Brief preview of tonight's game

Real quick post today since it is Thursday and there is a game tonight; Jets at Bills. But first, here's how I did last week:

Wins:
DEN
TB
GB
SEA
OAK
MN
BAL
PHI
KC
HOU
NYG
PIT

Losses:
CIN
DET
NE
SF

So a 12-4 record. That's pretty good (and I did get lucky on a few).

Now for tonight, Jets at Bills in the first of the NFL Color Rush games. If memory serves me correct this matchup was the first EVER such game, annnd it didn't go over very well:

Fortunately, there won't be such need to worry if you're colorblind (although I understand there are now glasses that can correct colorblindness). The Jets will be wearing white in Orchard Park tonight. As for the game itself, the Bills have won five straight over the Jets, and are expected to have wide receiver Sammy Watkins play tonight.

For the Jets, keep an eye on veteran corner Darrelle Revis, who had an awful game against AJ Green and the Bengals last week. Andy Dalton threw to Green against Revis ten times, and complete all of them for 152 yards and a TD. Revis Island was invaded and plundered.

I don't expect that to be the case this week, Watkins' foot isn't 100% (he's listed as questionable), and Revis surely has an axe to grind. Otherwise, there isn't a whole lot as far as I am concerned to look at because I don't really follow either team. Be that as it may, I feel the Jets have something to prove to their former coach Rex Ryan.

My pick: Jets.

I'll have more either tomorrow or Saturday, enjoy.

Merry Christmas, NFL fans!

Hello Everyone and if you're a fan of the NFL like I am, Merry Christmas. Today is the day we have been waiting for since Peyton Manning rode off into the sunset winning Super Bowl 50, while sending shoutouts to Anheuser-Busch and this guy:

Better ingredients, better pizza? Depends on who you ask (I think it's okay). Peyton meanwhile is now teaming up with Lionel Richie for DirecTV's Sunday Ticket ad campaign. Speaking of DirecTV, here's a cute prop bet for you all: who will make more appearances during NFL games this season while you're running to the bathroom, Lionel, or Jon Bon Jovi? If the NFL had any fun with their product I could totally see Bon Jovi sing about turning back time to overturn calls in games that affected the final score, like the Dez Bryant non-catch, the offensive pass interference on Drew Pearson back in the 70's (sorry old-school Vikings fans), or THIS play:

Yeah, I'm still bitter about that one. 17 years later. Anyway I digress.

So Peyton and his Broncos rode off into the Santa Clara sunset, Cam Newton sulked about losing the biggest game in Carolina Panthers history, and all our attentions turned to the two most disdainful people running for President in United States history. Suffice to say that the NFL returning is a godsend.

What's new?

The NFL made some rule changes this spring; one big one being the movement of the starting line of scrimmage for touchbacks from the 20 to the 25 yard line. I presume this was done to enhance even more offense, but I wonder if it was also done because so many kickoffs (since moving them from the 30 to the 35 yard line) were touchbacks and not being returned, which is odd because it contradicts the NFL wanting to limit kick returns because of player safety and such. By the way, the helmet rule that is related to player safety is silly. Some of us NFL fans, especially those that have been around since the 80s, are kind of fond of throwback helmets and uniforms. Especially this:

...and this:

I miss Bucco Bruce and Pat Patriot to be honest.

Also new, a new stadium in Minnesota, a new roof in Miami (and a different stadium name for the forty-leventh time), badly needed new scoreboards in Tampa, and biggest of all something new that's something old as well; the LOS ANGELES Rams.

How does the season shake out? I'll get to that at the end of this article, but without further ado, let's look at Week 1 starting tonight, and well well well look what we have here:

Carolina at Denver:

Yes, it's the rematch of the Super Bowl, something that hasn't happened to kick off the new season since Chiefs-Vikings in 1970; the VERY FIRST week of the NFL post-merger. The Panthers retain most of their starters from last season, with one glaring exception; Josh Norman, who is now with the Redskins (we'll get to that). Jared Allen retired but they did keep Charles Johnson at DE. Also, Kelvin Benjamin is healthy again; another target for Cam.

