Soccer, Sports and Politics - Part Deux

Two years ago, Brittney Griner was in a Russian prison.

Today, she gets an Olympic gold medal with Team USA.

That's AWESOME. 🥇🇺🇲 pic.twitter.com/sIkezUp9kV

— BrooklynDad_Defiant!☮️ (@mmpadellan) August 11, 2024

 

Say what you want about the opening-ceremony, but it was sooooo much better than this...

 

Anson Dorrance, 21-time NCAA champion and on the short list of greatest American coaches, of any sport, has announced his retirement.

https://www.espn.com/college-sports...nce-retires-north-carolina-women-soccer-coach

Given that the season starts this week, I have to presume it's his health.

Or it could be that UNC is gonna suck this year. (The churn the program has suffered this year is off the charts, so there is a not insignificant chance that UNC will be really, really dire.)

 

What a fitting backdrop for the medal ceremony of this extraordinary athlete

 

The fed is sure going to wish they had accepted the Romanian proposal for the shared Bronze medals.

 

That was awesome! Since the runners aren’t well lined up at the start, I was worried that the US was behind approaching the first handoff. However, they were right at or close to the front.

But man, when she took off that 2nd leg, it was lights out!

There were so many great moments, like there always are. It’s hard for me to pick one. Watching Steph Curry just turn it on at the end of the gold medal game was just ridiculous, especially his last shot, just rubbing salt in the wound. The women’s final was a hell of an emotional ride too. St. Lucia getting the women’s 100 gold. Lots of rad moments.

 

She had no business being on this team
Arike Ogunbowale and Kayla McCabe would have been more useful. She played 6 minutes between the semi and final.and scored almost nothing. Last Olympics were suppose to be her and Bird's final one. Good Riddance.

 

I hate it when great coaches leave the cupboard bare when they leave.

Who else is on that list? 21 natties, nobody can argue against you, but you got some talent other schools just didn't get. John Wooden, Geno Auriemma, Nick Saban.. they all got talent that not everyone else could get. I will say that I think Saban's resume beats Bear Bryant's because limited schollies.

I don't have any other metric by which to judge coaches (I do, but I know they're not going to be judged by how much their talent improves individually and as a team), but I don't think this one works all that well. I mean, I could coach Real Madrid to a .500 record by just staying out of the way.

 

One of the last medal events we watched was Sport Climbing. In Tokyo, they combined bouldering, lead, and speed, which upset many people because speed requires a much different skillset (or lack of one depending on who you ask). This time the combined event was just bouldering and lead, speed being a separate medal. And combined was great to watch. Clear criteria for scoring points, interesting competition, and a worthwhile addition to the Olympic program.

 

Anyone else feeling sorry for the Aussie lady. She is being memes to death. However, I watch a video about how often these academics think just cause they study something they can do it and because of the cronyism in the arts, there was none telling her, don't do this to yourself.

 

Naw

 

I was in the Cooks last week. I'm really having difficulty picturing women there break dancing.

 

That is the problem. ArikE brought up the fact that she took her name out the running for the woman's team. The woman s team has regular camps as player are to show if the fight what the coach is looking for. Arike said that for her she did it halfway through because it became clear team chemistry and how you got along with the current members mattered more than anything else.

I get it, it's an Olympic team and team chemistry matters but the men chose the 12 best players, give or take a snub. The women's team took players that liked each other and could play the coaches system, Your talent wasn't as important. Nneka Ogwumike was on the WNBA all star team and is the only WNBA finals MVP to never have been part of the Olympic team. Arike Ogunbowale is easily the best guard in the league at this point. Both not wanted.

Taurisi was suppose to gracefully exit last time with Bird. What purpose did she serve waving the towel from the bench? Clark could have gotten job, as much as I think Clark is a bit overrated. McCabe of the WNBA all-stars and Lynx could have definitely contributed more but "Vibes" selection decisions and a vet that wanted to piggyback to more gold medals than any other Olympian before.

 

This is the MOST Tom Cruise that Tom Cruise has ever Tom Cruised. pic.twitter.com/r5ho9xaVsd

— NBC Olympics & Paralympics (@NBCOlympics) August 12, 2024

 

Tatum got minutes in the final