Macca

Yes, well done to the Boomers ... a realistic chance for the final now. It's interesting that we've had 5 of our teams all lose Q/F's at these Olympics - it could be that those Q/F's are the hardest games to win in each team sport. Sometimes it goes that way in sport in terms of mindset, attitude & being completely switched on. The opposition are nearly always going to be strong too by the Q/F stage. Anyway, the sailing was postponed last night so we're now in with 2 chances for medals in tomorrow's program ... Daily schedule from NBC.com Chronological summary, results & scheduling of each day of the 2016 Rio Olympics (Wiki) Thursday August 18th (morning) 9.20am Track & Field ....................... Women's long jump: final - Brooke Stratton (10.15am) * * * Women's 200m: final (11.30am) * * * Women's 100m hurdles: final (11.55am) * * * 1.00pm Beach Volleyball (W) .......... Women's gold medal match (Germany vs Brazil) Thursday August 18th (evening) 10.00pm Canoe/Kayak (finals) ........ Men's canoe double 1000m sprint - Australia (L3) (10.08pm) * * * Men's canoe sprint 200m sprint (10.23pm) * * * Men's kayak double 200m sprint (10.47pm) * * * Women's kayak single 500m sprint * * * 10.30pm Track & Field ....................... Heats, qualifying & preliminaries Men's 400m hurdles: final (1.00am) * * * 11.55pm Triathlon .............................. Men's final * * * Ryan Bailie, Ryan Fisher, Aaron Royle * * * --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Friday August 19th (morning) 2.00am Sailing (final races) ............. Women's 470 (2.05am) * * * Men's 470 - Australia (currently 3rd) (2.50am) * * * Men's 49er - Australia (currently 3rd) (3.35am) * * * n.b - New Zealand have secured the gold in the Men's 49er Women's 49erFX (4.20am) * * * 3.00am Boxing ................................. Q/F's & S/F's Men's light heavyweight gold medal match * * * 5.00am Diving ................................... Women's 10m platform final * * * Melissa Wu, Brittany O'Brien (possible) * * * 6.00am Men's Hockey ....................... Men's gold medal match * * * 7.35am Track & Field ........................ Men's shot put: final (9.30am) * * * Women's javelin: final - Kathryn Mitchell (10.10am) * * * * * * Men's decathlon 1500m: final discipline - Cedric Dubler (10.45am) Women's 400m hurdles: final (11.15am) * * * Men's 200m: final (11.30am) * * * 1.00pm Beach Volleyball (M) ........... Men's gold medal match (Brazil vs Italy) * * *

Fairly sure Wallace is part of the K2 & the K4 crews so there's a couple of chances there ... we're still in the equestrian individual jumping but a medal would surprise. The Triathlons? How about the women's 20k walk? I'll take any coloured medal now but I reckon our best chances for gold are Jared Tallent in the walk & Caroline Buchanan in the women's BMX. The Men's 470 tonight would have to finish 7 clear places in front of Croatia and also finish in front of Greece to secure gold. I'm really hoping Brooke Stratton can be at her best tomorrow morning ... if she does that and can equal her PB, she should get a medal. Fingers crossed. All up we've probably got another 10 medal chances but that's counting the Boomers, Stratton and the 49ers sailing tomorrow. I'll remain optimistic until it's beaten out of me TD After all, the Demons are now a realistic chance for the finals - whooda thunk-it!

