Month: August 2012

olympic sports

Looking ahead to Sochi … do we have to?

Posted on by Beau Dure
Oh, I’m sorry — this is the THIRD IOC visit. Fun!

My goal is to get SportsMyriad credentialed for future Olympics, starting in Sochi. And I’ve been going back and forth over whether I’d like to go myself. I’ve been to three straight Winter Games, and they’re so much fun — smaller and easier to digest than the sprawling Summer Games. I also would be able to take a long, long-delayed trip to that part of the world — a high school trip to the Soviet Union fell through.

But having been to three straight Winter Games, perhaps I could stand to miss one. And this story didn’t make me feel better about them:

Sochi Olympics have an ugly side – The Washington Post.

SI.com has a similar piece, though there’s a bit more of Russia’s side of the story.

We’ll also have to see whether Sochi is able to provide the same fun atmosphere that Vancouver and (apparently) London provided. Beijing was fun, too, and everyone connected with the Olympics just wanted to be sure everyone else had a great time. Not sure the Russian organizers get the concept of “fun” in quite the same way. The “funclub” photos on their site include entertaining fare such as “Dmitry Chernyshenko underscores Sochi 2014’s commitment to equality in sport,” “Insurance company OSAO Ingosstrakh becomes Sochi 2014 Partner” (look, they’re shaking hands!), and “IOC Coordination Commission 4th Visit.” Surely your kids are sorry they missed the first three visits.

Don’t worry — I’ll still do a medal projection.

0
medal projections, olympic sports

2012 medal projection redux: What we learned

Posted on by Beau Dure

Update: This is now adjusted to reflect our first doping case: Belarus loses gold, New Zealand up to gold, Russia up to silver, China up to bronze. That’s one more medal for China.

When we started, I said I thought the Wall Street Journal had the best projection model. I’d say they were pretty close.

Here’s the table, updated with the “actual” column:

Table 32 – Sheet1

xxx

I added up the differences between the actual and each of the picks for these 10 countries. Here’s what I wound up with:

  • 32: Wall Street Journal
  • 38: Sports Illustrated
  • 55: SportsMyriad
  • 58: Infostrada/USA TODAY
  • 58: Tuck School of Business model
  • 79: Johnson/Colorado College model
It’s a band of pastry chefs! No, wait — those are American gold medalists. Look, enough with the designers — the next Olympic uniforms should be designed by Levi Strauss.

So what have we learned?

1. It pays to go sport-by-sport. Call it the philosophy major’s revenge over the economists. (Kidding!)

2. As expected, the WSJ effort’s to factor in probabilities paid off pretty well.

3. SI’s pretty good at this.

4. I put too much faith in the home-country bump. But I had a feeling that would be the case.

One more bit of numbers to toss out: How far off was I in predicting gold medals? Let’s take a look:

Overprojected: USA 9, Japan 7, Australia 6, Kenya 4. Tied at 3: Greece, Slovakia, Iran, Britain.

Underprojected: South Korea 5, Hungary 5, France 4, North Korea 4. Tied at 3: China, Kazakhstan, Cuba, South Africa.

Want to dig into any more numbers? Knock yourself out.

The fun part: This is only the beginning. I’ve compiled too much data to stop now. I’m going to start building out pages on Olympic sports with the goal that we’ll know roughly what to expect in World Championships. Then we’ll adjust those pages with World Championship results so that we can rev up in 2015 with projections for 2016.

And I’ll do the same for winter sports. We have considerably fewer of those.

Only 543 days until Sochi!

Update: The WSJ is pretty happy with its projections.

6
olympic sports

Olympic Daily Glance, Day 16 — Out with a bang (modern pentathlon)

Posted on by Beau Dure

Sunday at the Olympic Games: Can you guess the last event of the Olympics? All by itself, unless one of the team sports goes into quintuple-overtime. And then the competitors have about 2 1/2 hours to get over the closing ceremony. Unless you’re on NBC time.

Speaking of NBC, though, the day is so light that you may see just about everything on one of the networks. Given the “Olympic Event(s) TBA” on the schedule, you may see some things more than once. The only sad part is the knowledge that you’ll be watching some of this after the athletes have packed up and headed over for closing.

The awkward part for NBC and U.S. media in general: Not a lot of Americans here. The only team finalist is in men’s hoops, and there are no American boxing finalists. That leaves five individual events with Americans involved, and they’re not favored in any of them.

So this is it. Then I’ll start going through the highlights to see all the stuff I missed.

WHAT HAPPENED SATURDAY

Not a bad start for the USA on the final big day of competition. Georgia Gould took bronze on the treacherous mountain bike course, and U.S. wrestlers got into medal contention. Only one of the wrestlers, Coleman Scott, was able to convert the opportunity for bronze.

The marquee U.S. women’s teams split — gold in basketball, silver in volleyball.

The U.S. tracksters had a couple of agonizing near-misses, particularly the fourth-place finish for redoubtable veteran Bernard Lagat. But Brigetta Barnett took a surprising silver in the high jump. And the relays got around the track without incident, leading to a rather predictable gold in the women’s 4×400 and a close second to world record-setting Jamaica in the 4×100. The U.S. squad of Trell Kimmons, Justin Gatlin, Tyson Gay and Ryan Bailey set an American record — a staggering achievement when you think back over the years.

Then came the shocker: David Boudia upset the Chinese divers to win on the platform.

Mexico kept Brazil away from its long-coveted soccer gold and perhaps made a few U.S. fans shudder at the thought of the future.

MEDAL PROJECTION UPDATE

Again, I nailed an eclectic batch of events — women’s 4×400 relay, women’s 20k walk, women’s high jump. I had the right medals but the wrong order (gold and silver reversed) in the men’s platform diving and men’s hockey. And yes, I nailed the rhythmic gymnastics all-around.

Britain won’t meet my ridiculously high projection, but it still has a shot at the 66 medals the Wall Street Journal projected. And hey — UK Sports itself only sought “a minimum” of 48.

The USA will fall a good bit short of my picks and just slightly short of the Wall Street Journal’s total of 108.

China is now only three medals ahead of projections.

Overprojected: Britain 13, USA 9, Australia 8, Germany 7, Greece 4, Azerbaijan 4, Russia 4.

Underprojected: Colombia 7, Ukraine 6, Spain 5, North Korea 5. Tied at 4: South Korea, Netherlands, Cuba, Mexico, South Africa, Georgia.

SUNDAY’S VIEWING RECOMMENDATIONS

Since nearly everything is televised at some point, I’m including some extra info about broadcast times.

