Since there is over three hundred hours of coverage\u2026a day<\/em>(!), this is the first Olympics where I could not watch every single second of the Games.\u00a0 But I have been watching as much as any human [possibly can, practically round the clock, sleeping just four or five hours a night!\u00a0 (No worries\u2014I know I\u2019m insane.\u00a0 An insane sports fan<\/em>, that is!)<\/p>\n I\u2019m not going to report the stuff you can read anywhere.\u00a0 I\u2019m here to share the observations that no one else reports.\u00a0 Nor probably even notices<\/em>!<\/p>\n And here\u2019s one shocking revelation\u2014none of the hosts are annoying me much so far!!!\u00a0 Not even usually-inane Rebecca Lowe.\u00a0 (Maybe having a baby recently made her not as goony as usual.\u00a0 Or at least made me mellow towards her.)<\/p>\n Ryan Seacrest in his bad wardrobe. Photo by Karen Salkin.<\/p><\/div>\n But isn\u2019t it about time for someone to teach poor Ryan Seacrest how to dress?\u00a0 He\u2019s the last hip attractive-enough guy ever.\u00a0 I\u2019m sure that NBC has wardrobe people, so why would they keep dressing him in combos like black pants paired with light tan suede boots?\u00a0 And Members Only-type nerdy jackets.\u00a0 On the beach, no less!!!\u00a0 And his shirts aways let us see that his stomach is far from flat.\u00a0 They dress even Al Michaels better than Ryan!\u00a0 Someone there must not like him very much.<\/p>\n Major shocking note here:\u00a0 I\u2019m not watching the tennis on time because something had to give.\u00a0 I\u2019m just keeping an eye on the news about it.\u00a0 But not on time, so none of my reports will be about it, although I am thrilled that both cocky Williams sisters are out of both<\/em> their competitions, (singles and doubles,) and that Djokovic lost, as well.\u00a0 Now, I just have to get rid of Rafa Nadal, and I\u2019ll be a happy girl.\u00a0 (And, of course, the official word is that Venus Williams was sick.\u00a0 Yeah, right.) [Note: I predict that the Williams girls will skip the upcoming US Open, with the excuse that they\u2019re sick. But it will really<\/em> be because they don\u2019t want to keep hearing about their Olympics failures. Mark my words. And remember\u2014you heard it here<\/em> first.]<\/p>\n On a side note, one of my favorite Olympics activities was watching reporter Dan Patrick\u2019s hair change colors!\u00a0 The first day, it was totally wishy-washy gray.\u00a0 I pointed it out to Mr. X, saying that it totally washes him out, and ages him no end, and that someone on TV all the time should know better.\u00a0 I must have not been the only one who noticed because by the next day, it was more gray than white.\u00a0 But two days later, they had toyed with it so much that it was practically yellow!!!\u00a0 They need to decide what they\u2019re going for.\u00a0 How do they not have anyone on the make-up staff who knows how to fix it???<\/p>\n FRIDAY–OPENING CEREMONY<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n First of all, they need to stop saying \u201cceremonies!\u2019\u00a0 It\u2019s one<\/em> ceremony, not multiple ones!\u00a0 I don\u2019t even know where this stupidity of pluralizing words like \u201cceremony\u201d and \u201cfinal\u201d originated, but enough already.\u00a0 It needs to stop.\u00a0 (Nothing like beginning my Olympics coverage with a rant, eh?)<\/p>\n Ad why was there no oath Olympics oath issued to the body of the athletes?\u00a0 They always<\/em> do that.<\/p>\n I just learned that Roger Federer won\u2019t be competing here, nor for the rest of the year anywhere, due to the knee injury he exacerbated during Wimbledon, and the wind went right out of my sails for the rest of the night.\u00a0 (And I still feel the same all these days later.)<\/p>\n They really needed to pick up the pace of the \u201cParade of Nations.\u201d\u00a0 As Simon Cowell would say, with extra tongue emphasis\u2014a lot!\u00a0 I mean, come on\u2014this is Rio!!!\u00a0 They should have played fast samba music, and told the athletes to dance in accordingly.<\/p>\n SATURDAY<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n First gold medal winner of these games, Ginny Thrasher. Photo by Karen Salkin.<\/p><\/div>\n The rowing commentators are awful!