Medal chances are dwindling but while there's life there's hope ... the men's 470 in the sailing are guaranteed a bronze medal and might be able to advance to the silver whilst Brooke Stratton can medal in the long jump if she can find her best form. And of course the Boomers have a chance of advancing to the semi finals if they can defeat Lithuania. Wednesday August 17th (evening) 10.30pm Track & Field ...................... Heats, qualifying & preliminaries Men's 3000m steeplechase final (12.50am) * * * 11.00pm Equestrian .......................... Jumping team finals * * * 11.55pm Men's Basketball ............... Boomers vs Lithuania (quarter final) --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Thursday August 18th (morning) 2.00am Sailing (final races) ............. Men's 470 - Australia (currently 3rd) (3.05am) * * * Women's 470 * * * 3.00am Boxing .................................. Q/F's & S/F's Men's welterweight gold medal match * * * 9.20am Track & Field ....................... Women's long jump: final - Brooke Stratton (10.15am) * * * Women's 200m: final (11.30am) * * * Women's 100m hurdles: final (11.55am) * * * 1.00pm Beach Volleyball (W) .......... Women's gold medal match (Germany vs Brazil) Thursday August 18th (evening) 10.00pm Canoe/Kayak (finals) ........ Men's canoe double 1000m sprint * * * Men's canoe sprint 200m sprint * * * Men's kayak double 200m sprint * * * Women's kayak single 500m sprint * * * 10.30pm Track & Field ....................... Heats, qualifying & preliminaries Men's 400m hurdles: final (1.00am) * * * 11.55pm Triathlon .............................. Men's final * * * Ryan Bailie, Ryan Fisher, Aaron Royle * * * --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Friday August 19th (morning) 2.00am Sailing (final races) ............. Women's 470 (2.05am) * * * Men's 470 - Australia (currently 3rd) (2.50am) * * * Men's 49er - Australia (currently 3rd) (3.35am) * * * n.b - New Zealand have secured the gold in the Men's 49er Women's 49erFX (4.20am) * * * 3.00am Boxing ................................. Q/F's & S/F's Men's light heavyweight gold medal match * * * 5.00am Diving ................................... Women's 10m platform final * * * 6.00am Men's Hockey ....................... Men's gold medal match * * * 7.35am Track & Field ........................ Men's shot put: final (9.30am) * * * Women's javelin: final (10.10am) * * * Men's decathlon 1500m: final discipline (10.45am) * * * Women's 400m hurdles: final (11.15am) * * * Men's 200m: final (11.30am) * * * 1.00pm Beach Volleyball (M) ........... Men's gold medal match * * *

Best of luck to Brandon Starc this morning in the high jump (Brandon is the brother of Mitch Starc the cricketer) Daily schedule from NBC.com Chronological summary, results & scheduling of each day of the 2016 Rio Olympics (Wiki) Wednesday August 17th (morning) 9.00am Track & Field ......................... Men's high jump: final - Brandon Starc (9.30am) * * * Women's 1500m: final (11.30am) * * * Men's 110m hurdles: final (11.45am) * * * Wednesday August 17th (evening) 10.30pm Track & Field ...................... Heats, qualifying & preliminaries Men's 3000m steeplechase final (12.50am) * * * 11.00pm Equestrian .......................... Jumping team finals * * * 11.55pm Men's Basketball ............... Boomers vs Lithuania (quarter final) --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Thursday August 18th (morning) 2.00am Sailing (final races) ............. Men's 470 - Australia (currently 3rd) (3.05am) * * * Women's 470 * * * 3.00am Boxing .................................. Q/F's & S/F's Men's welterweight gold medal match * * * 9.20am Track & Field ....................... Women's long jump: final (10.15am) * * * Women's 200m: final (11.30am) * * * Women's 100m hurdles: final (11.55am) * * * 1.00pm Beach Volleyball (W) ........... Women's gold medal

Sailing silver for Aussie cousins Jason Waterhouse and Lisa Darmanin in Nacra 17 at Rio Games Australia’s Tom Burton wins gold in Laser class sailing at Rio Olympics

Caught by the pack ... brave effort all the same. Let's hope he's got a final kick. Edit: What a finish that was! They swim 10,000 metres and it's a blanket finish between a dozen swimmers.

Can Jarrod Poort hang on? Over 1 minute and 16 seconds in front after 5k completed of the 10k open water marathon

I believe sportspeople are more motivated by having a strong inner belief and real confidence (and ability of course) All teams have bad days and often those bad days are best forgotten rather than dwelt on. The Crows lost to us at home in 2014 when we struggled to a 4 & 18 season ... they missed the finals by one game that year ... but many teams with 11 or 12 win seasons follow a similar pattern. Teams with that sort of record often inexplicably drop a couple/few games against average or poor opposition but bob up and win a couple/few against quality opponents. It's one of the main reasons a team can end up only winning 11 or 12 games. The losses that stay with you are games with a lot of importance attached not necessarily those losses against poor opposition ... like a finals loss or a GF loss - and those type of losses can be terrific motivating factors down the track.