As for the Broncos, with both Manning and Brock Ostweiler (Ostweiler??? I didn't even...nevermind), who signed a big contract with Houston gone, their hopes lie on...Trevor Siemian??? (Cue the Verne Lundquist asking Peter Jacobsen "who the hell is Happy Gilmore?" scene from said movie). A 7th-round pick from Northwestern in his second season making his first career NFL start. His only prior NFL action? A kneel-down. That's it. Fun fact about Siemian: he's from the Orlando area and set an Orange County passing record while at Olympia High; a school that didn't even exist 16 years ago. His preseason stats? Average; 27-43/285yds 1 TD and 2 INTs. But GM John Elway says he continues to make plays. And the Broncos do have Demaryius Thomas back as well as their RB tandem of CJ Anderson and Devontae Booker. I don't see that big of a dropoff for the Broncos this season, but tonight may be some tough sledding; they are a 3 point home dog (according to Westgate Superbook in Vegas). BUT, if Siemien can get time to throw the ball downfield, and accurately, this may be a mild upset in the making, and I never count out the Broncos at home. Ever.

My pick: Broncos

Tampa Bay at Atlanta:

Dirk Koetter is the new head coach in Tampa, and with it comes new optimism. Jameis Winston begins his second season as Bucs QB and look to improve and MAYBE contend for a playoff spot. Interesting sidenote to this game, Koetter and new defensive coordinator Mike Smith were of course with the Falcons two seasons ago, only with Smith as head and Koetter as offensive coordinator. Dan Quinn begins his second season in Hotlanta as head coach. Last year started promising; a 5-0 start! Then the Bucs came to town Week 7 and the bottom fell out on the Dirty Birds' Season; 2-7 after that loss. Key matchup to watch here in my opinion will be the Falcons run game vs the Bucs front seven. The Bucs did lead the preseason in sacks, but it was the PRESEASON. Falcons are thin at wideout after Julio Jones, but the Bucs running game is also thin with third stringer Mike James waived due to injury; and his replacement won't be announced until Saturday according to reports.

Fun Fact: the Falcons have won eight straight home openers at the GeorgiaDome, but this is their last season there; Mercedes-Benz Stadium opens next door in 2017.

Not So Fun Fact: The Buccaneers have finished last in their division five straight years, tied with the Cleveland Browns for the longest active such streak. In fact, when you do not take tiebreakers into consideration, the Bucs hold the record for most consecutive seasons in or tied for last place with seven; from 1989 to 1995, the last year before Hall of Famer Tony Dungy arrived. What's interesting to note is that record would have belonged to the Falcons, had it not been for a tie in Fulton-County Stadium against the 49ers in the 1986 season. A game I happen to remember watching on television in Robeson County, NC.

Back to the here and now though. Hey Jameis, are the Bucs going to finish last again this year??



(courtesy: Vine)

That's what I want to hear! I've been a Bucs fan since I was a wee little kid going to Orlando Christian School and I'm hungry for a winning season. I say it starts Sunday! SIEGE THE DAY BITCHES!!

My (homer) pick: Buccaneers


Green Bay at Jacksonville

Don't get me wrong, I like Jacksonville's future, and I like Blake Bortles. I like what Shad Khan is doing for the First Coast area. It's a shame for their sake that come Sunday two-thirds of Everbank Stadium will be full of cheeseheads. But hey, they do have a nice pool there!

Ugh...is anyone else sick of Marlins Man yet?

Anyway, the Pack look to take back the NFC North and after the way their season finished last year I'm pretty sure they may have an axe to grind about it. I don't think Aaron Rodgers will need a Discount Double-check hail Mary in what should be a de-facto home game for Green Bay. Jax, I love ya but it ain't your time yet.

My pick: Packers

Miami at Seattle:

While Marlins Man is gracing this post with his presence, why not we talk about the football team that represents South Florida?

Remember all those years ago when Shula was coach and how dominant they were in September? Good times. This year, they're pretty much running through a gauntlet to start the year:

@ Seattle

@ New England

     Cleveland

@ Cincinnati

Other than the Browns home opener, good luck eking out a win with THAT schedule!

