Suspension Blotter (And what pre-season fines I can find) Update 8/28/16

• San Diego Chargers:  Damion Square, 4 games, substance abuse program.  Forfeiture is $158,823, according to Spotrac.

Square becomes the 37th NFL player to be suspended over the summer.  The Chargers become the 17th NFL team to have at least one suspended player.

Fines:

• Detroit Lions:  Kerry Hyder:  $6,617* , Roughing the Passer.
• Houston Texans:  John Simon:  $18,231, Roughing the Passer.
• Seattle Seahawks:  Jarran Reed:  $18,231, Roughing the Passer.

*:  It's the same offense, but Hyder's fine is capped, upon proof, at 25% of his weekly paycheck if he makes the roster.  Hence, the difference.  It is not known, though, what number gets applied to the team policy for the team getting fined if accumulated fines (which include preseason and playoffs) reach certain levels.  (Pro Football Talk)

According to Spotrac:

• Kansas City Chiefs:  Jeremy Maclin 
• and St. Louis Los Angeles Rams:   LaMarcus Joyner:  $9,115 each for their ejection fights.

These were the two players in the now-infamous ref goof video about the ref forgetting the Rams are now in Los Angeles.

And I'm putting this one in a separate column:

• Minnesota Vikings:  Adrian Peterson:  Lost his appeals of 3 game checks, in addition to his 2014 child-abuse suspension.  The new poster child of the NFC North (at least, if not the NFL in general), God-Fearing Kid Beater, according to Spotrac, was fined $2,073,529.

The Aftermath, Day +7: Catching Up

• Ryan Lochte has officially been charged with lying to police in Rio.  However, because the maximum sentence for that is six months in Brazil -- and the extradition treaty between Brazil and the US has a minimum sentence of one year for an extradition to take place (New York Daily News), he's not going back.
• That said, and I'm not sure on this one:  Since it's also a crime to similarly falsify in the United States, could Brazil convict him and a US judge sentence him (for the same crime) to the time Brazil sets, as long as it does not exceed the US sentence)?

And from Inside the Games:

• Vitaly Mutko, the Russian Sports Minister, has blasted the WADA Report as falsified.
• The city of Sochi will gladly host the Russian Paralympians, should they remain disqualified.  Russia is still protesting the decision.
• Kuwait and Kenya have both disbanded their National Olympic Committees.  Kuwait's, in fact, appears to have implied law enforcement or military force!  Kenya has arrested three members of it's NOC regarding some of the drug-testing controversies uncovered against Kenyan officials.  (To date, unless I mentioned it and didn't remember it:  No athletes are implicated.)
• Kristina Mladenovic of France blasted her country's tennis federation as "incompetent" on her Twitter account.  Caroline Garcia backed her up, stating the pair (who lost a first-round doubles match in an upset) were about to be tossed from the tournament for the outfits (wrong color) that the French Federation gave them.  Neither will now have to worry about playing for France anytime soon -- they've been banned from the national tennis federation for at least a month.  A final decision on September 24 might effectively default the Federation's Cup (women's equivalent to the Davis Cup) final to the Czech Republic, as the two have been the biggest factors in advancing France to this championship match.
• Also suspended by the French is Benoit Paire, who defaulted his match when the French sent him home for partying too long.
• South Korea wants words with an unnamed Rio Olympian, who apparently conspired with another swimmer to put a hidden camera in the women's locker room in 2013.
• Sachin Tendulkar is effectively Sports God in India.  He has had a long cricket career of great distinction.  Tendulkar, as a result, was asked by the Indian government to be the person to present both Indian medalists (they won two medals in Rio) with new BMW cars, as well as the coach of the silver-medal badminton player and a gymnast who narrowly finished fourth in the women's vault.  The gymnast was the first female to ever compete in the event for India, and the first Indian Olympian gymnast in over half a century!
• That said, the Indian government has commissioned a task force, effectively asking how a country of over 1 billion people could only gain two Summer Games medals.  (And how to improve that number in the future.)

Colin Kaepernick is done in the National Football League...

Not even disagreeing with what he did, but what he did is one of the very few absolute mortal sins in the NFL.

He sat for the National Anthem in this week's preseason game (EDIT TO ADD:  And has done so in the two previous preseason games as well...), doing so as a statement against racism and racial violence against Blacks in the USA.

For this, a number of 49er fans (in liberal (???) San Francisco!), have burned his jersey in counter-protest!

Colin, it may be time to consider the CFL.

You do NOT fuck with Murka in post-9/11 NFL.

The War on Terror is the NFL's meal ticket, going from National Obsession to National Religion -- where now life itself is secondary to YOUR TEAM ON THE NFL GRIDIRON!!  RARGH!!!!!

(Nevermindhowmanyplayersaredyingandhowthegamesarerigged....  Nothingtoseeheremovealong...)

Note that nothing I say indicates that Kaepernick is not only correct, but well within his Constitutional Rights...  Not that you have any of the latter in the NFL...

Even the Pro Football Talk article effectively implies that the 49ers are probably going to cut Kaepernick (not that he wasn't a step and a half out the door already!!!), but the fact that the NFL is so tied into the false American rhetoric of the last 15 years (in most, if not all, of it's concepts!), he's done in the league.

And the NFL is getting stupid again....

Trying to reduce kick returns is one thing that people who want to talk about the safety of football are trying to do to placate the bloodthirsty masses.

The NFL, this year, is attempting to cut down on kickoff returns by placing the ball at the 25 yard-line for touchbacks.

Well, that's nice...  Except for one thing... 

You forget that there are two teams on the field for a kickoff, right NFL?

So, Yardbarker reports today that the number of kickoff returns has increased, because of the fact that the kicking team coaches are now telling their kickers to do pop-up kicks to try to pin players back within the 25!

This has caused a 30% increase in kickoff returns between last year's regular season and the first two games of this year's preseason.

There's only one way to get rid of the most dangerous play in football and still have football:  GET RID OF KICKOFFS!

Basically, about the closest I can think of is this:  After a score, the team gets a choice:  You either give the ball to the other team at their 25, first and 10, or you take the ball at your 25, one play to get 15-25 yards.

College Football: Yeah, we've REALLY started!

Dateline:  Western Michigan University

Two Western Michigan football players are in custody today after holding up a female student with a semi-automatic gun and a knife Friday night.  Initial reports had the incident as an on-campus incident, but it is now believed it happened off the WMU campus.

When their car was searched, more money and weapons were found.

Ron George, a freshman linebacker, and Bryson White, a junior wide-receiver, are banned from the campus and thrown off the team indefinitely.

(WWMT, through Deadspin)

HS Football: Wow, we're already started....

Deadspin catches this Ejection of the Week:

Missouri high-school sports officials are going to have a major incident to look into near the end of the televised match last night between Blue Springs and Lee's Summit West.

On a fourth-down play with under two minutes to go and Blue Springs up by one point, Jaylen Ivey breaks a tackle and goes 23 yards down to the LSW 8, where he is tackled.

He then gets up and shoves the defender to the ground (one flag goes down here), then kicks the defender on the ground (it is unknown if additional yardage is assessed here, but he is ejected from the game at this point).

The KSMO footage, which accompanies this article at the link I give above, then shows Ivey setting the whole "football player as thug" debate back when he basically appears to act insulted by the mere act of the defender actually making the play to stop him, and, as he gets to his bench, appears to be goading members of the audience to fight him!

The game is stopped while, I would have to think, Ivey is taken from the field.  The game does continue and Blue Springs wins.

This will be worth following.

Could there be an ever bigger check to the NFL by Jerry Jones?

This could get a bit tricky, since the TMZ report indicates that the player did NOT purchase anything, but you can't have this happening at the rate things are going in Dallas!!

Ezekiel Elliott was spotted touring a marijuana dispensary in Seattle.  Three Cowboys are already suspended for the start of this season, triggering the Club Remittance Policy.

Could Elliott, even absent a purchase, be subject to the Player Conduct Policy here?

The Aftermath, Day +3: Not Enough, US Soccer. NOT ENOUGH!

In a statement released today by US Soccer, for conduct detrimental to the US Women's National Team (you may read that as:  "You cost us the gold medal with your mouth, bitch!"), Hope Solo has been banned from the USWNT for six months.

According to the release, this includes the domestic violence stuff.  (Keith Olbermann's Twitter)

NOT LONG ENOUGH!  Sorry.

Hope Solo needs to be done with the USWNT -- but, like Clint Dempsey and another referee attack after him, she's too valuable to the franchise to let go.

The Aftermath, Day +3: Great Britain heads home to a very homogenous welcome...

• The good news for Team Great Britain:  They're pulling out all the stops for the gold-medal runners-up on the table.  There's a national day of celebration planned Saturday.  British Airways gave them a special flight on the way home.
• There was one piece of bad news, though, from the official team Twitter account through Deadspin, is what they had to deal with when they got back:

Baggage collection could be interesting. #samesame #greattobeBAck pic.twitter.com/2ujPkLxmL1

— Team GB (@TeamGB) August 23, 2016

If you've ever been through a baggage check, you know this nightmare -- and that's BEFORE every bag in the place is the same damn bag and color.