3-4 a.m.:

  • 3:00: Modern pentathlon, women’s fencing phase. (see 9 a.m.)
  • 3:30: Wrestling, 66kg/96kg qualifications (MSNBC picks up at 7 a.m.)
  • 4:00: Wrestling, 66kg/96kg round of 16
  • 4:30: Men’s volleyball, bronze medal match, Bulgaria-Italy.**

5 a.m.:

  • 5:00: Wrestling, 66kg/96kg quarterfinals
  • 5:20: Men’s water polo, seventh-place game, USA-Australia.
  • 5:30: Wrestling, 66kg/96kg semifinals

6 a.m.:

  • 6:00, NBC: Track and field, men’s marathon. Picks: KEN-ETH-ETH
  • 6:00, NBC Sports Network: Men’s basketball, bronze medal game, Argentina-Russia.
  • 6:00: Men’s handball, bronze medal game, Hungary-Croatia. (NBC Sports Network at 7:45)
  • 6:40: Men’s water polo, fifth-place game, Spain-Hungary.

7 a.m.: MSNBC will catch us up on wrestling. NBC Sports Network offers up men’s handball bronze at 7:45.

  • 7:35: Modern pentathlon, women’s swimming phase. (see 9 a.m.)
  • 7:45, MSNBC: Wrestling, 66kg/96kg repechage/bronze

8 a.m.:

  • 8:00: Men’s volleyball, gold medal match, Russia-Brazil.** Picks: POL-USA-BRA
  • 8:30, MSNBC: Cycling, men’s mountain bike. Picks: CZE-SUI-FRA
  • 8:30, CNBC: Boxing, men’s fly final, Mongolia-Cuba. Picks: RUS-GBR-USA-ITA
  • 8:30: Rhythmic gymnastics, group final. Picks: ITA-BLR-RUS
  • 8:45, CNBC: Boxing, men’s light final, Ukraine-South Korea. Picks: UKR-ITA-KAZ-CUB

9 a.m.: NBC Sports Network catches us up on modern pentathlon (fencing and swimming).

  • 9:03: Wrestling, 66kg final.** Picks: IRI-JPN-AZE-RUS
  • 9:15, CNBC: Boxing, men’s welter final, Britain-Kazakhstan. Picks: KAZ-UKR-GBR-LTU
  • 9:30, NBC Sports Network: Men’s water polo, bronze medal game. Montenegro-Serbia. Picks: SRB-ITA-CRO
  • 9:35: Modern pentathlon, women’s riding phase.**
  • 9:45, CNBC: Boxing, men’s light heavy final, Russia-Kazakhstan. Picks: ALG-CUB-AUS-IRL
  • 9:48: Wrestling, 96kg final.** Picks: IRI-BLR-TUR-AZE

10 a.m.: MSNBC has “Olympic Events” (maybe U.S. game in water polo placement? Or rhythmic gymnastics?) from 10-11. And that’s the last broadcast on that network. NBC Sports Network will show men’s handball on slight delay; start set for 10:45.

  • 10:00: NBC: Men’s basketball, gold medal game, USA-Spain. This will end after the CNBC boxing final and will therefore be the final live event broadcast on TV. Picks: USA-ESP-BRA
  • 10:00, NBC Sports Network: Men’s handball, gold medal game, Sweden-France. Picks: DEN-FRA-ESP
  • 10:15, CNBC: Boxing, men’s super heavy final, Italy-Britain. Picks: GBR-ITA-AZE-CUB
  • 10:50: Men’s water polo, gold medal game, Croatia-Italy.**

11 a.m.: Nothing new, but you can stick with hoops, handball and water polo. Still not the last event of the Games.

Noon: Water polo might still be in progress. Men’s basketball would need to be in overtime. So you might have nothing live to watch, though some delayed broadcasts (see below) pick up during the hour. Still not the last event of the Games.

1:00 p.m.: Are you ready? Everyone flipping on their computers for one last live stream from the Olympics? OK, here you go …

  • 1:00 Modern pentathlon, women’s shooting/running phase (final).** Picks: GBR-GER-LTU

4 p.m.: Closing ceremony. Not that I recommend illegal online streams.**

————————————–

** Delayed broadcasts

  • 12:30, NBC: Men’s water polo, gold medal game
  • 12:45, NBC Sports Network: Men’s volleyball, bronze medal match
  • 2:45, NBC: Wrestling, wrapup.
  • 2:45, NBC Sports Network: Modern pentathlon, women’s wrapup.
  • 3:45, NBC Sports Network: Olympic Events TBA. The only events I see that aren’t set for broadcast elsewhere are the handball final, rhythmic gymnastics final, water polo placement games and perhaps some early wrestling rounds.
  • 4:00, NBC: Men’s volleyball, gold medal game.
  • 7:00, NBC: Prime-time, focusing on closing ceremony.

Check the full schedule for time updates and results throughout the day: London2012.com

REMINDERS

Full TV listings: NBCOlympics.com
Full online listings: Also NBCOlympics.com

You know who actually has the best glance of how Americans are faring? Wikipedia.

I did this daily during the Games. As a reminder, you’ll also find my work at Bleacher Report — I should have a couple more pieces done Sunday. I also helped Trapit capture the best Olympic news sources. Follow @TrapitSports or all Olympic-related Trapit feeds on Twitter for more.

0
olympic sports

Olympic Daily Glance, Day 15 — The penultimate

Posted on by Beau Dure

Saturday at the Olympic Games: Enjoy today. Not much to see Sunday. This afternoon, the medals will be flying.

WHAT HAPPENED FRIDAY

Two outstanding U.S. performances. The women’s 4×100 relay (Tianna Madison, Bianca Knight, Allyson Felix, Carmelita Jeter) set a world record of 40.82 seconds. And wrestler Jordan Burroughs had a thrilling, occasionally flashy run to the gold medal.

Aside from that and the requisite U.S. men’s hoops explosion against Argentina, it was a slow day for the USA.  The men’s 4×400 relay was run down on the last leg by the surprising team from Bahamas. Paige McPherson beat world champion Sarah Stevenson and wound up with bronze in taekwondo.

Spain rallied past Russia to face the USA in the men’s hoops final. South Korea won the men’s soccer bronze. France and Sweden advanced to the men’s handball final. It’ll be Brazil-Russia in men’s volleyball, Italy-Croatia in men’s water polo.

MEDAL PROJECTION UPDATE

I nailed some diverse events — men’s pole vault, women’s field hockey and team synchronized swimming. The bad news: I was one-for-eight in taekwondo. The women’s 5,000 was amusing: projection KEN-ETH-KEN, actual ETH-KEN-ETH-KEN-ETH-KEN.

The USA’s so-so day leaves them trailing my projections. They’re safely ahead of China. They’re not going to reach the 113 I projected, and they probably won’t reach the 108 in the next-highest (Wall Street Journal) of the compared projections. The three medals they have in the bag (women’s volleyball, men’s and women’s basketball) will bring them to 97. They’ll get two more in relays unless they drop the batons, getting up to 99 (SI’s projection and Johnson’s projection). Get one more, and it’s 100.

China has 81 and should get the three more to match my projected 84. Maybe not much more.

I picked Russia to finish ahead of China overall. It’s still possible. Russia is only one medal off my projection and should have a very big day Saturday.

