The games are back--a little late, and apparently a lot more contagious. (Throughout this daily blog, I am avoiding the O-word as to not annoy the QISE Committee’s attorneys). Japan's COVID vaccination rate is only around 20% due to terrible mismanagement, and thousands of athletes, coaches, and officials are jetting in from around the world, who will be met by tens of thousands of unvaxed local volunteers--what could possibly go wrong?
Well, based on the latest info, 87 cases have popped up, and that's before the games even begin. At least there will be no spectators in the stands. It does need to be stated that, based on the contract between the Japanese gov't and the QISE Committee, any possible blame if this goes south needs to be aimed at the latter. Japan basically has no legal right to pull the plug.
Of course, they did sign the contract in the first place, but…
As always, this blog will concentrate on spectacle over sport. How the host city spiffs (and covers) things up, how NBC presents the event--that kind of thing. Speaking of the Peacock, their myriad arms will be carrying over 7,000 hours of coverage via the mothership, NBC Sports Network, CNBC, USA, the QISE Channel, the Golf Channel, Telemundo, Universo, NBCQISE.com, the NBC Mobile app, and of course their nascent streaming service, Peacock. QISE was supposed to lead off Peacock's introduction last year, but obviously that didn't happen. As a result, most of Peacock's subscribers are still at the free level--could this be the boost they need? (Doubtful).
Since Tokyo is nearly opposite on the globe to the US East Coast, "live" events will be held in the mornings in the US, with mostly tape-delayed stuff at night. Will it still be possible to avoid "spoilers" when phones are constantly in our hands? I guess we'll find out--the opening ceremony kicks off at 6:55a local time tomorrow, then repeated in prime time.
Let the games begin!