• The ruling is in from the CAS:  Russia is OUT of the Paralympics.  Makes the IOC decision to include them even more puzzling and probably political.
• There are a lot of people who think golf might not survive in the Olympics after many of the professionals decided Zika was a little too much to deal with.  Zach Johnson doesn't want golf in the Games, it appears -- too relevant all the time rather than one shot every four years.  (Yardbarker)
• The weightlifting sanctioning body has released 11 names of failed retests from the Beijing Games, which brings the number to fifteen, eight of them medalists, three of them gold medalists from China in the women's weightlifting.  The 48, 69, and 75kg women's winners all tested positive for a compound called GHRP-2.  (Basically, HGH replacement.)  Three medalists from Belarus, four weightlifters from Kazakhstan, and two medalists from Russia are also on the list.  (Inside the Games)
• The symbolic move of the Summer Games to Tokyo has begun, as the Olympic flag exchanged in the Closing Ceremony has made it's way to the Japanese capital.  (Inside the Games)
• To no one's surprise, the Ethiopian runner, Feyesa Lilesa, who made an "X" gesture at the finish line in support of his tribe after claiming silver in the men's marathon has not returned home.  Amnesty International reports 67 members of his tribe were, in fact, killed in Ethiopia over the weekend.  (Inside the Games)
• Though Ethiopia saluted it's Olympic successes, it ignored Lilesa in mentioning so.  Word is, Lilesa may end up seeking asylum in the United States.
• The Efimova-Phelps feud continued after her comments surrounding the American champion, with Efimova stating Phelps was "unpleasant" to her after her comments.  (Inside the Games)
• There will be 680 hours of live Paralympic coverage -- you'll have to go to Dailymotion, though, to get it.  It is progress, though. (Inside the Games)

A number of non-Olympic stories...

Getting back to some other stories of manipulations for television's sake and somesuch:

• La Liga in Spain is going to start punishing soccer teams if, in the interest of television, fans are not redistributed such that the "hard camera" shows that there appears to be more fans in the stadium than there actually are.  Doesn't help that, even with the good teams in Madrid, the average La Liga game is about 65% filled, according to figures obtained for a Wikipedia page on sports attendance through worldfootball.net.  

Source on this story:

#LaLiga will punish clubs if they don't redistribute fans so that it appears that there is a big crowd on main tv camera angle!#Orwellian

— FOOTBALL is FIXED (@footballisfixed) August 24, 2016

• The account published this report two days ago that Brian Tuohy also picked up on and retweeted.

Peter Crouch on refs: They came in at the start of the season and said that there were going to be more penalties this year,#PGMOB is a mob

— FOOTBALL is FIXED (@footballisfixed) August 22, 2016

• The NFL is tightening the screws on both the networks and their talent.  As part of the new Thursday package which now splits the season between the NFL Network, NBC, and CBS.  For NBC, they must use their Sunday crew for the Thursday games, the NFL claiming that NBC actually stated Al Michaels and Cris Collingsworth would do double-duty -- something which some feel is news to the 71 year-old Michaels, and spurns NBC's signing of Mike Tirico.  (Deadspin)
• Love the first comment on that article, at least when I pulled it up.  When someone posted a Twitter of how bad Phil Simms sucked, the first response was basically saying that if the NFL pulled Simms for being bad, it would be admitting CTE is real.
• Something to keep in mind with UFC here, people:  Many experts felt that, for the future of UFC and having stars build the brand, that Conor McGregor had to win the rematch with Nate Diaz (which he won by a majority decision, meaning one judge had the fight a draw).  Some people have even told McGregor that he is effectively worth the $4 billion price tag the UFC was sold for.  So...  Hmmmmmmm....  (ABC News)
• McGregor is banned from MMA for six months.  No, not drugs.  Often, sanctioning bodies, after fighters get beat up, will ban fighters from fights (and even practice contact) for certain periods of time.  McGregor's foot and ankle were injured in the fight.  Diaz was banned 30 days.  Dana White says there will be no trilogy fight, but both fighters and the world think otherwise.  (Sports Illustrated)
• Brock Lesnar has been suspended for drugs, though by the Nevada State Athletic Commission for pissing hot at UFC 200.
• That lawyer who was thinking of suing the NFL for the Hall of Fame Game (more specifically, that the game had been cancelled long before the fans were on-site, and that the NFL bilked them for pre-game parties and the like) did try to sue, but Deadspin reports the lawsuit was "voluntarily dismissed".  It sounds like it will be re-filed in Los Angeles, according to sports law attorney Daniel Wallach.
• EDIT TO ADD ~12 noon 8/24:  And the reason it will be refiled is that the person who relayed the game had actually been cancelled long beforehand is...  The Colts' punter!!  Enjoy your last few moments in the NFL, Pat McAfee.  Oh, and take a drug test after that 67 yard punt you just did too -- one of three 60+ yard punts he had in the week one preseason game with Buffalo.  (CBS Sports)
• McAfee actually said he'd have been offended had the NFL not sent him a note to be drug-tested after that game.
• Deadspin also has videos of fan brawls in both of Los Angeles' home preseason games.  Only the first involved Rams fans.  The second involved Chiefs fans fighting among themselves.
• You know, since the NFL actually wanted teams in LA so badly, they might well have wanted to tell the referees about it once it happened.  Two players were ejected in last week's Rams-Chiefs game (dammit, I almost did this too!), and the referee did not get the memo...

@TheRealAP619 @theMMQB Here's the "St. Louis" video. pic.twitter.com/QBSE4iRseF

— Stuart Goldman (@stuart_goldman) August 21, 2016

• Two stories about how much Important Man can get away with.  First, the judge who sentenced swimmer Brock Turner to only six months in jail for rape has been forced to recuse himself from another sex crimes case -- and there are now several recall petitions up and running against him.  (Jezebel)
• And this corker out of Massachusetts:  David Becker was charged with sexually assaulting two classmates while unconscious.  The judge made no finding in the case, and gave Becker probation.  Becker would've been banned from college otherwise, and his lawyer played all the cards as one might expect when the court finds sexual assaults by athletes a perfectly acceptable result.  (Deadspin)

The Aftermath Day +1 Part 3: A Protest That Might Get Someone Killed and Other Things

• Ethiopian marathoner Feyisa Lilesa won the silver medal on Sunday in Rio.

Too bad he may never be able to return.

Lilesa, at the finish line, elected to put his arms up in an "X" formation in protest of government murders of his Oromo trible.  Several members of Lilesa's family are in prison already, and Lilesa now fears for his own life because of his gesture at the finish line.  (Deadspin)

• No word yet on actual sanctions (USOC, IOC, or criminal), but all four of Ryan Lochte's sponsors bolted today in the aftermath of the black mark he placed on the sport of swimming in Rio.
• The CAS appeal of the International Paralympic Committee's disqualification of Russia was heard today.  Decision tomorrow.
• Amnesty International did not believe Rio 2016 did enough to improve the human rights situation in Brazil or shed light on it for the world, hence missing what they called a "golden opportunity" to do so.  (Inside the Games)

The Rio Aftermath, Day +1 Part 2: #NBCFail

You know, I always thought this was the norm in the Soviet Union!

But if we all thought #NBCFail was bad at the Opening Ceremony, Deadspin today notes that NBC saw fit to exclude OVER AN HOUR of the Closing Ceremony so that USA's 121 medals would be the main storyline there -- and to protect against anything untoward getting aired.  *cough!*

• Chopped over a half hour of the mass entry of the athletes into the stadium.  I guess since they couldn't segregate the USA athletes (and especially their champions), they decided to air very little of it except Simone Biles and a few others, it sounds like.
• A three-minute athlete's montage which was aired in the Ceremony.  But if you want to watch every American gold medal on a loop, it's been going for three days now online!
• Most of the men's marathon victory ceremony (which is a tradition for the Closing Ceremony), and they did not air that Galen Rupp received his bronze medal.  I guess a USA medal is only of more value to you when it's gold, right?
• The newly elected members to the International Olympic Committee.  I guess NBC didn't want to explain the athletes electing a banned Russian trackster to the IOC.
• They omitted the Opening Ceremony speech from the Rio organizing chair Carlos Guzman, so why is it any surprise they omitted Closing Ceremony speech from him as well?

The Rio Aftermath: Day +1 Part 1

So now the post-mortems begin, and we probably get an understanding of what REALLY went down in Rio that even Inside the Games (whom I immeasurably thank for a foreign perspective on the Games and incidents which have colored the last two and a half to four weeks) haven't found yet.

• Scott Blackmun, head of the USOC, says there will be further discipline for Lochte-Gate.  (Inside the Games)  Regrettably for NBC and the medal score, you can start by rescinding those two relay golds completely.  They will probably have to be disqualified.  It would send an important message that conduct off the field does matter.  They endangered the lives of every American who was in Rio - an unsafe city to begin with! - and contaminated both the USA's performance in Rio, but the entire swimming competition.  (Commentary mine)
• The IOC has awarded the sportsmanship award again.  It does not do so after every Games, but it has done so here.  The two women involved in the 5000m crash, Nikki Hamblin of New Zealand and Abbey d'Agostino of the USA were given a Fair Play award by the Olympics.  There are conflicting reports on whether one or both may also have received the highly-prestigious Pierre de Coubertin medal for sportsmanship (being placed in a group, if so, with under 25 members in the history of the Modern Games).
• Also receiving a Fair Play award was the men's handball team from Norway, and I feel the story should be told.  In a qualification match previous to the Games, Norway was ousted by qualifiers Germany by one goal -- a goal scored with an extra person on the field for Germany.  The IOC felt Norway could've filed a protest, but Norway decided not to, stating the extra player had no factor in the play,

The Rio Farce: And now the numbers...