If anything is going to cost the team it will be the North loss. The quintessential 8 point game. We could have won the North encounter and only a bit of inexperience cost us - we certainly didn't play poorly that day. I believe that loss propelled the team forward anyway. The players started playing with real confidence and belief from that moment. The other point about the season is the amount of bad days that we've had ... I'd say we've had about 5 - 6 games where we weren't completely switched on. And probably only 2 of those 5 - 6 games were shockers. Again, you'd take that at the start of the season when factoring in that we were going to play well or very well in the other 14 games. 5 of our losses have included narrow losses to North & the Eagles, 2 x small losses to the Hawks & Crows and we weren't disgraced against the doggies either. It's fair to say that the win over the Lions was an average win but we've won 9 other games in impressive fashion, all things considered. One of the major factors that must be considered is how young & inexperienced the team has been all season. We're in bonus time ... playing with house money. A free hit.

More medal chances tonight in the kayak sprint (x 2), sailing (x 2), track cycling (x 2) and we've got a couple of representatives who have made the finals in the track & field. Also, the Opals are up against Serbia in a quarter final (11.55pm tonight) Daily schedule from NBC.com Chronological summary, results & scheduling of each day of the 2016 Rio Olympics (Wiki) Tuesday August 16th (evening) 10.00pm Swimming ........................... Men's open water 10k final - Jarrod Poort * * * 10.00pm Canoe/Kayak (finals) ........ Men's canoe single 1000m (10.08am) * * * Women's kayak double 500m - Australia (L1) (10.23) * * * Women's kayak single 200m (10.47am) * * * Men's kayak single 1000m - Murray Stewart (L5) (11.12am) * * * 10.30pm Track & Field ....................... Heats, qualifying & preliminaries Men's triple jump: final (10.50pm) * * * Women's discus: final - Dani Samuels (12.20am) * * * 11.00pm Cycling (track) ..................... Qualifying & repechages 11.55pm Boxing ................................ Q/F's & S/F's 11.55pm Women's Basketball ........ Opals vs Serbia (quarter final) --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Wednesday August 17th (morning) 2.00am Sailing (final races) ............... Women's Laser Radial - Ashley Stoddart (currently 9th) (2.05am) * * * Men's Laser - Tom Burton (currently 2nd) (2.50am) * * * Men's finn - Jake Tilley (currently 10th) (3.35am) * * * Mixed nacra 17 - Australia (currently 4th) (4.20am) * * * 3.00am Gymnastics finals................. Men's parallel bars * * * Women's floor * * * Men's high bar * * * 5.00am Cycling (track) ..................... Women's omnium points race final race (6.23am) * * * - Annette Edmondson (currently 7th) (6.23am) * * * Women's sprint finals (6.44am) * * * Men's keiren finals (7.20am) * * * - Patrick Constable, Matthew Glaetzer (possible)(7.20am) * * * 5.00am Diving ................................... Men's 3m springboard final * * * 6.00am Boxing .................................. Q/F's & S/F's Men's lightweight gold medal match * * * 9.00am Track & Field ......................... Men's high jump: final - Brandon Starc (9.30am) * * * Women's 1500m: final (11.30am) * * * Men's 110m hurdles: final (11.45am) * * * Wednesday August 17th (evening) 10.30pm Track & Field ...................... Heats, qualifying & preliminaries Men's 3000m steeplechase final (12.50am) * * * 11.00pm Equestrian .......................... Jumping team finals * * * 11.55pm Men's Basketball ............... Boomers vs Lithuania (quarter final) --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Thursday August 18th (morning) 2.00am Sailing (final races) ............. Men's 470 * * * Women's 470 * * * 3.00am Boxing .................................. Q/F's & S/F's Men's welterweight gold medal match * * * 9.20am Track & Field ....................... Women's long jump: final (10.15am) * * * Women's 200m: final (11.30am) * * * Women's 100m hurdles: final (11.55am) * * * 1.00pm Beach Volleyball (W) ........... Women's gold medal

