More Olympics thoughts on Day 10

Men's volleyball vs. Japan
This will be a sweep. We are flying high. We should get the job done.

Outcome: No surprises; as expected, it is a sweep. The USA lays a tsunami on Japan, 25-18, 25-12, and 25-21.

And I did call for us to face the Serbs in the quarterfinals. I got my wish.

Women's soccer vs. Japan
A tough proposition, but we beat them before, so this should be a chance to get it done again.

Outcome: And that's exactly what they did in a 4-2 win. And we get a crack at Brazil for the gold medal. Some payback for what they did to us in the 2007 FIFA Women's World Cup semifinal is in order. And this time, Hope Solo should start. I pity the ignorant fool who mention's Greg Ryan's name in a positive Kim Jong-Il-like light.

Baseball vs. China
Our manager should be fired if we don't roughhouse them, let alone go through by the mercy rule.

Outcome: No mercy rule, but we did take them down, 9-1.

Softball vs. China
See above. But this team is always worrisome. This should not be an issue.

Outcome: A win. And we did lay out the mercy rule on them, 9-0.

Basketball vs. Germany
Are you kidding me? This will be another thumping.

Outcome: 106-57. Remember that I called it, guys. Dwight David Howard leads the way with 22 points and 10 boards.

Water Polo vs Germany
Tough contest, but we should be able to get the job done.

Outcome: *sings* Same old Germans, always cheating...
Those bloody Deutsch almost got away with a cheap backhand. Not so fast, Deutschland.
8-7 win for the States.

Women's field hockey vs. Great Britain
Of all the team matches, this one worries me the most because we will coming into that match as underdogs. But hey, we took New Zealand to school, so we should have the mindset that anything is possible.

Outcome: Here comes the matches for classification: Scoreless draw. What USA Field Hockey decides to do next with Lee Bodimeade after this tournament is anyone's guess.

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Looks like Phil and Todd got the Jorge and Renato next. The Georgina-Brazilians take out Nummerdor and Schuil in identical 21-19 wins.

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The question right now for the USA in women's basketball isn't if they will beat Korea, but by how many.

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The judges in synchronized swimming are biased towards the Chinese. Their performance had some flaws, yet they overlook it, giving them scores that are WAAAAAY too generous.

Hello Salt Lake 2002 Pairs Revisited.

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Meanwhile, China's gold rush marches on. Chen Yibing and Yang Wei make it a 1-2 deal in the rings. On the uneven bars, He Kexin, the subject of a great deal of controversy regarding her real age, takes the gold in spite of being ties with Nastia Liukin, who now has the entire collection: 1 gold, 2 silvers and a bronze. The men's table tennis team outhustled Germany in a 3-0 sweep, while He Wenna delivered in the women's trampoline final.

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In the women's discuss, Stephanie Brown Trafton takes home the gold for the USA with a 64-74. Jennifer Stuczynski conceded the gold to the favorite, Russia's Elena Isinbaeva. Isinbaeva set a new world record with 5.05 in this event. Panama's Irving Saladino took home the gold in the long jump with an 8.34, cementing his place as the next Small Country Hero there. And the USA made it a 1-2-3 finish in the 400-meter hurdles, responding to Jamaica doing the same in the women's 100-meter dash. Angelo Taylor got the gold, Kerron Clement got the silver, and Bershawn Jackson got the bronze.

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While Misty and Kerri will be facing the Chinese in their last match, Phil and Todd will be facing the Brazilians to cap off their campaign. The only question is, which team?

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Some payback by the Canadians was the order of the day in the equestrian department. They were able to outjump us for the gold. Unfortunate for those guys. Even more unfortunate was Queen Quedith Harrison finishing sixth in her semifinal heat in the women's 400-meter hurdles.

EDIT: Actually, it turned out that we outjumped THEM in a jump-off. So we had only a couple letdowns in track and table tennis today.

Talk about alliteration.

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As of this post, we have 22 golds, 24 silvers, and 26 bronze. The Chinese are ahead of us in the gold department, with 39. So we're down by two touchdowns and field goal.

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