\u00a0 Part of it is because they have to fill a lot of airtime during very little action.\u00a0 (People just rowing for many minutes\u2014duh.)\u00a0 But the rest is all them.\u00a0 The man, Leigh Diffey, sounds just like Murray on The Flight of the Concordes,<\/em> so it\u2019s hard to take him seriously.\u00a0 And the woman, Mary Whipple, is annoying all the way around.\u00a0 From her chirpy voice to what she has (or not) to say.\u00a0 She keeps telling us what the rowers are saying to themselves, a technique I hate to begin with, but according to her, they\u2019re all thinking the same thing!\u00a0 She attributes, \u201cI got this!,\u201d to all of them, no matter the country or gender!!!\u00a0 I can\u2019t take much more of them.<\/p>\n Even though I hate that it was for shooting<\/em>, I love that the United States won the first gold medal of these games!\u00a0 And Ginny Thrasher, the girl\u00a0 who won it, gave the best, most adorable, very professional interview I\u2019ve ever seen.\u00a0 How could I not love her, even though she discovered her shooting talent while\u2026shooting a deer?\u00a0 Ugh.\u00a0 She\u2019s only nineteen now, and a college student, but I predict that she\u2019ll have a wonderful future in broadcasting when and if she so chooses.<\/p>\n A second after Kerri Walsh won four years ago–with a differene partner! So not nice. Photo by Karen Salkin.<\/p><\/div>\n I can\u2019t believe they showed us this\u2014when Kerri Walsh won her third gold medal for Beach Volleyball with her partner, Misty May, the last oLympics, she hugged April Ross, one of the pair of their American competitors, and admittedly said, \u201cLet\u2019s go win in Rio!\u201d\u00a0 That was so rude to Misty!\u00a0 Yes, Misty had already said she was about to retire, but still\u2026\u00a0 And, how rude was it to April\u2019s partner???\u00a0 That little tale, (caught on video) is not the fun story that NBC seems to think it is; it just shows how creepy and self-centered Kerri is.\u00a0 It\u2019s hard to root for her anymore.<\/p>\n SUNDAY<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n This whole morning of Olympics-watching was disturbed by the shocking news that Arod will be playing his last game\u2026on Friday!!!\u00a0 (I can\u2019t go through it again, so read about it here: itsnotaboutme.tv\/news\/baseballkarens-rant-alex-rodriguezs-shocking-retirement-announcement<\/a>.)<\/p>\n I had my first Olympics injury\u2014I shut the bedroom door, not even particularly hard, so that poor Mr. X didn\u2019t have to hear my constant sports on TV, and messed-up my wrist!\u00a0 It\u2019s really bad.\u00a0 But, in true Olympic spirit, I\u2019ll try my best to finish watching it all.<\/p>\n I don\u2019t understand why nbc didn\u2019t tell us of the horrific injury of a French male gymnast last night.\u00a0 Poor Samir Said broke not only his tibia, but his fibula as well, yet nary a mention of it that night.\u00a0 (And I know\u2014I watch it all!)\u00a0 I learned of the sadness from Daily Mail, who just loves to report ghoulish news like this.\u00a0 NBC finally mentioned it today<\/em>, on one of the lesser channels.\u00a0 They still didn\u2019t show it, even though they usually do for stuff like this.\u00a0 But they didn\u2019t even say anything like that they\u2019re not showing it because it\u2019s too gory.\u00a0 Usually they use the disclaimer of that it\u2019s hard to watch, so you might want to look away.\u00a0 I guess that\u2019s what the internet is for.<\/p>\n I’m not saying which Olympians’ teeth these are, but trust me, they’re much yellower than in this pic! Ugh. Photo by Karen Salkin.<\/p><\/div>\n I finally may have finally found my long-lost twin!\u00a0 In 2000, when Aussie swimmer Mitch Larkin was little, he broke his wrist, so was allowed to stay home from school during those two weeks that just happened to coincide with the Summer Olympics in his own country.\u00a0 Up until I heard that story today, I always thought that I was the only person on earth who watched every second of the games!\u00a0 So, now I love this guy!\u00a0 (By the way, his mom has joked that she thinks he did it on purpose to be able to watch the Olympics.\u00a0 That was my first thought when I heard the story.)<\/p>\n I can\u2019t believe how many of the athletes have yellow teeth!