Rio Post #5: Party on the Beach

Sadly, this will be my last post about Rio...but I have a trip to New York City from September 22-25 so I'll be writing about that soon!

If you missed the previous entries in the series, here they are:
Rio Post #1: Women's Gymnastics Individual All-Around
Rio Post #2: Qualifying Stages and Specialized Events
Rio Post #3: The City of Rio de Janeiro
Rio Post #4: Saturday Night at the Blue Oval
 
Rio Post #5: Party on the Beach



Beach volleyball at Copacabana Beach in Rio de Janeiro at midnight with matches involving Brazil and the US was the perfect Olympic event at the perfect place at the perfect time with the perfect teams.  It was the perfect conclusion to our long weekend in Rio at the Olympics.

Pre-match selfie

The Perfect Olympic Event at the Perfect Place
I would like to imagine that when Rio de Janeiro was making their pitch to the International Olympic Community it went like this:

IOC: Rio, it is time for your proposal.
Rio: We definitely won’t have all of the infrastructure done on time because we're Brazil and we're corrupt and we never do anything on time. But we’re going to build a temporary arena on Copacabana Beach for beach volleyball.
IOC: We have a deal.

Copacabana was the perfect place for beach volleyball.  Even though Rio had to build a temporary arena made completely of scaffolding and it was probably symbolic of the wasteful nature of the Olympic model of having cities build lots of facilities for obscure sports, Rio absolutely had to have beach volleyball at Copacabana.  Rio is a beach city.  Many cities in Brazil are beach cities.  And Copacabana is one of the most famous beaches in the world. It is the heart of Rio. It had to be there.

It does not look anything like a temporary structure from the inside.

The Perfect Time
Our evening started at about 7:30 pm when we walked from our Airbnb down the beach to a private party.  Since Paul and I both had the Chase Visa United Airlines Explorer credit card, we each were able to bring three guests into the “private” party with "free" food and drinks.  So it was a good way to tailgate.  As a bonus, there were interviews and meet-and-greets with Olympic athletes.  On this night, Summer Sanders, and Olympic gold-medalist in swimming in 1996, interviewed Connor Jaeger, a silver medalist in the 1500 meter swim. 

Connor Jaeger and Summer Sanders, both Olympic medalists in swimming, talk about swimming.

After eating and drinking our fill, we headed down to the ticketing center near the volleyball arena at about 9:30 so the Gifford’s could try to get some tickets for track and field the next day and maybe the rest could score a primo event at the last minute.  While the rest of the crew were in line, I witnessed the most awkward scalping job ever as five Americans without enough currency tried to buy tickets to beach volleyball from a middle-aged Brazilian lady.  I really should have stepped in to facilitate the transaction because the Americans were not experienced scalpers and the Brazilian lady certainly wasn’t...When the rest of our group had finished their legitimate ticket purchase, the secondary ticket exchange still had not taken place. Regardless, at about 10:15 we entered the volleyball arena for the first match which started at 11:00 PM.  That may sound late, but like Chileans and Argentinians, Brazilians do everything a few hours later in the day than Americans.  And Brazilians like to party. So whoever decided to play the matches at 11 and midnight was a genius because it perfectly fit the culture of Brazil.

I'm not sure what song they were playing in the pre-game when they turned off the lights and told us to turn on our phones.

Paul representing the Stars and Stripes before the matches from his front row seat.

The Perfect Teams
It could not have been any more ideal to have one match featuring Brazil and another featuring the US. The first match was Brazil vs the evil doping Russians.  I think Brazil dispatched them with very little trouble.  Unfortunately, it must have been cooler than 90 degrees because the Brazilian team was all covered up.  All the other teams wore their eye-patch outfits (inside joke).

Ace! Ace! Ace!

After Brazil beat Russia, it was time for the midnight match between the US and Australia.  The US team featured Kerri Walsh-Jennings who had won gold in the previous three Olympics with Misty May-Treanor.  This Olympics she was with a new partner, April Ross.

Ross and Walsh-Jennings.

Here comes the BOOM! Here comes the BOOM! Here comes the BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! (That was a "song" they played after an emphatic kill.)

The US match was made immensely more enjoyable by the arrival of four NBA players: Kevin Durant, Draymond Green, Jimmy Butler and DeAndre Jordan.  At first they were sitting in a section reserved for Olympic athletes.  They spent most of the time getting their pictures taken with Olympic athletes in other sports, social media-ing, and taunting Australia's cheering section.  It was an entertaining spectacle. Sometime during the second set, they left and I had assumed that Coach K had had his grandkids send some texts with nothing but emojis to the NBA players telling them to get back to the cruise ship. (That one was a joke for myself.)  Instead, they moved to court side seats.

