2016 Olympics Watch- Darn, It's Over

The 2016 Rio Olympic Games are coming to a close today, and far from Donald Trump's loud and wrong assertion that the USA doesn't win anymore, that's all Team USA in all its diverse glory has been doing since the Games kicked off August 6 .

In many cases, they were historic wins in several sports like our first ever medals in the triathlon, or first medals of of any color in many sports in decades.

Team USA led all nations with 121 medals won, and 46 of them were gold.  The rest of the top five nations in the 2016 Rio Olympic medal count were Great Britain  (27 golds, 67 medals). China (26 golds, 70 medals) , Russia (19 golds, 56 total), and Germany (17 golds, 42 medals).

The closing ceremonies will happen starting at 7 PM CDT, and Simone Biles will be leading Team USA into the Maracana stadium as our flag bearer.  She's the first gymnast to be given that honor.

But after watching the competition in Rio play out over the last two weeks, I'm always sad when I see the Olympic flag come down from the flagpole where it has proudly flapped during the Games, get marched out of the stadium and the Olympic flame get extinguished.

This was also an interesting Olympics for me because I was in Washington DC when the opening ceremonies happened, watching some events from Chautauqua, and now back home in Houston for the closing ceremonies.

Fortunately because since 1992 the winter and summer Games are no longer contested in the same year, won't have to wait too long until Olympic sporting action happens again in just two short years in Pyeongchang, South Korea.

The next summer games are in Tokyo, and will be interesting to see what happens for the Team USA Olympians that gather to compete four years from now in the Land of the Rising Sun.

2016 Olympics Watch-Semenya Wins Gold!

Well haters, Caster Semenya handled her Olympic business and won the 800m gold that eluded her in London.  

Semenya won her race in a personal best time of 1:55:28, which is not only the best time run in the world in the 800m this year, it was also a South African national record.

What was even more delicious for me was that the silver and bronze medalists who finished behind the Olympic champion were also continental Africans.  Burundi's Francine Niyonsaba captured the silver and Kenya's Margaret Wambui took the bronze/

.And unfortunately, the same innuendo that has dogged Semenya since 2009 has popped up in Rio to shadow the silver and bronze medalists.

Niyonsaba took the lead in the race with 300m to go but Semenya unleashed her finishing kick with 150m left in the race to win

The haters can keep on pouting in the corner and trying to throw shade at the now 25 year old Semenya.  The 800m gold medal is still going back to South Africa with Caster,  

Congratulations, and see you in 2020 sis as you defend your title in Tokyo.

2016 Olympic Watch- Going For The Sixpeat!

The five time defending Olympic champion USA women's basketball team has been marching toward this hopefully golden moment ever since they opened the Games on August 7 with a 121-56 blowout win in Group B play with Senegal.

The Team USA women then smashed Spain 103-63, Serbia 110-84, Canada 81-51, and China 102-65 to exit Group B play with a 5-0 record.

They then entered the knockout rounds and rolled to a 110-64 win over Japan on August 16 and punched their ticket to the gold medal game with an 86-67 win over FIBA number four ranked France to get to the Olympic basketball final for the sixth time since 1996.

This matchup for the gold medal is with a familiar foe in Spain. In addition to Team USA taking them down in the group stage, they vanquished the Spanish women in the 2014 FIBA World Championship final.

So how impressive and dominant is this 2016 Olympic version of Team USA?  

*They set the all time USA women point record (121) in the Senegal win.
*Set the US record for largest point differential in a game with the 65 point win over Senegal
*They became the first women's Olympic squad to score 100 points in three straight games.
*Set a new Olympic record of 40 assists in one game after tying the Olympic record of 36 assists set by the Soviet Union back in 1976.
* Have beaten their Rio Olympic competition by an average of 38.4 points

A lot is on the line for the Team USA women in addition to capturing their sixth consecutive gold medal since the 1996 Atlanta Games.  Also on the line is continued women's worldwide basketball supremacy, the FIBA number one ranking and auto qualifying spot in the 2019 FIBA championships, and their Olympic winning streak that has now reached 48 straight games since they won the bronze medal in Barcelona in 1992.

There is concern in the Team USA camp with point guard Sue Bird being day to day with a sprained knee suffered in the second quarter of the Japan game, but they are determined to complete their mission of being on the top step of the Olympic platform when this game is over.

