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Post by philknj on Jun 9, 2021 15:49:33 GMT
This forum usually sets up a summer or winter Olympics thread, so with a month-and-a-half to go, here it is ... and I think the Games will proceed. It's getting rammed through by the government, regardless of significant and vocal opposition. The politicians know they're getting clobbered by their stance, but they've probably decided that it's better than giving in to the germophobes, who won't be appeased, bought off or silenced no matter what "safety theater" measures are put in place.
Everyone is in a tizzy over there as they are learning that Covid "mitigation" has turned into a delaying action. It might be good for buying time, but what did they use that time for? As of this late date, Japan has administered at least one vax shot to 11% of its population. I don't get it ... how did a modern, sophisticated and RICH country like Japan get caught with its pants down on vax availability and distribution? Agent Orange said three vaccines were coming ... AstraZeneca said its vaccine was coming ... even the frickin' Chinese and Russians said their vaccines were coming!!!! What was the govt. doing during the last nine months of 2020? Apparently nothing except sitting on their thumbs.
Meanwhile, the games are going forward, but the worrywarts will have their say, no matter what:
A spectator raises a paper sign reading 'It is impossible to hold the Olympics, face up to reality' along the race route during the half-marathon as part of Hokkaido-Sapporo Marathon Festival 2021, a testing event for the Tokyo 2020 Olympics marathon race, amid the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic, in Sapporo, Hokkaido Prefecture, Japan May 5, 2021, in this photo released by Kyodo. Kyodo/via REUTERS
Think about this one for a second ... therefore, waiting for a bus or cab outdoors is just as bad as watching an outdoor road race? Or have cabs and buses been mothballed? A member of the security personnel wears a sign that reads "In order to prevent infection, please refrain from watching," along the route before the start of the Hokkaido-Sapporo Marathon Festival 2021, a half-marathon and a 10K race which is a test event for the Tokyo 2020 Olympics marathon race, amid the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak, in Sapporo, Hokkaido, Japan May 5, 2021. REUTERS/Issei Kato/File Photo
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I think they are collectively losing their minds over there, but this guy's solution was NO solution at all:
Japanese Olympic official dies after jumping in front of train
A senior official at the Japanese Olympic Committee (JOC) jumped in front of an underground train in an apparent suicide on Monday morning, private broadcaster Nippon Television said, citing Tokyo metropolitan police sources.
The police are investigating the details surrounding the death of the official, Yasushi Moriya, 52, viewing it as apparent suicide, the television network said.
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I think Simon Biles made the US women's gymnastic team Sunday night ... I guess there was some doubt to this beforehand, which is why NBC had to get those Worth Watching women golfers off its airspace at 7 PM EST.
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Team Australia dropped out of Baseball because they can't go through the qualifying process in time. The qualifying was originally scheduled for Taiwan, then moved to Mexico (aka Frying Pan -----> Fire). I assume similar issues might pop up for other sports. It sure looks like these will be the most screwed up Games in history.
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Here's a wonderful pic collection at CNN showing the 1964 Tokyo games:
If a scene like this happens in 2021, the offenders will be scooped up and put on an airplane in World Record time.
Italian athletes tour Tokyo during the Games.Mario De Biasi/Mondadori/Getty Images
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Post by philknj on Jun 19, 2021 15:27:27 GMT
The U.S Olympic Track & Field trials kicked off Friday in Eugene, OR.
The old record stood for 31 years ... and the new record is about 76 feet and 8 inches in American numbers.
EUGENE, OREGON - JUNE 18: Ryan Crouser competes in the Men's Shot Put final, throwing for a world record of 23.37 meters, during day one of the 2020 U.S. Olympic Track & Field Team Trials at Hayward Field on June 18, 2021 in Eugene, Oregon. (Photo by Andy Lyons/Getty Images)
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Your county jail looks more inviting.
Members of security stand in front of a gate at the Olympic and Paralympic Village for the Tokyo 2020 Games, constructed in the Harumi waterfront district of Tokyo, Japan, on Friday, June 18, 2021. The Japanese government will end a state of emergency for Tokyo, Osaka and other areas on June 20 as planned, about a month before the country is due to host the Summer Olympics. Photographer: Noriko Hayashi/Bloomberg via Getty Images
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They make the Purple Gang at the 2017 USWO look like amateurs.
TOKYO, JAPAN - JUNE 19: A protester speaks near Shinjuku Station during a protest against the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games on June 19, 2021 in Tokyo, Japan. As IOC officials start arriving in Japan for final preparations, and with less than 40 days to go until the opening ceremony of the Tokyo Olympics, protesters are calling for the Games to be cancelled due to the rising cost and the threat of COVID-19. (Photo by Takashi Aoyama/Getty Images)
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Post by rlspore on Jun 23, 2021 2:51:05 GMT
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Post by philknj on Jun 28, 2021 10:52:27 GMT
I'm inclined to agree ... the Olympics should be for sports that don't have a World Series, a Super Bowl, a World Cup, a Grand Slam, etc.