Of course the Fish get rewarded with four straight home games until back to back road games against San Diego and Los Angeles. Sheesh.

Hate to say it but the playoff push may have to wait another year. Especially if Ryan Tannehill (or as some Dolphins fans on Twitter call him, Tanne-kill) has another off-season and Ndomukong Suh decides to go through the motions again. Good news though for this matchup: Pro Football Focus has the Seahawks' offensive line ranked as the worst in football.

That's where the good news ends though for Miami. The Hawks despite Beast Mode leaving the building have Thomas Rawls, who is quite a bit to handle as far as bringing him down (he is recovering from an ankle issue however, so Christine Michael is ahead on the depth chart). Their receiving corps is only getting better, and that defense. And Russell Wilson may just be the best quarterback in the league.

My pick: Seahawks

Cleveland at Philadelphia

The Carson Wentz Era begins in Philly. Here's his reception when he entered the field for his first snaps in the preseason:

Carson Wentz enters the game...to a standing ovation. #Eagles pic.twitter.com/yZBR7tPb3i

— Bony Scribe (@bonyscribe) August 12, 2016

Yes, I was at that game, and the pottymouthed comment at the end perfectly sums up Philly fan: "don't (bleep) it up!"

Philly fans get a bum rep in my opinion. The day and a half I was in Philadelphia was quite pleasant, and I can't wait to get back there. Plus I follow several Philly fans on Twitter and vice versa. When I was at said game I didn't see nor hear any of the typical cheap shots fans in Philly get (about how rude and brutal they are, etc.); they're just a passionate fanbase who years for a winner like every other fan base does. Of course being in the northeast and competing against teams from New York and DC there's a higher standard to uphold. But hey, Chris Jenkins though...

(lybio.net)

Sorry, Tarheel fans, I went there.

As for the game, remember the stat I mentioned earlier for the Bucs-Falcons game? Yep. It's the Browns. Not much to say here except they MAY win one game this season. Talk about a buzz kill after the championship the Cavs finally brought to NE Ohio and the season the Indians are having in baseball. Browns fans will be asking when Cavs season starts by Week Three end of the first half on Sunday.

My pick: E-A-G-L-E-S! EAGLES!!

And now, the rest of my picks for Week 1, home team in caps:

JETS over Bengals:

Bit of a surprise here, but consider the Jets were 10-6 and almost made the playoffs last year. This is a team not to sleep on. Speaking of teams not to sleep on...

Raiders over SAINTS:

Yes, you read this right. I'm picking the Raiders. A surprise playoff run probably won't keep them from moving to Las Vegas, but then again maybe it will if voters in Nevada have their say.

RAVENS over Bills:

No, Joe Flacco isn't quite elite. No, the Bills are not a playoff team. I'll just wait for videos to show up on Deadspin of Bills fans channeling their collective Mick Foley and putting each other through tables during tailgate parties.

TEXANS over Bears:

Brock Ostweiler makes his Houston debut. Otherwise, this matchup to me is full of meh.

CHIEFS over Chargers:

Hey remember that face Michael Phelps made during the Olympic Games last month?

I thought that looked familiar!! Except Michael Phelps is Michael Phelps and Philip Rivers plays for the Chargers.


Vikings over TITANS:

Just as I was going to make the Vikings my Super Bowl pick from the NFC, Teddy Bridgewater destroyed his knee. Ugh. Enter Sam Bradford, who has now gone over the course of the summer from St. Louis to Los Angeles to Philadelphia and now Minneapolis. One thing to watch for other than how Bradford handles the Viking offense: how Marcus Mariota performs in his sophomore debut with the Titans.


Giants over COWBOYS:

Nine times out of ten this matchup is the NBC Sunday Night Football game. Not so this week (more on that later)! However this will be a fun game to watch and is the national game for FOX (unless you're in parts of the Midwest or Seattle). Dak Prescott, who impressed during the preseason, starts for the injured Tony Romo against what I think will be a rather stingy Giants D. Meanwhile, Eli Manning has both Odell Beckham, Jr. AND Victor Cruz to throw to. This may have the makings of a wild west shootout!


