SophiaD

Boring. Sorry. I don't need to see a show with a bunch of over-privileged teenagers whose parents can afford to build them towers and can open gyms, so their kids succeed. At least Vance had an interesting, inspiring backstory. I mean, I'm happy for Kaden, who seems perfectly nice (and the fact that we're focusing on teenagers probably means there's less likelihood of a Drew-type scandal... at least, one can hope), but the physical feats of the show aren't interesting enough to pull me in, not when there are ninjas that I actually like and have been rooting for for years who either got the WWWA treatment or didn't make the finals, or both. Sad for Austin, bummed for Joe, Adam, and, especially, Jake, crushed for Flex. The only flicker of light for the second half of the show was the stuntman who was thrilled to make it to the third stage in only his second year.

So, so happy for Flex! She is currently my favorite ninja and definitely of those still competing. Glad Joe made it through, although I cannot imagine running that course while not having food poisoning! The hang time for some of those guys who caught the Safety Pass was incredible. I don't know how they do that! I did feel badly for the first teen with the long hair, mainly because he was SO CLOSE to completing Stage 2. Happy for Vance Walker. The rest of it was just kind of meh, and I thought the editing was weird, in terms of having the second part of one stage on the first part of the episode and then jumping over to Session 2. It was an odd emotional swing to go for being happy for those who made it to watching, essentially a splatfest. I'm still not planning on shelling out the $$$ to see the kids run on Peacock, even if it is a feeder program for the show.

This, absolutely. That's right up there with watching that other poor guy throw up last week. Have some decency, show.

Donovan's run was the highlight of the night for me. Just watching him soar over the water to the ladder made me smile. Especially in that suit. Yes, that was a seriously boring episode for me. And did we really need to see that poor teenager throwing up? It was also super-weird that some actual finishers, especially ones that the audience knows and likes, got the WWWA treatment. I agree with the others, too much filler. I'm also not thrilled that the teens who are making it are seriously affluent. Like, I'm glad that your family has enough money to build you a ninja gym in a barn, but that makes you less interesting to me than Nick Hansen, who trains in Alaska, or Nicholas Coolridge, with his crazy parkour stunts. Sad for Abel Gomez and Cam Bamgartner. Quite a few of my favorites are out - a few made it through, fortunately, but, I don't know. It seemed off and meh. I was happy for Tianna that she had a great run, but was sad she was just a few seconds short.

Well, that was a relief. A little of the old-school ANW magic was back. I'm bummed for Flip and all of the great ninjas that didn't make it through, but I'm very happy for Austin, who is a great guy, and there were enough of my favorites (yay, Tyler! Yay, Cameron!) who made it through. The teens were showcased a nice amount, but didn't take over the whole show. There was a little too much WWWA and too many bugs, but, overall, it was a good episode. Also, I had to laugh when Matt introduced a few of the men as "a father of three" or "a father of two," although we're still not hearing about "the first dad to this." And, of course, FLEX. She's one of my favorite ninjas anyway and to see her finish the course was terrific. I hope she and some of the other women do well at the National Finals.

I hope Flex has a good run. With Jessie Graf hurt and out for the season and Allyssa Beird out early, she's really the only one left who has had success at the finals. Sigh.

Congratulations to both of the teens who had great runs on the Power Tower. It was great to see Najee again. I wish he was able to compete this season. And, yes, please, get rid of the Drop Zone! In this case, I was happy that the teens made it, because we didn't have to see Sean try to run the Power Tower and maybe hit his head again. It was also nice to hear all of the athletes supporting each other and I heard a few witty puns this evening - nice job, Matt and Akbar. However, the changes still aren't doing it for me. I've been watching it to see how my favorites are doing and also to see women making progress. This new format means that a lot of the athletes I've been following are receiving the WWWA or just aren't there. With all of the new, fit young guys, we're pretty much guaranteed to see mostly guys having a chance to win the competition and the Power Tower plays to their strengths - speed and upper body strength. I do like some of the younger women who are amazing athletes, but, overall, the show is not as interesting for me now.