Britain’s doing quite well. I just gave them a few too many home-field advantages in my projections.

Huge day for Turkey, which has plummeted in my overprojected category. And thanks to BMX, of all sports, we have a new leader in the underprojected.

Overprojected: Britain 9, Australia 8, Germany 7, USA 7, Greece 4. Tied at 3: Slovakia, Turkey, Azerbaijan, Kenya.

Underprojected: Colombia 7, South Korea 5, North Korea 5. Tied at 4: Netherlands, Ukraine, Spain, Cuba, South Africa. Tied at 3: Canada, Mexico, Georgia, Argentina, Tunisia.

SATURDAY’S VIEWING RECOMMENDATIONS

3-4 a.m.:

  • 3:30: Men’s hockey, 11th-place game, South Africa-India.
  • 3:45: Modern pentathlon, men’s fencing stage.
  • 4:00, NBC Sports Network: Track and field, men’s 50k race walk. Don’t worry — it’ll still be going when you wake up. Picks: RUS-AUS-JPN
  • 4:00: Taekwondo, women’s 67kg/men’s 80kg preliminaries. No Americans in these classes. Four hours of competition.
  • 4:30: Canoe/kayak, men’s K1 200m final.  Picks: GBR-POL-GER
  • 4:47: Canoe/kayak, men’s C1 200m final.  Picks: AZE-ESP-RUS
5 a.m.:
  • 5:00: Diving, men’s platform semifinals.
  • 5:14: Canoe/kayak, women’s K1 200m final.  Picks: POL-NZL-AUS
  • 5:41: Canoe/kayak, men’s K2 200m final.  Picks: GBR-FRA-RUS

6 a.m.:

  • 6:30: Men’s hockey, fifth-place game, Spain-Belgium.
  • 6:30: Women’s volleyball, bronze medal game, Japan-South Korea.

7 a.m.:

  • 7:00: Sailing, women’s match racing, petite final.
  • 7:30: Cycling, women’s mountain bike.  Picks: CAN-POL-ITA

8 a.m.: NBC Sports Network lists two hours of taekwondo.

  • 8:00: Wrestling, 60kg/84kg/120kg freestyle qualification round.
  • 8:05: Sailing, women’s match racing, final. USA didn’t make it. Picks: USA-GBR-FIN
  • 8:18: Wrestling, 120kg round of 16. Tervel Dlagnev vs. Egypt’s Eldesoky Shaban.
  • 8:20: Modern pentathlon, men’s swimming stage.
  • 8:27: Wrestling, 60kg round of 16. Coleman Scott vs. South Korea’s Seungchul Lee.
  • 8:30: Rhythmic gymnastics, individual all-around final.  Picks: RUS-RUS-BLR

9 a.m.:

  • 9:03: Wrestling, 84kg round of 16. Jake Herbert vs. Cuba’s Humberto Arencibia Martinez.
  • 9:30: Wrestling, 60kg/84kg/120kg freestyle quarterfinals.

10 a.m.: NBC signs on with the morning canoe/kayak, then the women’s volleyball bronze medal game. MSNBC sums up previous modern pentathlon stages.

  • 10:00, NBC Sports Network: Men’s soccer, gold medal game, Brazil-Mexico. Well, I got one medalist right. Picks: BRA-ESP-GBR
  • 10:00: Taekwondo, women’s 67kg/men’s 80kg quarterfinals.
  • 10:30: Wrestling, 60kg/84kg/120kg freestyle semifinals.
  • 10:20: Modern pentathlon, men’s riding stage.
  • 10:30, MSNBC: Men’s hockey, bronze medal game, Australia-Britain.

11 a.m.:

  • Ummm …. keep watching the soccer game?

Noon: We’ll get a peek at the women’s mountain bike at 12:45 on NBC.

  • 12:00, NBC Sports Network: Track and field, women’s 20k race walk.  Picks: RUS-RUS-CHN
  • 12:00, MSNBC: Women’s basketball, bronze medal game, Australia-Russia.
  • 12:00: Women’s handball, bronze medal game, South Korea-Spain.
  • 12:00: Taekwondo, women’s 67kg/men’s 80kg semifinals.
  • 12:45: Wrestling, 60kg/84kg/120kg freestyle repechage/bronze.

1 p.m.: NBC shows rhythmic gymnastics.

  • 1:30: Women’s volleyball, gold medal game, USA-Brazil.  Picks: USA-BRA-CHN
  • 1:45, MSNBC: Modern pentathlon, men’s shooting/running stage (final).  Picks: RUS-RUS-HUN
  • 1:46: Wrestling, 60kg final.  Picks: RUS-JPN-AZE-PUR

2 p.m.: NBC peeks at the women’s mountain bike before picking up wrestling. Then it goes back to the mountain bike. NBC Sports Network has delay on women’s handball bronze game. MSNBC lists taekwondo at 2:15.

  • 2:00: Track and field, women’s high jump final. Picks: RUS-USA-RUS
  • 2:20: Track and field, men’s javelin final.  Picks: CZE-NOR-GER
  • 2:21: Wrestling, 84kg final.  Picks: AZE-UKR-USA-UZB
  • 2:30: Track and field, men’s 5,000 final.  Picks: GBR-ETH-USA
  • 2:56: Wrestling, 120kg final.  Picks: RUS-GEO-UZB-USA

3 p.m.: NBC leaves it vague: “Olympic programming.”

  • 3:00, MSNBC: Men’s hockey, gold medal game, Germany-Netherlands. Picks: AUS-NED-GBR
  • 3:00: Track and field, women’s 800 final.  Picks: RUS-KEN-RSA
  • 3:00: Taekwondo, women’s 67kg/men’s 80kg repechage/bronze.
  • 3:25: Track and field, women’s 4×400 relay.  Picks: USA-RUS-JAM
  • 3:30, CNBC: Boxing, men’s light fly final. China’s Zou Shiming vs. Thailand.  Picks: CHN-MGL-RUS-KOR
  • 3:30: Diving, men’s platform final.  Picks: CHN-USA-GBR
  • 3:30, NBC Sports Network: Women’s handball, gold medal game, Norway-Montenegro. Yes, Montenegro.  Picks: NOR-FRA-RUS
  • 3:45, CNBC: Boxing, men’s bantam final. Ireland’s John Joe Nevin vs. Britain’s Luke Campbell.  Picks: CUB-GBR-TJK-IRL

4 p.m.:

  • 4:00: Track and field, men’s 4×100 relay.  Picks: JAM-USA-GBR
  • 4:00, NBC: Women’s basketball, gold medal game, USA-France.  Picks: USA-AUS-RUS
  • 4:15, CNBC: Boxing, men’s light welter final. Cuba-Ukraine.  Picks: GBR-CUB-ITA-MGL
  • 4:45, CNBC: Boxing, men’s middle final. Brazil-Japan.  Picks: UKR-JPN-UZB-IRL

5 p.m.:

  • 5:15, CNBC: Boxing, men’s heavy final. Italy-Ukraine.  Picks: ITA-UKR-AZE-CHN
  • 5:15, NBC Sports Network: Taekwondo, women’s 67kg final.  Picks: FRA-MEX-MAR-RUS
  • 5:30, NBC Sports Network: Taekwondo, men’s 80kg final.  Picks: KOR-CAN-UZB-ITA

Also: nothing. I’ve listed absolutely everything. Check the full schedule for time updates and results throughout the day: London2012.com

REMINDERS

Full TV listings: NBCOlympics.com
Full online listings: Also NBCOlympics.com

You know who actually has the best glance of how Americans are faring? Wikipedia.