COLTS over Lions:

Another "meh" matchup to me. The Lions, well they're the Lions. Andrew Luck, well he's Andrew Luck. I do expect the Colts to have a much better effort this season than last.


Steelers over WASHINGTON (Monday Night):

Sometime in the future, I may write a post regarding what nickname the Washington National Football League franchise should name themselves after they finally get rid of their current nickname. Meanwhile, remember earlier how I said the Packers would have a de facto home game in Jacksonville? Same here. Plenty of Terrible Towels will be waving in Landover, and the faithful who support the burgundy and gold will race as fast as they can to get to 495. Why is it that people in Maryland drive like there is no tomorrow anyway? Sheesh! They make Florida drivers bastions of traffic obedience, and that's saying something. Just a personal observation from my earlier trip this summer.

Meanwhile, guess who's announcing the early game on Monday night?

Sean O'Mac and Coach Gruden, baby!! (for those who didn't know Sean McDonough is my favorite announcer)

Then there's the late game on Monday night:

Rams over 49ERS:

This is compelling, but not entirely because of the game itself. I'll start with the football aspect of the intrigue. This marks the first regular season game since 1994 for the LOS ANGELES Rams, who when they were last in Southern California played their games not in Los Angeles but in Anaheim. Their opponent, the 49ers, played in San Francisco at that time. Now, they play in Santa Clara. Still, the NoCal vs SoCal rivalry is always lit (as the kids say nowadays), so a fitting welcome back to football in Los Angeles by playing your in-state rival.

Then there's the Colin Kaepernick story which you have already heard about ad nauseam by now. I gave my opinion on it on my Facebook page and I'll repeat it here: do I like what he did by sitting for the anthem? No. Was he wrong for doing so? Not at all. I can understand why he would silently protest the playing of "The Star-Spangled Banner," it's his First Amendment right. But I'm not going to turn into this blog post into a political discussion. Sports and politics together is kind of like oil and water. They don't necessarily mix and when they do, it gets messy. REALLY messy. Ask any taxpayer who's on the hook for publicly financed stadia and arenas. But that's another discussion for another time.

The game itself shouldn't be all too difficult for the Rams, even if Case Keenum is quarterbacking while number one overall pick Jared Goff learns the offense from the sideline. I expect the Todd Gurley show to be in full effect.

As for the Niners, Colin isn't even starting Monday; Blaine Yo-Gabba-Gabbert is. Oh, speaking of lame nicknames given to athletes, guess who's announcing THIS game?

BACK! BACK! BACK! BACK!!!!

Thankfully many of us will be asleep before this game even starts, so we will be spared of our ears bleeding overnight.

How I Think the Season Plays Out:

As far as who I think will advance to the playoffs at the end of the season is of course a crapshoot. There are the usual suspects (Pats, Pack, Steelers, etc.), but who are the sleepers and who are the dark horses? It's like throwing a dart blindfolded to see who's in and who's out. Nonetheless here's how I see it shaking out:

AFC:

East: Patriots

North: Steelers

South: Texans

West: Chiefs

WC1: Bengals

WC2: Raiders

NFC:

East: Giants

North: Packers

South: Panthers

West: Cardinals

WC1: Seahawks

WC2: Buccaneers (hey, I am a Bucs fan!)

As for who reaches Super Bowl LI in Houston come February? Well, would you believe it just happens to be the Sunday Night Football matchup???

CARDINALS over Patriots: 

Arizona gets a true test to start out the new season as the Patriots come to Glendale for the first time since Malcolm Butler made The Pick in Super Bowl XLIX (why didn't Pete Carroll give Marshawn the damn ball?!). But it won't be as much of a test as it could be because well, Tom Brady played with deflated balls and now he's suspended four games. Enter Jimmy Garoppolo, and even he won't have a full compliment of weapons at his disposal. Danny Amendola is out, and Gronk isn't 100%. Don't worry about the Patriots though, they'll be just fine. After this game, they have home games against Miami, Houston and Buffalo before Brady returns. They'll be likely 3-1 and it'll be as if nothing ever happened. Their one loss though? This Cardinals team.