If by some miracle Spain wins this game, it would be the biggest upset in Olympic basketball history and rank with the 1972 Munich gold medal game versus the Soviet Union the USA men had stolen from them in the final seconds.

Don't think this gold medal game with Spain will be that close, seeing that Team USA beat Spain by 40 points in pool play and the closest anyone has been to them was France in the semifinal, and they beat France by 19 points without Sue Bird in the lineup.

But Spain won't be rolling over for them either, and have some game film to study as a result of that pool play game. Game film cuts both ways, and we have Geno Auriemma on our bench and they don't.

We'll see if Team USA can win number 49 in a row today and their sixth straight gold medal at 1:30 PM CDT.

2016 Olympics Watch- Caster Semenya To 800m Final

I was happy to see Caster Semenya of South Africa after all the drama she has been through since bursting into the world's consciousness at age 18 during the 2009 IAAF World Championships in Berlin by running and winning the 800m in the fifth fastest time ever run by a woman.

She went through Hades after that because it is assumed she has a condition called hyperandrogenism, that naturally produces more testosterone in her body than the average female athlete, and some peeps are complaining that isn't fair to other female competitors.

Nobody complains about Michael Phelps feet acting like dolphin flippers when he's swimming. Nobody complains about Usain Bolt's 6'5" frame and long stride that allows him to effortlessly run away from his competition in the second half of 100m and 200m races.

What they do is just deal with the fact they are born with some competitive advantages, train harder and do their best to beat him.  Sometimes they do, sometimes they don't.

But the fact Semenya is a continental African running in an athletics race that has been one that white female athletes have until recently dominated is probably one of the reasons I believe why she's gotten so much unwarranted crap and scrutiny.

It's one of the many reasons why I'm rooting for Semenya to win the gold medal she ironically lost out on in London to an allegedly steroid fueled Russian competitor in Mariya Savinova four years ago.

She won her 800m semifinal heat in 1:58.15 to get her to the finals with the best time.

Semenya is considered the favorite to be standing atop the medal podium hearing the South African national anthem after taking a silver medal in London.

And I'm going to have fun hopefully watching her do so.  

2016 Olympics Watch- Watching Legends Win

I've been watching the Olympics since the 1968 Summer Games in Mexico City, and have been fortunate to be around to see some legendary athletes and performances on the Olympic stage along with all the drama as well.

From Jim Hines breaking the 10 second barrier in the 100m to Edwin Moses dominating the 400m hurdles in 1976, (1980 we boycotted the Moscow Games) 1984 and winning 122 straight international races along the way to Flo Jo in 1988, I've gotten to see some amazing legendary athletes in not just athletics (track and field to us Americans) but across all sports.

The Rio Games hasn't been any different, because we have gotten to witness Jamaican sprinter Usain Bolt cement his legacy as one of the greatest of all time with threepeats in the 100m, 200m and can tonight with a threepeat win in the 4x100m relay to capture his ninth gold medal since his world record setting 2008 Olympic debut in Beijing.

Michael Phelps has done the same thing in the pool by bumping up his gold medal total to an incredible 23 golds (3 silvers, 2 bronze medals) 28 medals won over an Olympic career that started with him winning zero medals in Sydney in 2000 but being they youngest qualifier for an Olympic team at age 15 in 68 years.

He is now the most decorated Olympic athlete ever, and one of the greatest US swimmers since Mark Spitz in 1972.

There is also the sustained excellence of the USA women in basketball, who are FIBA's number one ranked squad and the defending world and Olympic champions.  

The Team USA women ballers have won five straight gold medals since the 1996 Atlanta Games and will play for their sixth consecutive gold medal tomorrow against a Spanish team they demolished in pool play 103-63.

They beat FIBA fourth ranked France in the semis 86-67 to advance to the gold medal match and win their 48th consecutive game in Olympic play since the 1992 Barcelona Games bronze medal game.

But since Team USA played Spain already in pool play and blew them out, I'm thinking that with much higher stakes in this match, Spain will step up their level of play.  Hopefully Sue Bird will be back in the Team USA lineup after missing the semifinal game with a strained knee

There was also a surprise medal from another legendary athlete in Venus Williams.  After shocking losses in the Rio Olympic singles and doubles tournament, Venus made it to the mixed doubles gold medal final with her partner Rajeev Ram, but fell to fellow Americans Bethanie Mattek-Sands and Jack Sock.

