orangeman

As for volleyball, Canada's in a tough position. They're tied with France, Brazil and USA, with only three of them going forward. USA is playing Mexico, so we can pretty much assume they're through. France and Brazil play, so the winner of that game will go through. So, it'll come down to Canada or the loser of the FRA-BRA game. So, it'll basically come down to who does better in their game today. Hopefully, Canada can at least win 2 sets from Italy and get a point. The good news is that Italy has clinched first, so maybe they'll rest their players and not take it very seriously. It's just insane that Canada could go 3-3 in this stacked pool, beating USA and Italy, and still barely squeak into the quarters. Meanwhile Iran has already clinched the quarters with 2 wins over in pool B. The pool draws are ridiculous (and the way the games worked out, too). There's a chance Brazil won't even make it to the quarters.

Thought he had it, but faded badly over the last 100m.

I do not follow gymnastics very much at all, so excuse my ignorance. And I think Chusovitina is awesome. But I don't understand how you can land on your ass and still finish ahead of others who do not. It's not just this one time, either. It just seems in gymnastics only the degree of difficulty matters, with little attention to actual execution. Again, I'm not an expert, but to me if you fall you fail. This is nothing about Chusovitina (because the Indian girl did it, too), it's just a general statement about this sport, and why I can't get into it. It just seems like, "Oh, s/he's doing a higher degree of difficulty than that other girl. Therefore, she will finish ahead of her." Seems silly to me. Obviously it doesn't always happen that way, but enough to turn me off.

And also, Drouin qualifies for the high jump final.

Hahahahaha. Just playing. I'm in a good mood, for some reason.

In Rio. Other guys have won medals for Canada in the past.

Bolt and De Grasse are like

Really? I think it was faaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaantastic!

We're just as surprised as you are!

What a race! It almost looked like De Grasse false started. ALMOST. Then he looked out of it. Wasn't sure if he did it for a bit after the line. Fantastic! The future of the 100m.

So: 1. Bolt 2. Drugs Gatlin 3. De Grasse

De Grasse!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Oh, and Bolt!

I thought he was going to start to fade with the two middle guys gaining, but he just shifted into another gear on that straight away. Fantastic race!

Alright, I was just hopeful that De Grasse could make it into the final. Now anything can happen.

The good news is he tied his PB looking around, so hopefully he focuses in the final and goes even faster.

Yay! De Grasse! I think Andre and Usain are best friends now.

I just have to laugh. In the cycling sprint repachage there were three riders, including two Canadians and a German, with the winner moving on. The German won. It doesn't really matter (they weren't going to win anything anyway) but I think it's symbolic of Canada's day so far. I think we've used up all our karma in Rio.

I'm just so confused by their offence. Always stopping the rush, any momentum. They wait until everyone is covered, pass to the outside. Reminds me of my Habs. Also reminds me of Gretzky's quote: You miss 100% of the shots you don't take. Seriously, you're down by 10 with 90 seconds left. You're on a rush. Why stop and pass it back?

I think I'm going to have to lower my lofty expectations of the basketball team after this game. This fourth quarter is just...sad. Spain is good, but these are the team Canada at least has to compete with in order to think about getting on the podium.

But I mean, whatever the reffing. Eventually you have to put a basket down. Not impressive by Canada.

Ok, I hate complaining about reffing, but it has been atrocious this quarter.

So the Canadian gets tackled from behind and she's the one who gets the foul? Curious calls indeed.

Nice run by Canada. Let's keep it going!

And Pavan/Bansley are out in Beach volleyball? Not a good day so far.

Anyway, big game in basketball. Winner will face Turkey in the quarters, loser will face France and be on the same side of the bracket as the USA. This is the first real test for the Canadians.