Draymond sending appropriate Snaps.

Draymond sending appropriate Snaps from better seats.

Walsh-Jennings and Ross dispatched the Aussies two sets to none and that led to lots of excitement and celebration from the numerous Americans there.

Celebrating with the NBA players.

Covered up for their post-match interviews

Paul celebrating in the rowdy section.

April Ross took a selfie with Paul's phone!

After spending a good half hour after the match watching the celebrations and taking in the atmosphere, we finally headed out, taking one last evening stroll along the Copacabana.

The Perfect Olympics?
Far from it. As I mentioned earlier, Rio spent a lot of money on the Olympics that it could have spent in other ways.  Which reminded me of a Sunday adventure I had a few weeks ago with my Uncle Ron and some of our friends.

Iowans dropping some cash in Minnesota at the first Vikings pre-season game at US Bank stadium.

A few weeks ago, I went to the first ever pre-season game in the new Vikings stadium. The stadium is spectacular and I remember thinking to myself how incredible it is that I live during a time period where there is something so awesome. I've often had this thought before during (some) Hawkeye games or Kenny Chesney concerts or a Broadway play or beautiful day on West Lake Okoboji and especially at the Olympics in Rio. I just wonder "How is it possible that that something can be so awe-inspiring?"

A few weeks ago, as I was thinking about the stadium, and today as the Vikings are preparing to play their first regular season game there, I thought about how awesome it is but I also thought about how  it was funded by Minnesota tax dollars and how that was very controversial since critics of the stadium believe that the state's scarce resources should be spent on something more vital than a billionaire's football stadium. I also thought about how critics of the Olympics believe that Brazil's scare resources should be spent on something more vital than a bunch of stadiums for sports people only care about every four years. Of course that stadium had led a carload of Iowans to spend about $500 in the state of Minnesota that they otherwise would not have.  And the Olympics got a half dozen Americans to drop $15,000 in Brazil that they otherwise would not have. The stadium cost way more than $500 but it was so incredible that I want to go back and drop a few hundred more dollars in the state of Minnesota.  The Olympics cost way more than $10,000 but it was so incredible that I want to go back and drop a few thousand more dollars in Brazil.  So is a stadium like US Bank Stadium really worth it economically?  Are the Olympics worth it economically? Are they worth it psychically?  Hard to say? I'm an historian and amateur travel blogger, not an economist or psychologist.  But at least US Bank stadium will be used multiple times a year for decades, unlike some of the Olympic venues.
 
So are the Olympics worth it? 

Read my previous blog posts.

Look at those smiles.

Damn right it's worth it.

Rio Post #4: Saturday Night at the Blue Oval

Here's a quick review/preview of my series on the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio:
Rio Post #1: Women's Gymnastics Individual All-Around
Rio Post #2: Qualifying Stages and Specialized Events
Rio Post #3: The City of Rio de Janeiro
Rio Post #4: Saturday Night at the Blue Oval
Rio Post #5: Party on the Beach

There are few things that generate the electricity, energy, enthusiasm, and excitement of a big-time college football game at night.  It is rare and it is special.  A big athletic competition on a Saturday night has a different feel than an event on any other night.  Most people have been off of work and don't have to work the next day so they can "enjoy" the day and night without inhibition.  That creates a boisterous atmosphere that crackles as people walk to the stadium, find their seat, and soak in the action on the field.  Certain Hawkeye night games in Kinnick stick out like Arizona St in 2003, Syracuse in 2007, Michigan in 2010, and Pittsburgh last year.  Tailgating all day, the gradual crescendo of energy, the jubilant crowds of people cramming into Kinnick, the black and the gold, and an Iowa victory create emotional snapshots of what a big sporting event should feel like. I'm sure the Iowa-Iowa State game at Kinnick Stadium this Saturday will have that type of intensity and atmosphere, but I will never deign to attend one of those games again. 

I mention all of this because there was this kind of energy as we went to  track and field on Saturday night. As we were going through labyrinthine lines and queues, the energy emanating from the Brits and Jamaicans (whether they were native, diasporan, and/or bandwagoners from other Caribbean countries)  was palpable.  As we were herded this way and that to eventually reach the train and then the stadium, I remember commenting to the group that this had a feel of a big time sporting event.  The Brits and Jamaicans were so excited because the corresponding Saturday night at the 2012 Olympics in London had been a big night for them.  On the first Saturday night of track and field, there are four gold medals awarded: women's 100 meter dash, women's heptathlon, men's 10,000 meters, and men's long jump.  In 2012, a Jamaican woman won the 100, and Brits won the other three gold medals that night.  So on this warm, humid Saturday night in Rio, Jamaicans and Brits were understandably excited as the potential for a repeat in the same events was possible.