I’ll be doing this daily during the Games. As a reminder, you’ll also find my work at Bleacher Report, and I’ll be helping Trapit capture the best Olympic news sources. Follow @TrapitSports or all Olympic-related Trapit feeds on Twitter for more.

0
olympic sports

The real flaw in NBC’s broadcast strategy

Posted on by Beau Dure

NBC’s prime-time emphasis makes sense. People work during the day. Families still do most of their TV viewing in prime time.

But it’s growing clearer that people want to make that choice for themselves, not have it forced upon them:

Gallup: People want Olympics televised live and in prime time | Poynter..

Now here’s the flaw in NBC not wanting to “spoil” an event such as, say, their prime-time BMX segment by broadcasting the event live in its entirety:

To be truly surprised by what “happens” in prime time, people have to avoid news sites, sports sites, Twitter and Facebook. And yet NBC thinks people are going to go to all that effort but accidentally flip the channel to NBC Sports Network at 10 a.m.?

1
olympic sports

Olympic Daily Glance, Day 14 — The end is near

Posted on by Beau Dure

Friday at the Olympic Games: Made for BBC prime time. Not much going on during the daytime hours over there. Then everything in their evening/our afternoon.

WHAT HAPPENED THURSDAY

Could the U.S. women’s teams be doing any better? At the same time the soccer women were winning a classic final against Japan, the water polo team was cruising to an 8-5 win in the final over Spain. Two golds down, two more to go? In semifinal action: The volleyball team swept South Korea, and the basketball team shrugged off a serious challenge from Australia.

Individually, U.S. women are faring quiet well as well. Claressa Shields took boxing gold, and Haley Anderson was a surprise silver medalist in the open water of Hyde Park.

And the men? Oh, just a pair of gold-silver finishes. As expected, Ashton Eaton and Trey Hardee went 1-2 in the decathlon. Almost as expected, Christian Taylor and Will Claye finished 1-2 in the triple jump.

Not a bad day for the British Isles, either. The boxing arena was rocking as Britain’s Nicola Adams and Irish great Katie Taylor took their golds. Britain also took gold in taekwondo (Jade Jones) and gold and bronze in the slightly quieter dressage.

MEDAL PROJECTION UPDATE

Did well in women’s boxing, to my surprise. And taekwondo. Not as well in canoeing.

Congratulations, Australia, you’re off the hook. And China? You’re no longer making me look bad.

Overprojected: Germany 9, Britain 7, Turkey 6, Australia 6, New Zealand 4, USA 4. Tied at 3: Greece, Slovakia, Brazil.

Underprojected: South Korea 5, Colombia 5. Tied at 4: Canada, Spain, Cuba, North Korea, South Africa. Then Mexico at 3.

FRIDAY’S VIEWING RECOMMENDATIONS

It’s getting more and more difficult to get up at 5 a.m. My apologies to the U.S. field hockey team.

3-6 a.m.: No TV.

  • 3:30: Women’s field hockey, 11th-place game, USA-Belgium.
  • 4:00: Taekwondo, women’s 67kg/men’s 80kg preliminary rounds. U.S. bouts listed separately.
  • 4:15: Taekwondo, men’s 80kg preliminary round. Steven Lopez vs. Azerbaijan’s Ramin Azizov.
  • 4:30: Canoe/kayak, men’s K1/K2/C1 and women’s K1 200-meter heats/semifinals. Tim Hornsby (K1) and Carrie Johnson.
  • 5:30: Taekwondo, women’s 67kg preliminary round. Paige McPherson vs. … Britain’s Sarah Stevenson? Who’s making these draws?
  • 6:30: Women’s field hockey, fifth-place game, China-Australia.
7 a.m.: No TV.
  • 7:00: Rhythmic gymnastics, individual all-around qualification.
  • 7:00: Sailing, men’s 470 medal race. Rescheduled from yesterday. Picks: AUS-GBR-CRO
  • 7:00: Swimming, men’s open-water. Picks: GRE-GER-RUS

8 a.m.: NBC Sports Network signs on with a delayed broadcast of USA field hockey.

  • 8:00: Sailing, women’s 470 medal race. Picks: ESP-GBR-JPN
  • 8:00: Wrestling, men’s 55kg/74kg freestyle qualification rounds.
  • 8:20: Wrestling, men’s 55kg freestyle, round of 16. Sam Hazewinkel.
  • 8:30: Boxing, men’s semifinals. In order, half hour per class: Light fly, bantam, light welter, middle, heavy.

9 a.m.:

  • 9:00: Sailing, women’s match race semifinals.
  • 9:10: Wrestling, men’s 74kg freestyle, round of 16. Jordan Burroughs. He’s a big favorite.
  • 9:10: Wrestling, men’s 55kg/74kg freestyle, quarterfinals.
  • 9:20, NBC Sports Network: Men’s water polo, placement rounds, USA-Spain.
  • 9:50: Rhythmic gymnastics, team qualification.

10 a.m.: NBC chose synchro? Over BMX?

  • 10:00: BMX, men’s and women’s semis.
  • 10:00, NBC: Synchronized swimming, team final. Picks: RUS-CHN-ESP
  • 10:00, NBC Sports Network (at 10:20): Taekwondo, women’s 67kg/men’s 80kg quarterfinals.
  • 10:00, MSNBC: Men’s volleyball, semifinal, Bulgaria-Russia.
  • 10:00, NBC Sports Network (at 10:45): Wrestling, men’s 55kg/74kg freestyle, semifinals.
  • 10:30: Women’s hockey, semifinal, New Zealand-Britain.
  • 10:40: Men’s water polo, semifinal, Croatia-Montenegro.

11 a.m.: NBC recaps canoe/kayak and swimming.

  • 11:30: BMX, women’s final. Picks: FRA-AUS-USA
  • 11:40: BMX, men’s final. Picks: USA-AUS-LAT

Noon: NBC plans to show a lot of rhythmic gymnastics and more swimming.

  • 12:00, NBC Sports Network: Men’s basketball, semifinal, Spain-Russia.
  • 12:00, MSNBC: Men’s handball, semifinal, Hungary-Sweden.
  • 12:00: Taekwondo, women’s 67kg/men’s 80kg semifinals.
  • 12:45: Wrestling, men’s 55kg/74kg freestyle, repechage/bronze.

