Root, root root for the home team

I'm watching the U.S.A basketball team embarrass the Chinese. The Chinese have been competitive, especially in the first half, but it was mostly due to a string of three-pointers, a hot streak that didn't hold. The U.S. team has owned the area around the basket, I'd be surprised if more than half of their points haven't come of of dunks and lay-ups.

It's 87-52, this is getting ugly.

Chinese broadcasters seem much less reserved than Americans, and are obviously openly rooting for the Chinese team (which doesn't bother me a bit, I just find it funny) though they are not above complementing the U.S. on having good balls. (An amusing direct translation.)

All in all, looks good for the U.S., crisp and team-oriented play, which seems to be what they were missing four years ago according to everybody on the planet. There have also been some real pretty plays.

The medal count here is gold-focused, listing those teams first which have the most gold medals, not that have the most medals, period, which, of course, is not how we do it in the U.S., though I have no idea how they do it anywhere else. Obviously, this is to serve the interests of having "China" on the top of the board, since are likely to win the most gold medals this olympics, though they may still lose the overall count to the U.S. I wonder if this is the way they counted four years ago. Perhaps I'm just overly cynical.

Also, in the vein of yesterday's "ridiculously sentimental" part of the post, there was a montage of the Chinese men's soccer game, which they lost to Brussels, with a sappy song playing over it that started, "Don't cry, the one I love most." It really is like living in a soap opera here sometimes. Also, the Olympics graphic in the bottom corner of the screen reads, "Watching the Olympics Together."

One big happy family, this place.