Sunday, July 25, 2021
Olympia
The Olympics are back, and while I must acknowledge that their wisdom from a public health perspective is questionable at best, I also can't deny that I fucking love them. I love the weird sports that we never hear about at any other time, like handball and kayaking. I love all the human interest stories about how the athletes struggle with dyslexia or fibromyalgia or chocoholism. I love how NBC thinks so little of its audience that it is always either showing Americans competing or letting us know that Americans will be competing soon. So yes, maybe holding the Olympics is irresponsible, but they've certainly got a lot more social value than a lot of motorcycle rallies and chili cookoffs and conservative political action committee meetings that have been held despite COVID over the last year.
It's definitely weird not having crowds at any of the events, perhaps nowhere more so than for the opening ceremony, which came across as kind of random and sad. I mean, I'm sure the fans would have been going wild for the tribute to Japanese carpentry had they but been allowed in the stadium. I greatly enjoyed the people in yellow and blue robes who had to clap and wave their hands and otherwise generally be excited for the entirety of the parade of nations; if only they were available for private parties or just, you know, to hype people up in the workplace. Also it was fun to judge the different outfits that countries chose to represent their nation, noting that apparently being boring and basic is a key characteristic of many lands.
The events so far I have not seen nearly enough of. I took in some early skateboarding rounds earlier today, which were weirdly inert without anyone to react to them, as well as the women's road race, where I was literally afraid the gold medalist was dying when they showed her panting and heaving on the ground immediately afterwards. I've also taken in some swimming and water polo, as well as the gold medal match in fencing, which was surprisingly restful. Not as much so as the equestrian dressage event, which provided a nice backdrop for a nap yesterday, but still. We are off to a good start.