Fun Fact: The Chicago/Card-Pitt/St. Louis/Phoenix/Arizona Cardinals have not posted four straight winning seasons since from 1946-1949, and have NEVER made the playoffs in three straight seasons. With that said, I hope I didn't jinx them since I have them going to Houston along with the Patriots. By that time the Patriots should win the rematch.

Very interesting scenario: the game that ended last season begins this season, and a game that begins this season for both teams will be the one that ends it as well.

My Super Bowl Pick:

Patriots over Cardinals

Enjoy the season everyone!

Bony Scribe's Olympic Blog Part 2

Good morning everyone, and wasn't Sunday a doozy in Rio? Mother Nature wreaking havoc, broken bones (including one frightening injury), breakthroughs, enormous upsets, records falling, another frightening incident in gymnastics and more medal triumphs. Sunday pretty much had it all...and then some!

Mother Nature Playing Havoc

Day 2 was supposed to kick off with preliminaries in Men's Rowing Single Sculls. However, treacherous conditions caused the entire program for the day to be cancelled. Can you blame them? For starters I would not be kayaking if there was a chance my boat would capsize; and did I mention that the water there isn't very good? As in, too polluted to hold a proper competition in? Nonetheless, they will try again today at 7:30am EDT.

That Ain't No Road Course...That's A Roller Coaster

If any of you saw either of the two cycling road races over the weekend, you are probably well aware of how dangerous that course is. But for those who didn't, let's look at a profile of said course, shall we?
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Profile for the Olympic road race <a href="http://t.co/s5Yi6Hpjck">pic.twitter.com/s5Yi6Hpjck</a></p>&mdash; Fleur (@vamosalberto) <a href="https://twitter.com/vamosalberto/status/625224666370678784">July 26, 2015</a></blockquote> <script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

That's a 1500-ft climb and descent...FOUR TIMES on the last part of the course.

Saturday's men's race, won by Belgian Greg Van Aldermaet, was dangerous enough. Sunday's women's race, on practically the same course as the men's, was just as terrifying and almost tragic; Netherlands' Annemiek van Vleuten was leading the race when she lost control of her bike and crashed into a ditch. Thankfully, van Vleuten is recovering and appears she will make a full recovery.

That descent though had riders going at speeds upwards of 50mph, and with tight hairpin turns going down the hill, it's more like a roller coaster than a steep descent. Hell, even the Tour de France doesn't usally have courses that fast! And you may have noticed if you were watching a red circle with the number 30 on it on said hill? That's the speed limit for automobiles...in KILOMETERS per hour. So going 50mph in a not quite 20 zone on a bicycle. That's not reckless riding, that's reckless endangerment. Hopefully an issue the UCI (sport's governing body) will address soon, even though this particular course will thankfully no longer be used.

A Breakthrough And Feelgood Story:

Yesterday, I mentioned that the former Yugoslav region of Kosovo, who broke away from Serbia in 2008 and declared independence, was making its first appearance in an Olympic event with Majlinda Kelmindi in the 52kg Women's Judo event. Well not only did Kelmendi, a two-time champion while competing under the Serbian flag, represented Kosovo in its first ever event, she won the gold medal! Talk about a debut! One event, one gold medal. I don't know if outside of the first Modern Olympic Games of 1896 if an athlete won its first ever gold for his/her country in that country's first ever Olympic Event (and I don't have time to do the research). What an accomplishment for a nation that has it's share of conflict and strife over the past two decades plus. Congratulations, Majlinda!

Upset City:

While Kelmendi's win wasn't really considered an upset, there were two notable upsets on the tennis courts. First the Williams sisters, Venus & Serena, suffered an upset loss in their opening round women's doubles match. Ouch. Serena had won her singles match earlier in the day, but Venus was bounced Saturday in her singles match. Although that upset was noteworthy, it was not THE upset in tennis on Sunday. That belonged to Argentine Juan Martin del Potro who took out world #1 Novak Djokovic for a second straight Olympiad in straight sets. With Joker out, it appears that a likely showdown between Andy Murray and Rafael Nadal will take place for the gold medal on the men's side.

And speaking of upsets...


