When we used to go to restaurants in the time before the pandemic, they had this thing called “happy hour.” It usually featured a bunch of alcoholic drinks that no one liked and a sliver of food options that passed the test instead of cooking – and it came with a discount. (Seriously, who gets up in the morning thinking that a dollar off a bottom-shelf rum will make their day?) Restaurants got their regulars in the usual dead hours and it probably became a great source of people-watching.
Now imagine that on the biggest stage in sports.
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The Olympic Games, already a year overdue thanks to the Covid pandemic, get started in late July in a country not vaccinated and a host of athletes from around the world in Tokyo. The country of Japan boasts a vaccination level of eight percent. That’s not even good enough for a bronze medal. The International Olympic Committee (IOC) says postponement or cancellation is off the table. This goes if Japan continues to operate in a state of emergency. It’s more than a little odd to see Mike Tirico throw it to a premier swimming event or on gymnastics final night with a threat level the United States experienced last March. Absolutely no one in the world can unlock the magical time when we can put the pandemic behind us. It’s just not worth the loss of more lives or sickness for the majority of a country looking to display its Sunday best.
On the flip side, there’s hundreds of athletes looking to dazzle in their speciality in their only chance until 2024. We’re already seeing Olympic superstars (admittedly les this time around) drink beer and hawk laundry detergent. NBC already sold extremely precious ad time for a period of time languished in reality shows and re-runs. For better or worse, there appears to be no point of retreat. To think, the biggest controversy in the last fifty years in the Olympic Games came from the world of doping – or a whack of Nancy’s leg. Take your pick.
The Opening Ceremony, packaged differently from the live telecast on Friday morning and the primetime re-air on Friday evening, actually came across quite well. It surprised me. The organizers of the event made the best of what they had to deal with during an avalanche of negative publicity and a country in a state of emergency. The parade of nations seemed lengthy (per usual) but carried the usual amount of culture and excitement we usually see from the event. The protests outside weren’t mentioned during the live broadcast, but journalists on Twitter said you could hear them inside Olympic Stadium.
It’s very weird in a decade full of odd moments that usually fill up a millennium worth of oddities. We’ve lost so much in such a short period of time. But the Games go on. No fans. Little fanfare. A metric ton of anger and an answer to the question of why we are doing this that frankly cannot be answered in black and white.
The Olympics are open. Let the Games begin.
A veteran in television production here in Baltimore, Chris Dachille brings his 15 year experience of watching sports for a living to BSL. Dachille voted in the Associated Press Top 25 for six seasons. He enjoys all sports and hopes that pitchers continue to hit in the National League.