The silver medal she earned with Ram was Venus' fifth medal in Olympic tennis competition dating back to the 2000 Sydney Games.  Williams won gold in the singles and in the doubles competition with little sis Serena in Sydney, Beijing (2008) and in London (2012).  

But it's also a time to watch potential Olympic stars and legends emerge as well.  One of those is Ashton Eaton, who became the first man to repeat as the Olympic decathlon champion since Daley Thompson of Great Britain won back to back decathlons in 1980 and 1984.   Will he attempt the decathlon threepeat that no one has ever accomplished in Tokyo?

We'll have to wait until 2020 to find out.   But it sure has been fun to watch legends win.

2016 Olympics Watch- USA Women Ballers Rolling In Group Play

The USA women's ballers started this Olympic tournament heavily favored to win their sixth straight gold medal since 1996, and were carrying a 58-3 record and 41 game Olympic winning streak into Group B play.

They opened Group B play by whipping out their A+ game, jumping out to a 35-9 first quarter lead, shooting 70.3% in the first half, and coasting to a 121-56 blowout win over Senegal on August 7.

The lights out shooting eventually cooled off somewhat to have them finish with 64.8% shooting for the game, but it was a nice way to start Olympic group play.   The Team USA women had seven players in double figures, and the 121 points scored was the most ever by a USA women's team in Olympic play.  The 65 point margin of victory was also the largest ever.  

The next day at Deodoro Youth Arena found the Team USA facing Spain, and after trailing by two points for several minutes early in the first quarter, went on a 7-0 run fueled by Brittney Griner's eight first quarter points to flip that negative script into a 15 point first quarter lead they would never relinquish as they notched their second win of the Olympic tournament by taking down Spain 106-63.

Five USA players scored in double digits in this game, and 55 of their points came from off the bench as they built that first quarter advantage to a 57-35 halftime lead despite only outscoring Spain in the second quarter 25-23.

The 43rd consecutive Olympic win pushed Team USA to 2-0 in group play and their next game will be on Wednesday against winless (0-2) Serbia, and we face our northern neighbors Canada , who are unbeaten for now at 2-0 on August 12.    Their final group play game will be against China on August 14.

2016 Williams Watch-Shocking Olympic Exits

This Olympic trip to Rio has not been a good one so far for my fave tennis playing siblings.

On Saturday I got to painfully watch fifth seeded Venus go from being two points from winning her match and moving on to a second round match in the Olympic tennis singles tournament to a WTF loss to Belgium's Kirsten Flipkens 4-6, 6-3, 6-7 (5-7) .

The pain got worse for we fans of the Williams sisters as we watched the once unbeaten Olympic in doubles and three time Olympic doubles gold medalists have a bad day at the office.

The number on seeded doubles team and defending Olympic champions shockingly suffered their first ever Olympic doubles loss after 15 straight wins in the first round to Barbora Strycova and Lucie Safarova of the Czech Republic in straight sets  3-6, 4-6.

But all is not lost .  You will see a Williams sister playing tennis in Rio.   Number one seeded and defending Olympic singles champion Serena is still alive in the Olympic women's singles competition.   She beat Australia's Danila Gavrilova 6-4, 6-2 to move on to her second round match against Alize Cornet of France.

Winner takes on 15th seeded Elina Svitolina of Ukraine in the third round

Lea T Makes Some Olympic Trans History

We don't know definitively is we have trans folks competing at the Rio Olympics even though trans people have been eligible to do so since 2004, and with the start of these Games, can do so without the requirement of genital surgery.

While we're still trying to confirm the rumor that two trans feminine athletes were considered for inclusion on the British Olympic team who have repeatedly represented their country on the international sporting stage, we do know for a fact that trans inclusion happened during the opening ceremony for the Rio Games on August 5.

During the Parade of Nations portion of the Opening Ceremonies, each of the national athletic delegations as they marched into the stadium was led by a cyclist that powered a rotating national name placard in Portuguese and English mounted on the cycle painted in the gold, green and blue colors of the Brazilian flag.

And some trans history transpired as you did so.  Brazilian supermodel Leandra Medeiros Cerezo, was the person on the cycle that led the host nation Brazil into Maracana Stadium.

