Miscellaneous Olympic Musings

The Olympics started having mixed medleys - both men and women competing side by side - with the Tokyo Games.  Oh, I get it.  That way, the American women can carry our guys when the guys start falling behind their male counterparts from Croatia.

From a distance, it appears at first glance that there are people in the stands at Tokyo's Olympic Stadium during competition, though we already know that's not the case.  Ironically, it turns out that the seats are of different colors to create the illusion that the stadium is always full - a subtle touch by the stadium's architect, Kengo Kuma.  The deceptive optics of people in the stands at the Olympics are sort of the equivalent of fake engine noises in electric cars. 

The ROC?  What, the Republic of China, also known as Taiwan?  No, the Taiwanese compete under the code TPE.  The refugee team, then? Nope.  Well, what does it stand for, then? The Russian Olympic Committee.  Russian athletes compete as neutral athletes. representing no country, because f the anti-doping ban imposed on Russia.  Sort of like when the twelve countries of the former Soviet Union competed as the Unified Team.  Now the Russians are only unified by shame.

I heard the announcer on NBC announce "France's boss" before a track qualifier.  Macron?  No, Pierre-Ambroise Bosse, a French track runner.  Funny how paying half-attention while you're working on your blog can cause mishearings like that. 

I never seem to be able to catch an Olympic soccer game, men's or women's.  Ironically, watching the Olympics has caused me to miss the CONCACAF Gold Cup, in which the U.S. men's national team has been playing.  As for the men's soccer tournament in Tokyo, I am, as always, rooting for whoever can beat Brazil.   

This post is as close as you will likely get in these 2020 - no, 2021 - Tokyo Olympics to satire.

P.S. Congratulations to the the winner of the men's 100-meter race, Lamont Marcell Jacobs of Italy. He's originally from the United States; he's half black and and half Italian and was born in El Paso. I'm sure a lot of Americans are as happy with his victory as well as the Italians are. And don't expect some sort of witty or sarcastic comment about this.