This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2016, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
Rio de Janeiro – Brazil shouldn't be in this position, but the host country needs to beat Nigeria on Monday and have Spain lose to Argentina in order to qualify for the quarterfinals of the Olympic basketball tournament. So it will be a stressful day for Jazz guard Raul Neto and the Brazilians, and they're not the only ones feeling the pressure. In what's becoming my Summer Games tradition, I will be joined by Tribune photographer Rick Egan in attempting to complete the media decathlon – watching significant portions of 10 events in 10 venues. The itinerary begins with a 9:05 a.m. bus ride from the Main Press Center to the field hockey venue (featuring blue turf), where Australia is meeting New Zealand in the quarterfinals. If everything goes as planned, the schedule will conclude with the women's 400 meters in track and field at the Olympic Stadium at about 10:45 p.m. One of the stops will be the Brazil-Nigeria basketball game in the afternoon, as the home team tries to stay alive after blowing chances to beat Argentina in an eventual double-overtime loss Saturday. If the Brazilians win, they'll hope rival Argentina beats Spain in the next game. The positive element is that while Argentina has clinched a quarterfinal berth, it needs a victory to have any shot at the No. 1 seed from Group B and presumably will give full effort. Spain must win to advance to the quarterfinals (assuming Brazil wins) and the team is rolling after a 109-59 win over Lithuania. – Kurt Kragthorpe