If you're scratching your head and saying, "Who's that?", maybe you'll recognize who this 35 year old international supermodel and face of Redken cosmetics is when I say the name Lea T.

In addition to being a trailblazing presence in the fashion world, she also has a connection to the sporting world via her father, the legendary Brazilian soccer player Toninho Cerezo.

She is the first out trans person to do so in an Olympic ceremony, and she was definitely pleased to have had a role in the Olympic opening ceremony being hosted by her country

"We are all human beings and part of society.  My role in the ceremony will help send that message" she said.  "At this time in which Rio de Janeiro and Brazil are being presented to the world, it's essential that diversity is present. Brazil is a vast country, and all of its diversity should be represented in this event."

"Like any other transsexual I raise a flag," she continued. "I'm talking about transsexuality because it is part of my history, but I'm just another member of the community.  I know I have the privilege that the media listens to me, but the daily struggle of transexuals is equally important for LGBT people."

She's not kidding about that, since my Brazilian trans sisters have been catching hell because of the murderous trans hate on steroids aimed at them.    Brazilian trans women have for the last five years made up far too many of the names we read during TDOR ceremonies every November 20 around the world, and that needs to stop

And this Lea T Olympic moment shouldn't be dismissed, but celebrated.

Cnngrats to Lea T for being a historic part of this Olympic opening ceremony, and I hope that the next time I get to talk about a trans person making history on the Olympic stage is because they have made their national team and are competing for gold, silver or bronze medals  

Rio Olympics Start Today!

It's been four years in the making, but ready or not, the games of the XXXI Olympiad will kick off with their opening ceremonies at the legendary Maracana Stadium tonight in Rio.

Enough questions about whether the venues are ready or the other non competition related issues in the host country, it's time to watch all the competition play out until the closing ceremonies happen August 21, the Olympic flame is extinguished, the flag is lowered, and the hosting duties for the Summer Games move on to Tokyo in 2020.

For those of us in the Western Hemisphere, much of the action will be televised live since Rio is one hour ahead of the US Eastern Time Zone.

This will be an Olympics of firsts.   The first held in a South American country.   The first held in a Portuguese speaking country.  The first in which intersex athletes will be allowed to compete, and since we are south of the Equator and in the Southern Hemisphere, the first to be held entirely in a country's winter season.  

The competition in men's and women's soccer has already kicked off, with group matches in the women's competition starting on August 3 and the men's matches starting yesterday at several venues across Brazil..

So looking forward to seeing all the drama of the Olympics play out.   What favored athletes and teams will live up to pre-Olympic expectations?   Which ones will falter and fall short of Olympic gold and how will it happen?  And what athlete that was unheralded before the opening ceremonies rise and put together the performances of a lifetime to become an Olympic champion?

One Month To Rio!

We are one month away from the start of the Games of the XXXI Olympiad starting in Rio de Janeiro  August 5 and watching the Olympics is must see TV for me as a unabashed sports fan.

This one is full of firsts.  It will be the first held in a Portuguese speaking country, the first on the South American continent, and since this is being held in the Southern Hemisphere, the first Sumer Games completely in a country's winter season.   It's also the first Games happening during the IOC presidency of Thomas Bach.

The torch relay has been going on across Brazil since May 3 and will visit 323 cities before arriving in the Rio area to light the cauldron at Maracana Stadium.  

Athletes around the world are undergoing qualifying for the various Olympic sports, and the Rio Olympic organizers are expecting a record 10,500 to participate.    Hopefully we will have a transgender athlete taking part in the Games, but it looks like that milestone may have to wait until the 2018 Winter Games in Pyeong Chang or 2020 in Tokyo.

At least much of the competition for those of us in the States and the rest of the Americas will be broadcast live.

One thing I am looking forward to is not only seeing the opening ceremony, but what creative way will the torch be lit.  Also looking forward to seeing who will be the person or persons given the honor of lighting the Rio Olympic cauldron.

August 5 will be here before we know it.

The 2016 USA Men's Olympic Basketball Team Is...

Going to be an interesting Team USA men's bunch to watch with no LeBron James, no James Harden, no Russell Westbrook, no Anthony Davis, no Blake Griffin, no Kawhi Leonard and no Stephon Curry on the squad due to injuries or declining to play.

But fortunately for us the USA basketball talent pool is so deep it may not matter.  They'll still have Mike Krzyzewski on the sidelines calling the plays as they seek the Olympic medal threepeat.

