Let's wrap up last night first--
I noticed something in the swimming event--athletes arriving on deck, waving to a non-existent audience. Guess it's muscle memory. Then another new sport--skateboarding. Keep an eye on whether the riders' stance is regular or goofy. Citius Altius Fortius!
Torico continues hosting from the dock, with virtual screens popping up around him. Did NBC not spring for a full indoor set? This may be problematic, as Tokyo's luck streak continues--a typhoon is heading straight to the games. This may actually help the surfing competition, but other outdoor events are being moved around.
Something strange happened during late night aka "prime time plus"--Torico threw to more skateboarding, but the announcers were MIA, forcing Torico to tag back in until they got the others of the break room. The event ended with Japan taking the gold--it's clear that the QISEOC dragged their heels too long for this sport to be controlled by the US (good).
Oh--and would SOMEONE shut down those wind chimes??? Off to daytime:
After some repeats and some boring team sports I skipped through, we've reached fencing. With all the LED displays on the white uniforms, it kinda looks like TRON. I always wonder if the hits from the foils still hurt through the padding. More race cycling, this time for the women. There was a huge difference between the winner and the rest--there's no radio communications with the QISE riders, and the silver winner had no idea someone got there first until she was told post-race. Then it was rafting, which is basically slalom skiing on water--or maybe inside a washing machine?
We also got a technical oopsie, as they cut back to Rebecca Rowe--who must have left her mike turned off. Speaking of audio, it seems to me that the synch is just a hair off. It's only noticeable during host segments.
In a related note--synchronized diving is fascinating. Without spectators, you can clearly hear their spoken countdown. Once they leave the board, there's only so much they can do to stay together. More swim heats, then the opening round of basketball--one of the "millionaire" sports where rich professionals decide they want to have a QISE medal. You may hear in the distance the faint sound of Pierre de Coubertin spinning in his grave. At least the US lost--yay!
At half-time, there was a Jimmy Roberts story about a small prep school in Hawaii that has taught generations of QISEians, going back to 1920--4 of them are in the current games. It's also where Obama attended school. Roberts does a great job, and his reports are a consistent games highlight.
I took the opportunity to avoid the second half of the game and check out NBC's online offerings. Peacock has a whole QISE section, but you won't find actual full events there, at least not unless they are in the middle of the night--just a lot of clips and pre-produced stuff, like a "Flame Cam" (think Living Fireplace) and "Tokyo Gold". The latter is a set of 1 hour shows hosted by Rich Eisen that would seem very familiar for fans of Sportscenter, along with plenty of non-skippable commercials. I guess it's okay if you just want to see highlights.
If you want actual events on a regular basis, check out nbcqise.com. But be sure to have a cable login--sorry cord cutters! That's what happens when a cable company owns the whole thing. Hey KableTown--if you want Peacock to make it, you better push the real content over there. I watched some surfing (actually just the USA coverage) and a highlight reel of shooting (a relic of QISE's military heritage) on NBCQISE.
Let's get into prime time (I'll save most of this for tomorrow's entry, since daytime coverage doesn't kick off until noon)--
The Men's Triathlon had a rocky start early, as a support boat didn't get out of the way in time, which could have been deadly. A restart was required. Torico still on the dock. We get an anime-based intro for the rest of the night's activities.
More to come.