Rio, We Have A Problem...

No, I'm not referring to the multitude of gaffes and problems plaguing Rio in the buildup to these games, but Brazil's men's football team. Quick recap to put things in perspective. Brazil has more World Cup championships than anyone with five. In 2014, they hosted the World Cup and appeared to be a shoo-in for title number six.

Then in the semifinal round, Germany happened.
Then in the third place game, Netherlands happened, and Brazil didn't even get a medal, in their own World Cup.

Fast forward now to earlier this summer and La Copa America here in the United States. Brazil certainly didn't look like the classic Brazil of before, opening with a scoreless draw against Ecuador. An easy win over Haiti set the stage for a showdown with Peru, where a draw would put Brazil into the knockout round.

Then the handball happened:

<iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/09geZmN9VaQ" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

Ouch. Out of the tournament, and as JP Dellacamera correctly predicted, Dunga was sacked.

So now here we are at the Olympics, and their soccer tournament, which is by the way much different than the World Cup. Brazil as the host nation, were hopeful to win...or at least get into the knockout stage with Denmark, South Africa and Iraq in their group. However so far, all they've mustered are scoreless draws vs. South Africa and Iraq.

South Africa and Iraq. Drawing against mighty Brazil.

This is like seeing North Carolina basketball plummet to the bottom of the ACC, or the LA Lakers having a woeful season...oh wait.

So now Brazil enters their last match vs Denmark on Wednesday needing a win, OR a draw AND a draw between Iraq vs South Africa AND Brazil scores one more goal vs DEN than Iraq does vs RSA. If both Brazil and Iraq draw and both score the same amount of goals, then a drawing will take place to determine who advances. Sheesh!

Gymnastics Drama

The outstanding performance of the US Women's team during their qualifying rotations wasn't the only storyline from the gymnastics venue on Sunday. First, there was an interesting dichotomy in the first session of the day, one of the mixed groups featured Eun Ju Lee, a gymnast from South Korea, and Un Jong Hong from North Korea. In one of the more poignant moments of these Games, the two actually got together to pose for a picture:

(Reuters)

It should be noted I watched this particular grouping via the internet, and I didn't really see Jong interact with the other competitors. I can only hope that this picture doesn't raise the ire of officials in Pyongyang. However, Un did qualify for the final in the Vault apparatus, where she was second only behind Simone Biles (who is also the highest All-Around qualifier, more on THAT later). Eun on the other hand, was unable to qualify for either the all-around or any apparatus event.

In that same subdivision was the team from China. Now if you remember eight years ago in Beijing, there was a huge controversy that surfaced surrounding the ages of the gymnasts from there. Well, take a look here in this picture taken by the Xinhua news agency and look at the front row. That's the women's gymnastics team. Tell me those girls are at least 16 years of age (the minimum requirement for Olympic participation). I sure don't think they are. They finished second in the team qualification, but I'm sure this may be a developing story going forward.

And to point out how emotional the Olympics are, check out this photo I took yesterday at a despondent Larissa Miller of Australia as she finds out her score on the Uneven Bars aren't good enough to advancer her to the Final:





One other noteworthy news item was incredibly frightening but inspring at the same time. Elissa Downie of Great Britain was on floor exercise when she miscalculated a tumble and landed on her head and neck. Miraculously she stood back up and appeared to shrug it off before leaving the mat and being assisted to the locker room. Even more incredibly was she came back and competed in the vault routine despite the sore neck. And not only did she help Great Britain qualify for the team event. She qualified for the All-Around Final! Now that's some serious grit!

So after all was said and done, the defending All-Around champion, Gabby Douglas, wound up being the odd girl out. Despite finishing third overall in qualifying, a quirk in the rules will prevent her from defending her gold medal. Only two gymnasts per national team can participate in the All-Around Final, and the two that qualified ahead of her just happen to be her US teammates; Biles, and Ali Raisman.
.

