Braff Zacklin

I'm sure they wanted to keep it prop-only, but I wouldn't have minded seeing a Sabre in there.

Sorry for all the longcat posts tonight. Here's one more, but I think y'all won't mind this one so much. Basically, the ol' US and A is crushing it!

Reminds me of a line from Waking the Dead. Forgive me, it's been decades and I'm paraphrasing here, but it went to the effect of: When you join a corrupt system, you become a part of that corruption.

3:30 is usually the cutoff for "true elite" men's 1500m time. It's rarified air, and you don't often see days in which more than one or two guys are clocking in the 3:20s. So to witness an Olympic final in which six guys--half the fucking field--managed to break 3:30 ... it's staggering. Timothy Cheruiyot--who's a fucking legend--finished 11th in 3:31.35. Jakob, Josh, Cole, Yared, even Hobbs ran his wheels off. This one's up there with the London 2012 800m final.

Yup. Don't think John Cena is a bad guy. Just misguided here. Like, how much money do you need, bro? Would've thought he had accumulated enough to be independent by now. Mostly just disappointed that he would do something like this. But not surprised, unfortunately.

Yes, he was a terrible left back. Thank god for the advent of Jedi, else our chucklefuck managers (Gergg, I'm talking about Gergg) would've continued to cap him there.

I always assumed they were chugging tea or something similar for these takes, but in some "behind the scenes" commentary, they said it was actually syrup. Another trivial tidbit that underscores the greatness of that movie.

Kirani pulled up, too, and still dropped a 43.78, which was just four-hundredths off the PB he set in 2014, when he was 21! And don't sleep on Quincy. He let up a bit (if you see his max effort, you'll know what I mean--he spends the entire homestretch clawing for every yard; it's borderline painful to watch!). But I agree that Hudson-Smith looked smooth and relaxed. He's gone from an also-ran to a medal favorite almost overnight (within the span of a single season). Who worried me most was Michael Norman. He appeared fantastic in the prelims but seemed stuck in sand today. It could've been his strategy to run the first 200 or so casually, but it wasn't confidence-inspiring. At least all of our runners got through to the final (Bailey qualified on time).

Man, salute to Tim Ream! After the first couple dozen or so caps he had for the US, I remember thinking, "Don't need to see anything more from him!" But he continued to work on his game, went overseas, and distinguished himself for club and country. He's leaving some big shoes to fill, and that's sad because we've had ample time to develop replacement center halves. And we better fucking fill those shoes because he's going to be close to 38 by the next Cup.

Can't help it, gotta gush some more about that 1500 meter final. All three Americans in the event set personal bests. Hobbs Kessler's previous outdoor PB was 3:31.53--set back in June at the national trials. He went 3:29.45 today, so nearly half a second per lap. That's some massive progression. Yared Nuguse was heretofore the only one with a PB under 3:30 (3:29.03 in Oslo last year), but today he dropped that to 3:27.80. But Hocker is the one who shatters belief. His previous PB of 3:30.59 (also at this year's national trials) was solid, but to clock 3:27.80 on the world's greatest stage is incredible. Dude left it all on the track. Not only is that time an Olympic best, it's a national and area (NACAC, basically T&F's equivalent to CONCACAF) mark. Hocker and Nuguse move up to 7th and 9th, respectively, in the event's history, surpassing all-time greats like Noah Ngeny, Timothy Cheruiyot, Taofik Makhloufi and Mo Farah (who was not so much a 1500 specialist but you get the point). When Nuguse cracked 3:30 last year, he was just the third-ever American to do so. Now there are two more.

Now apologize to the people of Taiwan, you cro-magnon fuck. (Written from the safety of being nowhere near Mr. Cena.)

Shocked Canada lost. Figured them and Germany were the two best teams not with U-S-A on their jerseys. Guess they couldn't overcome France's defense ... and officiating. Stupid that Serbia is on the same side of the bracket as the US. We've already beaten them twice in less than a month--in a warm-up and in group play. Guess we'll have to beat 'em a third time. Still stupid af scheduling. Damned Frogs.

Probably US wrestler Amit Elor, who pretty much destroyed everyone in her path on the way to gold.

She quasi-counts cuz she did post-grad at UT and trains in Austin. I was screaming as she sprinted down the straight ... and started to get dusty from her raw emotion. And St. Lucia's second-ever medal comes courtesy of the same person--you guessed it, Frank Stallone. Wait, I mean the inimitable and icon-worthy Julien Alfred!

What Jakob does is very brave. It's so much easier to sit on the rail and let someone else split the air. It takes a tremendous amount of courage (foolhardiness?) to frontrun and pull everyone else around the track. And if he hadn't run such an honest pace, we very likely would not have had such a cracking final. So while Jakob has to eat some humble pie, I am very grateful to him. Kerr is the pussy, in my mind. Dude never has the balls to go out front but talks the same level of smack as Jakob. So glad Cole blew by him and only wish the race had been a meter longer so Yared could've passed him, too. Naw. Y'all should've read my preview. If Gabby's even, she's leavin'. I started screaming BEFORE she came off the turn cuz she was clearly in front, regardless of what the idiot American announcer was saying. And there was no way Alfred was going to catch Gabby on the straight--Ms. Thomas' speed maintenance is just too good. Fuck me, I'm so happy for Gabby. She almost started crying on the straight cuz she knew she had it. She quelled many critics today. And that got dammed 1500!!! Man, what an afternoon!