We could put greater focus and funds on the sports where we've done well traditionally ... swimming, sailing, rowing, track cycling, hockey etc and make sure we give our athletes every opportunity of winning. The AOC may feel that they're already doing that but the proof of the pudding is in the eating. The UK are leading the way in that regard and we could learn a lot from how they're doing it but ... the funding is vastly different in comparison though. The Americans & Chinese have huge numerical advantages so the UK model is the closest model that could suit our country. It has to be noted that the UK won only 1 gold medal in Atlanta and within the space of 16 years they boosted that gold tally to 29 ... and they're currently 2nd in Rio with 16 gold. However, their levels of funding due to their 'National lottery' is one that can't be matched unless we do something similar. Peaking at the right time needs to be high on the agenda too ... especially with our swimmers.

They involved a veritable who's who of session muso's for both albums from what I've gathered. The songs on both albums go up and down the pecking order as the years pass too ... for instance, I instantly liked 'The Fez', 'Josie' & 'Peg' but I now really like all 3 songs for different reasons. Their music (especially on these 2 albums) is everlasting.

We'll need to get much greater funding to get back to those levels TD ... that ship has sailed by the looks of it. The real concern is slipping back to the bleak times of 1976 through to 1988 where we won a TOTAL of 9 gold medals. I witnessed and lived through those Olympics and that's why winning 8 or 9 gold medals at an Olympics these days is not so bad in my eyes. But we all view things differently and your view is perfectly understandable.

Miller won after possibly diving at the line ... you need to see it to make a judgement TD. Edit: after watching the replay a number of times it seems apparent to me that Miller would have won the race if she had have stayed upright. Close, but I reckon she wins. Felix made a great run but lost a bit of momentum in the last 5 metres. Still, I've never seen that before if it was a deliberate dive.

Interesting finish in the women's 400m final ... it will be talked about for years.

The women's water polo team are out too with the loss to Hungary overnight (11-13) That leaves us with 2 teams left ... both the women's & men's basketball teams. And hoping for more than a minor medal in both events is wishful thinking. The USA should win gold in both events. That's not to say we don't have more chances for medals in a number of other sports ... getting hold of gold is a much harder task though. We're a chance for gold in about 6-7 more events but I doubt we'll get close to that number. Canoe sprint x 2, sailing x 3, women's bmx, the men's 50k walk and maybe the women's omnium (cycling) remain our best chances although we could medal in a few more events like the women's long jump and equestrian. It's just as well the rugby 7's were made Olympic events.