Ruling The Pool

After failing to grab gold on Saturday, The US Swim Team got back its gold swagger with two wins, Kate Ledecky's DOMINATING performance in the women's 400 free, and the US Men's 4x100 Medley Relay team climbing back to the top of the podium with their win, led of course by the greatest swimmer of all time, Michael Phelps. He didn't swim the fastest leg of the group (that was anchor Nathan Adrian), but his reaction time off the starting block at the first exchange won the US the gold. That and an incredible push off the blocks at the turnaround. He took an advantage of 0.02 seconds and turned it into nearly a full second. Adrian's anchor leg was just as impressive as the Americans won by six tenths of a second.

(AP/Yahoo)


Monday's Highlights: (All times EDT)

And now a rundown of key events to look forward to by sport:

Archery: American McKenzie Brown participates in the early elimation rounds of the women's individual event. Her first match is at 8:26am against Claudia Mandia of Italy. Should she advance she shoots at 9:05 against either San Yu Htwe of Myanmar, or Taru Kuoppa of Finland.

Gymnastics: Men's Team Final starts at 3pm (likely to be tape-delayed for US Prime Time viewing). Team US is involved along with the teams from China, Russia, Japan, GB, Brazil, Ukraine and Germany.

Basketball: Both US Men's and Women's teams are in action today. The women against Spain at 11am, while the men take on Venezuela at 6pm

Beach Volleyball: Jacob Gibb and Casey Patterson square off against Austria's Robin Seidl and Alexander Huber at 3:30pm

Canoe Slalom: David McEwan and Casey Eichfeld are in the men's canoe doubles qualifying heats at 11:32am and 1:22pm, while Ashley Nee is in the women's kayak singles heats at 12:20pm and 2:10pm

Diving: David Boudia and Steele Johnson compete in the 10m men's synchronized platform final at 3pm.

Equestrian: The cross-country phase of the Eventing three-day (both individual and team, including four riders from the US) starts at 9am.

Fencing: Women's Sabre Individual tournament starts at 8am. Three Americans are competing; Mariel Zagunis, Dagmara Wozniak (I wonder if she's related to Steve Wozniak of Apple?) and Ibtahaj Muhammad. Gold Medal bout is at 4:45pm

Field Hockey: US Women take on Australia at 9am.

Judo: Early rounds of the Men's 73kg tournament starts at 9am featuring Nicholas Delpopolo. The Women's 57-kg tournament with Marti Malloy (who's already in the round of 16) also takes place. Repechage bouts and medal matches start at 2:30pm

Rowing: already underway (7:30am). Featured events include heats in Men's and Women's eights, Men's and women's Double Sculls, Women's Pairs, and Men's Fours.

Rugby 7: US Women take on Fiji in a classification match at 1pm. Gold Medal match at 6pm.

Sailing: begins at 12:05pm

Shooting: 10m Men's Air Rifle begins at 8am. Americans Daniel Lowe and Lucas Kozeniesky compete with the finals at 11am. The Men's Trap competition also takes place, with semis and finals starting at 2pm. No Americans are competing.

Swimming: Finals in the 200m Men's Freestyle, Men's and Women's 100m Backstroke, and the Women's 100m Breaststroke beginning at 9:21pm

Table Tennis: Lily Zhang competes in Round 3 of Women's Singles at 9am.

Tennis: Serena faces Alice Cornet of France at 5:45pm

Volleyball: US Women vs Netherlands at 2pm

Water Polo: US Men vs Spain at 10:40am

Weightlifting: Men's 62kg starts at 9am; Medal Round at 6pm. Women's 58 kg starts at 11:30am; Medal Round at 2:30pm.



WHEW!! That's a lot for a Monday. Enjoy!

Bony Scribe's Olympic Blog...part 1

Sorry I'm way late doing this (considering there have been four days of competition complete, including 12 medal events), but I thought I'd dust off this blog page to I guess give a preview of sorts of each day's events.

But first a review of yesterday: if you happened to catch the women's 400 individual medley swimming event last night, you probably heard the husband and coach of Hungarian gold medal winner Katinka Hosszu, Shane Tusup. He was the one that sounded like the cross between Ric Flair and his famous "WOOO!" and an annoying alarm clock. Oh by the way, in case you didn't see him on TV or the web last night: (screencap courtesy of thecomeback.com)

We get it bro, you lift.