Adding to the personal excitement of the evening was that this would be the first time to ever see a professional track and field competition.  There are very few people who love track, but I truly did.  It helped of course that I was a fast sprinter so I didn't have to run any 400s or 800s or any other foolish distances.  And since the track was blue, it brought back memories of competing on the blue track at Drake Stadium and the blue tint that is on the bottom of my track spikes that are still in the closet in my old bedroom in Remsen.

The blue track!

The Giffords

Lindsay has a jacket on. It must cooler than 80 degrees. (This is before they moved by us.)

Paul in the upper deck

Paul with a great seat upgrade. (He moved down by us.)

At the actual competition, there wasn't anything as exciting as a kickoff to get us started.  The first events were the men's pole vault prelims (which took the entire evening) and the javelin portion of the women's heptathlon.  The most exciting thing early on was that American Michelle Carter, who had won the women's shot put earlier in the day, was honored with the playing of the national anthem and the American flag was raised right in front of the Gifford's and me.

Is he going to make it?!!!!

Um, no. Time to slide down the fire pole.

Michelle Carter

I did not sit or kneel during the National Anthem.

Since I don't remember the exact order of the program and I don't feel like looking it up, I'll just describe the four gold medal events in ascending order of interest and excitement.

Heptathlon
I do remember that the 800 meter run portion of the Heptathlon was the last event of the evening.  Going into  Belgian had a commanding lead over Jessica Ennis-Hill, the defending champion from Britain. Ennis-Hill, however, was a much better 800 runner than the Belgian.  She didn't quite have enough and Ennis-Hill finished second.  It would have been more fun if Ennis-Hill had won since there were so many Brits there.

A side note: our seats were right by the tunnel where the runners come out. After I returned to the states and watched track on TV, I realized that I could have been on TV all night but I only went right by the tunnel once. 

In the tunnel. Ennis on the left. The Belgian in the middle.

Ennis-Hill in the lead, but she didn't quite win by enough. Paul likes this picture because they look like they're skipping in unison!

Men's Long Jump
The long jump was very exciting.  Jeff Henderson, an American, was the second to last jumper and in second place.  His final jump put him into first. Clutch. The final jumper was another American, Jarrion Lawson.  He had a tremendous jump and where his feet would have landed would have won it.  He thought he had won it.  His college coach from Arkansas thought he'd won it.  Everyone in the stadium thought he'd won it except for me and officials working the pit.  While watching on the jumbotron, I saw his arm drag.  He finished fourth and he and his coach went nuts and the crowd gasped and I basked in the keenness of my eye.  So Henderson won the gold, a South African won the silver, the Brit who was the defending champion won the bronze, and Lawson was fourth.

I'm not sure which American this is. But Paul took an amazing picture.  And this is about a 25 foot jump.

Men's 10,000 Meter Run
My antipathy for distance running and endurance exercise is well-documented in the pages of this blog (see here and here).  So an event in which the competitors run twenty-five laps seems pretty boring.  However, this event is a testimony to the difference in watching a competition on TV versus watching it live.  I was interested for all twenty-five laps by the strategy, the pace (all the laps were between 62-70 seconds for the leaders), and the drama of the favorite Mohamed Farah.  In the middle of the race he was tripped by another runner and fell and the entire stadium gasped. The finish was super intense as it became evident that he might rebound from the fall and win.  Everyone was cheering him on because we understood what a remarkable physical feat he was about to accomplish.  And he won!  He fell down and still won!  Incredible!  Here is a recap of the race that includes his fall and victory.  

About to run 25 laps.

If you're going to run 25 laps, what's another 150 meters?

An early lap

Mo Farah wearing the Union Jack.  "I think I'll walk this victory lap."

Women's 100 Meter Dash
The premier event of the night, of course, is the 100 meter dash which is highlighted by the sprint rivalry between the US and Jamaica, mon.  It's very strange the highlight of the night was done in ten seconds, but there's something dramatic about pure speed on display.  Since we have a lot of good pictures, I'll let the pictures tell most of the story.

Check out those asses.

On your mark!

Set!

Jamaica, MON!!!!

There were lots of Jamaican fans in the stands and they were very happy that the 100 meters went almost perfectly except for that annoying American who finished second.

Conclusion
It was a great night of competition, but throughout the meet (and many of the other competitions) one of our concerns was keeping tickets in pristine condition and making sure we left the stadium with our commemorative beer cups. I think we all left the stadium with our corners sharp and cups in our possession. It was a fitting way to conclude a big time sporting event.