What to Watch - Aug. 19

While there were still 64 gold medals left to be handed out as of this morning, it's reached the point where there's not as much to show in primetime. So don't be shocked when there's a 30-minute break at 9:30/10:30 (EST) for NBC to air it's "Olympic episode" of the show Super Store. I've never watched the show and even with an Olympic-themed episode, I plan to fast forward through it on the DVR.

The U.S. men's volleyball team is on a four match winning streak, after losing its first two matches, and looks for a win in the semifinals against Italy. One of those early two loses came against Italy. The other semifinal match features Russia and Brazil.

Team USA is looking for a second straight gold in women's water polo as the team defend its title against Italy today at 2:30 p.m. (EST). Both teams are unbeaten so far in Rio.

Today the U.S. men's basketball team looks to assure a medal by winning its semifinal game against Spain at 2:30 (EST) to advance to the gold-medal game. The team finally put together a solid win against Argentina on Wednesday but Spain will still be a tough a test. Spain's biggest player (in name recognition) is six-time NBA all-star Pau Gasol. The winner faces the winner of the Australia/Serbia game for the gold and silver while the losers meet for the bronze medal.

I mentioned USA boxer Claressa Shields the other day who was fighting in the quarterfinals to defend her gold from London. She advanced and now meets Kazakistan's Dariga Shakimova in the semifinal. I don't know exactly how the tournament works but Shields has already guaranteed herself a medal, she's fighting now to find out what color it will be.

The men's 10m platform diving competition gets underway with USA's David Boudia looking to defend his 2012 gold and add another medal to his Olympic collection. China's Qiu Bo, who took silver in London, is still a three-time world champion. Steele Johnson, who won silver with Boudia in the synchro event last week, is also in the competition.

The women's golf tournament enters the third round today with notable Inbee Park of South Korea leading American Stacy Lewis by one stroke. The two golfers in third entering the day, Great Britain's Charley Hull and Canada's Brooke Henderson, are just two back. This is still anyone's tournament as "moving day" begins.

In taekwondo, American and Sugar Land native Steven Lopez is hoping to win his third gold and fourth overall medal at 37-years-old. He won his first gold 16 years ago in Sydney. The round of 16 goes throughout the morning with the gold medal matches tonight.

Today is everything for men's freestyle wrestling rolled into one - qualifying, eliminations, medal matches, etc. Team USA's Jordan Burroughs is the defending 74kg Olympic champion and three-time world champion. He wants to leave as the greatest freestyle wrestler of all time and has a good chance for that if he wins another gold.

Medals will be handed out in track today in perhaps the best event of the entire meet - race walking. Everyone thinks this is a joke, and it kind of is, but these people move! They take power walking to a whole new level. Whoever said you have to move with both feet off the ground to get cardio is wrong.

Field finals tonight include women's pole vault and men's hammer throw, while it's the first rounds of both the men's and women's 4x400m relays.

The big events for tonight will be the men's and women's 4x100m relays. On the women's side, the U.S. is in the final but not without some issues. In the prelims yesterday, Allyson Felix missed the handoff, pretty much throwing the baton, in the second/third leg exchange. It looked like the U.S. was done but the team still finished the race. Turns out Felix was bumped, unintentionally, by the Brazilian runner next to her, which caused her to stumble and miss the handoff. Felix knew in that instant that if the team didn't finish the race there would be no chance at a protest to be reinstated. The team won the protest and had to run a time trial last night, alone on the track, to earn a spot in the final. They killed it, posting the best time of any team, and getting back the chance to defend their gold from London. The U.S. will have the most competition from Jamaica followed by Great Britain.

In the men's 4x100 all eyes are on Usain Bolt, I mean, Jamaica. If Jamaica wins, Bolt will have nine gold medals in nine Olympic races since 2008, a perfect 9-for-9. Does he have a chance? Uh, yeah. While, he "struggles" in the 100m, it's different for him in the relay. In the individual race it's hard for him to get out of the blocks because he's such a big guy but then his stride makes up for it mid-way through the race, taking less steps than the average competitor. In the relay he runs the anchor leg where he doesn't have to start in the blocks and then proceeds to blow past everyone else. The U.S. had the top qualifying time ahead of Japan, China, Canada and then Jamaica. But that doesn't mean much as teams like the U.S. and Jamaica didn't run all it's runner that will be in the final. Expect this to be between Jamaica and the U.S., if that.