As widely expected, but maybe not by this wide of a margin:  As things stand right now, the USA has won both the gold and total medal counts for the second consecutive Summer Games, and by significant margins in both.

Golds:

• USA:  46, matching their London total.
• Great Britain snagged second in the golds table with 27, two short of what they got in their home games.
• China was third with 26, TWELVE short of what they got in 2012.  (Hence, the reaction (since deleted) of "You gotta be kidding me." from the state media.)
• Russia was fourth with 19.  That's five short of the 2012 total.  They got six golds in athletics in London.
• Germany fifth with 17.  That's six better than London.
• Japan sixth with 12.  Five better than London.
• France got 10 for seventh, one fewer than London.
• South Korea 9 for eighth.  Four fewer than London.
• And these tying for ninth with 8 each:  Italy (same), Australia (+1), Netherlands (+2), and Hungary (same).

54 nations scored gold medals in London.  (BBC chart)

59 have in Rio, including first golds by Fiji, Kosovo, Singapore, Jordan, Bahrain, the Independent Olympic Athletes/Kuwait, Puerto Rico, Vietnam, Tajikistan, and the Ivory Coast.

Total:

• USA:  121.  17 more than London.  Most medals won by the USA in the history of a non-boycotted Games.  Beijing was the old record with 110.
• China had 70.  18 less than London, and the margin between #1 and #2 was the largest in nearly a century.
• Great Britain had 67.  2 more than London and a new Olympic record.  The first country ever to get more medals four years after an Olympics they hosted than the one they did!
• Russia had 56.  26 fewer than four years ago.  Russian track and field snagged 14 medals in London.
• Germany and France tied for fifth when they had 42 each.  2 fewer than London for Germany, 8 more for France.
• Seventh was Japan with 41.  Three more than London.
• Then a drop-off:  Australia eighth with 29.  Six fewer than London.
• Ninth was Italy with 28.  Same as London.
• Tenth was Canada with 22.  Four more than London, when 12 bronzes made their total 18.  They scored 15 third-place finishes in Rio!

According to the BBC chart, 84 nations medaled in London.

86 medaled in Rio.

The Rio Farce: Finis, The End.

I can't believe they actually pulled it off.

I can't believe, given the political and safety climate in Brazil, they actually got it done.

But, either as I type and just recently finished, the Closing Ceremony has brought the curtain down.

The youth of the world will begin to disperse, called to assemble four years hence in Tokyo...  if the world or Olympic movement make it that far.

So, let's do this in two parts.  First, Day 16 and last:

• With Japan being such a large video-game, anime, and electronics market -- those genres had a voice in tonight's Japanese cultural segment to preview Tokyo 2020.  And, in a video, the prime minister of Japan, Shinzo Abe, was turned into Mario of Nintendo fame!  (Deadspin)
• He's BACK!  Slow it down again for the Today show ladies.  The Tongan flag bearer, Pita Tofatofua, topless and oiled up, returned for the Closing Ceremony.  One of those athletes with no chance to medal (lost his taekwondo match by superiority), his story of aiding homeless children in Tonga can be seen in this Deadspin piece.
• Two weight classes had their freestyle wrestling tournaments today.  One of the bronze medal matches at 65 kg was decided by two penalty points after the match.  Ganzorigiin Mandakhnaran of Mongolia lost his match to Ikhtiyor Navruzov of Uzbekistan.  The first penalty point, to tie the match, was assessed against Mandakhnaran for celebrating his victory by running away with three seconds to go in the match.  By that penalty, it awarded the bronze medal to Navruzov since that was the last point of the match.  At that point, the Mongolian coaches took to the mat and took their clothes off, and a second penalty point was awarded and the two coaches sent off -- and probably to be banned from the sport. (Deadspin -- Nice belly to belly suplex there by the Uzbekistan coach.)
• I have a feeling I may be about to lose the live streams completely by Pyongchang 2018 -- NBC's manipulation of the Olympic coverage has resulted in a 17% decrease in the ratings from London.  (Deadspin)
• Galen Rupp of the USA has only run the marathon twice.  The first got him to Rio, the second got him bronze!
• Oh, speaking of the traditional last athletics event:  Michael Kalomiris, the amateur Greek lawyer who was shocked to find he had qualified for the men's marathon, did run, and did finish in 2:37:03.  That was about a half-hour slower than Eluid Kipchoge of Kenya, who won.  Kalomiris did finish ahead of eight runners, and 15 did not finish.
• The final Refugee Olympic Athlete competed today in the men's marathon:  Yonas Kinde finished 90th in 2:24:08
• Yelena Isinbayeva of Russia is now an athlete member of the International Olympic Committee, but not with the unanimous ratification of the others.  About a third of the IOC members actually rejected her or abstained.  (Inside the Games)
• Sounds like we aren't the only ones ripping wrestling officiating.  United World Wrestling, the sanctioning body for Olympic wrestling, banned three officials from Navruzov's quarterfinal match for suspicious officiating.  So it sounds like this whole situation may well have more facets to it!  (Inside the Games)
• Temporary generators were required to stage the Closing Ceremonies, with rain and probable power problems in the area.  People in the area could not watch the Ceremony on television.  (Inside the Games Ceremony blog)
• IOC President Thomas Bach deliberately failed to address concerns about the Rio Paralympics in his address at the Closing Ceremony.  (Inside the Games Ceremony blog)
• Could not find the daily blog for today.

The Rio Farce, End of Day 15: Didn't Think They'd Make It, But They Have

I was wrong.

I admit it.

The Games of the XXXIInd Summer Olympiad have made it to the final day, the day of the Closing Ceremony.

Couple of wrestling tournaments, boxing and basketball finals and a couple others, and the men's marathon -- and then the Closing Ceremony, where the youth of the world will be called in four years to the shadow of Fukushima and Tokyo.

• Interesting story from the track tonight.  5,000 meter silver medalist Paul Chelimo of the United States was disqualified for stepping off the track.  There was quite the amount of bumping and barging in the race -- in fact, at one point, Chelimo looked he had been clipped as eventual champion Mo Farah of Great Britain (the double-double!) was beginning to kick in the last couple of laps.  Chelimo protested the disqualification.  The result, from Sara Germano of The Wall Street Journal:

Full IAAF decision on DQs and appeals in men's 5,000 meters. pic.twitter.com/KBV6nWOfor

— Sara Germano (@germanotes) August 21, 2016

• Chelimo's was the sixth medal from 800 meters on up in these Games, the most for the USA in a non-boycotted Games in over 100 years, according to Germano -- including the first gold medal in the 1500 meters in well over 100 years (Matthew Centrowitz, who, according to Germano, feels set for life now).
• Nick Zaccardi of NBC:  31 medals for the USA in athletics -- the most it has had since the Los Angeles Olympics...  of 1932! (Germano retweeted that fact.)
• Love the Deadspin GIF on this one:  Since riders do not bring their own horses for the modern pentathlon equestrian event, you can get one of these that basically says "Fuck This!", dumps the rider over the obstacle, and runs off.
• IOC President Thomas Bach insists no public money was used on the Rio 2016 Games even though the Games needed a bailout just to be held!  (Inside the Games)  Can I ask what he is smoking?
• The continuing travails of Australia in Rio:  Nine athletes were fined for sitting in the wrong seats during one of the semifinal basketball games.  The offense, in Brazil, is a five-year-in-prison felony (falsification of documentation), but the nine were fined about $3,120 apiece.  The AOC will handle the fines and the athletes have been apologized to.  (Inside the Games)
• After a sit-down meeting, the Australian swimmer barred from the Closing Ceremonies understands the seriousness of the offense and will be allowed to attend tonight's Ceremony.  (Inside the Games daily blog)
• Sebastian Coe of the IAAF has hand-written a letter to Yelena Isinbayava (disqualified Russian trackster elected to the IOC), congratulating her.  Isinbayava is not buying it.  (Inside the Games)
• Another Russian track DQ from retesting:  Shot-put silver medalist in London:Evgenia Kodolko.  Two Chinese ascend to silver and bronze. (Inside the Games)
• Ryan Lochte has apparently admitted his lies in recent interviews -- will be interested to see how long he is banned and how many (if any) USA gold medals are disqualified.
• Another disturbing Russian story, this one of abuse:  Izza Trazhukova claims the country's wrestling coach struck her in the face twice after she lost her bronze-medal match at 63kg.  (Inside the Games daily blog)
• And to the table, as most of the Dick-Measuring and Waving comparisons are now basically settled:  USA will top the table in both total and golds by a significant margin, now with 43 golds and 116 total and favored to win at least two more golds (men's basketball and the defending women's boxing champion in a weight class yet to complete).  Great Britain has 27 golds to China's 26, but China has no further finals to be in to overtake, unless a Chinese runner comes from nowhere to win the marathon.  China has 70 in the total to GBR's 66.
• Interesting story from the official Rio 2016 website:  One of the reasons Great Britain has set an interesting Olympic record is because they used lottery proceeds toward their Olympic team.  The record is that no nation, four years after hosting a Games, has increased their medal total, until now.  The resources I have note Great Britain won 65 medals in London -- this year, 66!