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Sydney McLaughlin of Dunellen, NJ (not far from me) broke the world's women 400m hurdles record yesterday. BTW, the action in Eugene, OR was suspended when the temp hit 109F, WTH!!!
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Post by HappyFan on Jun 28, 2021 17:07:20 GMT
Yeah, we're going through a ridiculous heatwave up here. It's been over 100 in Seattle the past two days, and today they're predicting 108 (!!). I don't think I've ever seen it get that hot here. Tomorrow the high is predicted as "only" 95, so hopefully today is the worst of it.
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Post by SoYeonFan on Jun 28, 2021 17:56:31 GMT
Yeah, we're going through a ridiculous heatwave up here. It's been over 100 in Seattle the past two days, and today they're predicting 108 (!!). I don't think I've ever seen it get that hot here. Tomorrow the high is predicted as "only" 95, so hopefully today is the worst of it. I wish I could say the same that it may cool off here in the Phoenix area. Not even eleven o'clock yet and it's over one hundred degrees. I guess my next Golf outing will be when we go to San Diego. I will probably play Torey Pines North Course, it's more Scenic. Besides my game isn't good enough to play the South Course anymore.
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Post by HappyFan on Jun 28, 2021 18:08:36 GMT
The difference is that everyone in Phoenix has air conditioning, whereas that's relatively rare up here. I'm lucky that the house I just moved into has air conditioning, but I have friends and relatives not so fortunate.
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Post by SoYeonFan on Jul 1, 2021 18:44:57 GMT
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Post by jumpcut on Jul 8, 2021 15:13:14 GMT
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Post by HappyFan on Jul 8, 2021 15:35:50 GMT
MEN'S golf and other sports get a lot of attention, but women's sports never gets more attention than at the Olympics (OK, maybe except for tennis). Women's golf is big in Korea, but when Inbee won the gold medal in Rio, a quarter of the Koran population stayed up to watch the final round, and it ended at like 1:30 AM there. I believe they said that was like ten times the audience a women's Major usually gets, and the sport is super popular in Korea. To this day, the gold medal is still Inbee's main calling card, more so than even her 3X Majors in 2013 or her Hall of Fame status.
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Post by rlspore on Jul 9, 2021 1:55:58 GMT
Hmm, but I think Olympic golf is only popular where women's golf is already popular. The Koreans certainly don't need any more promotion at home. Maybe I'm just a jaded American tired of all the rah rah Go USA absurdity, but seems like there are better ways to promote women's golf.
And now with no fans, it's even crazier to hold these games.
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Post by philknj on Jul 19, 2021 9:13:32 GMT
A Reuters article says the medal winners will pick up the medals off a tray and put them around their own necks.
... and now this gem:
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Post by philknj on Jul 21, 2021 15:05:09 GMT
The official opening ceremony is Friday, but The Games have already started.
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The rare moment when I can agree with Megan Rapinoe:
“We got our asses kicked, didn’t we?”
Sweden 3, USA 0
From a Yahoo! article:
Coach Vlatko Andonovski chose a veteran-heavy group to come here and become the first team to ever follow a World Cup title with Olympic gold. But with experience comes age, and the Americans started five players over 32 years old. Two of the first three players Andonovski brought off the bench were 39 and 36.
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Japan waffled Australia 8-1 in softball ... the game went only five innings. That's a pretty liberal mercy rule ... my softball league has a mercy rule, but we've been whupped by much bigger margins than that. Back to the drawing board for Team Oz ... they got beat by a 39-year-old pitcher.
Japan's Minori Naito (L) slides safety into the home plate under the tag by Australia's catcher Taylah Tsitsikronis (R) in the first inning during the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games softball opening round game between Australia and Japan at Fukushima Azuma Baseball Stadium in Fukushima, Japan, on July 21, 2021. (Photo by KAZUHIRO FUJIHARA / AFP) (Photo by KAZUHIRO FUJIHARA/AFP via Getty Images)
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Brisbane was awarded the 2032 Games ... nobody else wanted it.
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Post by sharrow on Jul 23, 2021 3:48:26 GMT
A Reuters article says the medal winners will pick up the medals off a tray and put them around their own necks.
... and now this gem:
OMG, that is so hilarious. As if lack of a proper bed has ever stopped anyone under 40 from having sex. Lol, athletes will even have more time than usual for hooking up with no fans around. Records will be set! Lmfao.
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Post by IceCat on Jul 25, 2021 1:50:04 GMT
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