1 p.m.:

  • 1:30: Men’s water polo, placement rounds, Hungary-Australia.

2 p.m.: All this stuff, and MSNBC plans to show the Britain field hockey game from earlier.

  • 2:00: Track and field, men’s pole vault final. Brad Walker is the lone American. Picks: FRA-GER-GER
  • 2:00: Diving, men’s platform prelims.
  • 2:03: Wrestling, men’s 55kg freestyle final. Picks: RUS-BUL-JPN-IRI
  • 2:10: Track and field, women’s 4×400 first round.
  • 2:30: Men’s volleyball, semifinal, Brazil-Italy.
  • 2:35: Track and field, women’s hammer throw final. No Americans made it. Picks: RUS-GER-BLR
  • 2:45: Track and field, men’s 4×100 first round.
  • 2:45, MSNBC: Men’s soccer, bronze medal game, Japan-South Korea. Your 2002 World Cup special.
  • 2:50, NBC: Wrestling, men’s 74kg freestyle final. Picks: USA-RUS-IRI-KAZ
  • 2:50: Men’s water polo, semifinal, Italy-Serbia.

3 p.m.:

  • 3:00: Women’s hockey, semifinal, Netherlands-Argentina.
  • 3:00: Taekwondo, women’s 67kg/men’s 80kg repechage and bronze.
  • 3:05, NBC: Track and field, women’s 5,000. Molly Huddle and Julie Culley. Picks: KEN-ETH-KEN
  • 3:30: Boxing, men’s semifinals. In order, half hour per class: Fly, light, welter, light heavy, super heavy.
  • 3:30: Men’s handball, semifinal, France-Croatia.
  • 3:40: Track and field, women’s 4×100 final.  Picks: USA-JAM-TRI
  • 3:55: Track and field, women’s 1,500. Shannon Rowbury and Morgan Uceny. Picks: MAR-ETH-RUS

4 p.m.: MSNBC has scheduled the France-Croatia handball semi for 4:30.

  • 4:00, NBC Sports Network: Men’s basketball, semifinal, USA-Argentina.
  • 4:20: Track and field, men’s 4×400 final. Picks: USA-JAM-GBR

5 p.m.:

  • 5:15: Taekwondo, women’s 67kg final.
  • 5:30: Taekwondo, men’s 80kg final.

Also: nothing. I’ve listed absolutely everything. Check the full schedule for time updates and results throughout the day: London2012.com

REMINDERS

Full TV listings: NBCOlympics.com
Full online listings: Also NBCOlympics.com

You know who actually has the best glance of how Americans are faring? Wikipedia.

I’ll be doing this daily during the Games. As a reminder, you’ll also find my work at Bleacher Report, and I’ll be helping Trapit capture the best Olympic news sources. Follow @TrapitSports or all Olympic-related Trapit feeds on Twitter for more.

0
soccer

New women’s soccer league — here we go

Posted on by Beau Dure

The timing was interesting — I got a press release at 12:26 a.m. I’ll reproduce it in full here.

One question has been answered: It appears there are no hard feelings between this group and the WPSL. See the comments from Jerry Zanelli. They say this league isn’t competing with the WPSL and W-League — teams can actually move between them. (Looks like it’s not traditional promotion-relegation but rather economic — if you can move up, move up; if you need to move down, move down.)

Then another question has popped up: There’s another Seattle group? What about the Sounders?

And another: Where’s Western New York? UPDATE: Here’s what Boston’s Mike Stoller says about the Flash: “One of the five teams that are finalizing their involvement.  They have been a driving force over the last year and continue to be as we finalize all details of the new league.”

Note: They are not yet sanctioned. But I have a hard time believing they’ve gone this far without at least some conversations with U.S. Soccer.

MORE UPDATES: There are MLS teams involved. Also, the interested teams are planning to be fully professional — in other words, no college players.

If I get answers, I’ll let you know. Here’s the release:

Top Teams Finalizing the Formation of Women’s Soccer League

CHICAGO, IL (Aug. 9, 2012) – With the conclusion of both the WPSL Elite League and W-League semi-pro women’s playoffs and the ongoing thrilling performance of the U.S. Women’s National Team at the Olympic Games, five of the top women’s soccer teams in the country are announcing the formation of a new professional women’s soccer league that will start play in the spring of 2013.

Among the teams are the Boston Breakers, Chicago Red Stars, a newly formed team in Seattle, and New Jersey’s Sky Blue FC, three out of four of which were members of the prior Women’s Professional Soccer league. Additionally, four other teams are finalizing their participation in the league including another team that will be located on the West Coast.

“All these teams are committed to playing with and against each other starting in 2013 and to working out the final details to allow a sustainable professional league for women’s soccer in the U.S.,” said Michael Stoller, Managing Partner of the Boston Breakers. “We want to emphasize this is not a competitor to any of the existing leagues, but rather this is a significant step up in the competitive level and professional standards and we expect to establish a natural relationship to allow teams to enter this new league and perhaps to fall back (self-relegate) to their prior league if they need a break from the higher spending and competitive requirements.”

Much work has already been done to structure the minimum standards, season length, player requirements and conferences. It is expected that several more teams will join the league in the coming month or two as discussions continue with several other ownership groups.

This league is being created by ownership groups within the existing leagues on the basis of understanding the successes and failures of the first two attempts at a professional league in America. A main goal for the league is to provide the best U.S. players with the ability to develop and train at a high level on a consistent basis. The team owners are driving this effort and are working to make sure the league will help prepare those players for international competition with the U.S. WNT.

The founders of the new league have been working with United Soccer Leagues (USL) and Women’s Premier Soccer League (WPSL) to attempt to solidify the relationship and roles of the existing women’s leagues with the new league and participation for all teams that elect to meet the minimum standards. This is an acknowledgement on the long-term success and sustainability of semi-pro women’s soccer leagues in this country.

WPSL has participated in the planning for the new league, “We have supported women’s soccer for decades and are very proud of our creation of the WPSL Elite League this year and the role we have been able to play in bringing this new league together for 2013. We are committed to easy movement for teams between WPSL and this new league and we will also provide a place for reserve teams to play,” said Jerry Zanelli, founder and President of WPSL. “Many details remain to be worked out but we will support the new league in its growth and are happy to see an unambiguous future for women’s professional soccer in the United States.”

“We are excited to bring the highest level of women’s soccer to Seattle,” said Bill Predmore, President of Seattle-based digital marketing agency, POP, and the leader of the ownership group for the new Seattle club. “Seattle has a long history of enthusiastic support for professional soccer, which we hope will provide us with a strong base of fans for the new women’s club.”