We've got a couple of medal chances tonight & tomorrow morning with Tom Burton in the men's laser (sailing) & Glen O'Shea in the men's omnium (cycling) ... as well as that, we've got 2 vital quarter finals coming up in the women's hockey & the women's water polo. Edit: The sailing was postponed. Daily schedule from NBC.com Chronological summary, results & scheduling of each day of the 2016 Rio Olympics (Wiki) Monday August 15th (evening) 10.00pm Swimming ........................... Women's open water 10k final - Chelsea Gubecka * * * 10.30pm Track & Field ....................... Heats, qualifying & preliminaries Women's hammer: final (11.40pm) * * * Women's 3000m steeplechase: final (12.15am) * * * - Genevieve LaCaze (12.15am) * * * - Madeline Hills (12.15am) * * * 11.00pm Women's Hockey ............. Hockeyroos vs New Zealand (quarter final) -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Tuesday August 16th (morning) 2.00am Sailing (final races) ............... Postponed 3.00am Gymnastics finals................... Men's rings * * * Women's balance beam * * * Men's vault * * * 4.30am Women's Waterpolo .............. Stingers vs Hungary (quarter final) 5.00am Cycling (track) * * * .............. Men's omnium points race (final race) (6.23am) * * * - Glenn O'Shea (currently 7th) (6.23am) * * * 6.00am Boxing ................................... Preliminary bouts, Q/F's & S/F's Men's heavyweight gold medal match * * * 9.00am Track & Field ......................... Men's pole vault: final (9.35am) * * * Mens 800m: final (11.25am) * * * Women's 400m: final (11.45am) * * * Tuesday August 16th (evening) 10.00pm Swimming ........................... Men's open water 10k final * * * 10.00pm Canoe/Kayak (finals) ........ Men's canoe single 1000m * * * Women's kayak double 500m * * * Women's kayak single 200m * * * Men's kayak single 1000m * * * 10.30pm Track & Field ....................... Heats, qualifying & preliminaries Men's triple jump: final (10.50pm) * * * Women's discus: final (12.20am) * * * 11.00pm Cycling (track) ..................... Qualifying & repechages 11.55pm Boxing ................................ Q/F's & S/F's 11.55pm Women's Basketball ....... Opals vs Serbia (quarter final) --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Wednesday August 17th (morning) 2.00am Sailing (final races) ............... Men's Laser - Tom Burton (currently 2nd) * * * Women's Laser Radial - Ashley Stoddart (currently 9th) 2.00am Sailing (final races) ............. Men's finn * * * Mixed nacra 17 * * * 3.00am Gymnastics finals................. Men's parallel bars * * * Women's floor * * * Men's high bar * * * 5.00am Cycling (track) ..................... Women's omnium points race final race (6.23am) * * * Women's sprint finals (6.44am) * * * Men's keiren finals (7.20am) * * * 5.00am Diving ................................... Men's 3m springboard final * * * 6.00am Boxing .................................. Q/F's & S/F's Men's lightweight gold medal match * * * 9.00am Track & Field ......................... Men's high jump: final (9.30am) * * * Women's 1500m: final (11.30am) * * * Men's 110m hurdles: final (11.45am) * * *

I'm with you on this one TD ... we've had a poor tournament and not only are there no excuses, there's no reasoning to be found either. We haven't impressed all the way through and losing 0-4 in the quarter finals just about summed up the campaign. A poor result. We're down to 4 teams now and whilst a medal could be expected in any of the 4 (women's hockey, women's water polo, women's basketball & men's basketball) there's no guarantee that that will happen. Fingers crossed we reach a couple of finals to at least have a shot at gold.

Steely Dan ... 'The Royal Scam' (the album) ... Here is an album from nearly 40 years ago. All the songs on this album will grow on you if you like the style (jazz /funk/rock/fusion) Although none of the songs lifted from the album became hits, that outcome was almost certainly not the intention of Fagen & Becker anyway. 'Aja' was the follow-up album from this one and is arguably better, but this album (The Royal Scam) was originally marked a little harshly probably because the music was such a departure from their previous stuff ... later on it was recognised in a much much better light. Whilst here I may as well post up the follow-up album 'Aja' 'Aja' the album was featured in that excellent "Classic albums" series ...

About 5, maybe 6 golds in the swimming was a realistic goal but we fell short of course. I'm not as big on the world championships form as many are and the Americans definitely don't treat the 'worlds' like we do. That's not to say they don't take world championships seriously, it's more so they have different dynamics at play. They also have greater depth so their own national championships would be full-on. But their focus is firmly on the Olympics in terms of peaking and that's we're we can probably learn a lesson. It looks to me that we peaked too early (months ago and in some cases, 12 months ago) Anyway, our sailors are right in the mix in 5 events as I've pointed out in the post above (#155) and that's a bit of a surprise ... 4 - 5 medals in the sailing would be a terrific result and if we can possibly snag 2 golds that would be great. But as we know, getting our hopes up is fraught with danger. We are demon supporters after all! Excellent summary though TD.

In the sailing we're currently in 1st place in the men's 'Mixed Nacra 17', 2nd in the men's 'Laser', 2nd in the men's '470', 3rd in the men's 'Finn' and not far off 3rd in the men's '49ers'. Gold medal races start tonight but our chances are in the 8 other disciplines over the 4 subsequent days. We're also in with a big show in the K2 & K4 in the canoe sprint events which will be held from Thursday evening onwards (AEST) ... and there are still at least 3 more medal chances in the track cycling including Anna Meares in the women's sprint. There's the men's golf & women's BMX as well. Other chances including Brooke Stratton in the women's long jump.