\u00a0 It\u2019s mind-boggling in 2016.\u00a0 And I\u2019m not speaking about people from obscure countries\u2014there are many Americans, who should definitely know better!!!\u00a0 On top that they should do it for life, did they not know that they\u2019d be on TV?\u00a0 And hi-def, to boot!\u00a0 Teeth whitening kits or pens should be part of their Olympics welcoming packages!\u00a0 (They really need to let me<\/em> be in charge of everything, don\u2019t you think?)<\/p>\n MONDAY<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n Poor Sun Yang’s teeth. Photo by Karen Salkin.<\/p><\/div>\n China needs to give swimmer Sun Yang enough money to fix his teeth already!<\/p>\n I honestly can\u2019t believe that Michael Phelps has actually became good-looking enough.\u00a0 I really used to spend time worrying for him when he was younger.\u00a0 (He still needs his jaw and teeth fixed, a lot, so maybe, if he really does retire this time, he can attend to that now.)<\/p>\n Shame on NBC for their shoddy coverage of the team final of men\u2019s gymnastics.\u00a0 By not even beginning it until twenty minutes before their primetime show ended, we knew the US had done badly.\u00a0 So, they ruined the journey for us.\u00a0 But\u2014here\u2019s a new flash for them\u2014gymnastics fans want to see the whole competition<\/em>, not just the Americans!\u00a0 That was so rude of them!\u00a0 I have a feeling that most viewers did not even think to set their DVRs for the late night show, never thinking that such a glamour event would be regulated to the middle of the night!<\/p>\n And here\u2019s a major head-scratcher that was never explained: In the aforementioned team final, the Ukraine team didn\u2019t even attempt two of their routines, knowing that they\u2019d then lose.\u00a0 Al Trautwig, the gymnastics commentator, said they\u2019d get to the bottom of the controversy, but then they never mentioned it again, not even the next day or night!\u00a0 Weird.<\/p>\n Usain Bolt. (Wow–three bad teeth pix in a row! So, see what I mean?!) Photo by Karen Salkin.<\/p><\/div>\n TUESDAY<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n I absolutely love Usain Bolt, but why wouldn\u2019t anyone tell him to fix his teeth???\u00a0 How have his sponsors not made him do it!\u00a0 (I met him a few years ago, and I swear\u2014they weren\u2019t as bad then.\u00a0 You know I would have noticed!)\u00a0 (Here\u2019s a pic of us back then.\u00a0 See for yourself: itsnotaboutme.tv\/news\/sports-meeting-usain-bolt<\/a>.)<\/p>\n I just discovered rugby reporter, (and former NFL player,) Dhani Jones, and I instantly loved him!\u00a0 He speaks perfectly, has a great voice, and explains things so intelligently.\u00a0 I bet he can sing.\u00a0 Where has he been all my sports-fan life? Discovering people like him is the reason I watch NBC\u2019s auxiliary Olympics channels.<\/p>\n Nate Ebner. Photo by Karen Salkin.<\/p><\/div>\n I can\u2019t believe that I\u2019m now a rugby fan!\u00a0 That\u2019s due to Clarion Isles and Nate Ebner.\u00a0 I love both their stories, too.\u00a0 (By the way\u2014I had no idea that Nate was gorgeous when I was first\u00a0 impressed with his story.)<\/p>\n I think that swimmer Nathan Adrian is really cute, but doesn\u2019t he look like a forty-five-year-old dad nowadays?<\/p>\n Al Trauwig is an idiot, (as always, but I tried to overlook it this time.)\u00a0 He and his cohort, Tim Daggett, kept announcing that the women\u2019s gymnastics team competition was over before they even began!<\/p>\n Nathan Adrian. Photo by Karen Salkin.<\/p><\/div>\n Swimming venue interviewer Michelle Tofoya so diminished the rest of the men\u2019s 4×200 relay team, the ones who were not Michael Phelps!\u00a0 She made them just stand there, and kept saying that she\u2019s sure they understand that Michael is speaking for them all.\u00a0 Finally, after several minutes of questions to just Phelps, she finally broke down and asked them just one question each!\u00a0 She barely even acknowledged them!<\/p>\n Ryan Locte is really cute.\u00a0 And I\u2019m digging the white hair!<\/p>\n Okay, now people are beginning to annoy me.\u00a0 First up in American gymnast Aly Reisman.