.
Disclaimer: I am not much of a sports fan, but I read a lot of news media. I figure anybody who wants coverage or results from the endless stream of events will find them elsewhere (h/t NotMax for the link), so mine will be a random series of links for those human interest and WTF stories that might otherwise slip under your radar.
My favorite was the comment on a tweet from the news platform that just said, “That means there ARE spectators! ??”
— ????????/Elisabeth Kaseda (@elisabethkaseda) July 21, 2021
SRSLY —
The Tokyo Olympics have barely started but that hasn’t stopped the games from experiencing more than its share of disturbances – including a roaming bear that cannot be contained https://t.co/273cnib6nn
— The Washington Post (@washingtonpost) July 22, 2021
About 950 people to watch opening event at stadium, official says https://t.co/4OPIuPgYzx pic.twitter.com/3lgYAaWKWk
— Reuters (@Reuters) July 22, 2021
IOC's Bach says he didn't know how complex it would be to stage the Games https://t.co/rDkeIW9oM8 pic.twitter.com/iuztFC3vdu
— Reuters (@Reuters) July 20, 2021
Reuters correspondent Mari Saito’s twitter feed is well worth following:
1/ NEW: It was bittersweet to write about Ted Adegawa, who helped built his town into the surfing destination it is today. First, his torch relay was canceled. Then they banned fans. Now, like everyone else, he'll have to watch the event on TV. #tokyo2020 https://t.co/NZYWyX9xqZ
— Mari Saito (@saitomri) July 21, 2021
3/ Ted decided to move his surf business to Isumi after he saw American soldiers surfing perfect swells there in 1970. It meant so much for him and other locals to host the Olympics' inaugural surfing event here. In anticipation of the Games, Ted even opened a tiny museum here pic.twitter.com/htd1S0Qh9w
— Mari Saito (@saitomri) July 21, 2021
7/ It's all very bizarre. Empty stands in towns that hoped for an Olympic boost with events only attended by dignitaries and athletes.
Many locals seemed hyper-aware of the optics of the event held during a pandemic and were extremely cautious about sounding at all critical
— Mari Saito (@saitomri) July 21, 2021
This year’s Olympics Games are like no other, and it’s apparent from the meticulous procedures people must go through just to get to Tokyohttps://t.co/gIkCZijpZp pic.twitter.com/BarvorHim8
— BBC News (World) (@BBCWorld) July 22, 2021
Our @AFPFactCheck team debunks the no sex on Tokyo Olympics beds story.
I’ve even seen some proper media outlets run this too good to be true story, almost certainly ones that never bothered to hire a Japanese (or Japanese speaking) reporter ??https://t.co/wjqMSfzs9m
— Jerome Taylor (@JeromeTaylor) July 20, 2021
The International Olympic Committee added 18 new events in Japan in a push toward gender equity. There are an equal number of women and men for every sport, excluding baseball and softball because of differing roster sizes.
by @jennafryer #Tokyo2020
https://t.co/HBimIelN2S— AP Sports (@AP_Sports) July 21, 2021
Olympics Athletes to suffer alongside Tokyoites as Japan's heat soars https://t.co/yUbm0rBddk pic.twitter.com/WkRT1oMyUh
— Reuters (@Reuters) July 22, 2021
Medal count: One prediction has the US winning the most mdeals and most golds in a a wide-open Olympics.
by @stephenwadeap #Tokyo2020
https://t.co/5qCmzoIx1p— AP Sports (@AP_Sports) July 20, 2021
The Tokyo Olympics open Friday and predicting the overall medal count will be more difficult than usual because of the pandemic and the absence of many qualifying events over the last year.
In one forecast done by Gracenote, which supplies statistical analysis to sports leagues around the world, the United States is picked to win the most overall medals. The Americans are also picked to win the most gold medals. After that, the picking gets more difficult.
China is probably the next choice but many athletes from the country have appeared in few international events since the pandemic. This makes predictions difficult since Gracenote’s calculations are based on the most recent performances in top level events like world championships and so forth.
