The Rundown: Weekend Preview Edition - Carrying the Torch
Friday already? My how time flies when the Olympics are on. With the first week of the Olympics coming to a close, Team U.S.A leads the medal count with 38, followed by China with 30. Track and field starts today and the American team hopes to carry the victory torch lit by Michael Phelps and Simone Biles.
On your mark. Get set. Go!
The Last Night’s Game Team
P.S. – Curious who picks up the tab at the Olympics? Check out our post for Stilettos on the Glass Ceiling – From Green to Gold – The Business of the Olympics.
NBA (National Basketball Association)
- Bring home the bacon. LeBron James signed a three-year $100 million deal with Cleveland Cavaliers. Next season he will be the highest-paid player in the NBA for the first time in his career. James played for the Cavs last season and led the team to an NBA Championship last season.
Summer Olympics
- It's all a blur. Michael Phelps won two more gold medals, bringing his career total to 22 gold medals and 26 medals overall. During the 200-meter individual medley viewers in Canada were under the impression Phelps came in second to another American swimmer, Ryan Lochte, due to their broadcast announcer’s mistakes. Same, same but different.
- History made. Simone Manuel became the first African American woman to win a gold medal in an individual Olympic swimming event. Manuel tied for gold in the 100-meter freestyle swim. An American hadn’t won a gold medal in this event since 1984 - 32 years ago.
- Girl power. The world’s best gymnast, American Simone Biles, blew away the competition and won gold in the all-around competition. Her Team U.S.A. teammate Aly Raisman won the silver and Russia's Aliya Mustafina brought home the bronze.
Don’t miss:
- In a win or go home game, U.S.A. women’s soccer takes on Sweden today at 3 pm EST.
- Track and field starts today. Two women to watch: Allyson Felix in the 400-meter and Vashti Cunningham in the high jump. Cunningham is the 19-year-old daughter of legendary NFL quarterback Randall Cunningham.
Overtime
- American Kayla Harrison won her second gold medal in Judo. Harrison has overcome sexual abuse by a coach and started the "Fearless Foundation" to raise awareness of child sexual abuse and to enrich the lives of survivors through education and sport. Unfortunately abuse by coaches isn't unusual. Last week, a controversial IndyStar.com report was released detailing the improper reporting of sexual abuse and harassment in U.S.A. women’s sports.
Sideline stat
- The Fiji rugby team won their country’s first Olympic medal by beating Great Britain. The team, representing the island nation of 900,000 people, made history by taking home the gold in rugby sevens.
Coaches’ Corner
- Alex “A-Rod” Rodriguez will play his final game of his New York Yankees career today in New York. Yankees’ manager Joe Girardi has been reluctant to go out of his way to play A-Rod during his last week and denied his request to play third base in his last game. "We thought about it, but he hasn't done any work," Girardi said. "We are still in the business of trying to win games." Burn.
The Rundown: 5 Things to Know About Olympic Uniforms
Ever wonder why the Olympic athletes’ uniforms look like they do? Has the thought of “who in their right mind would put on the smallest banana hammock ever and then jump off the high dive” crossed your mind? Ours too. That’s why we’re bringing you today’s five things to know about Olympic athletes’ uniforms.
Sparkles and spandex,
The Last Night’s Game Team
Five things to know about Olympic uniforms
- Looking preppy and prepared, Ralph Lauren has designed the Opening Ceremony uniforms for Team U.S.A. for the past five Olympics. The entirely Made in America attire that included boat shoes and blazers would cost more than $1,400 if purchased. (Yes, each piece is for sale in Ralph Lauren stores).
- Under Armour has a leotard deal with U.S.A. gymnastics through Tokyo in 2020. Although Team U.S.A is sponsored by Nike therefore the girls (and all U.S.A. athletes) wear their Nike gear on the medal stand.
- Let’s talk diving. Why the really small suits for the men but one pieces for the women? According to uniwatch.com, the men don’t want a lot of fabric mostly because they might get caught in the material while doing their tricks. Women dive in a one piece over a two piece simply for looks; because a two piece would break their line and not be as aesthetically pleasing. The design isn’t as much about no splash - that’s more about hand positioning.
- Aqua Sphere partnered with Michael Phelps to develop his “MP” line for this year’s Olympics. An interesting move since he’s been with Speedo since age 15 but he’s winning so it must be working. Phelps also has a deal with Under Armour said to be worth $5 million for three years. Their partnership also brought us this incredible commercial featuring Phelps.
- Where did the rubberized full body swimsuit go? The suit was outlawed after 43 world records were broken. Apparently they were too fast. FINA (Swimming Federation) now restricts the coverage of men’s suits from the waist up and set maximum coverage restrictions for women.
- Extra credit - Ancient Olympians competed naked. My how things have changed.
Summer Olympics
- Golden girls. U.S.A. women’s gymnastics team, the self-proclaimed “Final Five,” had been touted as the best team in American history and they lived up to the hype. The girls brought home the gold with the biggest margin of victory (over eight points) since the current scoring system was enacted in 2006.
