theSmudge.com

It’s that time again — when I lose sleep because I’m up late watching the Olympics. I could go on about how NBC is showing almost no events live, tape-delaying everything to show from 8 p.m. to midnight, and then its own newscasts broadcast spoilers. But for now, here are a few random observations:

1. The closest I will ever get to being in the Olympics: via the Australian swimmer whose last name is Seebohm. (The announcers pronounced Emily’s last name with a short o — one of us is wrong.)
2. Gymnasts are trying to bring back the hair scrunchie. I expect to see acid-washed jeans and shirt clips in the 2016 Olympics. Random factoid: Once upon a time, I sewed my own scrunchies, going to great lengths to match the pattern perfectly at the ends so you couldn’t see the seam. Welcome to my brain.
3. Beach volleyball players get confused when it’s cold and they want to wear some more clothes: Multiple women’s teams wore their sports bras on the OUTSIDE of a shirt. That’s kind of like wearing underwear over your jeans, acid-washed or not. Apparently they did that because it was cold, and despite being Olympians, they didn’t have a single long-sleeved shirt with their name on it. This, however, leads to my next thought:
4. It’s not beach volleyball. Maybe it’s sand volleyball, but there is no beach in sight.
5. I live 25.2 miles from what is apparently the “world class” ping pong training center. Or I suppose I should call it “table tennis.”
6. Rowing is hard work, which I learned in college from a colleague who was on the crew team. But there’s one person who sits in the boat, faces the teammates and just yells at them. This person has the unfortunate title of “coxswain.” However, if I did the rowing while someone else yelled at me, and then we both got gold medals, I’d use a permanent black marker to put an asterisk on my teammate’s medal.