As soon as I predict I'll see no more coverage of New Zealand Olympic athletes, I turn on the TV in New Orleans and see ... the Tall Ferns, our women's basketball team, in action. Though they WERE playing the US, of course. The actual sports coverage is squeezed in between interviews with Michael Phelps, interviews with the mother and coach of Michael Phelps, video montages of his Olympic glory, discussions of which cereal packet his face will adorn, and ads for an NBC-produced DVD called something like Michael Phelps Most Glorious Olympian Ever.
We've now won nine medals. Gold for Georgina and Caroline Evers-Swindell, rowing; Valerie Vili, shot put; and Tom Ashley, boardsailing. Silver for Hayden Roulston, cycling. Bronze for Mahe Drysdale, rowing; Nathan Twaddle and George Bridgewater, rowing; Sam Bewley, Hayden Roulston, Marc Ryan and Jesse Sergent, cycling; Bevan Docherty, triathlon; and Nick Willis, running, 1500m. Today New Zealand is at #17 on both medal tables.
Meanwhile I discover that in my absence T. Middy has not been keeping up with the news. He knew nothing of the dramatic chipmunk, the dramatic lemur, or the sneezing panda.
New Orleans is suffocatingly hot, by the way, and it rained pretty much all day yesterday. I stayed inside and lolled.
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