You Can't Win 'em All, but Two Outta Three Ain't Bad

Our final weekend in Paris coincided with the final weekend of the Olympics, and we were not going to spend the entire time packing.  We had a full schedule on Saturday, starting with a morning bronze medal match in women's water polo (US v. Netherlands), lunch at the apartment of our friends Rachel and Abdeslam, the gold medal match in women's soccer (US v. Brazil) with Esther and her son Milan joining us, and then dinner after the match at some restaurant with both outdoor seating and screens set up to watch the men's basketball gold medal game (US v. France).   

We were hoping for at least one US win in the three games, and water polo seemed a likely candidate.  US women's water polo had been dominant for years, entering this Olympics as the odds-on favorite for gold.  They were seeking their fourth consecutive gold medal and looking to extend their distinction of being the only team to medal in every Olympics that has had women's water polo.  In fact, we got the tickets to the bronze medal match thinking that it would be unlikely to include the US team.  In the previous round, however, they were stunned by Australia, so they would be playing for the bronze and we would be in attendance.  

Count water polo among the various sports we had never seen played live until the Olympics.  We were excited to learn a bit about the sport and experience the overall vibe.  And given that everyone seemed to expect the US to win the gold, we figured they were as good as a lock on bronze as they could be.

Here's a photo of a time out.  We had good seats, pretty close to the action, but it turns out that getting good shots of water polo play is difficult (or at least my phone camera and I are not up to the task).  Those are the Americans on the far right.

The US women were impressive, taking an early lead and staying ahead throughout the four quarters.  Their goalie, especially, seemed outstanding, and their scoring attack was balanced.  Their lead was on occasion cut to one goal but expanded a couple of times to four.  (This is in a sport where 10 goals can often be a winning total.)  We cheered on the US team in an arena dominated by Dutch fans.  Here are a few:

The game seemed to well in hand, even though the US lead was being gradually eroded as the fourth quarter clicked down.  And then, almost before we could process what happened, the Netherlands drove down and tied the game.  The US turned over the ball on their next possession, and Netherlands called a time out with just a few seconds remaining.  They pulled their goalie to give them a player up, inbounded the ball, and swam down the pool towards the US goal.  With their one player disadvantage, the US inexplicably chose to cover all of the players on the team except the undisputed star/top scorer. She swam down the middle, unhindered, shot, and scored with something like one second left.  The crowd went wild (except for us).  The US women lost 11-10.  We were not as devasted as the players, their families, and their die-hard fans, of course, but it was a particularly demoralizing loss given their seeming dominance throughout most of the game.   

We headed back to the apartment feeling a little deflated.  We had another game to prepare for, though.  That morning before water polo, I had made USA soccer t-shirts for Esther and Milan, who had no appropriate gear but wanted to show their team spirit during the match.  Here is the second one I made (considerably better than the first one in which I was really just learning how to draw a soccer ball):

We then headed over to Rachel and Abdeslam's apartment near Alesia for a light summer lunch and delicious pastries from Pain au Sucre in the Marais.  (Alesia is no where near the Marais.  I remarked that Rachel had gone all of the way there for pastries and she said, "Just wait until you try them."  Ah, very delicious indeed, especially the tarte aux apricots, with a wafer-thin pastry crust.)

After a lovely lunch, we headed to Parc aux Princes with them---they also had tickets to the game, but in a different section from ours---splitting off near the stadium and going to meet Esther and Milan.  

We arrived early, before the stands were full, but there was still a lot of spirit from both sets of fans.

A few minutes before start time, the stands were packed and we had a set of very colorfully-dressed Brazil fans in front of us.  Immediately before game time, the PA system announced Gala Rizzato, singer of the dance song "Freed from Desire," which has become the de facto anthem of the Games.  (I think I have heard the song at least two dozen times in the last two weeks.  And it's catchy enough that I've probably sung it to myself 50 more times.)  She performed the song accompanied by a small group of very energetic dancers to an excited crowd.  

It was a tense game, knotted at zero for most of the 90 minutes.  Brazil had one goal called back for off-sides, and there were shots on goal on both ends of the pitch.  Finally, the US women broke through in the 57th minute to take a one-goal lead, which they kept for the remainder of the game despite a relentless Brazil team.  When the whistle finally blew after 10 minutes of extra time at the end, we were elated!  

The game ended around 7pm.  We considered staying for the medal ceremony, but it seemed like it was going to take a while to set up.  We headed for the RER to take us back to the 6th and to find someplace where we could have a drink, grab a bite to eat, and watch the US men play France for the gold medal in basketball.  

We found a pizza place on Boulevard St. Germain that was perfect---great Neopolitan pizza, draft beer, and a clear view of the large screen they had set up on the sidewalk for Olympics viewing.  I had decided before the game that I didn't care too much who won.  France and the US were my two favorites teams, and one would go home with gold, the other silver.  So I was happy to just relax and enjoy watching them play.  The atmosphere at the cafe was joyful and collegial, and I got the impression that many other fans agreed with me that the outcome didn't matter too much.  Both teams had flashes of brilliance and it was fun to cheer both on.  The US did end up on top, though, with a stand-out performance by Steph Curry.  (As an aside, when Esther and I taught our data analysis class together, we included an example involving Steph Curry to illustrate the binomial distribution.  So it seemed fitting that something like eight years later, there we were together in a cafe on Boulevard St. Germain cheering on Steph Curry's masterful three-point shooting.)

We went home exhausted from our long and eventful day and slept well that night.