climb upon the pommel horse and tried to recreate their routine (which wasn’t anything near as complex as the routines you see in the Olympics) and I started by attempting the hand stand I saw them all easily do. I almost instantly lost my grip with my right hand and somehow fell on my left wrist between my legs, straddling the pommel horse. Ended up with sore balls a sprained wrist and thumb, along with wounded pride. In spite of the pain I was just happy that no one in the gym noticed. Thus, was the end of my gymnastics experiment.

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I didn’t realize surfing was an Olympic sport. I noticed the waves were bitchin’ sweet and wondered where in France they were. I looked it up and found out they are at Teahupoʻo reef pass, Tahiti, French Polynesia, Which breaks the record for the farthest distance a medal competition has been staged from the host city.

Kayaking too…it was kinda fun to watch

eta: let’s do lunch, finally, Tues/Wed/Thurs…if that works for you

I read some online chatter with folks whingeing about softball being played in Oklahoma City (home of the WCWS) for the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics. Then someone pointed out that surfing for the Paris Olympics would literally be a half world away in French Polynesia.

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The NBC correspondents who drew that duty are utterly thrilled.

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We all must make sacrifices for the Revolution.

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I did not know that. I would have assumed they’d built a surf/wave park…they’re pretty damn fun.

Oh my, the end of Japan v Brazil in Women’s soccer. Two goals in extra time and what a goal the 2nd one was!

Former Rocket Chase Budinger is in the Olympics playing beach volleyball:

I think that’s the Arizona guy that got his face stepped on by Houston Cougar, Aubrey Coleman (Coleman claimed it was an accident–he was looking downcourt–but it was an ugly foul).