Dude, I spent the first two hours after getting in from work catching up on the events. That fucking 1500m did NOT disappoint!!! The way Kirani James is running, it might be another gold. Can't recall ever seeing so many sub 44 times in the semis. It should be an epic final. Props for calling Hocker. Big middle finger for predicting the hideous Swamp German. If it were a flat 400m, I'd say no chance for Bol, but with hurdles, you never know. She runs like a robot, clean and measured, whereas Syd had to chop some steps because she's too freakin' fast. The crazy thing is, normally spare 400m runners get confined to the 400mH. But in the case of these two, they are unquestionably the fastest open 400m runners. Wish the events were structured to enable them to run both, because I feel like Syd could push for that near-40-year-old record! Another damn good call. You and Woodrow were on it! Where do we send our $9.95? That was incredible!!! Hocker bested his PB by nearly 4 seconds--an unheard of improvement--and set an Olympic record in the process. Mother-fucking-SHIT, what did we just watch? That was awesome!!! A mile is technically 1609.34 meters, so we all ran slightly under a mile at those events. Slackers.

That story sounds like a bunch of ... bullcrap.

Solid showing for US athletes this morning. Spoilers (no finals):

I don't Carroll for Southlake.

Ah, yes, the ol' pickle-and-cheese taco, with ham for a tortilla. If I've seen it once, I've seen it a million times. I think we have the same santoku, dude.

Here's an American-centric summary of what's on tap for tomorrow in athletics (T&F): MORNING SESSION Women's 1500m heats. The US sent a strong field here--Hiltz, Mackay and St. Pierre--but this will be Faith Kipyegon's event to lose. She just took silver in the 5K and is the back-to-back Olympic champion in the 1500. She also is the 1500m world record holder, having broken her previous mark a month ago in Paris. Men's Javelin qualification. Not sure if any of our Yanks have a serious shot here, but I admittedly don't follow javelin too closely. I do recall a dude from India winning in Tokyo. Repechage for Men's 110m Hurdles, Women's 400m, Men's 400m Hurdles and Men's 200m. Hopefully, Freddie Crittenden is 100 percent and can perform in the 110mH. He's good enough to medal. Trevor Bassitt has a second chance to reach the 400mH semis, but medals for anyone other than Benjamin, Warholm and dos Santos are unlikely. Also a second chance for Trials champ Kendall Ellis in the Women's 400m, who looked tired in her heat and underperformed. Women's Long Jump qualification. Look for the lovely and talented Longhorn Tara Davis-Woodhall to move forward. She's the real deal and I envy Mr. Woodhall immensely. EVENING SESSION Men's 400m semifinals. Look for Americans Quincy Hall, Michael Norman and Chris Bailey. Hall and Norman are legitimate gold medal threats. Media keeps sucking off GB's Michael Hudson-Smith but I think Hall and Norman can take him. Women's Hammer final. The USA's DeAnna Price is No.2 all time in distance, won the world championships in 2019 and took bronze in 2023 but finished a disappointing eighth at the Tokyo games. This is her chance at redemption. Annette Echikunwoke finished just behind her in qualifying. Women's 400m Hurdles semifinals. This is Sydney McLaughlin's world and Femke Bol is just living in it. Kidding (mostly). Bol is a serious threat, but we won't find out until the final. For now, look for McLaughlin and USC product Anna Cockrell to represent the US in the finals. Men's Long Jump final. Sadly, no American made it out of qualifying. The 🐐 Carl Lewis would roll over in his grave ... if he were actually dead and not head track coach for Cougar High. Men's 1500m final. Yared Nuguse, Cole Hocker and Hobbs Kessler represent the best trio the US has ever fielded in this event ... but it won't matter if the likes of Timothy Cheruiyot, Josh Kerr and Jakob Ingebrigtsen run to their potential. If the finishing times approach 3:26, only Nuguse has the fitness to hang with them. A little slower, however, and Kessler and Hocker might surprise with their devastating kicks. Women's 3000m Steeplechase final. Two of the US's three entries advanced to the final. BYU alum Courtney Wayment threw down a blistering time of 9:10.7 but she and her compatriot Valerie Constien might need to lower their PBs by a few seconds to reach the podium. All depends on pace. Women's 200m final. This will be the Gabby and Julien show. If Ms. Thomas has a better-than-average start, she'll win as nobody maintains their speed down the stretch better than she. If not, this is Ms. Alfred's race to lose. Either way, it's a win-win for us. Btw, the top threats for this event met in London a couple of weeks ago and this was the result (inside spoiler). And that was with a bad start, mind you.

This travesty was fortunately reversed. Tough gamut of emotions for the Italian bird, but the injustice of briefly having her believe that she'd won a medal she didn't earn would've paled in comparison to depriving Kipyegon of a silver she most definitely deserved. https://www.espn.com/olympics/story/_/id/40737167/kenya-beatrice-chebet-wins-women-5000m-olympics

Good input, guys. Thanks.

Tilda Swinton's YouTube channel is a riot.