Day 15: Caster answers the bigots WITH AUTHORITY!

1:55.28, and gold by about five meters.

Race never really in doubt, a runner from Burundi stretched it out in the second lap, but Semenya answered big.

11th fastest 800m for a woman all time, fastest time run in the 800m in eight years.

(Source:  IAAF)

The Rio Farce, Day 14: There may be a Lochte-Gate medal strippage here...

According to several mainstream sites, the International Olympic Committee has formed an official disciplinary committee (not unlike two it has chaired for the Russian Sochi debacle) against Ryan Lochte and his three teammates at a Rio gas station and the coverup which followed.

The IOC does have the power, should it find it necessary to do so, to strip Lochte of his medals won in Rio, and that includes a gold in the 4x200m men's freestyle relay.  The committee is also investigating the conduct of Gunnar Bentz, Jack Conger, and Jimmy Feigen.  Conger and Bentz swam in the 4x200 heat, Feigen swam in the 4x100 freestyle, meaning that gold medal could get stripped too.

With Feigen nearly having to pay $11,000 to be allowed to leave Brazil, this is clearly a serious matter.

The Rio Farce, Two Weeks In: Vegas

Pulled out some betting sheets.

Tropicana, numbers as of July 29:

• Bets on winning the most gold medals will cash at 1-6 for the USA.
• Total medal count was 103 1/2 hedging over, and has already done so.
• Gold medals is 42 hedging over.  Might clamber to a push, but not much more.
• China's gold medals was 35, hedging over.  Nowhere close.
• Great Britain was 18 1/2 hedging under.  Already over by several.
• Andy Murray got you 11-4 to win the men's tennis.
• Monica Puig won 15-1 as part of the Field bet for the women.
• Germany cashed at 2-1 for the women's soccer.
• Justin Rose was third-favorite at 9-1 for the golf.
• Most interesting prop bet I could find:  Gold medals:  USA's + Canada's were a 1 1/2 gold "favorite" over Britain + Germany + France, hedging toward USA/Canada.  USA has 38, Canada has 4.  Britain has 24, Germany 14, France 9 -- so it sounds like the European side will win that prop bet.
• Fiji cashed at 9-5 for favorites in the men's rugby sevens.
• USA women's basketball is 1-15 to win the gold medal.  The men?  1-20.  Spain was third-favorite at 10-1 for the women.  Serbia well down the board at 16-1 for the men.

The Rio Farce, End of Day 14: High Drama

• Tajikistan has won it's first Olympic gold medal, and the ninth nation to win their first gold medal in Rio (Kosovo, Fiji, Jordan, Bahrain, Singapore, Puerto Rico, Vietnam, and Kuwait (through the Independent team)).  Men's Hammer Throw, Dilshod Nazarov. 
• And now #10!!!  The Ivory Coast has also won their first gold medal in Olympic competition.  Cheick Sallah Cisse defeated Lutalo Muhammad of Great Britain 8-6 in taekwondo.  Cisse scored a three-point head kick in the last second of the match to snag gold. (Inside the Games daily blog)
• Not much closer you can get than the end of the women's pole vault.  Greek Ekaterini Stefanidi won at 4 meters 85 cm and fewer misses than American Sandi Morris, whose knee barely brushed the bar on the way through at 4.90 on a gold-medal final attempt.
• The re-race for the USA women worked out well.  They won the 4x100m final (from lane 1) by a significant margin over Jamaica.
• TRIPLE-TRIPLE for Usain Bolt.  All most felt Jamaica needed was to get it to him in the 4x100, and they were right.  USA were third to Japan and never really a factor.

But again, that's not why you're here...

• Doesn't look like much more news on the Lochte-gate front tonight...  One of the other swimmers, just returning to the United States, says Lochte is full of it and a lot of it.
• Patrick Hickey of Ireland is now seen as a high-grade security risk and heading to one of the worst maximum-security prisons in Brazil, Inside the Games reports.
• Massive changes have been reported to this year's Paralympics.  It is insisted that all 22 disciplines will be contested, but at least three will have to be moved, and up to 10 countries will not be able to participate even if late money (payments already at least three weeks late) is found to aid the Paralympics.  (Inside the Games)
• Three more Russians disqualified after Beijing retests.  Silver medal to be yanked from the Russian 4x400m relay team for Anastasia Kapachinskaya testing positive for stanozol and turinabol.  Alexander Pogorelov tested positive for the latter -- finishing 4th in the decathlon.  Ivan Yushkov was 10th in the shot put, and was on both substances Kapachinskaya was on plus oxandrolone. (Insider the Games daily blog)
• And I guess that leaves us to the table and the race for second.  BMX, Water Polo and relays give the USA 38 golds and 105 in the total.  
• Golds:  Second is Great Britain with 24, third is China with 22, Germany fourth with 14, Russia fifth with 13.
• Total:  Second is China with 65, Great Britain third with 60, Russia fourth with 48, Japan fifth with 41.  Germany (35) is seventh behind France (37)
• 82 nations now have medals (one nation is still on the table with only a medal which is to be stripped for doping).  That's down three from the 85 in London.
• A burst of new nations in the last day or two has put the gold-medal nation count at 56 -- two MORE than London 2012.
• Still no cash-ins on the "Urine Luck" campaign.  No UK silvers to a Russian, so no Paddy Power bet repeats.

Suspension Blotter: Good Day To Be Goodell

• The three currently-rostered players compelled to be interviewed by Roger Goodell about the al-Jazeera doctor have been bent over agreed to do so.  Scheduled within the next ten days for the Packers' Clay Matthews and Julius Peppers and Pittsburgh's James Harrison.
• Pittsburgh Steelers:  The LeVeon Bell suspension for missing drug tests has been announced.  3 games.  Forfeiture is about $170,000.  (This was previously put in the main list I did back in July, but was finally announced today.)
• New York Giants:  Josh Brown, 1 game for domestic violence from 2015 -- it had been winding through league appeals since.  Brown is the Giants' KICKER.  The Giants become the 16th team to have at least one player suspended in the off-season.  

Two team suspensions have been announced.

• New England Patriots:  Alan Branch has been suspended for an undisclosed period of time for violations of team rules.
• Cleveland Browns:  K'Waun Williams has been suspended for two weeks and fined a game check for numerous team rule violations.  

Of course you could be Deon Long...

• Los Angeles Rams:  Deon Long:  CUT by the Rams for having a woman in his dorm room, a violation of team rules.  Coach Jeff Fisher called the move necessary because Long's conduct was "7-9 bullshit", claiming he would not accept the team going 7-9, 8-8, or 9-7 and the like.  The Rams have not gone better than 8-8 since 2003.

The Rio Farce, Day 14: Take his medal or strip the relay...

• Half-hearted apology on Twitter by Ryan Lochte, saying he should've been more "careful and candid". (Deadspin)  Well, you've now committed two very serious felonies now, Mr. Lochte.  The act AND the coverup.  Makes me wonder, as I've said, what else you did that night.  But facts are these:  Either the USOC has to remove his medal and the recognition thereof, or FINA/IOC need to strip the relay for misconduct, as if Lochte had doped.
• Jimmy Feigen has effectively been fined $10,800 for his actions in LochteGate.  He has to pay that sum to leave Brazil, which will then be donated to charity.  (Deadspin) 
• The other three swimmers involved told the USOC the same lie they originally said in Brazil.  (Yardbarker)   Discipline will come later, but a LIFETIME BAN has been considered for Lochte! (Yardbarker)  The "apology" today is a condition that the ban may only be temporary.
• The USOC has officially apologized to the Rio organizers.  (Inside the Games daily blog)
• Risako Kawai of Japan won the Olympic gold medal in her weight class in wrestling.  She then scored four points after the match (and gave up one when her coach was allowed to get up for the escape) when she celebrated with two textbook fireman's carry takedowns of her coach!  (Deadspin, with GIF)
• The USA women's 4x100m relay will be in an unusual lane for their position tonight.  They almost lost out completely in their heat, when they dropped their baton.  The problem:  A Brazilian runner had bumped the Americans during the exchange, allowing for a solo re-run of the race, which they completed in the fastest time.  However, since it is deemed a rerun and not the heat itself, they will have to compete in one of the "lucky loser" spots (lane 1 or 8).  (Deadspin)
• The Russian appeal of their full ban from the Paralympics will now be heard Monday and decided Tuesday.  (Inside the Games daily blog)
• The International Paralympic Committee has assured that the Paralympics will go ahead despite cuts.  We'll see about that.  (Inside the Games daily blog for the news, commentary mine)
• One of the larger stories of Day 14 is going to be what happened to probably-soon-to-be-former world #1 freestyle wrestler Jordan Burroughs of the USA at 74 kg.  After losing a contentious match to a Russian opponent (Aniuar Geduev, #2 in the world, 3-2), he was thrust into the repechage, and lost to an Uzbekistani opponent by technical fall, eleven points to one!

