<p>US women just won gold in water polo! coaches jumped into the pool in their street clothes…</p>
<p>I told my H that I’ll bet the swimmers are having the best time at the Olympics! They get to compete the first week and party the second. H says he thinks the men’s basketball team is having as good as a time. :)</p>
<p>And the gold for women’s soccer. What a thriller!</p>
<p>Yay for the women!</p>
<p>I must admit that I love when the camera scans the crowd and I see things like Japanese fans wearing huge Cat in the Hat hats with the Japanese flag on them…yes, other people are willing to looks as idiotic as some American fans do!</p>
<p>So Bolt wins the 200m, and of course it is not broadcast live, and I can’t even find a video of the race because apparently the Olympics people are aggressively protecting their copyright and pulling things off Youtube as soon as they get uploaded.</p>
<p>Is the decathalon over? Lots of hugging and American flag waving going on but no announcer to tell me what happened.</p>
<p>Yes, missypie, the U.S.A. took gold and silver and the bronze went to Cuba.</p>
<p>I’ll throw out there that I think the gymnasts go through media training before the Olympics begin. I think the coaches need to go through it as well since John Geddert (Wieber’s coach) doesn’t know how to handle himself as a public figure.</p>
<p>Wow! We jump from 35 to 39 gold medals in 2 hours.</p>
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<p>True. Thinking about D’s old coaches, can’t imagine which would be worse in front of a camera, but all would be horrible.</p>
<p>Most of the US golds are going to women athletes. Yay women!</p>
<p>What did Geddert do?</p>
<p>I don’t know if this is exactly what SaintSaens was talking about but:</p>
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<p>"I’ll throw out there that I think the gymnasts go through media training before the Olympics begin.’</p>
<p>Then whoever did it should be banned for life. ;)</p>
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<p>I don’t know about that. Yes, I think we all agree that the gymnasts were about the worst (of the frequently interviewed) in front of the camera, but I have a D their age and without coaching, I shudder to think what she or her friends would say and how they would say it. Might get mumbling, giggles, like like like, we’re happy to beat [fill in name of country], fidget, look off camera, scratch, shout out to their friends, etc. </p>
<p>Maybe after the practice interviews, the media prep folks threw up their hands and said, “just memorize this and sit up straight in your chair.”</p>
<p>Perhaps this is what they want. They things they said this year really aren’t that different from statements made in past Olympics. Unfortunately I don’t think there’s anything they could have done about half the team having weirdly monotone voices.</p>
<p>There is so much wrong with Geddert. He complains a lot during competition. He acted this way in 2011 as well. Some of the things he says really should not be published during the beginning of competitions (e.g. complaining about leadership after day 1 of 2011 worlds). As you saw with what missypie posted, he said he wasn’t crying over spilt milk, but continued to make an incredibly butthurt post (there’s even more than what missypie quoted). He called the two per country rule a touchy feely rule made in order for low ranking gymnats not feel bad. That is just so wrong.</p>
<p>And then there’s him complaining about Russians being overscored during the competition. You can find that on his twitter. This is just bad sportsmanship from the head coach. He has a massive ego and really needs to tone it down.</p>
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<p>I’d be willing to bet that the media people at USA Gymnastics told Ally exactly what to say and what NOT to say in media interviews. It’s probably why she sounded so rehearsed. As for elite coaches–they’re divas, especially those who are from Eastern Europe. Can you imagine Bela Karolyi going to media training?</p>
<p>As for gymnasts lacking personality–I think Gabby Douglas has a whole lot of personality and isn’t afraid to show it.</p>
<p>WNT was extremely lucky on 2 no calls; one a pretty blatant hand ball, the other with R. Buehler completely wrapped around a Japanese player in the box. Had those been called, we may well not be celebrating a win.</p>
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<p>I have just starting using twitter during the Olympics. There are definitely people that I follow for 24 hours or less, then press the unfollow button. </p>
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<p>Gabby has a delightful smile and doesn’t speak in a monotone, but she also has a rehearsed script.</p>
<p>Okay, I’m starting to feel bad for criticizing 16 year olds for how they are on TV, when I’m pretty sure I would be terrible myself. I’m going to go back to complimenting the folks who are great at it.</p>