According to Arnim Whisler, owner of the Chicago Red Stars, “This is an inclusive not an exclusive effort. If teams want to join and can meet the minimum standards then we welcome them. This league is for the players that want to play and be on the WNT radar, the fans that continue to support us despite our false starts in the past, and the teams that are committed to elite women’s soccer. We have been very happy with the WPSL Elite season that we just completed and cannot thank Jerry enough for his providing so many teams the place to play this year on such short notice and we see this as a natural extension of that model to a more permanent league and infrastructure.”

In the near future, there will be more detailed discussions with U.S. Soccer on the proper sanctioning process.

8
olympic sports

Olympic Daily Glance, Day 13 — Might be a soccer game

Posted on by Beau Dure

Thursday at the Olympic Games: Ashton Eaton tries to wrap up the decathlon, Usain Bolt runs again, and the U.S. women play for the water polo gold.

Oh, and the USA and Japan will play a rematch of their classic World Cup final from last summer.

WHAT HAPPENED WEDNESDAY

I admit it. I looked at my projections for Wednesday and thought, “Oh, no — I picked the USA to win four golds in track and field. That won’t happen.”

Well, no, it didn’t. They just won three. And two silvers. And two bronzes. In four events:

  • Men’s 110 hurdles: Aries Merritt gold, Jason Richardson silver
  • Women’s long jump: Brittney Reese gold, Janay Deloach bronze
  • Women’s 200: Allyson Felix gold, Carmelita Jeter bronze
  • Women’s 400 hurdles: Lashinda Demus silver

Those were all the track and field finals from Wednesday. Also, most U.S. athletes advanced through their heats. Then there’s the small matter of the decathlon, where Ashton Eaton and Trey Hardee are 1-2 as predicted.

But wait, there’s more. Misty May-Treanor and Kerri Walsh Jennings capped their glorious career with another gold, beating April Ross and Jen Kessy in the all-American beach volleyball final. Claressa Shields clinched at least a silver in boxing. Clarissa Chun fought through a brutal draw to take bronze in wrestling.

Yet aside from the U.S. men’s hoops team making an emphatic fourth-quarter statement against Australia, it was a dreary day for U.S. men’s teams. The water polo team’s little slide in the group stage carried over to an 8-2 quarterfinal ouster. The volleyball team that was so impressive in winning its group lost in straight sets to Italy.

Worst of all for me, Iceland’s handball team lost a classic two-overtime battle with Hungary, which somehow won its handball quarterfinal but not its water polo quarterfinal. Strange.

MEDAL PROJECTION UPDATE

Did I not tell you the USA would surpass China? The gold medal count may still in doubt. Overall medals? It would take some really surprising results at this point.

My wrestling and taekwondo picks were OK. Equestrian and canoe/kayak? Not really.

But China has fallen into second place in another category — my “underprojected” count.

Underprojected: South Korea 5, China 4, Canada 4. Then a funny thing about the next ones — North Korea, Mexico and Colombia are all at 4, with 5 actual medals to 1 projected medal. South Africa can top that — I picked them for 0 so far, and they have 4. The gaggle at an underprojection of 3 is a bit higher in the medal count — Netherlands, Denmark, Cuba.

Overprojected: Aussie, Aussie, Aussie … oy. They’re the big leaders at 8. Then it’s Turkey at 6. Germany and Britain are at 5, but no one in Britain seems the least bit worried at this point. Brazil and New Zealand are at 4. And it’s a diverse group at 3 — Chinese Taipei (only 1 of a projected 4), Slovakia, Kenya and Italy.

Russia is back in “underprojected” territory — 51 projected, 52 actual.

THURSDAY’S VIEWING RECOMMENDATIONS

The schedule’s getting thinner. The networks don’t even sign on until 8 a.m. Not sure what NBC Sports Network is showing that’s more important than the open-water race, but …

4 a.m.:

  • 4:00: Track and field, decathlon, 110 hurdles
  • 4:00: Taekwondo, women’s 57kg/men’s 68kg preliminary round. Another four-hour session. U.S. entries listed separately.
  • 4:15: Taekwondo, men’s 68kg preliminary round, Terrence Jennings.
  • 4:30: Canoe/sprint, men’s C2 1,000 final. Picks: GER-ROU-AZE
  • 4:30: Track and field, women’s high jump qualifiers. Newcomer Brigetta Barrett joins experienced contender Chaunte Lowe and really experienced Amy Acuff, who made a terrific comeback to make the team.
  • 4:48: Canoe/sprint, men’s K4 1,000 final. Picks: CZE-GER-DEN
  • 4:50: Track and field, decathlon, discus.

5 a.m.:

  • 5:00: Diving, women’s platform semis.
  • 5:08: Canoe/sprint, women’s K1 500 final. Picks: UKR-GER-HUN
  • 5:35: Canoe/sprint, women’s K2 500 final. Picks: GER-POL-HUN

6 a.m:

  • 6:35: Track and field, men’s 4×400 relay heats. USA looking to bounce back from failing to get a runner in 400 final. But other teams don’t look any stronger.

7 a.m.:

  • 7:00: Swimming, women’s 10k open water. Picks: GBR-ITA-GRE
  • 7:00: Rhythmic gymnastics, individual qualifiers. Metro DC’s own Julie Zetlin.
  • 7:00: Sailing, women’s match race, placements 5-8
  • 7:30: Taekwondo, women’s 57kg preliminary round, Diana Lopez.
  • 7:30: Equestrian, dressage final. Picks: NED-GER-NED
  • 7:55: Track and field, decathlon, pole vault

8 a.m.:

  • 8:00, NBC Sports Network: Women’s soccer, bronze medal game, Canada-France.
  • 8:00: Sailing, men’s 470, medal race. Australian and Britain dueling for gold. Picks: AUS-GBR-CRO
  • 8:07: Wrestling, women’s 72kg qualification. Ali Bernard.
  • 8:14: Wrestling, women’s 55kg round of 16. Kelsey Campbell.

9 a.m.: MSNBC signs on with dressage.

  • 9:03: Wrestling, women’s 72kg round of 16. Best guess at when Ali Bernard would wrestle.
  • 9:10: Wrestling, women’s 55kg quarterfinals.
  • 9:38: Wrestling, women’s 72kg quarterfinals.
  • 9:50: Rhythmic gymnastics, team qualifiers.

10 a.m.:

  • 10:00: Women’s volleyball, semifinals, USA-South Korea.
  • 10:00: BMX, men’s quarterfinals.
  • 10:00:  Taekwondo, women’s 57kg/men’s 68kg quarterfinals.
  • 10:00: Sailing, women’s match race, placement 5-6 and 7-8.
  • 10:00, NBC: Synchronized swimming, team technical routine.
  • 10:06, NBC Sports Network: Wrestling, women’s 55kg semifinals.
  • 10:20, NBC Sports Network: Wrestling, women’s 72kg semifinals.