\u00a0 Besides that she look like she\u2019s about to go into the shower, with that awful hair-do and \u201cstrobing\u201d make-up on her face that she erroneously think is good, she just kept bossing her teammates around constantly during the two team competitions.\u00a0 Yes, she is the \u201ccaptain,\u201d but enough already.\u00a0 They\u2019re all equal team members, and should get to do and say what they want.<\/p>\n Ryan Lochte, before he made his hair more blue. (I just did three cute guy pics in a row, to make up for the bad teeth ones. You’re welcome.) Photo by Karen Salkin.<\/p><\/div>\n I found my first true idiot!\u00a0 Diving venue interviewer Kelli Stavast clearly said \u201cworld<\/em>wind\u201d instead of the correct \u201cwhirl<\/em>wind!\u201d\u00a0 People who don\u2019t know that word should not have jobs as broadcasters.\u00a0 ( I had to even fight with SpellCheck to leave the incorrect spelling in this paragraph!)<\/p>\n WEDNESDAY<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n My DISH system betrayed me right off the bat, which put me in a bad mood from the get-go today.<\/p>\n At the beginning of the evening\u2019s telecast, I made a prediction. As soon as they began with Beach Volleyball, I knew it meant that the American men did not do well in the Gymnastics The annoying Al Trautwig (in the center) and company. Photo by Karen Salkin.<\/p><\/div>\n No matter how not nice I think what Kerri Walsh did for years ago was, (see above,) I so respect and admire her for her accomplishments. And drive. She has three kids, yet still wants to do this stuff!!! I can\u2019t imagine doing either\u2014having kids or playing beach volleyball\u2014at the highest level.<\/p>\n Good for swimmer Nathan Adrian to let inferior reporter Michelle Tofoya know her questions are so stupid.<\/p>\n I just realized something\u2014I don\u2019t recall seeing the swimmer introductions before their swims in Olympics past. It\u2019s just weird. I don\u2019t think they do it in any other sports here.<\/p>\n The America female swimmers would have never won the 4×200 freestyle relay if it had not been for Katie Ledecky. The other three sucked.<\/p>\n The diving venue water, which was normal just the day before! Photo by Karen Salkin.<\/p><\/div>\n The green murky water at the diving venue is freaking me out. So, what is it doing to the divers? (By the way, it\u2019s the first thing that I\u2019ve seen that is living down to the low expectations of Rio that were heralded before the games began.<\/p>\n British diver Chris Mears is the cutest guy in the games!<\/p>\n The Men\u2019s Synchronized Springboard Diving results choked me up more than any of them in awhile. No one ever beats the Chinese in diving, but the cute British guys won, and the also-cute Americans, (who have been a team since only April!,) got the silver! (The Chinese wound-up with the bronze.)<\/p>\n I just finally realized why Ryan Seacrest annoys me. I know that he speaks very well, which I like, and his voice-overs of specialty segments are good. But on camera, he makes everything about himself.<\/p>\n David Feherty is a fun commentator. I don\u2019t watch golf, (yes\u2014there are a few sports I do not watch,) so I never saw him before.<\/p>\n THURSDAY<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n I just realized that I like sports better if it\u2019s a group going against each other, like in Track and Field and Swimming. I feel bad seeing someway win going mano y mano.<\/p>\n Okay, I finally have to call-out Dan Hicks for the so many mistakes he\u2019s made while commentating on swimming. I\u2019ve let his other errors go, but he just maligned the wrong<\/em> swimmer, which someone should have corrected him on! Very unprofessional of him.<\/p>\n As goony as I always think that swimmer Missy Franklin is, I do admire how sweet she really is. She just said, (of the awful meet she\u2019s having,) \u201cI am<\/em> disappointed, but I want to make sure I\u2019m not imposing any of that disappointment on anyone else, [her teammates] so, I\u2019m trying to stay as positive as I possibly can.\u201d And she meant it!<\/p>\n![\"Ryan](\"http:\/\/itsnotaboutme.tv\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/08\/IMG_5815-e1471019703257.jpg\")
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\nAll-Around competition, that would have led off the show if they had. Not cool, NBC.<\/p>\n<\/a><\/a>