A Piece of Good News For The Last Day in Rio...

It appears as if the Greek amateur marathoner WILL run in the men's marathon.

Michalis Kalomiris asked his law firm for three months off after learning he had qualified for Rio by his eighth-place finish in the 2015 Rome Marathon.

They accepted, lifting a load off Kalomiris' shoulders, and he is expected to run on Sunday.

The Rio Farce, End of Day 13: Beginning to wind it down...

• It appears as if the USOC now accepts that Lochte and his cohorts fucked up bad.  Now, what's going to be your next step, past the apology?  We're waiting...
• An initial report in a Brazilian newspaper had Ryan Lochte and at least one of his cohorts charged with false reporting of a crime.  Later, the Rio police chief said they're still investigating.  Lochte still asserts his innocence!  (Deadspin)
• The two detained swimmers have now been allowed to leave the country after questioning.  (Inside the Games daily blog)
• For the record, I think there's more to this night of debauchery than we're being told, even now.
• Usain Bolt is insane.  The triple-double is complete (100 and 200 in Beijing, London, and Rio).  The triple-triple now only needs the 4x100 relay, and that final is Friday night.
• Not only has Jordan won it's first Olympic medal, but the first gold medal won by an Iranian woman was registered in Day 13.  Ahmad Abughaush won the 68 kg weight class in wrestling for Jordan, the third country in these Games (Kosovo and Fiji) to win it's first medal as an Olympic championship -- the three are the only such to break their maiden in all medals, the number of countries getting their first gold medal is now up to at least eight.  Alizadeh Zenoorin won a bronze medal in the under 57 kg women's class for Iran.  (Inside the Games daily blog)
• Caster Semenya won her heat easily in the 800m semifinals, is the large-scale favorite for gold, and one of the world feed actually posits that Semenya, given the right conditions, might break a nearly 30 year-old world record on Saturday night in the event.
• National Dick-Measuring Contest (For Second) Update:  USA, with 4 gold medals in track and field and a massive women's wrestling upset, has spurred the gold count along after a slow early-second week.  They now stand at 35 golds and an even century's worth in total, far outpacing the world.  The next two countries are in a tight race for second in both regards.  Great Britain is second in golds 22, China third with 20, Germany fourth with 13, and Russia and Japan tied for fifth with 12.
• In the total, China is second with 58, Great Britain third with 56, Russia fourth with 44, Japan fifth with 36.
• Eighty nations have medals in these Games (the official site has not removed the two stripped medals yet) -- London had 85.  48 nations have won gold medals, and that's odd, because the last I did a full check, the official site had 49.  (London had 54.)

Nine of the ten Refugee Olympic Athletes have completed competition. 

• James Chiengjek ran in the fourth heat of the 400 meters.  Yes, he placed last, but his 52.89 seconds of competition meant far more than any medals. 
• Yiech Biel participated in the 800 meter competition, placing seventh of the eight runners in his heat.
• Paulo Lokoro competed at 1500 meters, placing 11th out of 14 in his heat.
• Yonas Kinde is still to compete in the men's marathon.
• Rose Lokoynen competed in the women's 800 meters, finishing sixth in the second heat.
• Angelina Lohalith competed at 1500 meters for the women, placing last in her heat but defeating at least one other runner in the competition.
• Popole Misenga won his R32 match by yuko (the smallest of the three scoring criteria, usually scored by a throw to one's side) over Avtar Singh of India, but was defeated in the R16 match by ippon (the largest, immediate victory, usually scored by a forceful throw to one's back) by Gwak Dong-han of South Korea, the then-#1 rated judoka in the 90kg weight class (Dong-han won bronze in the event).
• Yolande Mikeba competed in the 70kg women's class, losing by ippon (by a legal judo choke hold -- a submission in that form is also immediate victory) in her first match to Linda Bolder of Israel (who lost in a repechage later on).
• Yusra Mardini competed in two women's swimming events, both at 100 meters.  As previously reported, she won the first heat of the 100m butterfly, but was seventh in a similar heat in the freestyle.
• Rami Anis competed in the same two events for the men.  He finished last out of the eight in the second heat, but would've defeated all three in the first heat, in the butterfly.  He finished sixth in the second heat of the freestyle.

Why Finally Sending Football Man To Prison May Finally Put Football On Trial

Darren Sharper was sentenced to 18 years in prison today for serial rape.

OK.  Probably not long enough, especially with 16 victims.

But it's something in what he said today that does ring a bit interesting -- and it's usually something which could be dismissed as a function of false repentance or such that.

From Deadspin:  He's tried to apologize, but one victim told him to go to Hell.

Hopefully he dies in prison and does so soon.

Why?

So that the 16 victims can sue the living fuck out of the National Football League, who probably raped them as much as Sharper did!!

Sharper's last in the league was 2010.  From information publicly received, a lot of this stuff started in 2013.

Unlike most Football Monsters, this might be one of a number that football itself created, and didn't simply coddle and enhance!

If I were one of the 16 women:  Before Sharper goes to Hell (see above), I want the brain examined for CTE.  If the timeline fits and it appears that CTE was well in his brain at that point, sue the fuck out of the NFL and put FOOTBALL on trial.

RETRACTION: Gawker.com is leaving next week.

I had received news this morning from my Twitter news feed that Gawker Media was closing down.  As such, I posted a blog post on it at 11 AM this morning, and I regret the error.

Now, gawker.com is reporting that only that one site will close down -- the other six sites within the company will still be absorbed into Univision.  No word on what this exactly means...  yet.

The Rio Farce, Day 13: Ryan, you better lawyer up fast....

• It appears the Rio authorities' story, and it appears the other swimmers are cooperating, is that Ryan Lochte and the other swimmers...  were out for a night of drunken debauchery after the swimming events, breaking and entering, assaulting security guards, and whipping it out and pissed all over a Rio gas station.

If this is the case, Lochte needs to return his medals (and the same goes for the other three, but I don't think there are any medals to return there).  It can still go down in the record, unless you can prove doping...  But the fact is that Lochte cannot be recognized, at least in these Games, as an Olympic champion if this is the way he's going to act!  Not only on the night, but the coverup as well.

Rio is bad enough the way it is.  This is truly the Third World's first Olympic Games.  There's no sense in a fucking entitled ugly American making matters _WORSE_.  It's becoming clearer and clearer that, if you're not from the USA, you're not cheering for the USA -- and the results are showing it.

I begin to wonder if there's even more here:  That it wasn't only a night of debauchery, that it was a night of "Fuck you, Rio -- I'm from America and I...  Duh...  uh...  I'm American!!!"  (Thank you Max Landis.  :) )

If this is what happened, then, to Mr. Ryan Lochte:  You are very fucking fortunate you haven't gotten somebody KILLED...  yet!!!

• Yardbarker, in several stories, shows it's even worse.  The swimmers apparently destroyed at least the bathroom in the gas station -- if we collate all of these accounts, we can conclude they pretty much did in the whole damned place.  Security footage exists...  In fact, it would not surprise me in the least if there was an outside party involved that it WAS police.  This is hearkening back to the hockey team (IIRC) in Nagano, who trashed their entire lodgings after crashing out.  Lochte, at the very least, won a relay gold medal here!
• Interesting story (if you're into such things) about the men's pole vault.  A Japanese pole vaulter failed to clear a height, and it appears as if his dick actually was what dislodged the bar.  He is understandably embarrassed by the attention it has received.
• In perhaps a giant "FUCK YOU!" to the IAAF and in support of IOC President Thomas Bach, Yelena Isinbayeva, a female Russian pole vaulter, disqualified from the Olympic Games as part of the blanket DQ by the IAAF, has just been elected to an athlete's position within the IOC itself! (Inside the Games)
• We finally, almost two weeks into the Games, have the first medalist strippage.  Kyrgyzstan weightlifting, Izzat Artykov, bronze in the lightweight men's competition (-69 kg), for strychnine.  That's a pesticide that can also be used as a stimulant.  The disqualification removes Kyrgyzstan from the medal table, leaving the number of medaling nations about halfway through Day 13 at eighty. (Inside the Games)
• And we may have our second...  This one in canoeing.  Moldova had a bronze medalist in the C1 (solo) 1000m event, Serghei Tarnovschi.  He has also failed his primary test, and, as a result, Moldova has been thrown out of the C2 (duo) event he was supposed to race in.  If the test is confirmed with the B sample, he loses his medal to a Russian and that's another country off the medal chart, making the total 79. (Inside the Games daily blog)
• In an unfortunate story, one of the Great Britain commentators for the Games, Charlie Webster, has had to be put into a medically-induced coma after contracting malaria in Brazil just before the Opening Ceremony.  (Inside the Games daily blog)
• Two Australian swimmers have been banned from the Closing Ceremony after yet another night of debauchery -- and the Australian Olympic Committee has now officially set an 8 to 8 curfew.  (Inside the Games daily blog)
• AIBA has reassigned it's executive director, all but confirming our worst fears that the boxing competition here (as has been in several Olympics) was fixed.  (Inside the Games daily blog on the news, commentary is solely mine)

The Rio Farce, End of Day 12: International Incident Brewing

• The shit has hit the fan on the Ryan Lochte robbery situation.

