A few things need to be cleaned up before I move on to the pigskin.
Those of you familiar with the history of pop culture before the advent of Instagram should understand the somewhat elusive reference of this photo.
The Coneheads you see told the Farbers before dinner, “We come from France.”
It was an SNL thing.
In case you haven’t noticed, there has been quite a rivalry developing between the United States and France in international basketball.
With the widely acknowledged next GOAT Victor Wembanyama coming out of Gaul sooner or later, as well as a number of other young talents, this thing isn’t going to end. People are already thinking about LA28.
The last two men’s gold medals went to the French, and America’s only loss since the beginning of the century came against that country in the group stage.
In addition, the women’s team only narrowly beat their home country on Sunday, despite a comeback from a 10-1 deficit in the third round, in a game that, to be honest, does not deserve any further mention.
Motto: Everything the men can do against Serbia, we can do too.
The men had to give everything they had to conquer Au on Saturday. Steph Curry sank four three-pointers in the last three and three shots, destroying any hope the French had. His last shot, which he threw from the hip and which fell to the side over the outstretched arms of Evan Fournier and Nicolas Batum, was truly the “Golden Dagger”.
Playmaker Noah Eagle, an obvious rising star, rose to the occasion. Even Dwayne Wade paid attention to what was happening on the court. At least for the most part.
Not quite “Do you believe in miracles?”, but pretty close.
Yo, and there was Al Michaels himself hanging out with Snoop Dogg, who was Mr. Everywhere.
* * * * *
Unlike their basketball colleagues, the US volleyball team competed against Italy in the gold medal game.
They were simply dispatched by an obviously better team.
The Italians only lost one set during the entire match. The rest of their victories were three-set defeats.
At Cycling Sunday, American Jennifer Valente defended her goal in the Omnium event.
Don’t ask, I have no idea about it, except that several other indoor track races are involved.
So the last match day was once again a pretty good one for the USA.
And cousin Tommy is doing his Mission Impossible thing.
* * * * *
The men’s performance in the 4×100 relay a few days ago was not so good.
DQ due to a glitch in the baton handover.
None other than Carl Lewis warned that coaching changes were necessary.
As if anyone here, myself included, will notice until we tune in four years from now.
* * * * *
Something historic has happened in athletics.
Sifan Hassan from the Netherlands reached a high with bronze medals in the 5,000 and 10,000 meter races. Then, within a week, she won the marathon.
This is a truly impressive long distance run.
The last one to do it for $500?
Who was Emil Zátapek in 1952?
He was from Czechoslovakia, which no longer exists after the peaceful secession in 1992.
I don’t know why I’m on this history trip.
Filler, I assume.
This is easy if you surf the Internet a lot.
* * * * *
But don’t worry.
Some exciting college football stuff starts this week.
As I drove to the grocery store on Saturday, I noticed Trinity was having some sort of scrimmage. Old Toy Bowl players stood on the sidelines in knee-high compression socks.
I watched a bit of the Edmonton Elks vs. BC Lions game on Sunday night.
It’s time.
— CD Kaplan