The 2016 Olympic squad was recently unveiled that we'll be cheering when they start play August 6 are Jimmy Butler, Kevin Durant, DeAndre Jordan, Kyle Lowry,  Harrison Barnes, DeMar DeRozan, Kyrie Irving, Klay Thompson, DeMarcus Cousins, Paul George, Draymond Green, and Carmelo Anthony, who'll be the oldest player on the squad at the ripe old age of 32.

This team may be better and more versatile than it looks, and that matters in FIBA ball.  There are two 2012 Olympians in Anthony and Durant are on this squad along with five players from the 2014 FIBA World Championship Squad. Happy to see Paul George on the team because he suffered that gruesome leg injury while trying to make the 2014 FIBA World Cup team


The assistant coaches backing up Coach K are Jim Boeheim, Tom Thibodeau and Monty Williams and will warm up for Olympic competition with a five game US tour that starts July 22 in Las Vegas against 2004 Olympic champ Argentina.  

They'll play back to back games vs. China in Los Angeles on July 24 and in Oakland on July 26, against Venezuela in Chicago on July 29 before playing their final tune up game here in Houston vs. Nigeria on August 1.    

When the Olympic tournament kicks off, they will be in Group A for pool play against Venezuela, China, Australia and the number 1 and number 2 teams from the upcoming FIBA Men's Olympic Qualifying Tournament July 4-10 in Italy, the Philippines and Serbia,

Team USA will begin Olympic pool play on August 6 against China, then play Venezuela on August 8, Australia on August 10, the OQT 2 on August 12 and finish Group A play on August 14 with OQT 1

The knockout round will start on August 17-19, with the Gold medal Game on August 21.

Here's hoping that when that game tips off at 1:45 PM CDT the USA is one of the teams in it and not in the Bronze medal game or shockingly sitting on the sidelines..   

The 2016 USA Women's Olympic B-Ball Squad Is Set

If you were wondering who made the 12 person USA women's Olympic basketball squad that will be seeking to win its sixth consecutive gold medal since 1996, I'm about to tell you.

I jokingly call the Team USA women the 'UConn All-Stars' because of the number of former players USA head coach Geno Auriemma usually selects for his Team USA FIBA world championship and Olympic women's squads.  Hey, they keep winning medals, so I ain't mad at him or the USA Baskeball selection committee for doing so.

There are only five UConn alums on the 2016 Olympic team headed to Rio, but the 2016 Olympic ballers will be Seimone Augustus, Sue Bird, Tamika Catchings, Tina Charles, Elena Delle Donne, Sylvia Fowles, my Houston homegirl Brittney Griner, Angel McCoughtry, Maya Moore, Breanna Stewart, Diana Taurasi, and Lindsay Whalen  .

Coaching this team in addition to Auriemma will be assistant coaches Doug Bruno of DePaul, Cheryl Reeve of the Minnesota Lynx and Dawn Staley of the University of South Carolina.

When the Team USA women begin pursuit of their sixth consecutive gold medal and seventh all time on August 7, they will start Group B play with Senegal, followed on August 8 by the No 4 qualifier still to be determined by the Women's Olympic Qualifying tournament in Nantes, France from June 13-19.   Team USA will then face Serbia on August 10, Canada on August 12 and the No. 2 qualifier on August 14 to close out group play.


They are 58-3 in Olympic competition, and will also be when they step on the court in Rio attempting to build on a 41 game winning streak that dates back to the bronze medal game of the 1992 Barcelona Games

Should be fun to watch Team USA hopefully roll to a sixth straight Olympic title, but we have to play the games first..


TransGriot Update: The five teams that emerged from the June 13-19 FIBA Women's Olympic Qualifying tournament were the host France, Belarus, Turkey, China and Spain.   France, Belarus and Turkey are in Group A. China and Spain ended up in Group B with the USA. 

100 Days To Rio!

One of my fave sporting events for many reasons is the Olympic Games be it the summer or winter versions of it.   I'm definitely looking forward to the August 5 of the Rio Games this summer.

We are now 100 days from watching the opening ceremonies at Maracana Stadium, and the Olympic flame was lit on April 21 in Greece and is now making its way across Greece enroute to a handoff ceremony schedule to happen today in Athens.  