11 a.m.:

  • 11:00, MSNBC: Men’s field hockey, semifinals, Germany-Australia.
  • 11:30: Boxing, women’s fly final, Ren Cancan (China)-Nicola Adams (Britain). Picks: GBR-CHN-IND-RUS
  • 11:45: Boxing, women’s lightweight final, Katie Taylor (Ireland)-Sofya Ochigava (Russia). Picks: IRL-RUS-GBR-CHN

Noon:

  • 12:00, NBC Sports Network: Women’s basketball, semifinal, USA-Australia
  • 12:00: Taekwondo, women’s 57kg/men’s 68kg semifinals.
  • 12:15: Boxing, women’s middleweight final, Claressa Shields (USA)-Nadezda Torlopova (Russia). Picks: GBR-RUS-USA-CAN
  • 12:30, MSNBC: Women’s handball, semifinals, Norway-South Korea.
  • 12:45: Wrestling, women’s 55kg/72kg repechage/bronze.

1 p.m.:

  • 1:30: Track and field, decathlon, javelin
  • 1:40, NBC: Women’s water polo, bronze medal game, Australia-Hungary.

2 p.m.:

  • 2:00, MSNBC: Beach volleyball, men’s bronze medal match. Latvia-Netherlands
  • 2:00: Diving, women’s platform final. Picks: CHN-CHN-MEX
  • 2:03: Wrestling, women’s 55kg final. Picks: JPN-CAN-AZE-RUS
  • 2:20: Track and field, men’s triple jump final. Will Claye and Christian Taylor look solid. Picks: USA-GBR-USA
  • 2:28: Wrestling, women’s 72kg final. Picks: BUL-RUS-USA-CHN
  • 2:30: Women’s volleyball, semifinal, Brazil-Japan.
  • 2:30: Track and field, women’s 800 semis.
  • 2:45, NBC Sports Network: Women’s soccer, gold medal game. USA-Japan. Picks: USA-JPN-SWE

3 p.m.:

  • 3:00, NBC: Women’s water polo, gold medal game, USA-Spain. Picks: USA-AUS-RUS
  • 3:00: Track and field, men’s 800 final. Can Nick Symmonds really do it? Picks: KEN-SUD-USA
  • 3:00, MSNBC:  Taekwondo, women’s 57kg/men’s 68kg repechage/bronze
  • 3:20: Track and field, women’s 4×100 relay heats. Don’t drop the baton.
  • 3:55: Track and field, men’s 200 final. Bolt, Bolt, Bolt, Bolt (and Blake and Spearmon). Picks: JAM-JAM-USA

4 p.m.:

  • 4:00: Track and field, women’s javelin final. Picks: CZE-RSA-GER
  • 4:00, MSNBC: Women’s basketball, semifinal, Russia-France.
  • 4:00, NBC: Beach volleyball, gold medal match. Brazil-Germany. I’ve missed a pick here. Picks: USA-BRA-GER
  • 4:20: Track and field, decathlon, 1,500 (final event). Picks: USA-USA-GER

5 p.m.:

  • 5:00:  Taekwondo, women’s 57kg final. Picks: CHN-GBR-CRO-USA
  • 5:15:  Taekwondo, men’s 68kg final. Picks: IRI-TUR-GBR-JOR

Also other semifinals in women’s handball and men’s field hockey. And placement games in men’s field hockey and women’s water polo.

Check the full schedule for time updates and results throughout the day: London2012.com

REMINDERS

Full TV listings: NBCOlympics.com
Full online listings: Also NBCOlympics.com

You know who actually has the best glance of how Americans are faring? Wikipedia.

I’ll be doing this daily during the Games. As a reminder, you’ll also find my work at Bleacher Report, and I’ll be helping Trapit capture the best Olympic news sources. Follow @TrapitSports or all Olympic-related Trapit feeds on Twitter for more.

0
olympic sports

Handball’s time has come

Posted on by Beau Dure

Do we even need to call it “team handball” any more? If we say “handball,” will people tune in expecting to see some dudes from Iceland and Hungary slapping a ball around on a racquetball court?

Four years after a small group of American reporters, including me, started chasing the Iceland handball team around, it seems more people are paying attention:

– Wired (UK) calls handball “the most awesome Olympic sport you might not be watching.”

– It made the roundup of espnW’s “surprisingly enjoyable Olympic sports.”

– Time calls my Icelandic guys “the most important team at the Olympics.”

– Even Usain Bolt is down with handball. Well, handball players.

Then we turn to Twitter:

(And yes, Posnanski joined me, Dan Steinberg and a couple of others among the crowd that has discovered the quotability of the Icelandic handballers.)

It’s not a perfect sport. It sometimes bogs down in a half-court set. The constant fouls can interrupt the flow of the game. And Iceland just lost.

But like any sport, it has good games and bad games. And have you not enjoyed the good games?

4
olympic sports

Olympic Daily Glance, Day 12 — Ride, kick and punch

Posted on by Beau Dure

Wednesday at the Olympic Games: BMX and taekwondo get underway. So does the decathlon, with world record-holder Ashton Eaton and Trey Hardee carrying hopes of a 1-2 U.S. finish.

Also, things get serious in men’s water polo and volleyball, you’ll see Misty May-Treanor and Kerri Walsh Jennings for the last time in the Olympics, and you’ll see Clarissa and Claressa in the same hour.

WHAT HAPPENED TUESDAY

Not a bad day for the USA on the track. An unexpected silver for Leo Manzano in the 1,500. I’d picked U.S. silver in the high jump; didn’t think it’d be Erik Kynard. Then Dawn Harper and Kellie Wells finished 2-3 in the 100 hurdles, with Lolo Jones fourth.

Sarah Hammer so nearly had gold in the women’s omnium (a really complicated event even by track cycling standards) and took a well-deserved silver.

The U.S. star of the day, though, was Aly Raisman. She had a successful protest to take bronze in balance beam, then punctuated her Games with gold in floor exercise.

We’ll have an all-American beach volleyball final — Misty May-Treanor and Kerri Walsh Jennings won a fantastic match against China, and April Ross and Jen Kessy took down the favored Brazilians. The U.S. women’s water polo team won its semifinal against Australia in overtime, and the women’s volleyball team advanced to the semis.

The bad news for the USA — the men’s boxing team is officially out of the running (again), and the wrestlers have little to show so far.

Britain’s simply floating on air right now. Gold and bronze in triathlon, gold in team dressage, two golds and a silver in track cycling, a sailing silver, and a high jump bronze.

MEDAL PROJECTION UPDATE

I’ve already explained why China’s lead over the USA isn’t likely to last.

A lot of Tuesday’s events were easy to predict. The only question in synchronized swimming was the order of silver and bronze. Russia got a surprise gold in men’s springboard, but that just changed the CHN-RUS-CHN order to RUS-CHN-CHN.

Britain is living up to expectations in track cycling, to say the least, so they’re hanging within range of what was a very generous projection.

Overprojected: Australia 8, Turkey 6, New Zealand 5, Britain 5, Germany 5, Brazil 4, Kenya 3, Italy 3, USA 3.

