CAUSE FOR CONCERN
How the Tokyo Olympics became a case of greed, lies, and propaganda
Jul 20, 2021, 4:00 pm
Just give Simone Biles the gold medal in gymnastics. Photo by Getty Images.
The Tokyo Olympics start Friday. Big mistake. The IOCC already postponed the Games once from last year. They couldn't wait another year to stage a safer, more vaccinated Olympics with more fans and less COVID fear?
Tokyo is one of the world's largest, most educated cities, with a population of about 38 million people. Japan is a highly developed first world country with 126 million people. The vaccination rate in Japan is 21.6 percent, less than half the rate in the U.S., and COVID is rebounding big time here. Tokyo is in an official COVID state of emergency, with cases rising every day in the past month.
The most alarming statistic is this: a recent poll has 83 percent of Japanese not wanting the Games to be held. That's up 14 percent from three months ago. They really don't think hosting the Olympics during a health emergency is a good idea.
Some athletes, like rising American tennis star Coco Gauff, aren't attending the Olympics because they've tested positive for COVID at home. Some already have tested positive after arriving at the Olympic Village in Tokyo, where 4,000 athletes from around the world will live in close quarters. The Olympics could turn into a super spreader event. A public health official in Tokyo was on CNN this week urging organizers to call off the Olympics. The Olympic Village bubble already has sprung a leak, he said.
The world couldn't wait another 12 months to watch canoe slalom races? Bruce Springsteen's daughter in horse jumping? Artistic swimming? Three-on-three basketball shouldn't be an Olympic event. Three on three is when the other guys don't show up at the playground.
There was a rumor that Olympic organizers ordered fragile cardboard beds that would support the weight of only one person – to discourage sex among the athletes. First, how out of touch are the organizers if they think fit, world class athletes in their 20s need a bed?
Besides the rumor wasn't true. The beds are sturdy and recyclable.
It will look weird when athletes stand on the medal platform and put sanitized medals around their own necks by themselves. While wearing gloves. So stupid.
There won't be fans in the stands, but there will be fat cat sponsors, thousands of media and 11,000 athletes. You want to make money? Invest in cotton swabs. Everybody will be tested regularly.
Here's how to make the Olympics safer and nobody gets sick. Just give Simone Biles the gold medal in gymnastics and Novak Djokovic the gold in tennis and say good night. I am interested in the basketball competition because the U.S. men will be challenged for a change, and the U.S. women are fun to watch.
Tennis won't have Roger Federer (injury) or Rafael Nadal (rest). The top U.S. woman, No. 4-ranked Sofia Kenin, and the GOAT Serena Williams aren't playing.
Only six teams made the baseball competition and I'm rooting for Israel because I know one of the players who helped the Jewish State qualify. Jeremy Wolf was part of the 2016 Trinity national D3 champions.
Major Japanese corporations and Olympics sponsors announced this week that they won't be sending executives to the opening ceremony. Sponsors include the Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Corp., Fujitsu and NEC Corp. No word from the Japanese TV network that airs the Super Terrific Happy Hour.
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With the Astros now officially ten games under .500 for the season, manager Joe Espada is taking a lot of heat from the fanbase for the team's struggles.
While we don't agree with the sentiment, we even hear fans clamoring for the return of Dusty Baker and Martin Maldonado, thinking the Astros wouldn't be in this mess if they were still here.
Which is ridiculous. First of all, Maldonado has been awful for the White Sox, hitting .048 (even worse than Jose Abreu's .065). And for those of you that think his work with the pitching staff justifies his pathetic offense. Let me say this: Where was Maldy's game calling genius for Hunter Brown, Cristian Javier, and Framber Valdez last year? All of them regressed significantly.
And as far as Baker is concerned, we have no idea how much a difference he would make, we can only speculate. Baker would also be dealing with a pitching staff ravaged with injuries. And let's not forget, Baker was the guy that refused to move Jose Abreu down in the batting order, even though he would finish the regular season with the ninth-worst OPS in baseball.
The reality of the situation is managers can only do so much in baseball. Which leads us to something else that needs to be considered. Is Espada being handcuffed by the front office? Espada and GM Dana Brown both said recently that Jon Singleton was going to get more at-bats while they give Abreu time off to try to figure things out. Yet, there Abreu was in the lineup again in the opening game of the Cubs series.
It makes us wonder how much power does Espada truly have? The Astros have some other options at first base. Yainer Diaz may only have eight games played at the position, but how much worse could he be than Abreu defensively? Abreu already has four errors, and Diaz is obviously a way better hitter. Victor Caratini isn't considered a plus offensive player, but his .276 batting average makes him look like Babe Ruth compared to Abreu. Let him catch more often and play Diaz at first. Starting Diaz at first more often could also lengthen his career long-term.
Maybe that's too wild of a move. Okay, fine. How about playing Mauricio Dubon at first base? I understand he doesn't have much experience at that position, but what's the downside of trying him there? If he can play shortstop, he can play first base. He's driving in runs at a higher rate (11 RBIs) than everyone on the team outside of Kyle Tucker and Yordan Alvarez. And he's producing like that as part-time player right now.
The other criticism we see of Espada is his use of Jon Singleton to pinch hit late in games. Let's be real, though, who else does Espada have on the roster to go to? Batting Abreu late in games in which you're trailing should be considered malpractice. Espada can only use who he has to work with. This all really stems from the Astros poor farm system.
They don't have anyone else to turn to. The draft picks the club lost from the sign-stealing scandal are really hurting them right now. First and second rounders from 2020 and 2021 should be helping you in 2024 at the big league level.
Maybe they go to Astros prospect Joey Loperfido soon, but after a hot start he has only two hits in his last six games.
Finally, we have to talk about what seems like a committee making baseball decisions. Lost in a committee is accountability. Who gets the blame for making poor decisions?
As time continues to pass it looks like moving on from former GM James Click was a massive mistake. He's the guy that didn't sign Abreu, but did trade Myles Straw (recently DFA'd) for Yainer Diaz and Phil Maton. He also built an elite bullpen without breaking the bank, and helped the club win a World Series in 2022.
The reality of the situation is Dusty Baker and James Click are not walking back through that door. And all good runs come to an end at some point. Is this what we're witnessing?
Don't miss the video above as we hit on all the points discussed and much more!
Catch Stone Cold 'Stros (an Astros podcast) with Charlie Pallilo, Brandon Strange, and Josh Jordan. We drop two episodes every week on SportsMapHouston's YouTube channel. You can also listen on Apple Podcast, Spotifyor wherever you get your podcasts.