After the torch is handed off to the Brazilian organizers, it will head to IOC headquarters in Switzerland and the Olympic Museum in Lausanne before heading to Geneva and the UN Office there.

From there it will take flight to Brasilia, Brazil's capital where the torch rally will start on May 3 and hit 300 cities, all 26 Brazilian state capitals and the Brazilian Federal District before it gets to Rio de Janeiro on August 5 for the first ever Olympic Games held on the South American continent.

And can't wait to see who the Brazilians select to light the Olympic cauldron and what creative way they come up with to do so.

FIBA Conducts 2016 Rio Olympic Basketball Draw

We're getting closer to the start of the Olympics in Rio and the several weeks of competition that will happen during that multi week quadrennial sporting event eagerly anticipated by the sports fans of the world.

One of the team sports that matters to Americans is basketball, and right now the men's and women's teams are on a roll and are prohibitive favorites for the top step of the medal platform when the Rio Olympic basketball  tournament tips off on August 6 through August 21.

The USA women will be shooting (pun intended) for their sixth straight Olympic title since 1996, while the underachieving men's team will be vying for their third straight title.

We already know what group each team will be in because of the FIBA Olympic Draw Ceremony that took place at The House of Basketball FIBA headquarters in Switzerland back on March 11 even though the Women's and Men's Olympic Qualifying Tournaments haven't happened yet.




The FIBA Women's Olympic Qualifying Tournament will take place in Nantes, France June 13-19 and will determine the last five women's Olympic basketball tournament spots among a dozen contenders.

The FIBA Men's Olympic Qualifying Tournament will take place at three sites, Belgrade, Turin, and Manila from July 4-10.to determine which eighteen contenders get the last three Olympic men's tournament spots.

The women's Olympic tournament will take place from August 6-20, and the defending Olympic champion USA will be in Group B.   Group A will consist of the number 5 WOQT team, Japan, Brazil, Australia, WOQT 3 and WOQT 1.

Group B on the women's side will consist of Canada, WOQT 4, USA, Senegal, Serbia and WOQT 2

The men's Olympic tournament will also start on August 6, with the gold medal match happening on August 21.  The USA men will be in Group A with the MOQT 1 winner, USA, Venezuela, MOQT 2, China and Australia.

Group B on the men's side is shaping up to be the 'Group of Death', and will consist of  Argentina, Spain, Brazil, Lithuania, MOQT 3 and Nigeria

Both tournaments will have a group phase in which they play the teams in their group.   Top four team advance to the knockout phase and what the eight survivors of group play hope will end up with them standing on the top step of the Olympic medal platforms.

But we will have to wait until this summer to find out how this basketball dram plays out.  

The 2016 Olympic Women's Soccer Tournament Draw Today

We're getting closer to the start of the 2016 Rio Olympic Games, and in a few hours, the USA women's soccer team will know who will be in their respective group during the Olympic women's tournament that starts August 3 and concludes August 19.

The FIFA number one ranked world champion USA women will be competing for their third consecutive Olympic title, and the road to the title match at Maracana Stadium begins with the draw scheduled to start at 8 AM CDT at that same venue..  

The 12 women's teams will be split into three four nation groups, designated Groups E, F and G.   The host Brazilians are in Group E.   Depending on whether they get drawn into Group F or Group G,  if it is Group t, they would play their first two group games in Sao Paulo and their third group match in either Salvador or Brasilia.  If they end up in Group G, their first two group matches would be played in Belo Horizonte, with the third group match being played in either Manaus or Salvador.

They are also split into four pots,.based on the March 25 FIFA world rankings.  The host nation and the top two FIFA world ranked teams are placed in Pot 1.  Brazil as the hosts are already assigned to Group E in the A1 position, with the USA and Germany being the other teams assigned to Pot 1..

Pot 1: Brazil, USA Germany
Pot 2: France, Australia, Sweden
Pot 3: Canada, China PR, New Zealand
Pot 4:  Colombia, South Africa, Zimbabwe

The draw is set up so that you don't have two teams from the same FIFA confederation playing each other in the group stage.  That means that we wouldn't be placed in the same group with Canada because they are fellow CONCACAF members,  the Germans wouldn't be placed in a group with France or Sweden, and Brazil wouldn't be in the same group with Colombia.

Once the groups are set, when the competition starts, the two best teams in each group and the two best third place finishers will advance to the knockout stages.