Seriously though, Hosszu's performance was mesmerizing; 4:26.36, which shattered the previous World Record by more than two seconds...

Hmmm...now I don't want to call shenanigans here, but a world record being obliterated like that reminds me of another such performance; Ben Johnson in the 1988 100meter sprint. And what happened after that? A positive drug test and disgrace from thereon out.

This isn't to say that this is the case here, because Hosszu is the iron lady of swimming; holding numerous titles in Europe as well as the World Record holder in the 200 IM, plus she is the two-time defending FINA Female Swimmer of the Year. She is that damn good...

...but America's Madeline Dirado won silver, so if something did happen.

Speaking of Americans taking gold, 19-year old Virginia Thrasher of Springfield, VA took home the first gold of the Rio Games, winning the Women's 10m Air Rifle event in Shooting. While the triumph was noteworthy, the fact that it came in a shooting event is a cruel irony considering the headlines that have emanated from these United States the past 12 months. And if you look around on the web, you'll probably find a lot of snarky comments on Twitter and other social media outlets regarding said feat. Can't we as a nation enjoy the fact that this was the first medal event and we got gold in it???

Thrasher's gold was the only one for America yesterday, but Team USA did get three additional silver medals (not including the Dirado silver mentioned above):

Men's team archery
Chase Kalisz in the Men's swimming 400 individual medley
Women's swimming 4x100 freestyle relay.

In total the 5 medals ties the US with China and Japan. Australia and Hungary each have two gold medals to lead that category.

Oh, and the last event of the day, a beach volleyball contest between the US team of Kerri Walsh-Jennings and April Ross against the Aussie team of Mariafe Artacho del Solar and Nicole Laird, finished at 1:09am Rio time...by comparison every sporting event in the US had concluded by that time except one: Angels and Mariners baseball from Seattle. Talk about pushing it to last call!


Sunday's events (All Times EDT)

Day 2 of the Games starts bright and early (7:30am EDT) with preliminaries/second chance races (or as the Programme calls them, repechages) in Men's and Women's rowing. There are medal events in eight sports:

Archery: Women's team knockout stage, which unfortunately does not include the US; we sent only one female archer to Rio, a team consists of three. First round starts at 8am. Gold medal match start time 4:07pm

Cycling: Women's Road Race with 68 riders from 39 countries, including four from the USA. Start time 11:15am

Diving: Women's 3m Synchronized Springboard Final. No Americans in the field. Start time 3pm

Fencing: Men's Foil Individual. 35 Fencers from 19 countries, including three Americans. Prelims start at 8am, Gold Medal bout at 4:45pm

Judo: Men's 66kg and Women's 52kg. No Americans in these events HOWEVER, the first ever Olympic participant from Kosovo is in the women's event, Majlinda Kelmindi. Tournament starts at 9am, final session starts at 2:30pm

Shooting: Women's 10m Air Pistol and the Women's Trap. Lydia Paterson competes in the Air Pistol while Corey Cogdell competes in the Trap for Team USA. Preliminaries start at 8am for both events. Air Pistol Finals are at 10am, while the Trap Gold Medal match is at 2:45pm

Weightlifting: Women's 53kg and Men's 56kg. No Americans in either event.

Swimming: Men's 100m Breaststroke Final, including Cody Miller and Kevin Cordes of the US. This event has not been won by an American since 1984. Start time approx. 9:53pm

Women's 100m Butterfly Final, including American Dana Vollmer. Start time 9:03pm

Women's 400m Freestyle. Both heats and Final are today. Medal favorites Kate Ledecki and Leah Smith represent the US. Heats begin at 1:30pm, Final is at 10pm

Men's 4x100 Freestyle Relay. Heats begin at 1:54pm. Final at 10:52pm.



Also: Serena Williams begins her repeat gold medal quest in Women's Tennis, US faces Canada in Men's Volleyball, Women's Rugby vs Australia (God help us), Women's Basketball begins their gold run against Senegal, as well as prelims in Beach Volleyball, Slalom Canoeing, Equestrian Eventing Dressage, and Rowing.

Enjoy your Sunday!