scarynikki12

Steffi won for West Germany. Amazing player to be sure but there’s no way the cauldron will be lit by a non-American Olympic athlete.

I can't explain it but my personality the last week has been obsessing over who should light the cauldron. For sure I think the lead up should be majority 1984/Los Angeles Olympians with other famous athletes rounding it out. I liked how 2002 Opening Ceremony brought out a bunch of former Winter Olympians and had them skate around a bit before Cammi Granato and Picabo Street handed it off to Team USA so I'd like to see the Summer version of that. What I can't decide on is who should light the cauldron. I keep changing my mind on who should/is likely to do it. I could see them wanting to bring out the 92 Dream Team but I'm also not sure all of those guys would be interested. Then there are big names like Michael Phelps or Simone Biles, who I love, but I like it when it's an historical Olympian and they're too recent. I know it doesn't have to be a Team USA or Muhammad Ali type but the US is an embarrassment of riches when it comes to recognizable Olympians over the years and I can't see them wanting to change their usual formula. I did a search and saw it pointed out the US has never sent a woman to light the cauldron so I could see the appeal for the organizers there. That opens up athletes like Venus and Serena Williams (bonus: LA connection) or the Magnificent Seven. Jackie Joyner-Kersee won her first medals in 84, went to UCLA, and found success in four Games. Wyomia Tyus is still alive and hopefully will continue to be in 28 if they want to consider her. Like I said, this is currently my personality.

Ana's getting a new bronze medal in a Bucharest ceremony later in the week so there really is no reason for Jordan to give hers back.

Insert facepalm here. They really were hoping no one would look too closely weren't they? Too bad they also forgot how litigious the US is. We win all the medals in that competition.

Nadia even had the gall to compare this to the 1980 All-Around. She finished second in the competition, not because she was simply the second best athlete of the night, but because the judges waited something like thirty minutes before deciding her score on the last apparatus. Why did they wait so long? Because they were waiting too see what Elena Davidova's score was and then they made sure to give Nadia a number that would keep her second*. Nadia's 1980 experience and the judging error in the floor final are apples and oranges. I don't know if anyone at FIG has ever said it but that's been a complaint from other gymnasts and their coaches in recent years so they're aware of the talk at a minimum. If it's influencing their decisions here, I don't know, but I hope not because they did jack shit when the Soviets were dominating and benefitting from judging errors, genuine and not. It sounds strange but I'd rather they were behaving this way because they're embarrassed at the initial error and don't want to admit their mistakes. Problem is, by digging in rather than admit the mistakes, they're just making it worse and worse. *This is not a commentary on the actual competition. I've never seen it and Davidova may have been the top gymnast in Compulsories, Team Final, and the All-Around. This is strictly about the corrupt judges making sure a Soviet gymnast won the All-Around during a Soviet hosted Games.

At least the jokes are funny.

I saw a theory on Twitter that it was based on when the inquiry was logged while the US has footage showing when the inquiry was initially raised. Raised could be the 47 or 55 seconds while the Logged could be the 64. And if they're going to take this seriously then it needs to be the RAISED that counts because adding the information to the computer can absolutely take a minute even if the most up to date model.

Why does Tom Daley have different diving partners in every Olympics? I googled but couldn’t find the answer and only watch highlights so if it’s been said during the broadcast I missed it?

Apparently it’s against FIG policy to appeal an athlete’s score from another country so Jordan should keep her medal if they’re going to be sticklers for the rules. Now, Romania didn’t do this directly but the end result was the same and it’s going to set a horrible precedent if countries are allowed to get opponents scores changed even if in a roundabout way. Reading further it seems Romania just threw out every appeal they could think of and got lucky on the four second thing. Which highlights the question of who has the timer, when does it start, why it’s not prominently displayed somewhere, etc? And there’s no indication Romania or any other country was pointing out the four second thing when the athletes were still waiting to get final results (I’d understand if they were being actively ignored but no one has claimed this) so why is it ok for them to be granted extra time to try and find something to get their way? If they’re going to be sticklers about four seconds (which is probably a margin of error unless we get confirmation of someone holding a stopwatch) then why not tell Romania they have to submit their appeals during the same timeframe? I'm sure going forward they’ll make a big deal about changes to the inquiry and appeals process but allowing a county to change the scores of an opponent, even if indirectly, is going to cause way more damage in future competitions. In 1968 Tommie Smith and John Carlos were stripped of their gold and bronze medals after they did the Black Power Salute on the podium. Fun fact: no one physically forced them to return the medals so I think Jordan should just follow suit.

I’m skeptical about Romania’s claim they just wanted Ana to share the bronze. They were vocally planning to boycott the closing ceremony over this. That’s not the action of a delegation that just wants an outcome that’s fair to everyone. They also know about the IOC and FIG position on ties, as we’ve seen those stupid tiebreakers play out in other Games, so I have a hard time believing they didn’t know Jordan would lose her medal if their appeal was successful. I suspect the two bronze claim is more about generating positive PR which they need after the harassment and racism Jordan’s experienced all over social media.