A team from Russia, host nation Japan and Britain are expected to be among the top five…
Gracenote has projected the United States to win 96 overall medals. This is down from the 121 the Untied States won five years ago in Rio de Janeiro. Gracenote has the United States winning 40 gold medals, 27 silver and 29 bronze…
Just yesterday!
Tokyo 2020 chief does not rule out cancelling Olympic Games https://t.co/RXRkdlkYSO
— BBC News (World) (@BBCWorld) July 21, 2021
Jim, Foolish Literalist
It was a brown bear? the report I saw said it was an Asian black bear.
I did not know there were brown bears in Japan
NotMax
Tokyo Olympics.
Where we find out what happens when five rings are simultaneously thrown into Mount Doom.
HumboldtBlue
Radioactive plague-ridden feral bears roaming the countryside? You don’t say. We’re gonna soon learn Godzilla was ursine in lineage and not an awkward looking dinosaur thing.
Normally I’d be all over the Olympics, particularly summer, but I haven’t watched a second. The games should not have gone on.
Mathguy
The predictions for the medals is amusing. Two sports I actually know something about, track and field and cycling, have some very lazy picks for medals.
Jim, Foolish Literalist
I really want to watch that movie
NotMax
@Jim, Foolish Literalist
Bearnado!
Jim, Foolish Literalist
@NotMax: I may finally have found my path to Hollywood!
Bearzilla, Bearnado, BearZombies, The Bearbadook, Child’s Play 2021: The Bearening.
A whole Bear Terror Network. Underwritten by Stephen Colbert.
Doug R
Well, at least the games won’t be unbearable.
NotMax
@Jim, Foolish Literalist
Winnie the Poohminator. “I’m here to eat honey and kick some butt. And I’m all out of honey.”
Major Major Major Major
Was surprised how many people bought that bed story.
Brachiator
I am not a super sports fan, but hell, I went to the 84 games in Los Angeles.
I can’t get interested in the Tokyo games. Really wish they had delayed them.
HumboldtBlue
@Jim, Foolish Literalist:
While Bare Naked Ladies play in the background of a Bareback Mountain setting?
Kinky.
trollhattan
@Jim, Foolish Literalist:
They are delicious!
#WhalesMoarTenderThanBear
I’m watching. Because Olympics. Besides, the Tour ended Sunday.
Jim, Foolish Literalist
Joe Biden un-sleepily leaves a ‘reporter’ stammering. Gonna recheck that thread to see if she gets ID’d. My first thought was Fox, of course, then I remember those other Fox wannabes.
trollhattan
We demand the right to endanger children not our own seems to be trending.
WhatsMyNym
@Jim, Foolish Literalist: The brown bears would be in Hokkaido (as is Sapporo). The second largest island is north of the main island and mostly rural with rugged terrain. Did I mention that it is also cold in the winter?
trollhattan
@WhatsMyNym:
Gamera is from Hokkaido. He’s the children’s friend, so only adults will be consumed by bears.
piratedan
@trollhattan: note to self… watch some mst3k this weekend
a thousand flouncing lurkers was fidelio
@Jim, Foolish Literalist: The comments to that tweet include one of the best Clippy memes I have ever seen.
Another Scott
@Jim, Foolish Literalist: Nice that he (the Twitterer) is pushing Shontel for Congress, too.
Thanks.
Cheers,
Scott.
Chetan Murthy
@Jim, Foolish Literalist:
Q: “Mr Biden, have you picked a running mate yet?”
A: “Yes I have [wait a beat] YOU!” (pedals away)
Jay
The plan today, was to go to the Chehalis, watch the water run, fill our heads with river song.
Didn’t happen. Fire alarm tests in our building, followed by an injury to one of the testers, so a new team had to be brought in, so 6 hours flushed, with constant annoying alarm sounds.
Instead, we ran up Pipeline Road to the Coquitlam River.
It’s become a bit of a dumping ground, Covid party zone, but it was still nice to watch the birbs, dragonflies, and hear the river song.