We'll see what the USA road to Maracana and a third consecutive Olympic gold looks like in a few hours. .

TransGriot Update:  USA was drawn into Group G, and will be facing number 3 FIFA world ranked  France, New Zealand and Colombia 

2016 CONCACAF Women's Olympic Qualifying- It's Canada And The USA To Rio!

The 2016 CONCACAF Women's Olympic Qualifying Tournament has been going on in Texas since February 10 to determine who gets the two Rio Olympic soccer tournament slots allotted to CONCACAF.

The scene has shifted to Houston for the knockout rounds of the tournament, with the semifinals being played last night at BBVA Compass Stadium.

Group B winner Canada faced off against Group A runner up Costa Rica for one of the two Olympic slots, and thanks to their captain Christine Sinclair's two goals in the 17th and 51st minutes punched their ticket to Rio with a 3-1 win.

Costa Rica's Raquel Rodriguez added one from the penalty spot to cut the Canadian lead down to 2-1 in the 71st minute, but Deanne Rose scored in the 86th minute to put Canada comfortably back in front by two goals and secure their spot in the tournament finals on Sunday.

Two hours later it was the USA facing off against the surprise runners up of Group B in the Women Soca Warriors of Trinidad and Tobago, who clinched their spot in the knockout round with a 5-1 win over Guyana on February 16.

But playing Guyana and the world champion USA squad are two different tasks, and 12 minutes into the match Tobin Heath scored to put the world champs up 1-0.   Alex Morgan score the first of her three goals in the 30th minute to put the USA up 2-0, and Carli Lloyd scored in the 43rd minute to send the USA to the locker room at BBVA Compass Stadium with a 3-0 halftime lead.

Morgan completed her 3rd international hat trick with goals in the 71st and 73rd minutes to send the USA to the finals of this qualifying tournament on Sunday against Canada with the second CONCACAF Olympic qualifying spot nailed down.

It is the sixth consecutive time that the USA women's team has qualified for the Olympics, and they will be seeking their fifth straight Olympic title when they do get to Rio.

On Sunday the USA an Canada clash for the CONCACAF Qualifying tournament title in a game in which nothing is on the line but pride and a trophy.

The real fight will be starting on August 3 when the women's Olympic soccer tournament kicks off.

 

366 Days To Rio

366 days from today will come the day the world's sports fans will be looking forward to except everyone in Chicago.    Yes, Chicago I still feel your pain of having the best bid and being eliminated in the first round of venue voting.   Y'all was robbed by the IOC.

It'll be on this August 5 date next year that the Games of the XXXI Olympiad  will kick off in Rio de Janeiro at Maracana Stadium with what will probably be based on what they showed off during the 2012 London Games closing ceremony, an entertaining opening ceremony.    It will be only the third city in the Southern Hemisphere (Melbourne 1956, Sydney 2000) and the first South American one to host the Olympics.

Will be interested  to see what Brazilian gets tapped for the honor of being the final relay runner that gets to ignite the Olympic flame and how the Rio organizing committee chooses to do so since there have been since 1992 some pretty creative torch lightings.

Looking forward to from August 5-21 watching the various Olympic sports take place with the amazing scenery in the Rio area as a backdrop.

This Olympic Games for US and Canadian television and cable viewers will have many events in prime time network coverage in our time zones  

While we are still a year away from knowing who the pre-Olympic favorites will be in many of the sports and the qualifying will start ramping up soon, USA basketball fans know their FIBA world championship men's and women's teams will go in as gold medal favorites.  The USA men will be trying to accomplish an Olympic threepeat and the USA women will be seeking to collect their sixth straight gold medal.  

Both teams are already qualified, it's just a matter of who ends up on the Olympic squads.selected by men's coach Mike Krzyzewski and women' coach Geno Auriemma and what groups they end up in once FIBA Olympic qualifying is completed.  

And can the FIFA world champion USA women's soccer team not only handle their CONCACAF qualifying business in October, but capture their third straight Olympic gold medal in what is shaping up to be a loaded women's Olympic tourney field with host Brazil, Germany, France and a rapidly improving Colombia as four of the already qualified teams?

We will also have to wait until next August to find out what pre-Olympic favorites falter and what unknown athlete steps up big to claim an unexpected medal.

The clock is tucking toward August 5, 2016 and the opening date of the 2016 Rio Games.