Screen Shots: Tuesday, August 6th, 2024

Welcome to Screen Shots! This is where I tell you what you should watch on TV. It’s going to be a very sports-centric list since that’s really the only thing we have left that you simply must watch live. Speaking of watching things, you should watch me on YouTube! Have your own suggestions? Shoot me an email at [email protected]!

The men’s 100m final was obviously insane, but the United States and Jamaica actually have a history of photo finishes at major championships on the women’s side. Gail Devers’ lean just clipped Merlene Ottey at the 1996 Games in Atlanta to claim gold for the US just 3 years after doing the same to Ottey to win gold in the 100m at the 1993 World Championships. Veronica Campbell-Brown got some revenge for the Jamaicans in 2007 when her lean was enough to claim the 100m World title against Lauryn Williams. To the events!

Men's Basketball: Germany vs. Greece Quarterfinal at 5 a.m. ET on E!, Peacock and NBCOlympics.com

Why you should watch: Germany has looked very much like the team that came away with gold in the FIBA World Cup last year. I’d need a lot of Jägermeister if my team’s hopes relied this much on Dennis Schröder, but maybe they’re used to it. Watching Greece has been almost the same as watching the Milwaukee Bucks in all of the worst ways, right down to the Thanasis sideline shots.

Men's Basketball: Serbia vs. Australia Quarterfinal at 8:30 a.m. ET on USA, Peacock and NBCOlympics.com

Why you should watch: How good is Nikola Jokic? He played 31 of the 40 minutes against Team USA. In those minutes, the score was even. In the 9 minutes Jokic didn’t play, Serbia lost by 26. How will the Boomers handle Jokic? They are led by Jock Landale, who has plenty of experience guarding him in the NBA. Experience isn’t necessarily good experience though. We’re all still waiting for Patty Mills to turn into Olympic Patty Mills.

Women's Soccer: United States vs. Germany Semifinal at 12 p.m. ET on USA, Peacock and NBCOlympics.com

Why you should watch: These 2 met earlier in the tournament, and the US crushed Germany 4-1. I’m no soccer expert, but I feel like Germany should probably try and stop that from happening again. Both teams had a battle in the quarterfinals to get here. Trinity Rodman continued her incredible play with a goal in OT to win it against Japan to save us the stress of penalty kicks. German fans weren’t quite as lucky as they had to endure PKs to send Canada home with their drones. Is there more excitement in store?

Men's Basketball: France vs. Canada Quarterfinal at 12 p.m. ET on USA, Peacock and NBCOlympics.com

Why you should watch: France would be the favorites to win the gold if Tony Parker and Boris Diaw were just a little bit younger. Instead, they are stuck with guards who don’t seem to understand that Victor Wembanyama is Victor Wembanyama. The interior defense of Wemby and Rudy Gobert along with homecourt advantage give France a chance, but they will have their hands full. Canada has looked like the 2nd-best team in the tournament. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and R.J. Barrett have been carrying them. This is the first time Canada has been in the Olympics since the 2000 Games when R.J.’s dad, Rowan, was on the team.

Women's Track & Field: Hammer Throw Final (Medal event) at 2 p.m. ET on NBC, Peacock and NBCOlympics.com

Why you should watch: I once again asked the legendary Coach Herbert Johnson for his opinion, and he said DeAnna Price from the United States will find the podium. He also wanted you to know that Poland’s Anita Włodarczyk is going for her 4th straight gold medal. She’s the only woman ever to win 3 in a row in the hammer throw. She owns 15 of the top 20 throws in the history of the event. Katie Ledecky: 1500m freestyle:: Anita Włodarczyk: hammer throw

Men's Track & Field: Long Jump Final (Medal event) at 2:20 p.m. ET on NBC, Peacock and NBCOlympics.com

Why you should watch: Noah Lyles winning the men’s 100m gold in front of everyone pulling against him was certainly something, but never forget that Jesse Owens beat a German in Germany in front of Hitler for gold in 1936. My remake of Inglourious Basterds will be about that. This used to be one of the premier track and field events, but 99% of people will recognize more names from pre-2000 than post-2000. Miltiadis Tentoglou of Greece is the reigning Olympic champion and has the longest jump of the year so far. Only Carl Lewis has won multiple golds, so this could be historic. No word on whether Tentoglou can sing though. 

Men's Track & Field: 1500m Final: (Medal event) at 2:50 p.m. ET on NBC, Peacock and NBCOlympics.com

Why you should watch: No disrespect to everyone else, but we’re here for Norway’s JakobIngebrigtsen vs. Great Britain’s Josh Kerr. As the reigning Olympic champion with the 6th fastest time ever and a pop hit, it’s easy to look at Ingebrigtsen and think he’s got it all. However, he’s had to settle for silver at back-to-back World Championships, including being outkicked by Kerr last year to lose by just .27. Ingebrigtsen blamed that loss on being sick, despite looking healthier than ever during the semifinals as he played to the crowd as he passed Kerr on the way to win the heat. Things are even spicier off the track, where Kerr has gone on the record saying that Jakob’s success is due to pacers instead of his own ability to control races. He’s already promised a “vicious” race, and I’m here for it.

Women's Soccer: Brazil vs. Spain Semifinal at 3 p.m. ET on E!, Peacock and NBCOlympics.com

Why you should watch: Spain’s bid to become the first soccer team to ever pull off the World Cup-Olympic double was all but over until a miracle goal in the 97th minute sent it to Extra Time. They ended up winning in PKs to keep hope alive. These 2 teams also met earlier and Spain won 2-0 as Brazilian legend Marta earned a red card that could have possibly brought her international career to an end. She will be able to end her career on the pitch at least no matter the result, but you probably won’t see her in this one as FIFA decided to suspend her for a second match. I don’t know enough to complain about the decision, but Brazil has filed an appeal.

Women's Track & Field:  3000m Steeplechase Final (Medal event) at 3:10 p.m. ET on NBC, Peacock and NBCOlympics.com

Why you should watch: Similar to the hammer throw, this one originated in Ireland when people (and horses!) would race from church steeple to church steeple. If you’ve ever tried to do this, there are a lot of obstacles in the way that you have to hurdle as well as big puddles I guess. They modernized this at Oxford, where someone had the bright idea to say, “Uh, what if we just do this on the track, too?”

Men's Basketball: Brazil vs. United States Quarterfinal at 3:30 p.m. ET on USA, Peacock and NBCOlympics.com

Why you should watch: We all saw when LeBron broke Kareem’s record to become #1 on the NBA’s career scoring list, but this past April he also broke the record for career points scored across all of basketball, passing Brazilian basketball legend Oscar Schmidt. He totally should have pulled a Bernie Mac in Mr. 3000 here in Paris. I saw him play in the ‘96 Olympics, where he opened up the tournament by dropping 45 against Puerto Rico on his way to averaging 27.4 ppg. He was 38 years old. Even crazier is that brought his Olympic scoring average down. His best performance was in 1988 when he put up an insane 42.3 ppg, including 55 against Spain. Those are still records. If, for whatever reason, you can’t find me, I’m probably somewhere digging through his basketball-reference page.

Women's Track & Field: 200m Final (Medal event) at 3:40 p.m. ET on NBC, Peacock and NBCOlympics.com

Why you should watch: Julien Alfred destroyed the field in the 100m to make sure St. Lucia’s first-ever Olympic medal was gold. Can she take down another American presumptive favorite in Gabby Thomas? Thomas took home bronze in Tokyo and silver at last year’s World Championships. She looks to continue her progression to gold. The US has two more podium threats in Brittany Brown and McKenzie Long.

Happy Watching!