After lunch, and a rest time, we decided to walk up the road a ways and check out the access points. There was an SUV parked at one of the points, guy inside, windows down, pointed towards the river, enjoying some of BC’s finest. We got within 20 feet, and she said, “that’s a big dog”. As it’s butt passed behind the SUV, I said, “no, that’s a Bear”. Just after I said it, the bear fully reared up to see where the voices were coming from, right by the drivers side front windshield. Taller than the SUV.
So we carefully backed up all the way to the truck.
Drove up to the gate, dude was still toking with all the windows down. I don’t think he ever saw the bear.
Nice day though.
Major Major Major Major
CaseyL
Lots of bears, and bear stories, tonight.
My neighbors, spending the weekend at their place in Ocean Shores, had a black bear come wandering by their back yard, along the canal. Ray took photos, and said at one point the bear stood up right outside the sliding glass door. The bear then continued his/her stroll along back yards the rest of the way up the block.
There’s still a fair bit of wilderness in that area, and I’d heard there were bears about, but this is the first time someone I know saw one.
mrmoshpotato
@Jim, Foolish Literalist:
Yes, please!
mrmoshpotato
@a thousand flouncing lurkers was fidelio: LOL! That’s so good!
JWR
Probably already mentioned, (posted yesterday), but what the heck, it’s kinda slow tonight, and this fits:
Yeah, he bearly made it out alive.
Martin
Reminder: all of the major venues for the 2028 Olympics are already completed.
JWR
Today’s Background Briefing with Ian Masters was quite good:
sab
@Major Major Major Major: Your grey kitty is more gorgeous than my grey kitty, who I used to think was the prettiest kitty I had ever seen.
ETA We have six cats. Others are nicer cats, but Shadow is the best looking.
WereBear
@sab: Some of my cats are prettier than others, but I honestly find them all beautiful :)
Geminid
Whatever happened to the Overton Window? I used to hear about it all the time. Was there a recall?
Baud
@Geminid:
I hope it’s been smashed into a million shards.
Geminid
@Baud: It may have been. But it might reassemble itself like that robot in Terminator II.
NotMax
@Geminid
Superseded by the Overton Arrow Slit.
David ? ☘The Establishment☘? Koch
this Olympic opening needs some fireworks
David ? ☘The Establishment☘? Koch
the thing is overton’s window failed. it was designed to manufacture public consent to privatize Social Security in 2005. Yet it got into the orange blood stream and for awhile you couldn’t hear the end of it.
Geeno
@mrmoshpotato:
@Jim, Foolish Literalist:
I would be glued to it
Uncle Cosmo
Ever had whale?
In August 2000 above the Arctic Circle in Tromsø, Norway, I’d wandered down to where an Irish festival[1] was in progress, and as I stood just inside the entrance to the tent where food was being cooked, a fellow pushed a plate toward me and said, Try this.
I looked at what looked like thumbsize pieces of well-done sauteed round steak. What is it?
Whale, he replied.
I figured, Wayull[2], s/he’s already dead and cooked, so what the hval[3]…
It was just like well-done sauteed round steak – if said meat had been soaking in a vat of cod liver oil for a week.
I picked up a pamphlet with a couple dozen recipes for cetacean cookery (just as a bizarre souvenir), bought a beer, moved toward the band and started singing along[4] while thinking of bumperstickers for Norwegian autos:
Etc.
[1] Anyone know the Norwegian for “go figger”? I’ll take it in either bokmal or nynorsk…[2] Pronounced, per my WV cousins, i.e., “whale”.[3] In at least one version of Norwegian, “whale.”[4] The songs were the same classic Oyrish choons I’d learned in years hanging out in the Hibernian pubs of Baltimore. At the break I discovered the band members were all Norwegian – when I expressed surprise they said they just liked the music. [Insert Norwegian for “Go figger” here.]
(ETA: Have I beeched recently about what a PITA it is to have to edit a post in Text mode, which jams all the paragraphs into one? Grrrr….)
Miss Bianca
@HumboldtBlue: BEARZILLA!!