BlackberryJam

I had forgotten, or blocked out, the shitshow that was the 2000 US team trials. I remember that I loathed Jamie D., got a giggle out of Morgan's epic bitchface, felt awful for Shannon and feared that Elise Ray was going to split the skin at her temples pulling her hair back that tight. Then the total horrorshow in Sydney. I so wanted Khorkina to go freaking Svetzilla on them for the vault.

Gotta say that Simone and Aly were adorable being interviewed by Bob Costas. Well, he just backed off and let them talk. They just had so much fun together.

Oh where where can I see this???

Maybe he'll get a wildcard? We can hope.

Recreational drugs are a tough call. We know that certain drugs would certainly decrease performance, but would a couple lines of cocaine or a shot of crystal meth work as performance enhancer? I don't know. They might. How do you take that chance? Because if someone is willing to take HGH, or any variety of steroids, with all of their possible side effects, are they going to draw the line addictive recreational drugs? Probably not. At the same time, when someone is a true addict, I think treatment is the only option, and yeah, addicts get more support from me. But right now, some sports are so dirty that too much mercy means the problem will never get fixed. Oh and Lance Armstrong is rotting from the inside out for all of the crap he pulled.

Igor is aces in daring and fearlessness, but a big ole number 2 with that first lading. The second vault ...meh.

Heh...ass first landing, but needed more arm flailing. Yes, that was a code whore vault.

I had PTSD from watching the French vaulter and have blocked it all, but Marian Dragalescu? Seems his been around for decades. YAY.

I kind of enjoy the hot messes, legs flailing in the air, arms pinwheeling, ass first landings, so much fun. Unless there is an injury. *shudder* NO injuries! I'm loving Tears of Nothing.

I get you, and I'm American and I LOATHE Gatlin. I don't want anyone to pick and choose. You dope, you go. I only watched a little of the women's weightlifting after hearing from the announcers that that so many of the competitors were coming off doping suspensions, even the US women's dirty tests were mentioned. If the entire sport is dirty, suspend them all and start fresh. I also HATE Lance Armstrong. The booing when Gatlin was introduced was mentioned by Ato Boldon on my coverage as a result of Gatlin's previous drug suspension. So it wasn't ignored. One of my big points is that the athletes themselves need to start discussing it. How many times when someone tests positive do we hear from an athlete, "We all knew X was doping." I want them to be encouraged to report it, call it out, make it known, instead of this culture of keeping your mouth shut until it becomes public. And this is just me, but when athletes themselves sweep each other's results and suspensions under the rug or welcome people back from suspension with open arms, it makes me think it's just because they were grateful they weren't the ones caught. So yeah, Lilly King didn't present herself well, but thank bob someone is out there saying, "This suspension should not have been lifted. Doping is wrong." And thank bob people aren't letting Justin Gatlin off and welcoming him back from his suspension. But erm...steeplechase is super cool. I was able to see some of the women's hammer, but heard no commentary. That looked fun.

Maybe because I don't look at Twitter, and mute Trautmouth and Daggett, but I haven't seen negative stuff about Gabby. All I have seen is responses and defense of Gabby based on the negative stuff. So it seems to me that the pattern is "five negative things are said or posted, 500 defenses and responses follow." So when people talk about Gabby being bullied, all I see is people standing up for her. So at this point, I feel like she has enough defenders and I'd like to hold my hand up and say, "Ready to move on." As to the two per country rule, I am all for it. Not that I don't want the best to compete, I do. But in the Olympics, these athletes are competing for their country and I despise seeing any country taking all three medals in any sport. I also love an underdog. When the rule cuts you (or the athlete you like) out, it sucks. But when it lets in another athlete from a lesser represented country who goes on to win and burst into tears at the honor, that's what I love about the Olympics. I cry right along with them.