Underprojected: China 6, then 4 each for South Korea, Denmark, Cuba, North Korea, Mexico and South Africa. And 3 each for Canada, Sweden, Colombia.

Right on: Russia 48.

WEDNESDAY’S VIEWING RECOMMENDATIONS

MSNBC hops between volleyball and water polo quarterfinals. NBC Sports Network has all four men’s basketball quarterfinals.

4-6 a.m.: None of the networks are on. Maybe I’ll sleep in.

  • 4:00: Taekwondo, women’s 49kg and men’s 58kg first round. This takes four hours. No Americans in these classes.
  • 4:30: Canoe/kayak, men’s K1 1,000 final.  Picks: CAN-BLR-DEN
  • 4:48: Canoe/kayak, men’s C1 1,000 final. Picks: UZB-GER-HUN
  • 5:00: Track and field, men’s pole vault and women’s hammer throw qualification
  • 5:10: Track and field, decathlon, 100 meters
  • 5:16: Canoe/kayak, men’s K2 1,000 final. Picks: GER-SWE-SVK
  • 5:44: Canoe/kayak, women’s K4 1,000 final. Picks: HUN-GER-POL
  • 5:45: Track and field, men’s 5,000 heats
6 a.m.:
  • 6:00, NBC SpNet: Men’s handball, quarterfinal, Iceland-Hungary
  • 6:10: Track and field, decathlon, long jump
  • 6:35: Track and field, women’s 800 heats

7 a.m.:

  • 7:00: Equestrian, individual jumping, final round A.
  • 7:45, NBC SpNet: Table tennis, men’s team bronze medal match. Germany-Hong Kong. Yeah, there’s nothing else to televise.

8 a.m.:

  • 8:00: Sailing, 49er medal race. Australia clinched gold, New Zealand clinched silver, bronze is up for grabs. Picks: AUS-DEN-GER
  • 8:00: Wrestling, women’s 48kg qualification, Clarissa Chun
  • 8:10: Track and field, decathlon, shot put
  • 8:30: Boxing, women’s fly semis, Marlen Esparza vs. China’s Ren Cancan
  • 8:32-ish: Wrestling, women’s 48kg round of 16
  • 8:48: Wrestling, women’s 63kg round of 16. Elena Pirozhnov.

9 a.m.:

  • 9:00, NBC SpNet: Men’s basketball, quarterfinals: Russia-Lithuania. Martynas Pocius alert.
  • 9:00, MSNBC: Men’s volleyball, quarterfinals: Brazil-Argentina. Sign up Neymar and Messi!
  • 9:04: Wrestling, women’s 48kg quarterfinals
  • 9:05: Sailing, women’s match race quarterfinals. Finland leads USA 2-0.
  • 9:30: Boxing, women’s middle semis, Claressa Shields vs. Kazakhstan’s Marina Volnova
  • 9:36: Wrestling, women’s 63kg quarterfinals
  • 9:55, NBC (at 10): Equestrian, individual jumping, final round B. Picks: SWE-FRA-CAN

10 a.m.:

  • 10:00: BMX, women’s seeding run
  • 10:08: Wrestling, women’s 48kg semis
  • 10:24: Wrestling, women’s 63kg semis
  • 10:30: Table tennis, men’s team final. China-South Korea. Picks: CHN-GER-KOR
  • 10:40: BMX, men’s seeding run
  • 10:45, MSNBC: Men’s water polo, Serbia-Australia

11 a.m.:

  • 11:00, NBC: Men’s volleyball, quarterfinals, USA-Italy.
  • 11:00, NBC SpNet: Men’s basketball, quarterfinals: France-Spain. Lots of NBA talent here. 

Noon:

  • 12:00, MSNBC: Men’s water polo, quarterfinals, Montenegro-Spain.
  • 12:45: Wrestling, women’s 48/63kg repechage/bronze.

1 p.m.:

  • 1:00: Track and field, decathlon, high jump
  • 1:30, MSNBC: Men’s water polo, quarterfinals, Hungary-Italy.

2 p.m.:

  • 2:00: Diving, women’s platform preliminary round
  • 2:00, NBC: Beach volleyball, women’s bronze medal match. Brazil-China
  • 2:03: Wrestling, women’s 48kg final. Picks: JPN-AZE-CHN-USA
  • 2:05: Track and field, preliminary/semi men’s javelin, men’s 110 hurdles, women’s 1,500
  • 2:40, MSNBC: Men’s volleyball, quarterfinals, Russia-Britain
  • 2:48: Wrestling, women’s 63kg final. Picks: JPN-HUN-USA-CHN

3 p.m.:

  • 3:00, NBC: Men’s water polo, quarterfinals, USA-Croatia.
  • 3:00, NBC SpNet: Men’s basketball, quarterfinals, Brazil-Argentina.
  • 3:05: Track and field, women’s long jump final. American favorite Brittany Reese struggled in qualifying. Picks: USA-RUS-RUS
  • 3:10: Track and field, men’s 200 semis. It’s Bolt time.
  • 3:45: Track and field, women’s 400 hurdles final. Time for Lashinda Demus to pick it up. Picks: USA-RUS-JAM

4 p.m.: You might want to clear out some time to watch online now. NBC picks up track and field at 4:30.

  • 4:00: Beach volleyball, women’s final. USA-USA. Picks: USA-BRA-USA
  • 4:00: Track and field, women’s 200 final. Allyson Felix looked like Bolt in the semis. Sanya Richards-Ross and Carmelia Jeter could make it a sweep, but Jamaica has something to say about that. Picks: USA-JAM-USA
  • 4:15: Track and field, men’s 110 hurdles final. Sorry to say my bronze pick is out. Picks: USA-CUB-CHN
  • 4:30: Track and field, decathlon, 400 meters.
  • 4:30, MSNBC: Men’s volleyball, quarterfinals, Bulgaria-Germany

5:00:

  • 5:15, NBC SpNet: Men’s basketball, quarterfinals, USA-Australia.
  • 5:15: Taekwondo, women’s 49kg final. Picks: ESP-TPE-DOM-THA
  • 5:30: Taekwondo, men’s 58kg final. Picks: CHN-TPE-ESP-MAR

More taekwondo times: quarterfinals at 10, semis at 12, repechage/bronze at 3. Also other quarterfinals in men’s handball and women’s hockey. And some more sailing and boxing.

Check the full schedule for time updates and results throughout the day: London2012.com

REMINDERS

Full TV listings: NBCOlympics.com
Full online listings: Also NBCOlympics.com

You know who actually has the best glance of how Americans are faring? Wikipedia.

I’ll be doing this daily during the Games. As a reminder, you’ll also find my work at Bleacher Report, and I’ll be helping Trapit capture the best Olympic news sources. Follow @TrapitSports or all Olympic-related Trapit feeds on Twitter for more.

 

0