Sunday was the first downright chilly day we have had in London. It was sweatshirt and umbrella weather. Most folks had on at least a couple of layers as the intermittent thunderstorms, wind and temperatures in the 60s made it feel like early December in Charlotte, and there’s more to come over the next few days. “Welcome to summer in London,” one Brit told me.
• Charlotte resident Casey Eichfeld fell just short of advancing in his whitewater canoe competition, finishing 14th when only the top 12 made it to the next round.
“For the most part, it went right,” Eichfeld said. “The speed just wasn’t really there, so I kept pulling and trying to get there as fast as I can to the finish. It wasn’t my best work.”
• One of the London newspapers here has a guy with a byline too good not to be true – Ian Ladyman.
• It’s always fun to read the international press coverage of the Olympics. Here’s a reference from an Australian newspaper you probably wouldn’t see in America. One Australian wrote that when Michael Phelps finished fourth in his first individual race of these Olympics he looked like “an overgrown schoolboy who lost his satchel.”
• The French 4x100 swimming gold-medal team caused much grumbling among the press when it decided to blow off its post-victory news conference following the win over the Americans.
• In the U.S.-France basketball game, Boris Diaw set a hard enough pick to knock down Deron Williams in the first quarter and also got an offensive rebound and a putback – two things that Charlotte Bobcats fans rarely saw from him.
• French point guard Tony Parker, suffering from the after-effects of an eye injury, wore goggles during the game. But when he shot free throws, he would put them on top of his head the way you do with sunglasses when it starts clouding over.
• One thing that it always takes a few games to get used to in the Olympics – Coach K wearing a polo shirt instead of his usual dark suit. But that’s what just about everyone does. Every day is casual Friday at the Olympic basketball tournament.