Well our medal hopes are still alive across a variety of sports in the 2nd week ... there's sailing, equestrian, cycling & canoeing still to come as well as all the team events, track & field (esp Jared Tallent in the 50k walk), triathlon and maybe even in diving. I reckon we could get at least another 15 medals to match the London tally but our gold medal tally is harder to predict. Again, as much as the gold medals are the focus, we shouldn't be necessarily disappointed with silver & bronze medals. There's always the possibility of other medals in other sports to consider. Many of the team events go into quarter final mode as of tonight onwards but our water polo men need to win their last preliminary game against Greece to have a chance of advancing to the Q/F's whilst the Boomers need to defeat Venezuela to finish 2nd in our group (that's if we assume the USA defeat France in the other game in the group) The Kookaburras have a vital Q/F match against the Netherlands in the morning (7.00am) whilst Bawden & Clancy go up against the USA in a beach volleyball Q/F (1.00pm tomorrow) Daily schedule from NBC.com Chronological summary, results & scheduling of each day of the 2016 Rio Olympics (Wiki) Sunday August 14th (evening) 7,00pm Highlights program ............ In Rio Today (7hd/7) 10.30pm Track & Field * * * ............ Women's marathon final - Milly Clark Jessica Trengove Lisa Jane Weightman 11.55pm Boxing ............................... Preliminary bouts Men's light flyweight gold medal match * * * ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Monday August 15th (morning) 1.50am Men's Water polo ............... Sharks vs Greece 2.00am Sailing (final races) ............ Men's RS:X (Windsurfer) * * * Women's RS:X (Windsurfer) * * * 3.00am Gymnastics finals................ Men's floor * * * Women's vault * * * Men's pommel horse * * * Women's uneven bars * * * 5.00am Tennis .................................. Men's singles gold medal match * * * 5.00am Diving .................................. Women's 3m springboard final - Esther Qin, Maddison Keeney * * * 5.00am Cycling (track) ..................... Men's sprint finals (6.04am) * * * 7.00am Men's Hockey ..................... Kookaburras vs Netherlands (quarter final) 8.00am Men's Basketball ................. Boomers vs Venezuela 9.00am Track & Field ....................... Women's triple jump: final (9.55am) * * * Men's 400m: final (11.00am) * * * Men's 100m: final (11.25am) * * * 1.00pm Beach Volleyball (W) ............ Australia (Clancy & Bawden) vs USA Monday August 15th (evening) 10.00pm Swimming ........................... Women's open water 10k final * * * 10.30pm Track & Field ...................... Heats, qualifying & preliminaries Women's hammer: final (11.40pm) * * * Women's 3000m steeplechase (12.15am) * * * 11.00pm Women's Hockey ............ Hockeyroos vs New Zealand (quarter final) -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Tuesday August 16th (morning) 2.00am Sailing (final races) ............... Men's Laser * * * Women's Laser Radial * * * 3.00am Gymnastics finals................... Men's rings * * * Women's balance beam * * * Men's vault * * * 4.30am Women's Waterpolo ............. Stingers vs Hungary (quarter final) 5.00am Cycling (track) ...................... Men's omnium points race (final race) (6.23am) * * * 6.00am Boxing .................................. Preliminary bouts, Q/F's & S/F's Men's heavyweight gold medal match * * * 9.00am Track & Field ........................ Men's pole vault: final (9.35am) * * * Mens 800m: final (11.25am) * * * Women's 400m: final (11.45am) * * *

So can Bawden & Clancy go much further TD? In other words, can we win gold!!!! We're going to need an unexpected gold or 2 to get to the targets that you and I have set so here's hoping that Bawden & Clancy can come through with the goods. We're tracking reasonably well or quite well with the other team events

And an excellent bronze medal for the men's medley relay with Kyle Chalmers outstanding again in the final freestyle leg. Again, we weren't favoured to win this event by any stretch so the bronze is a terrific achievement. That's the way it should be viewed anyway.

Well that's a great silver ... we were never going to win gold in that relay so it's a fantastic performance. Well done to the women's medley relay and well done to Cate Campbell for an outstanding last leg.