JFC. The way Akbar and Matt were carrying on, Joe Moravsky has one foot in the grave. I did enjoy Matt calling him "Old Papa Storm Clouds," but the rest of it was just annoying. I was happy that Moravsky won. Also, I must admit, I really, really, really do not care who the first mom is to do whatever. Alex Morgan is a mom. Allyson Felix is a mom. Oksana Chusovitina is a mom (and just competed in her eighth Olympics). Yes, Sandy is a great athlete and is in great shape, but dial it down. I liked the "Jersey girl" who smoked the course on her rookie run and made it to top fifteen on her first run ever. That was a nice surprise. Great job, Rachel! I'm kind of bummed as this is one of my favorite guilty pleasures, but tonight was just boring. On the plus side, I got a lot of work done while it was on in the background.

USA women get their first-ever gold! Woot, woot.

The USA subs just aren't as good as the starters. I'm also not as crazy about Chelsea Gray as the backup point guard, although she is a great shooting guard. I wonder that Courtney Vandersloot didn't get a look. Fortunately, Taurasi and Stewart are doing their thing and Griner just came back in. ETA: The commentators made the excellent point that the first-time Olympians might be nervous. Also, Kara Lawson is a great color commentator.

Brittney Griner is an absolute force in this game, but Japan's three shooting is keeping them in it. ETA: Perfect and timely shot from Jewel Loyd just now!

The Geico ad with the rap band helping with dessert is hilarious. I especially love that the couple ends up dancing in the kitchen while the teenaged daughter stalks off in disgust. Comcast (I think?) is running a nice series on "the athletes of tomorrow," based on the happenings of these Olympics.

I remember there was a giant amount of talk when Devon Allen chose to go into Track and Field instead of declaring for the NFL Draft. He was an outstanding quarterback for Oregon. I can't fault the young men for choosing fame, and, even more importantly, money and security in the NFL, instead of becoming track athletes, but am hoping that the new name, image, and likeness laws will allow them to make a nice nest egg for the future and consider their options. Track seems rigorous, but with much better long-term implications for athlete health.

That was tacky. Shame on you, NBC. Let the Canadian and Swedish teams have their moment. They both played incredibly well this tournament.

I wanted to give him a hug. He ran really well - I think the other guys just had a better day, and as @Lady Whistleup says, are older and more poised. He has an amazing future.

Ooof, US men shut out of the podium in the 400 m, but great races by Gardiner, Zambrano, and James. Gardiner's form is gorgeous and that was an incredible lean by Kirani James who now has a complete set. Michael Cherry is amazingly composed.

I'm really bummed for him. He just looked off his game tonight. The US Men really need to make handoffs part of their ongoing training strategy. At this point, it's just embarrassing. I just looked it up and Devon Allen came in fifth in 2016 and fourth this year. I hope he stays healthy and wins a medal in 2024.

I'm just glad I saw Quan Hongchan's amazing performance. That was epic.

I am not a big Teams fan, but I have to admit they nailed it with the cat café commercial. The yakitori one isn't bad, either (and makes me hungry!). I'm very impressed with Maggie Q in The Protégé trailers. OTOH, the Geico lizard drives me crazy and I am also not a fan of the Silverado commercials.

SYDNEY!!!!! And another new WR! What an amazing run! Great silver for Dalilah Mohammed as well. OMG, and Sydney's grandmother is just adorable.

Nice race from Devon Allen just now. He's also a cutie, not that that has anything to do with anything. What happened with the Japanese gentleman in this heat? I don't think the commentators mentioned it at all, unless I missed something. ETA: Great minds, @legaleagle53!

Yay, Tamyra Mensah Stock! Oh, wow, I'm so happy for her. (Also, her commercials were adorable).

They interviewed both of them separately on late-night here on the West Coast. Benjamin was heartbroken and started crying when they showed him his family cheering for him. Really not thrilled with that choice from the network. Warholm was elated, of course, said it was his perfect race and that Benjamin should have a gold medal, too. What a classy guy.

I'm happy to Karsten, but sad for Rai. I wanted them to tie like the long-jumpers. (I know that's impossible).

I'm infuriated that the athletes aren't allowed a one-touch warm-up. That's both dangerous and stupid, to send them in cold. Just another example of their commodification. The PTB don't care about their health or welfare or even about having each person do their very best. Just slap them in and slap them out and hand out medals. Next! "Suspense" is a stupid, stupid reason for this. Fine, let them warm up and show the events with tape delay. Or, show them - people who are only casual fans aren't going to lose interest and those of us who love gymnastics will think it's massively cool.