Voice of dissent here, but I don't care if athletes call other athletes out for doping. I think the penalties for doping have been inconsistent and not nearly strong enough. You dope, you get no respect from me. I loathe Justin Gatlin and want him to fail every single time. The doping situation is never going to improve if athletes never report what they know, if doping results get ignored by the media and swept under the rug, if athletes are suspended and then those suspensions lifted. Right now, looking at Efimova and Gatlin both competing, all I can think is that it's encouraging young athletes to dope because you can get away with it.

Thanks. I'm dealing with spotty connections because of storms.

What happened with Jarrion Lawson's final long jump attempt?

I enjoy Mary so much more with her Olympic work than her regular tennis announcing job. She often sounds a little drunk then, but who wouldn't be if they had to spend that much time with McEnroe. For all NBC's talk of packaging the Olympics, they've missed a big chance without more Mary segments.

That is amazing. I also loved doing floor routines in the grass, even though I was never better than a roundoff back handspring. I was never able to rig up a vault...

You should have seen the bar routine I did after removing the swings on my backyard swing set. Dad drew the line when I tried to pretend the top was also balance beam.

You know, Simone won by two points. I still found the competition to be incredibly exciting. A blowout only feels like a blowout once it's over.

TxanGoddess, that's not an error, Jaime's speech to Jon. They did it on purpose to parallel Jaime in the KG and Jon in the NW. Both orders are supposedly celibate, although neither order actually is. By the end of the book series, and I'm spoiler tagging this, As to Jaime loving his children, if I remember correctly, he doesn't give a flip about Joffrey (squirt of seed), barely thinks about Myrcella but is very kind to Tommen at Tywin's funeral when Cersei is a total bitch to the vomiting child. Jaime thinks later of having another child, one that he could actually hold and parent. Jaime and Cersei, when we meet them in the show, are not a love story. They are the story of a dying relationship. That's why the actors show no chemistry. They aren't supposed to. We aren't supposed to see this amazing, all-consuming love for one another. We are supposed to see a long-term, toxic relationship that on its last legs and has caused damage and destruction not only to Jaime and Cersei, but to others. In the show, Jaime acknowledges Cersei's awfulness several times. He says he loves a hateful woman. When Cersei talks about how awful she is during the Myrcella grief scene, Jaime is like "Yeah, I know you're horrible." He also acknowledges Cersei's awfulness to Tommen when they talk over Myrcella's body. Jaime knows Cersei is a horrible, terrible person, but he loves her. That's not making excuses for her behavior, that's loving her in spite of it. And that look he gave her as she sat on the Iron Throne in her dress of power and new crown was "I am so done with you."

Bryan Cogman also just arrived in Belfast.

Cersei is dreadful. And she feels justified in her actions. There are posts in other places (Tumblr) about how Cersei had no choice but to blow up the sept and all I can think is "What?" Cersei had so so so many choices throughout her life. She had more choice than Pia or Hildy, more choice than Arya or Sansa. Cersei did have choices and she chose to do the worst possible thing every single time. (Hello, Melara Heatherspoon. How ya doin', Tyrion's penis?)

I was actually talking about the book readers who assume Jaime would kill himself after killing Cersei, which...Nah, nothing in show or books leads to that conclusion. Matriarchal system perhaps?

This is what astounds me. Everything about every Jaime and Brienne scene screams, "Slow build romance, invest in this romance, isn't this romantic, don't you just want these two to run off together, look at how they declare their love with just their eyes." Yet articles turn around and say, "Jaime will kill Cersei (and then himself which, ffs) because it's foreshadowed!" Uh...the real foreshadowing is Jaime and Brienne. *sigh* But these are the same people who can't see the difference between what Jaime says and Jaime does, as in Jaime says he'll destroy everyone to be with Cersei but what Jaime does is end the siege without bloodshed because that's what Brienne asked him to do. I am routinely amazed at the mis-read of Jaime by so many. Is he really that hard?

Yes yes and a thousand times YES. The slow build romance for this serious is Jaime and Brienne, not SanSan, not Arya/Gendry. It's Jaime and Brienne.

I think we'll get a bit of a time jump and Jaime will be trying to keep the city together and appalled at what his sister has become.