Enough rambling from me already, right?! This (Wednesday) evening, I took a few minutes to compile a few of the Brazillion great stories from some of the best writers in the business, all of whom are here in Rio and I am lucky enough to call my colleagues and friends. Read these stories, marvel at the fact that they were written by exhausted humans on deadline in the middle of the night and yet still sing, and then follow this crew on Twitter so you can continue to follow their journeys in Rio. This is but a mosquito-bite-sized taste of their brilliance and only a sampling of the incredible gold-medal journalists working in Rio.

Bonnie Ford of ESPN.com in one of her many great pieces on the IOC/Russian doping scandal. It’s the athletes who are losing out. READ IT HERE

Sally Jenkins of The Washington Post on why NBC is insulting just about everyone — but mainly women and all Olympic athletes — with their tape-delayed coverage. READ IT HERE

Mina Kimes of ESPN The Magazine on how Rio’s one-percenters are experiencing the Games. READ IT HERE

Eric Adelson of Yahoo Sports on the strain the Games is putting on the people of Rio. Also, tear gas near a playground. READ IT HERE

Johnette Howard of ESPN.com on the best gymnastics team of all time. You know who I’m talking about. READ IT HERE

Wayne Drehs of ESPN.com on one of his greatest areas of expertise, Michael Phelps. READ IT HERE

Jesse Washington of The Undefeated on U.S. fencer Daryl Homer. READ IT HERE

Kurt Streeter of ESPN The Magazine on the 96-year-old father of American judo. (He’s here in Rio!) READ IT HERE

Dave Sheinin of the Washington Post on Katie Ledecky. READ IT HERE

Graham Hayes is on the road in Brazil with the U.S. women’s soccer team. READ IT HERE

Missy Isacchson of espnW on the U.S. men’s gymnastics team’s disappointing showing in team finals. This type of story is so hard to write, and so hard to do well, and she did it beautifully. READ IT HERE

Jim Caple of ESPN.com on the U.S. women’s basketball team. If for no other reason, read it for the lede. READ IT HERE

Ann Killion of the San Francisco Chronicle on U.S. rugby, a league “banging the drum for scrums.” READ HERE

Allison McCann of FiveThirtyEight.com on which sport is hardest on its goalies. READ IT HERE

Mark Stein of ESPN.com on team USA vs. their biggest foe in Rio. (They have one?!) READ IT HERE

T.J. Quinn is reporting on air from Rio each day. WATCH HIM HERE

And of course, tonight’s espnW Storyline Showdown from Julie Foudy and me. WATCH IT HERE

And our preview of What To Watch on Thursday, August 11. WATCH IT HERE