Yep! I'm thrilled to see how well the rest of the world plays but I want those golds to remain in the US. I turn into a rabid bald eagle about it an everything.

Curry's threes are always impressive. Bravo guys!

The four seconds thing is even more absurd when you realize the gymnasts ahead of Jordan in the final had 4 minutes to submit any inquiries while Jordan, being the last athlete, only had 1. Yes, that's the rule and her coach was 4 seconds late, hence the ruling, but it shouldn't have been that way in the first place. Either every gymnast has 1 minute to submit or they all have 4. Why set up the final gymnast for failure like that? Also, a judging error (I think accepting an inquiry 4 seconds late counts) should not result in punishment for the athlete. Jordan was punished in the same way as Andrea Raducan and the 2000 Chinese women's team but these situations aren't the same! Andrea lost her gold because she failed a drug test and the Chinese team lost their bronze because they were caught with underage gymnast(s). Jordan was of age, not on any substances, and her coach filed an inquiry that was accepted yet she's now equated with actual cheaters*. This should have resulted in an additional bronze awarded to Ana rather than punishing Jordan as if she'd been using unauthorized performance enhancers. *For the record I blame the Romanian doctor and Chinese coaches for those medal strippings and Jordan's coach submitting an inquiry she had no way of knowing would even work is not remotely the same thing.

I also despise love triangles and my hope is, when Marvel finally makes their X-Men movies, they either don't include Logan pining for Jean or write him having recognized she's not required to like him back and not be a dick about her loving Scott. Enough with Logan pining for Jean, her liking the attention enough to not discourage him, and Scott getting defensive. I like the first X movie a lot but Logan hating Scott because he was Jean's boyfriend which is the most absurd sixth grade bullshit I've seen. So if Jean never existed Logan may not have automatically hated Scott? I also wish Scott had stuck to his "if I had to do that [tell Logan to stay away from his girl] she wouldn't be my girl" rather than immediately follow up with "Logan stay away from my girl". I far prefer a Scott who knows Jean loves him and is committed to their relationship to a version who spends most of his time feeling threatened by Logan. Marvel has been hit or miss when it comes to love interests anyway so let the established relationships do their thing and keep the love triangles out of the scripts.

Hi Dany! Bye Dany! I wonder if knowing the truth about her ancestors would have deterred her from wanting to conquer Westeros and establish Targ Dynasty 2 or made her all the more determined? Eh it probably would have been the latter and maybe even woken up the Targ Madness Gene earlier. I love that Alicent and Rhaenyra have both now easily sneaked around to have private conversations with each other. It's so absurd it ends up being delightful. I think Alicent's case would have gone over better if she'd focused on Halaena rather than "I just want to leave" as Rhaenyra has already shown a soft spot for her sister. Speaking of, that was Dreamfyre flying over the whitecloaks right? That dragon looked blue. I wonder if Halaena could just tell her to follow Vhagar in battle and not have to go herself. Looks like Rhaena finally got her dragon. Hope the kingdom, and Dragonstone in particular, have a lot (A LOT) of sheep. It does sound like Ulf, Hugh, and Addam were getting dragon command lessons so surely there's someone on Dragonstone who could teach them/Ulf the basics of how to behave around the castle and queen? Don't get me wrong, I love a good "who gives a shit about royalty?" character and scene but Ulf needs to be careful for his own sake, dragon or no. Otto's been locked up since he got fired?? Was that Aegon, Cole, Aemond, or an unknown party? I saw some white hair in the Essos scene so it looks like there are some more Valyrian descendants about. Looks like some Lannister genes will be joining that group now that Tyland's visit has concluded. I honestly thought it would end with characters actually going into battle rather than getting ready but I suppose season 3 will open with at least one conflict instead.

Your husbands are very good looking.

Rowdy's enthusiasm is unmatched, which I love, but that's really all he's got. A future commentator with enthusiasm and better analysis is needed.