We just don't know what shit has hit what fan...

Today, a Brazilian judge ordered taken the passports of the four American swimmers, including Ryan Lochte, who claimed being robbed in a cab in Rio by four armed men posing as police officers.

Lochte got out of the country before this happened.  Two of his countrymen have been materially arrested for questioning in the matter, as Rio officials do not believe Lochte's story, or that of the other swimmers.

Jack Conger and Gunnar Bertz have been ordered to remain in Brazil.  According to reports, they were questioned stiffly by local police for 2-3 hours.

I'm of two radically different minds on this subject.  I had discussions with other readers of the blog on this subject, and they are correct as to the corrupt nature of Brazilian law enforcement.

But there's something a little wrong here.  This isn't an insubstantial "Lesser" being told his or her "Place" in such an endeavor.  These are two of the vaunted swimming team which dominated the pool -- though neither appeared to medal, unless they appeared in a relay, Lochte, of course, won a gold medal in these Games.

I'm still, as of writing, about 80-20 of this being corrupt Brazilian politics.  That said, this is an awfully risky situation which probably is going to erupt into a full-on international incident in the last four days of these Games unless the Brazilian authorities are right.  If they're right, then there could be a very large-scale problem here for the Americans.

Unless they feel they can prove the Americans did something, why do you risk a full-out international incident in the last 96 hours of your Olympics?

Stay tuned, this ride just got bumpy.

• Another robbery, this one of a British team member, has motivated the Great Britain team to tell the athletes they can no longer leave the Village, and, if they do so, they are at their own risk.  They are also not to identify as athletes.  (Deadspin)
• Disturbing report in the Wall Street Journal Wednesday:  They have an Indiana University study group which not only says the 2013 World Championships of swimming were held in a pool with an advantageous current in it, so were the Rio Games as well!  Basically, the closer you got to Lane 8, the faster the current.  (Deadspin)
• The Paralympics may well have to be cancelled.  After announcing ticket sales as high as a third of the tickets open for purchase to the September games for the handi-capable, Rio 2016 has had to admit the correct number is only 12%.  (Inside the Games)
• The sole member of the 2016 Rio Olympic track team from Russia, Darya Klishina, finished ninth in the women's long jump, failing to advance to the eight-woman final phase.
• Caster Semenya, who's the brunt of many corporate trans-phobic bullshits spewing about "fairness" of an intersexed athlete facing women (yeah, from the same companies who laud our American athletes as drug-free...  I'll wait...), finished sixth in the heats, winning the second heat of the 800m first round on Wednesday.  Semifinals Thursday, Final is Saturday.
• National Dick-Measurement Contest:  USA is romping away with the total medals, and did pick up it's first gold medal on the track itself when three Americans swept the sprint hurdles event.  That and a gold in the women's long jump give them 30 and 93 total.  China, with it's third consecutive sweep of all table-tennis gold medals, has pulled even with Great Britain with 19 each.  Russia and Germany are tied for fourth with 12 each.  China is second in total with 54, Great Britain has 50 (didn't they have 51 at one point?).  Russia is 4th with 41, Japan 5th with 33.

The Rio Farce, Day 12: Coming Apart At The Seams

• A Brazilian judge wanted to seize and revoke Ryan Lochte's passport because he didn't like the story Lochte and others have been telling about being robbed.  However, according to Yahoo! Sports and USOC representative Patrick Sandusky, the swim team has already left the Olympic Village, and, presumably, Rio entirely.
• That's bad enough, but you could, today, be the head of the IOC in Ireland, and, by some reports, the head of the European Olympic Committee.  Patrick Hickey was arrested this morning in Rio de Janeiro over the growing controversy regarding a ticket reseller arrested late last week.  (Yahoo!)
• AIBA has sent home some judges and referees, almost admitting that there have been fixed boxing matches at these Games. (Deadspin)
• The Chinese state news agency has already blasted it's Olympic team for the very real possibility that Great Britain will eclipse them on the medals table.  (Inside the Games daily blog)
• Four equestrian riders have been tossed from the Games for the "blood rule" -- a rule which forces disqualification in equestrian events if sufficient blood is found in areas of the horse which would indicate abusive use of the whip.  (Inside the Games daily blog)
• Continued reports that the volunteers are walking away.  Many report barely being given a snack over the course of an 8-9 hour work shift, with schedules being fouled up.  (Inside the Games daily blog)

And that should pretty much do it for Deadspin...

What is it with the middle of the night and huge stories this week -- and NOT involving the Olympics?

Not today, not tomorrow, but I would have to think if the bankruptcy judge agrees, the plug has just been pulled.

MSN reports this morning that Gawker Media, parent of Deadspin and a number of other similar sites, has been auctioned off to Univision for $135 million, not covering the Hulk Hogan verdict.

Yes, the judge on the bankruptcy end has to agree to it, and there is still the appeal on the Hogan side of it, but it now appears as if Deadspin's days are VERY VERY numbered.

The Rio Farce, End of Day 11: Two-thirds through, with the wheels coming off...

Not even really looking before I do that title, because it's clear the wheels are coming off these Games.  Five days to go, though, so a round-robin of what's been going on in Rio that NBC might *NOT* want you to know about...

• Deadspin article title of the day:  "Shit-talking German Track Cyclist Loses Seat During Sprint, Wins Gold Medal Anyway"  Kristina Vogel thinks something is up with this Great Britain run on the cycling track, thinking they probably dope pretty well.  When she barely beat out a Brit for the title in Rio, her seat came off just as she crossed the line.
• With BMX and mountain biking (pending the course is still standing) to come:  Great Britain's run has led to 13 cycling medals, six gold -- far outsurpassing anyone else on the table.  Netherlands has four with two gold.  USA has 3 with one gold -- one of six nations with one gold in the cycling events.
• Interesting factoid from Deadspin subsidiary Jalopnik:  The discus competition is sped up by the discs being returned to the athletes by radio-controlled vehicles!
• Ugly American strikes again at ESPN's women's website ESPNW:  They're holding a poll asking if the Bahamian's dive was cheap.  It's about a 50-50 split with about 5600 votes cast.  *groan*  She didn't foul, and leapt for the line so her torso would break the plane first.
• Sounds like the weightlifting federation wanted to be political:  Belarus, Russia, and Kazakhstan will be banned for one year for doping -- AFTER TODAY, the end of the weightlifting.  (Inside the Games)
• One of the sports China HAS been able to dominate is the weightlifting.  Seven medals, five gold to head the table.  Thailand and Iran had two golds each, and the about-to-be-banned Kazakhstan team was second in total with five medals.
• Not surprisingly, the AIBA, one of the most corrupt organizations running sports for the Olympics, has stood behind the controversial judging in the Rio boxing tournaments.  I'd say, after watching a match regarding the highest gold medal hope for the USA, the refereeing is suspect too, as the opponent was able to lunge, grab, and damned near wrestle the American around -- but lost all rounds on all cards in their quarterfinal match.  (Inside the Games)
• Darya Klishna, after receiving a CAS appeal to compete in the long jump, will be in tomorrow's final.
• National Dick-Measuring Contest Update:  USA still leads, snagging but two more gold medals, floor exercise and men's triple jump (only four since the pool closed on Saturday, and two of those were Simone Biles!) to lead the golds with 28 and the total with 84 - a symmetrical 28-28-28.  Great Britain is second in golds with 19 (gap is closing!), China third with 17.  Flip that order in the total.  China second with 51, GBR third with 50.
• USA's only three track and field gold medals are in the field.  Only 13 track events plus the decathlon are left, including the four relays.

Day 11: Good News Department At Rio Again

Finding this on Yahoo! Sports, I have to give it it's own post and remove the Farce label.

Argentinian sailor Santiago Lunge was in his sixth Olympics this year, having two bronze medals to his credit in a now-discontinued event.

That was the least of his problems.  He found a major cancer is his left lung which necessitated its removal a year or so ago.  He credits the sport and it's traveling schedule with finding it.

Today:  An Olympic gold medal in the new Nacra-17 mixed (gender) category.

Can't get much better than that for a story.

Drug Suspension Blotter, 8/16/16: You'd think they'd learn...

No matter your stand on marijuana, you'd think some of these players would learn yet about not getting suspended...

Here's suspension #35:

• Buffalo Bills:  Marcel Darius:  4 games for marijuana.  That's going to cost him big, due to his contract:  Somewhere in the area of about $1.5 MILLION.

Also, the Bills now become the seventh team to have two players suspended.

The Rio Farce, Day 11: Our first judging scandal, and Ellen steps in it...

• Ellen DeGeneres is the subject of controversy today.  As I've spoken about touchdown celebrations which honor dead friends and teammates getting flags for unsportsmanlike conduct, I must tell Ellen...  Blame the culture we live in.

DeGeneres tweeted after Usain Bolt won his third 100m gold medal that she might need him to carry her to speed up her errands, and included this Photoshopped picture:

This is how I’m running errands from now on. #Rio2016 pic.twitter.com/gYPtG9T1ao

— Ellen DeGeneres (@TheEllenShow) August 15, 2016

For which she was blasted for racism and making Bolt out like a common mule.