- Don’t poke the bear. While we were eating Oreos on the couch, Michael Phelps won two gold medals in an hour last night. Phelps avenged his loss in the 200-meter butterfly in London to South African swimmer Chad le Clos. Le Clos had been taunting Phelps over the past few days (see #PhelpsFace) but Phelps let him know who was numero uno in the pool. (For the record, le Clos didn’t even medal). Phelps then hit the pool again to win another gold in the 4x200 freestyle relay race.
- Work it ladies. U.S.A. women’s soccer tied Columbia yesterday. The tie was good enough to win their group and advance to quarterfinals against Sweden on Friday.
- Sorry Serena. Rio has not been kind to Serena Williams. First she and her sister, Venus, lost in doubles and yesterday she lost in straight sets (i.e. not good) to Elina Svitolina of Ukraine. Williams is out of the Olympic competition.
Overtime
- Former NFL (National Football League) quarterback and all-around great guy Tim Tebow announced that he is attempting to make a career in MLB (Major League Baseball). Tebow will be trying out for MLB teams later this month, convinced he can play at an elite level. Tebow is a talented athlete and was a great ballplayer in high school but that was 11 years ago. Stay tuned to see how this turns out.
Sideline stat
- The Team U.S.A gymnastics leotards have a record breaking 5,000 Swarovski crystals each. If bought off the rack they would cost $1,200 a piece. Somewhere out there someone is thinking “buy a new leotard or a wedding dress?” Same price, far less material.
Coaches’ Corner
- The women’s gymnastics team has dubbed themselves the “Final Five.” Why? Well this team is the last team to work with legend Martha Karolyi. Karolyi is retiring after 15 years as the national-team coordinator where she has seen many of her gymnasts win gold. Martha and her husband, Bela, have been involved with Team U.S.A. gymnastics for 35 years.
Rio is also the last Olympics where we will see five-member gymnastics teams. In Tokyo each team will have only four members. Therefore, this will be the last five-member U.S.A. gymnastics team to win gold.
The Rundown: Weekend Wrap Up - Medal Monday
We had Olympic fever all weekend and there’s no signs of it stopping. While you might not believe it, there are other sports happening now as well. Don’t worry – we’ve got you. You’re going to be the hit of the water cooler this morning.
Chatty Cathy,
The Last Night’s Game Team
Summer Olympics
- Record shattered. Swimmer Katie Ledecky beat her own world record and won gold in the 400-meter freestyle swim. Previously, Ledecky dominated in the London Olympics winning her first gold medal at just 15-years-old.
- Badass bruising. With a win in yesterday’s relay race, Michael Phelps won his 19th career gold medal (23rd medal overall). If you were curious about the round bruises on his body, they're not crop circles. Phelps was simply channeling his inner Jennifer Aniston and Gwyneth Paltrow. Those bruises were from cupping, an ancient Chinese technique using suction to increase blood flow to relieve muscle tension.
- There’s a first time for everything. Serena and Venus Williams encountered an Olympic first. They we’re knocked out of medal contention with their first Olympic loss as a doubles team. The number one ranked duo lost to an unranked Czech Republic team.
- Cracking job. French gymnast Samir Ait Said left the crowd speechless but for all the wrong reasons. He literally snapped his lower leg in half on his vault landing. To add insult to injury, paramedics dropped his stretcher on the way out of the arena. Talk about kicking a man when he’s down.
- The deets. U.S.A leads medal count with 12. Click for the complete medal count and for a schedule of events.
MLB (Major League Baseball)
- This used to be my playground. New York Yankees slugger Alex Rodriguez announced he will play the last game of his career this Friday. Rodriguez has had a record career that was tainted by steroid use and was a tabloid regular for dating Hollywood starlets (think Madonna and Cameron Diaz). He will remain with the team through next year as a “special adviser” while bringing home the remainder of his $275 million paycheck. For the record, the Yankees are having one of their worst seasons in a long time.
NFL (National Football League)
- The Pro Football Hall of Fame induction ceremony went off without a hitch this weekend. The Hall of Fame Game scheduled to follow? Not so much. The game between Green Bay Packers and Indianapolis Colts was cancelled due to field conditions. The paint used on the field for the midfield logo and end zones was too hard which threatened player safety. In a silver lining moment, the teams held a makeshift fan fest for those in attendance and their money will be refunded.
Overtime
- Team Russia was banned from the 2016 Paralympic Games for allegedly violating international doping rules. International Paralympic Committee President Philip Craven said Russia has "catastrophically failed its para athletes. Their medals-over-morals mentality disgusts me."
Sideline stat
- Miami Marlins’ Ichiro Suzuki reached a career milestone this weekend hitting his 3,000th career hit. He is only the 30th player in baseball history to reach that milestone.
Coaches’ corner
- We were stumped while watching Team U.S.A. play in volleyball yesterday. Why? We weren’t sure why there was one team member in a different colored jersey (in this case a red shirt vs the team’s white ones). Answer? That player is called the libero; a player that chosen specially for defense – they cannot serve or spike, but can play anywhere on the court.