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Rio 2016: What to watch, August 5th, 6th
Wait. What? The opening ceremony is tonight, August 5th but competitions actually began on Wednesday, August 3rd? Well, okay, then. Seems a little like having Tony Bennett sing a couple of songs and then interrupting him with an opening act before he "officially" begins his concert but, whatever. We've already had a bunch of soccering going on, including the Canadian women's team beating Australia in their first game so there's already been some true north strong and free flexing. Crack open some cold ones at Canada House! (Seriously, stay away from the water, athletes. Drink only Canadian beer for the next two weeks and I'll do the same, just to be on the safe side) By the way, Google actually refers to this as Day 0 and that means Canada's soccer win came on Day -2.
Nevertheless this is the official jumping off for the Games of the XXXI Olympiad. (I'll bet if you typed that into the Google search engine but forgot the "I" on the end of it, you'd get some pretty interesting results.)
Here we go. You can count on Yahoo Sports for a daily viewing guide to help you plan your schedule of excuses to leave the office due to a "special assignment project."
Tonight is all about the opening ceremony (CBC, TSN, 6:30 pm ET), where Rio gets to put its best foot forward and show that these Olympic Games will not just be about polluted water and and loose, arcing electrical wires flirting with the faint smell of gas in the athletes' village. In 2012, London had Queen Elizabeth team up with James Bond and parachute into the Olympic Stadium as well as Mr. Bean and Paul McCartney. Not bad (arguable) but if nothing else - and I mean nothing else - goes right at the 2016 Olympics, we should be able to count on the city of Carnival to provide us with a spectacular opening ceremony (and an off the charts closing ceremony).
The ceremony's executive producer has said "we managed to create something very interesting with very little," as a nod to the ever-decreasing budget he was faced with. So look for a lot of kids dancing around in costumes their parents slapped together the night before, I guess. The ceremony is said to have a heavy dose of "the environment" as a theme so I'm handing the first medal of the games to organizers. Gold for irony.
Some fun you can have during the opening ceremony:
* Bet with your friends on how many Russian athletes walk in. This seems to be a fluid situation and should change right up until they're announced.
* Partake in a CBC opening ceremony drinking game. Get snockered as you down one for every time you hear the phrases "give us a sense" or "on the ground," or "there's a Canadian connection," or "the pride of...." Be sure to set your PVR beforehand because there is a chance you'll pass out before it's over.
* If Pele - who was invited to light the cauldron but might not be able to because of, believe it or not, a previous engagement - is a no go, you could have a side bet in place as to who will dip the torch. My money's on Ronaldo or Gisele Bündchen.
* Keep your eyes peeled for someone in the crowd wearing a Saskatchewan Roughriders jersey. They're everywhere.
Saturday, August 6th is Day 1 and there are 21 events seeing action. Lots of Canadian rooting interests, too, including that Canadian Women's Soccer Team going up against Zimbabwe (CBC, 2pm ET).
The Canadian Women's Basketball Team, ranked ninth in the world, gets its schedule underway with a game against eighth-ranked China, a team Canada swept in a three-game series in Edmonton, last month (TSN, 1:15 pm ET)
Beach volleyball is thought to be a glam Olympic sport anyway, but plunking it down on a beach in Rio somehow makes it extra sizzly, doesn't it? If you thought you might catch a glimpse of some nude sunbathers in the background of the action, however, that is not in the cards. They built a big ol' stadium for the event. Now, I'm not saying there won't be any naked people in the stands.... (TSN2, 9 am ET) Canada's Ben Saxton and Chaim Schalk take on Latvia at 10 pm.
I've heard people rave about rugby sevens and the sport was a big hit at the 2015 Pan Am Games. The Canadian women's team has two games on Day 1, meeting Japan at 11:30 am and then Brazil at 4:30 pm ET. (TSN)
Everyone into the pool on Saturday night! Canada's Ryan Cochrane takes aim at a medal in the men's 400 metre freestyle although his day to shine will more likely come on August 13th in the 1,500 metre event when he tries to upgrade the bronze (2008) and the silver (2012) he's won at previous Olympics. Day 1 swimming coverage is on CBC at 9:30 pm ET.