*sigh*

Look, the only reason a Black man is probably involved is that, frankly, it's been decades since the last White man who was the World's Fastest Man!

To those slamming Ellen (who has defended herself in a later Tweet):  Shaddap.

(Seen originally on Yahoo!)

• Took a week and a half, but we may finally have our first major judging scandal in these Games:  And SURPRISE SURPRISE!!  It's BOXING!!

Yahoo! Sports records at least three highly-questionable boxing decisions in the last two days (and a Russian gold medal was met with boos on Sunday, according to Inside the Games).  An American was probably robbed of a bronze (at least), and two Irishmen also have been jobbed (one to a Russian, after which the Irish boxer flipped off the judges!!!).
It's been at least 30 years of this shit, going back to that abject debacle at Chamshil in Seoul, capped off by Roy Jones Jr. getting silver to a Korean that was so criminally badly judged, Jones got the main sportsmanship award for those Games, judges were expelled from the Games, and boxing had it's judging system changed.

Then, what happened in either Beijing or London, and we're still back here again.

• So, Brazil...  Want to say Sweden are "a bunch of cowards" too?  0-0 draw after 120 minutes, Sweden wins in penalties to go to the gold medal game.
• A lot of people in the USA (read: NBC) are trying to create a controversy about the dive Shaunae Miller of the Bahamas used to win the 400m gold medal last night.  There's no controversy.  Miller not only dove to beat Alyson Felix to the line (you are judged by when your torso breaks the plane, not your head or arm), but Felix was catching her and probably was going to out-lean her otherwise.  On top of it, Miller stayed in her lane and fouled no one.  A true fall probably can't be with that level of control.  She jumped, she won.  Live with it.
• In the Good News Department:  5000m women's heat.  Nikki Hamblin (New Zealand) falls in the race, American Abbey D'Agostino trips over her as a result.  Both finish at the back end, but both insist to finish the race -- together! -- as an act of sportsmanship.  After judging the incident, both are ruled to be advanced to an enlarged final because of the accident. (Deadspin -- and some of the troll commenters can shut the fuck up)
• Artistic Gymnastics finally wrapped up today, and the USA cleaned up nicely.  More correctly:  Simone Biles did, winning four gold medals (team, all-around, floor, vault) -- the only four golds the USA won.  Although the women were the story, one can't ignore the men, who actually snared two silvers and a bronze of their own.  USA won 12 medals.  Great Britain won 7, including two golds.  Japan won two golds as well.
• The Egyptian judoka who refused to shake his Israeli opponent's hand has been expelled from the Games and sent home.
• Yulia Chermoshanskaya of Russia has been retroactively declared to have doped in Beijing in 2008 when she and her teammates won the 4x100m relay.  Belgium win the gold now, Nigeria silver and Brazil bronze. (Inside the Games daily blog)
• Might not hold up for long, but something interesting:  Great Britain is now also second in the total medals race at the moment -- 50 to China's 49.  Cycling has done very well for the Brits.
• Sebastian Brendel of Germany won the 1000m singles canoeing gold medal today -- one day after the national coach was killed in a taxi cab accident.
• A Bulgarian athlete has become the third person to be charged with attacking members of the cleaning crew at the Olympic Village.  The athlete, not named in the Inside the Games report, apparently went after four maids, punching them and choking at least one!

The Rio Farce: End of Day 10: Global Equalization

• With the defeat of Allyson Felix in the 400 meters by Bahamas' Shaunae Miller (who leaped at the line to sprawl out in her lane to have her torso cross first before Felix), the USA wins ZERO gold medals on the day.  Only two since the pool closed (and one of those was guaranteed beforehand in the mixed doubles tennis because both finalists were American!).
• USA women's field hockey, NBC darlings of the first week, OUT at the hands of Germany, 2-1.  No medal.
• The United States, through three days at the track:  NO gold medals on the track itself.  Two field-event golds, nothing on the track.  No nation, through three days of track and field, has more than two gold medals in 17 completed events.  (Jamaica, with the two 100m victories, and Kenya with two distance victories, have two as well.)
• One gold medal for the Final Five in individual apparatus competition.
• The qualification re-run of the men's 110m hurdles due to the conditions did bump one previously-qualified hurdler out.
• Interesting statistic:  If the 16 gold medals and 33 medals were removed from the USA total, the USA would now stand fourth in golds and second in total.
• As it stands, they still have the 26 golds for a large lead.  Great Britain, with a good showing in equestrian among other sports, now has second on the gold table, with 16, one ahead of China. Russia is fourth with 11.  The USA still has the total lead with 75, China second with 46 and Great Britain with 41.
• 49 nations have won gold medals.  (The entire London 2012 Games had 54.)
• 72 countries have won medals.  (London 2012 had 85.) 
• Bahrain has become the seventh country to win a first gold medal in their Olympic history here.  3000m women's steeplechase champion Ruth Jebet broke the country's maiden in that respect.
• Kosovo and Fiji still remain the only two nations to win their first medal in their Olympic history here -- and they were two of the seven to do it with a gold medal.

The Rio Farce, Day 10 Evening: Storm Clouds A-Brewing

• She's BAAAAAAACK!!  The Iranian super-fan/activist returned today, with her sign for women's equality in tow, to the match with Russia today.  She was not thrown out, leading Yahoo! Sports to say "Iranian Protestor 1 - International Olympic Committee 0".  Too bad that's all Iran won in that match -- Russia swept them in 3 games.  Iran DID, though, qualify for the quarterfinals on Wednesday.
• We may finally have our first cancelled event.  Mountain biking is effectively held in one or two days on the final weekend.  Too bad that a massive garbage fire, according to Deadspin, has set at least part of the course ablaze, completely uncontrolled!!!!  The field hockey competition has also been impacted, as ashes from the blaze apparently got that far!
• The winds, and accompanying storms, put a hold on track and field tonight.  It got so bad that a couple of the heats of the sprint hurdles race will have lowest finishers rerunning a heat to determine qualifications, and the discus event may be washed out for the night!
• Track cycling crashes are continuing to pile up at the velodrome.  One cyclist was taken from the facility on a stretcher -- full head-immobility protocols! (Deadspin)
• A giant camera has crashed in Olympic Park, several minor injuries and one hospitalization.  It appeared as if there was some warning about the cables holding the camera up, but organizers could not get people to it in time to prevent the plunge.  (Deadspin)
• We DO have (at least to some extent) an Olympic death to report.  A cab crash has claimed the life of Stefan Henze, the coach of the German slalom kayak team.
• Yuliya Stepanova, the whistleblower who helped take down the Russian track team from the Olympics, has blasted IOC President Thomas Bach and believes he may be the wrong person to lead the Olympic movement versus doping.  With Bach's ties to Vladimir Putin, I have one thing to say to that:  DUH!!! (Inside the Games)
• The funding crisis for the Paralympics is hitting epic proportions, with almost everyone involved begging Rio 2016 to make the relevant accounts public to satisfy the Brazilian Federal judge so that more money can be released to ensure the Paralympics take place.  (Inside the Games)
• Speaking of the Paralympics, the Russians will find out if they will be allowed to participate the day after the main Games close.  August 22, their appeal will be decided on by the Council for Arbitration of Sport.  (Inside the Games)
• The man arrested for attempting to illegally re-sell Olympic tickets has been charged, and arrest warrants for at least four executives from a sporting agency who sent him there have also been filed!  (Inside the Games)
• A follow-up on the Paddy Power "Urine Luck" story:  As of right now, Russia has 11 gold medals.  Paddy Power offered a refunded bet to any bettor who bet on a Great Britain athlete or team to win a gold medal, and then find they won a silver medal to a Russian winning gold.  No such scenario has occurred -- yet.  (A similar scenario with the United States, however, has happened twice.)

Three NFL Darlings Must Explain Ties To Al-Jazeera-Exposed Doctor

The Al-Jazeera story isn't over yet.

Four players, including three prominent NFL superstars, have got some explaining to do to Roger Goodell.

Like...  NOW.

And the Green Bay Packers' season may depend on it.

The Packers (who already have two players suspended) now must submit Julius Peppers and Clay Matthews -- almost-indisputably the two highest-profile players on that defense -- to Roger Goodell by August 25 regarding Peppers' and Matthews' possible ties to the doctor exposed in the Al-Jazeera story in January, Charlie Sly.  (The same doctor tied to Peyton Manning...)

James Harrison of the Steelers and Mike Neal, a free agent, must also comply.

The Players' Association, seeing this coming, according to Yahoo! Sports, obtained affidavits from all four players professing innocence.  Goodell wants to hear none of this, and wants the four for personal questioning -- or he will ban them indefinitely for conduct detrimental to the league.

The Packers would have to pay significant fines for having a third (and then a FOURTH) player suspended by the league.  The Steelers would have to pay a good-sized fine based on Harrison's checks for their third.

Goodell has been seeking these players for a decent period of time, and has felt stonewalled by both the players and the Players Association.  So he's invoking basically Best Interests of the Game and forcing them to talk.

This could be the case that brings down Goodell, or starts to bring down most of the rank-and-file of the NFL.  Stay tuned -- this could be a messy one.

STAY CLASSY, CHICAGO!!!

Oh God, is this going to be a nightmare as the Cubs head for the playoffs, etc.