Exactly. I love how gymnastics watchers may have some familiarity with the coaches but are not being forced to see them as the main characters. The coaches used to act like they were getting the medals (I wouldn't put it past the Karolyis to at least consider taking medals for themselves and l bet the only reason they didn't is because even the most up their ass reporter would raise an eye at such a move). With regard to Shannon in particular I think Steve Nunno was so desperate to see her win the all-around he lost sight of what was best for her. Shannon was a precision gymnast but that means you look at what she's actually capable of and train her to excel. Nunno looked at the skills in fashion and then had Shannon overtrain them to the point of injury. There were external things that contributed, yes, like the Yurchenko Arabian getting downgraded halfway through the quad (which should have been against the Code of Points), and the American judges refusing to score her routines realistically with regard to mistakes, but a lot of Shannon's struggles came from Nunno acting like he would be the one going home with the Gold. I always come back to Shannon's beam as a good demonstration of how her training should have been. Peggy looked at what she could do well, including difficult elements like the full in dismount, and then put together a routine that reflected Shannon the gymnast and allowed her to be competitive for medals. And even her beam was overtrained which lead to some struggles. The closest Nunno came to putting together a routine like what Peggy did on beam was Shannon's bars and, even then, her 96 routine seemed to highlight his poor decision making. I think her 93 and 94 bars routine (just watched) reflected Shannon's capabilities much better than what we got in 96. I'll be gracious and theorize Nunno maybe changed it up to reflect Shannon's regular injuries (though who's fault is that STEVE? WHOSE?) but her 96 bars were pretty cookie cutter and she kept underrotating her dismount. In stark contrast her compulsory bars were gorgeous and are still far more enjoyable to watch. And the compulsories were the definition of cookie cutter which tells you how uninteresting her 96 bars were. At the end of the day Nunno failed to realize the best way for Shannon to win the all-around was to be the trendsetter not just copy whatever the rest of the world was doing. So we got the cookie cutter bars with the underrotated dismount, the severely underrotated double layout on floor into a bad landing, and an inconsistent 1.5 Yurchenko on vault. If he'd approached her training as her being the trendsetter (and not overtraining which is key) we may have seen her 93/94 bars done in the Olympics with a good double layout dismount. We may have seen a cleverly choreographed floor that reflected her capabilities without the last minute panic insertion of the double layout she could not do (her 95 floor would have earned her good scores in 96). Shannon also needed different music because she was not a Soviet gymnast with years of ballet training like Nunno pretended and tended to do really well when she was having fun (see galas and her routines on tour after 96). I think she'd have killed floor with an upbeat song designed to make the listener smile. If Shannon hadn't been overtrained THEN she may have been able to master the Yurchenko 1.5 on vault. She did the full perfectly, the Arabian very well, and she was far more consistent with Yurchenkos than any other type so it's not a stretch to imagine a world where she simply combined the things she did do well and thrive. Instead she was overtrained and inconsistent to the point she seemed afraid to do the vault at all. Shannon was an amazing gymnast in spite of Nunno and I love how he just vanished after she left.

And even that advice doesn’t guarantee anything either way. Addam, Hugh, and Ulf all initially showed fear when facing the dragons they bonded. This goes back to my earlier point that the dragons, in truth, probably just pick their riders for their own reasons (not Targ or Valyrian propaganda) and the humans are only guessing. Were all three dragons lonely and simply managed to find a human they felt kinship to? Or was it something specific about that individual that we’re meant to think made a riderless dragon decide to bear a new human? We can only guess.

Another Italian?!? Did NBC fall asleep while filming? We only saw the two Italians but it's a (super small) sample of how they earned their medal. I miss the days when knowing the outcome ahead of time allowed the network an opportunity to make sure all the medal winners were shown in the broadcast. Suni and Jordan did great routines but Simone is just another stratosphere. Yay for another gold!

Beam is particularly unforgiving today. Jordan's routine was great in spite of the opening fall. Suni kicked that beam's ass. I love her sisters. AN ATHLETE FROM ITALY???? WHAT MADNESS IS THIS?? Nice beam there Italy. Nice beam Simone. Whenever a country seems to specialize on a single event (bars for UK for example) I always wonder if it's because the coaches are talented at training that event or do the athletes just happen to collectively prefer it? Same for when a country seems to struggle on a single event (bars again but for Romania). I know Belu back in the day hated the event and coached it only because he had to so at least we know the reason for that one example.

Go Jordan! Great bars! Her family is awesome too. I wish Simone didn't hate the bars because she does them well. If she liked them even a little bit more I bet she'd be a regular challenger for the event gold. Suni is so great. I'm glad she's doing better but I hate how gleeful NBC is about her kidney ailments. On a different note Hoda remains a delight in her love of gymnastics. I'm watching on Peacock so I don't know if the format is any different from the broadcast but I'm super annoyed that Italy is in second after 2 rotations and we haven't seen one gymnast. We saw a bit of Rebeca, Flavia's eye, and mistakes from China and...nothing. I doubt Italy was just penciled in so SHOW US how they're in silver medal position. Stupid NBC.

Oh and before I forget: shut the fuck up Tim! Good opening vault from Jordan. I see we're still doing the Red, Yellow, Green nonsense. Nice vault Jade. Keep it up with the fluids. Ok, I get why they keep pointing out the hops, and they aren't wrong, but they're neglecting to also point out how the massive start values render a lot of those landings insignificant. It's only going to be a thing if there's a fall or if two gymnasts do the exact same routine and the landing determines the difference between getting a medal or not. Simone's family is so cute. Great vault too! Love Jordan's enthusiasm. I wonder if NBC ever asks the athletes if they can pretend they're injured or ill? After all, what would they talk about if every athlete were perfectly healthy and simply having fun and doing well?