JCC Arena 2020 Summer Olympics - Tokyo Japan

Watching the syndicated Opening Ceremonies now. As I see all of these former Soviet Union territories marching in as independent countries, it's hard to even fathom how it was before the mid-1980s; did the Soviet Union all march in with one delegation - like 1000 athletes for one country?

 

There wouldn’t have been as many athletes because there are a limited number of spots for each competing team.

 

Understandable.

 

ok that opening ceremony was pretty dull apart from - that drone-light show ! That was awesome , was it really done with flying drones ? how would they ever keep so steady?

 

Not that shocking.

 

So I'm at the gym, they got our ladies soccer game on. Took me a moment as they're in red not white to recognize them. But we're up by 1 over NZ. only 13 min in

 

Twice Heath has been denied by offsides.

And they keep showing Alex Morgan on the sidelines more than people on the field

 

Wish I didn’t have work I would definitely be watching, but I don’t think my boss would care for me watching the Olympics. Then again he doesn’t care if I use the internet.

 

Three straight 1-hitters for Team USA softball. Just amazing.

And they still might find themselves in a dogfight with Japan, the reigning champs (from 2008) who are also 3-0 and hitting well.

Should be fun.

 

Yes, it was done with drones. After the NBC live morning broadcast of the ceremony yesterday, one of the commentators in their Olympic news show afterward got their hands on one of the drones and showed it close up on camera. It was a very lightweight drone made of transparent parts with a large light fixture in the center, possibly LED.

As for how it was so steady, most likely the whole swarm was controlled by a single computer that kept them in sync.

 

Here's the thing, Japan should be utterly forgiven for having a rather modest opening ceremony this year. The entire Olympics was postponed last year, and given that they were forced to consider social distancing rules and limited capacity gatherings, how much collaboration could they have used while the pandemic was still going strong in the country? I have a soft spot for Japan. I visited there in 2010 and despite I was like a duck out of water in terms of the language, the people were very kind and helped me through when I needed it. I was happy for them when they earned the hosting job of the Olympics, and was imagining what they're opening ceremonies could've been like. We'll never know what it might've been if there were no COVID; but I'm not faulting them for how it turned out. It was modest and above all suggested the important message of unity, which is something a lot of these host countries don't really do much of.

 

USA doing really good in the swimming events.

 

We were watching swimming, but that Softball walk-off looked amazing...

 

It was. The US's bats still need to wake up, but Haylie McCleney has been the best hitter in the tourney-- her legging out a single is what set up the winner (which was her bolting in to score from 2nd).

Spoiler: Intense breakdown of what's happening in softball

Now we've got a fun scenario with Canada-Japan up next-- if Canada wins, and then Japan beats Team USA tmrw...it'll be a three-way tie at the top. Tiebreaker after H2H is runs allowed, which is why those 1-hit shutouts are extra important for USA. But it also means literally the *number* of runs in this very next game could determine who plays for the gold.

If Japan wins, we have a weird scenario where they play Team USA tmrw BUT both are already in Tue's gold medal game. Likely will be an exercise in gamesmanship w/ backup pitchers etc. and trying to get a further read on tendencies.

Anyway that's why anyone reading this should stay up and watch this next game in 30 min.

 

anyone know when they get to the skateboarding ?

 

It was on overnight on NBC.

 

LOL USA basketball

 

No chemistry and really doubt they will pick it up in a few days.

Meanwhile, Zolostic wins gold in women's Taekwondo:

https://www.espn.com/olympics/story...nited-states-first-gold-medal-women-taekwondo

 

Another extra innings walkoff, TOLD YOU

Rematch of the 2008 final tonight, and again Tue for all the gold.

It will be the last Olympic softball you'll watch for 7 years, but in addition to that...

Spoiler: Reasons to watch the softball gold medal game

--Cat Osterman, likely on the Mount Rushmore of all-time women softball players, came out of retirement purely in an attempt to avenge that loss to Japan 13 years ago.

--Monica Abbott, prob the best pitcher in the world over the last decade, was also on that team...and she's actually been playing in JAPAN! She's a 5x MVP there and several Team Japan members are her pro teammates.

--On the flip side, Japan returns the starter who won the gold for them in 2008...Yukiko Ueno. She's an 8x MVP dating back to 2002. Tom Brady eat your heart out.

--Also returning is the outfielder who hit the decisive home run off Osterman in the final, Eri Yamada. That's going to be an epic at-bat.

In addition to the rivalry of the vets, both teams have some great youth-- Team USA features one of the best two-way players ever in 24-yr-old Rachel Garcia, and Japan has a flamethrower named Goto Miu who is only 20. Both of them may see the field in the game tonight to preserve the aces for Tue.

...and would be fun as hell to see develop for the next Games if the IOC could pull its head out of its ass and realize it's one of the most gender-equal sports. For reference, in 2021 ratings for the women's college game outpaced the men's college game here in the US. That is no small feat. These athletes deserve the chance to compete.

 

The IOC are moving up my crap list.

Not content with their covid idiocy, commercial greed can be added in with them selling the UK TV rights to pay channel Discovery. The BBC is showing some but not everything. This was not the case for 2012 and 2016.

 

Josh Okogie too. He might not be able to shoot, but he’s the only player on the Timberwolves willing to play defense.

 

https://www.reuters.com/lifestyle/s...enhofer-stuns-dutch-win-road-gold-2021-07-25/

Austrian amateur surprisingly wins cycling gold over professionals. The olympic spirit is alive.

 

NBC has Steve Kornacki as part of their Olympic coverage.