Arlondis Chapman pitched for the Cubs last night, had an effective inning...

... and someone in the booth had the GALL to play "Smack My Bitch Up" afterward.

That person has been fired.

(NBC Sports)

The Rio Farce, Day 10: Gossip and other pastimes...

• There has always been rumor that one of the non-mentioned pastimes of the Olympics is, as one podcaster put it, genetically perfect people fucking the two weeks away.  Turns out that this has probably ended one of the synchronized diving teams from Brazil.  If you're so inclined, Deadspin has some more details.
• Gabby Douglas is hurt by the criticisms she's taken over her conduct on the gymnastics podium as her teammates were doing well in the all-around.
• One of the more interesting competition stories has come from wrestling.  Russian Roman Vlasov defended his gold medal in his Greco-Roman weight class.  That's fine and normal.  What makes this a story is that during his semifinal match, he was legally choked out!  Somehow, this was not ruled the end of the match, and Vlasov came back to defeat his opponent on points.  (Not sure how that worked.)  (Deadspin)
• The TSA, last night, evacuated a terminal of JFK Airport due to reported gunfire.  The story now, if Deadspin has it right, is that it wasn't gunfire...  It was people cheering on Usain Bolt!  I'm not the one making this up if it's not true!!!
• There has been an emergency meeting about the Paralympics.  The mayor of Rio de Janeiro has promised to cover the necessary funds for the September event to go forward.  We'll see about that.  (Inside the Games) 
• Darya Klishna can compete for Russia in the women's long jump, the CAS has ruled. (Inside the Games daily blog)
• Continuing the farcical operations of the Rio Games, the women's open-water swimming marathon had to improvise it's start when the pontoon which was supposed to be the starting platform was swept away into the ocean!  (Inside the Games daily blog)

The Rio Farce, Day 9 Part 2, All Medals Complete: Usain Bolt is inhuman.

Good God.

9.80 with the worst start in the field.  If that guy ever got his starts straight, he could break the 9.56 or whatever it was.  At his age!!!

Look, I've always maintained since his times went video-game level that he's a genetic engineering experiment.  This isn't drugs.

And if you want to see tonight:  Gatlin, banned four years for steroids in the mid-2000s, was run down easily by Bolt in the middle of the track.  It was literally as if even Gatlin was standing still.

I had the opportunity to speak with a Jamaican when I was in Vegas last week.  He doesn't disagree with the possibility of genetic engineering for Bolt, but said something very prescient to me:  Bolt, at 6' 6" and that long in the legs, takes a race that usually takes a normal sprinter 36 strides to complete and does it in 31 or 32.

That would explain plenty -- including the shitty starts and the fact he just blows past everybody!

OK, where was I on the news of the day?

• Problems in the pool continue.  The entirety of water in the water polo and synchronized swimming pool was removed and replaced because athletes were reporting eye irritation as continuing (and failing, see below!) efforts to clean the water were overdone. (Deadspin)
• The Deadspin report also notes that the latest excuse about the water is that, to aid in cleaning it, someone dumped 160 liters of hydrogen peroxide into the pool.  That's nice, idiots...  Except for one problem:  Using both hydrogen peroxide and chlorine...  CANCELS EACH OTHER OUT!!!
• The Deadspin report on the Lochte robbery says the IOC is denying it took place.  Gee, I wonder why....  This Olympics is wide-open for a terror attack now.  It's clear there is no control, no safety, none of it of any kind.  (Which see the steps the Australian team, a victim of a number of Rio missteps, has had to take.)
• ROTFLMAO!!!!  I have to include this from Deadspin!!!  A sign, seen at the final round of the Olympic men's golf tournament, talking about "Rabbit Fuckers Golf Club"...  Don't believe me?  Look for yourself!
• At least six countries have won their first Olympic gold medal in the last nine days.  Joining Singapore (swimming) is Puerto Rico (women's tennis), Vietnam (air pistol shooting), the Independent Olympic Athletes team (shooting -- which is also the first gold medal for a Kuwaiti Olympian, competing under the IOA banner because of the Kuwaiti NOC's suspension), Kosovo (judo) and Fiji (rugby sevens, their first Olympic medal of any color!).
• Continuing the travails of Australia (and possibly additionally contributing to the "don't go out at night" ban), the rugby sevens team of Australia was dressed down after losing their quarterfinal and going out to party...  until NINE AM THE NEXT MORNING!!! (Inside the Games daily blog)
• Latest controlled explosion:  Near the sailing venue.  (Inside the Games daily blog)
• And the latest in the National Dick-Waving Contest:  Even with two individual events for the Final Five (the women's gymnasts), the USA could only win one of them, which was the only other gold medal they won today than the one they were guaranteed in tennis for having both finalists.  The 26 total golds, though, does put them over the 1,000 mark.  Great Britain and China are now tied at 15 gold medals apiece for second.  The USA total lead, though, continues to prosper:  69 versus 45 for China and 38 for Great Britain.  Good day for the Brits though:  9 medals, 5 of them gold!

The Rio Farce, Day 9: Can Someone Get the Number on that Lightning Strike in Lane 8?

Van Niekerk, breaking the 17 year-old Michael Johnson World Record tonight in the 400 final at 43.03!  Wow.

• Australia has officially banned it's athletes from going out to the beaches at night.  Also, they are now also not allowed to go on foot, for any distance, at the Olympic venues.  (Several sources, saw on Yahoo! and SI.com)
• The reason?  Four American swimmers, including Ryan Lochte, were reported held up last night at gunpoint.  Wallet and cash stolen, that was all that was sought.  (Deadspin)

And now, if you will excuse me, THE MAIN EVENT...

The Rio Farce, Day 8: Someone Finally Lets The Truth Slip Out?

(Deadspin)

Australian media-person Jason Whitaker noticed something many Olympic viewers have suspected for a long time, especially with the exploding medal count on the USA side:

Channel Seven admitting medal ceremonies being held for NBC scheduling. It's repulsive how much the Americans dictate the Olympics. #Rio2106

— Jason Whittaker (@thetowncrier) August 14, 2016

Other than move the Rio Olympics 90 years into the future... (Sorry, Jason, had to... :) )

And about 37 minutes later, he realized why the Great National Dick-Waving or Dick-Measuring Contest has so much pull in the USA...

I seem to have picked a fight with the United States of America ... https://t.co/p9PsHotntW

— Jason Whittaker (@thetowncrier) August 14, 2016

Also:

• Seems as if the gold medal count differences I made allusion to in the last two posts are still not resolved.  ESPN said that one of the swimming relays was #1,000 already (which was what I also saw in other sources), but the Rio 2016 website said USA entered at 975 gold total, so I'll go with #25 tomorrow being #1,000 total.

The Rio Farce, Day 8 All Medals Complete: USA Swims Laps Around the Rest of the World

• Well, Michael Phelps gets another grand sendoff -- the convincing victory of both medley relay teams finishes a complete dominance of the swimming events for the USA.  They won half the events.  16 gold medals.  No joke.  No other nation had more than 3.  The 33 total medals in pool swimming is more than the next four countries COMBINED. (Australia with 10, Hungary and Japan with 7 each, and one of China, Great Britain, and Canada -- who scored 6 medals each.)
• We now also have an assurance, and a double-check of the IOC website.  Tomorrow, the United States of America WILL become the first National Olympic Committee to win 1,000 recognized gold medals across Summer and Winter Games.  The IOC website listed 975 as the total entering Rio (other sources had it 977 -- there are some disputes of early Modern Games results (1904 wrestling being one of them)), and the wins in the men's long jump and both medley swimming relays give the USA 24.  However, both finalist teams in the mixed doubles tennis are from the USA, so that will be (unless one comes before) #1,000.
• Now to the not-so-fun:  An Iranian female volleyball fan, Darya Safai is about to be expelled from the Games.  You see, she's not alone:  She brings a sign to Iranian men's matches demanding gender equality ("Let Iranian Women Enter Their Stadiums"), in that women should be allowed in Iranian stadiums to watch sporting events.  The Rio officials have given her a last warning:  Dump the sign, as the IOC does not allow political statements (har har -- the entire 2014 Homophobe-lympics on Line One!!!) or you're out.  (Yahoo!)
• Deadspin has a picture on an article showing the last six days and the efforts of Rio officials to get control of the algae problem in the diving pool.  Needless to say, it's not going well!
• More disturbing news on the Paralympics, coming in September.  Rio Paralympic officials have failed to meet necessary deadlines to national teams for grant monies to aid in their participation in the events!  (Exclusive to Inside the Games)
• The Brazilian government has officially cut off public funding for the Olympics, it is reported by Inside the Games.  A Brazilian Federal judge has ruled that, unless Rio 2016 can come up with documentation and necessity for further government money, they can receive no more.  Oh...  Shit.
• And the Great National Dick-Measurement Contest is becoming anything but:  Eight days into the Games, the USA has 24 golds and 61 total, according to the Rio 2016 site.  Second in both respects is China with 13 gold and 41 total (meaning USA swimming has more gold medals than any other country in eight days of Olympic competition).  Cycling, Mo Farah in the 10,000, and other triumphs have catapulted Great Britain to third in both respects:  10 gold, 29 total.