Back to last night, starting with women's gymnastic qualifiers. Hoda did the prerequisite "up close and personal" on Simone Biles, including the sexual abuse scandal in USA Gymnastics. In terms of the qualifications, the "Russian QISE Committee" aka ROC (the Russkies are on a timeout due to a doping scandal) came in #1 over the US. A troubling sign? We'll see. I'm guessing US team officials would like a "do over" when they made their selections--all to get a #BilesnChiles tag (they didn't even show all of Chiles performances). noticed the NBC commentators are really downplaying the minor errors the US gymnasts are making. Nastia in particular is pooh-poohing the judges.
We get our first glimpse of an actual interior set (part from Rebecca Lowe's standups) as Steve Kornacki covered medal stats on his big board. More teak, a surfboard, and a fake window with the Tokyo skyline.
Another supposed "GOAT", Katie Ledecky, falls to so-so silver (at least it wasn't shameful bronze) after a long lead up. Oh, and can someone give Randy Gaines a Xanax?
"Prime Time Plus" starts with more skateboarding. Really can't get into this--not aimed at my age group. It seems like source material for "agony of defeat". Is there a skateboarding race? I would enjoy that. Maria Taylor takes the hosting handoff from TIrico, just as they move over to her sport, volleyball. I find myself fast forwarding and keeping an eye on the scoreboard. Former gymnast (and current analyst) Laurie Hernandez comes in to review the team's issues and preview their next steps--seems like (and is) filler.
Just a few hours later, it's the Today Show, with the team onsite (wasn't sure if that was going to happen). Of course, it's a big rah-rah session. Al Roker brings us up to speed on the imminent typhoon--looks like it will go farther north, but there's still plenty of rain in Tokyo.
Rebecca Lowe is back for daytime coverage, handing off to canoe slalom. Commentator quote of the day: "Impossible is just an opinion." Get Successories on the line!
While more team sports and reruns from last night air, some QISE-adjacent stories:
Per Yahoo Sports, Japan lied about expected temperatures to the QISEOC. Well, duh! The 1964 Tokyo games were held in October for this reason. Of course, the QISEOC could have Googled it, but as long as the money and caviar keeps flowing, they couldn't care less about the athletes.
Per Sports Media Watch, NBC's ratings so far have been dismal. Combined ratings of NBC, USA, NBCSN, and CNBC from Saturday night (first night of competition) hit 8.2/15.3M viewers, down from 13.1/23.5M in 2016, or 13.1/24.2M in 2018 for the last Winter games. You can point at several factors: virtually no live events in US time zones, people who were stuck inside for a year and a half don't want to stay there to watch, the lack of spectators at the venues reducing drama, QISEOC controversies, conservatives boycotting due to prejudging that athletes will protest, holding the games in an off year...take your pick.
We finish up afternoon coverage with women's 1500 Freestyle Swim heats--a great opportunity to hit the "skip 30" button to move through the 15 minute event quicker. The NBC commentators took a bow, taking partial credit for getting this event in the games. QISEOC felt for decades that "women couldn't race that far". Why am I not surprised?
A bit later, Torico kicks off prime time, forced off the dock due to the typhoon (now a tropical storm). More glimpses of the inside set, including physical screens. We've yet to get a wide shot. He throws it to men's synchronized diving from the high platform. Sorry, no Triple Lindy.
Enough for one day. More to come.