2020* (2021) Summer Olympic Games

I just walked past a long line of younger Tokyoites waiting to take their turn shooting selfies at one of the olympic ring logo-statues.

It bugs me a little bit that that was the biggest crowd I've seen anywhere around this event.

 

i'm glad they decided to have the games. i wish they would stop disqualifying people who test positive but are asymptomatic.
officials still seem to be struggling with the difference between cases and hospitalizations.

i also think they should have allowed family and friends to attend the games.

as for the games themselves, we are really enjoying them so far.

 

The pandemic has obviously wreaked havoc with the logistics and the competitors but I think the organizers have done a nice job with what they had to work with. The opening ceremonies were subdued but still with a good amount of technology and innovation shown. There's already a lot of drama in the individual events and plenty of personal stories to go around.

Here in the western U.S.A. the television coverage has been horrendous. NBC, NBCSN and USA Network have been broadcasting the Games basically 24/7. What we're given is rerun after rerun after rerun instead of live coverage. Because of the time difference the networks are saving "first views" until the next day and claiming they're live. Then they rerun those during overnight coverage the next night.

If they want to broadcast big events to a Primetime audience, fine. Show the tapes. When they're on the air while live events are going on, show the live events. We didn't need to see the US soccer team play the same game 4 times or the softball team play the same game 4 times while the pool play games of other countries was occurring live. That, and the announcers are all suffering from the same malady that plagues most of the sports coverage here. The announcers are all suffering from diarrhea of the mouth.

 

VACCINATED family and friends yes. I agree with you. I disagree with your perspective on positive cases. Asymptomatic cases still are contagious. Unfortunately, certain areas hosting competitions are facing major outbreaks and need to protect the locals and other competitors, often from irresponsible competitors. While some people can't take the vaccines for legitimate medical reasons we also have over 100 athletes on the US team who have chosen not to get it.

Disqualification is unfortunate. It's harsh. As an athlete who grew up in a pharmacist's family and just missed qualifying for the Trials in the 1970s, though, I understand why it is being done.

 

we can agree to disagree. i look at data, not media hype.

we get the live olympics in the middle of the night, so i dvr it and watch at leisure, rather than having to wait for the replay.

 

Not sure what data you're looking at for what purpose. An asymptomatic person transmitted a case to my neighbor who just spent three weeks in the ICU and almost died. Where have you read that all persons with positive Covid tests are no longer capable of transmitting the virus to someone else who might then develop a more serious case?

After a few days of replays, even in the middle of the night, coverage was better overnight. Maybe they're getting the hang of it.

And yes, I do know that NBC also has a live feed online.

 

one of my docs told me the data shows that asymptomatic vaccinated persons are not contagious.
was your neighbor vaccinated?

 

I saw them practicing a couple of nights before the show. They turned the local baseball field into a drone airport for a week leading up to it.

 

Can fully vaccinated people still transmit the virus to others, including other vaccinated people?
While it is possible, Dr. Cardona says that the ability to transmit COVID-19 may occur at a lower rate. She adds that this could also be a reality for people who don’t have a good immune response to vaccines.

 

He wasn't fully vaccinated yet. Probably a big reason why his case was so severe. But he caught the case; he didn't transmit it. The person he and his wife caught it from was not asymptomatic but had a very mild case.

What is the actual data coming out of Japan and the international community? We have a major political party that has dedicated itself quite vocally to discrediting any data coming out of American scientific community and convincing a large number of gullible people in the process. I firmly believe that party is wrong but they have publicly created a situation where the international community is relying on its own resources, taking our data with a grain of salt. We're paying a price for the last administration showing the world we are not to be trusted anymore.

We have two statements here but neither you nor Ronald Doles cites the data, only relating hearsay evidence. While fully vaccinated people may transmit the virus at a reduced rate, Dr. Cardona doesn't relate anything concrete about what that reduced rate is. Unless the real data shows they are not capable of transmitting the virus at the same rate or a rate approaching those with negative tests, I would still stand on the side of caution. There are hundreds of unvaccinated athletes at risk as well as millions of locals who are dealing with a major breakout of serious cases.

 

I agree 110%. Why would Japan let family members attend when a large portion of certain countries ( cough...USA...cough ) would rather get a 'fake vaccine passport' rather than getting vaccinated? Even if people were honest it would be a huge logistical nightmare. Not to mention *athletes* not wanting to get vaccinated.

We also wouldn't even be having this conversation if people would have gotten vaccinated in the first place. Now we are hearing stories of folks being admitted to the hospital and *then* beg for the vaccine. And then they have to be told it is too late. I just can't believe how freaking gullible people are to buy into the anti vax and anti science propaganda. The human mind is a fragile thing....so fragile it's more than a bit frightening.

I kind of liken this to the anti ACA ( 'Obamacare' ) propaganda that people latched onto. The fact that healthy people couldn't even put themselves into *their own future shoes* and realize they may fall ill at any time and be financially wiped out just boggled my mind...But people fought tooth and nail against it.

 

as i said, fully vaccinated, AND asymptomatic. i don't know where the data is, but i trust my doc, he hasn't steered me wrong yet, and he is an expert on the immune system, and following the science very closely.
anyway, it's just my opinion, no need to get political about it in this non fhopol thread.
i didn't mean to upset the applecart

 

looks like they're doing a good job containing things so far

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I try to make all of my posts 'like no other.'

As far as the Olympics?
Gimme a break!

If I want to watch or listen to a bunch of self-righteous one-percenters fish-slap each other over silly political issues, I do not have to wait four years or try to navigate time zones and The International Date Line to catch a glimpse of somebody who dedicated a large percentage of their lives to the "sport" of Solo Synchronized Swimming or Skateboarding.

I can watch any sport right here in the US to keep up with the latest in political drama

 

really enjoyed the gymnastics last night

 

My favorite is women’s beach volleyball.

 

Now that BMX has graduated from exhibition status to "real sport" status it has become the one I actually seek out.

Mostly because I really loved riding when I was a kid. Never got into organized racing or the freestyle scene but not everyone is a born athlete. Sometimes it's just for fun.

I do wish there was better public access to some of the raw feeds, particularly the "color & motion" loop. It's typically shot off-speed with digital cinema cameras for aesthetic reasons. A never ending loop of slow-motion action shots, fan reactions, flags waving and so forth, and it's done in long individual clips without any audio such that rights-holders can use bits of it in their own shows. But I like watching it before it gets sliced into a 7-second glitch edit with 9 other shots.

 

Never been a particular BMX fan, but I freely admit that it's more athletic than NASCAR!
Since they somehow still allow shooting as an Olympic event - athleticism isn't the end all be all for the games, and BMX'ers definitely compete.