The Opening Ceremonies for Rio 2016 are still more than 24 hours away, but the competition has begun. Yes, for those of you not completely tuned into the Olympic watching experience (such as The Wife), some of the action begins before the opening ceremonies. Most notably, soccer, which started yesterday.
The US Women's Team began defense of their gold medal from 2012 with a game against New Zealand. They won 2-0. I saw about 15 minutes of the game. After 15 minutes of Olympic observations this year, I already feel like this is going to be an unusual Olympic viewing experience.
I missed most of the game. I am not in full watching mode, yet, and I have a job and a family and obligations, so I didn't get to spend the entire day yesterday watching Women's Olympic Soccer, which, to be fair, would be a FANTASTIC way to spend the day. The first thing I noticed, other than the score, was that every time US Goalie Hope Solo touched the ball, the crowd booed. I love Hope Solo. I have loved her since her fantastically inappropriate and wildly entertaining press conference during the 2007 Women's World Cup. Clearly, Hope Solo is not immune to controversy, so I assumed she did something during the game.
NOPE. Hope had posted some pictures of bug repellent and a mosquito net mask thing, due to concerns over Zika. This is not the first time she had expressed concerns over Zika. Several months ago, she was one of the US athletes who stated she would need to seriously consider whether she would participate in the Olympics this year, because of concerns over Zika.
The Brazilians reacted to this by booing Hope when she touched the ball. Then, as the game progressed, and just to make sure everyone, including Hope, knew why they were upset, the Brazilians started yelling ZIKA! when she kicked the ball. That'll show her.
I guess the Brazilians want to make sure people remember why everyone is coming into this year's Olympics holding there breath. As Bob Costas said in an interview yesterday, every Olympics in recent memory had concerns as the Opening Ceremonies approached, but Brazil has so many more concerns. The list is endless:
Sewage in the water where the long distance swimmers are supposed to swim. Come on!! It is bad enough to ask people to row or sail in water that may make them sick, but these people have to swim, and drink and eat while still in the water. Try to swim 25 meters without getting at least a little water in your mouth. Unless you can do that 25 without breathing, you can't keep water out of your mouth. Even if you can, try to eat and drink without getting a little of the water in your mouth. This is laughable.
Dead bodies on the beach just yards away from the beach volleyball venue. You can't make this up.
The potential for the ocean to wash up on the beach volleyball court. If there is one thing the Brazilians should not have screwed up, it was beach volleyball. But no, they missed on at least two counts.
Robberies. The Australian team had to evacuate their lodgings a couple nights ago and were robbed. Seriously? This stuff is unreal.
Political unrest. This is nothing new. I am not a particularly political person, so I admit I don't really know that much about what is going on, but the current President of Brazil, Dilma Rousseff, is on trial in the Senate and has been stripped of her power. The acting President, Michel Temer, is apparently not exactly innocent either. Regardless of how all this plays out, thing's don't look too good.
Doping. Yes, this is a concern every Olympics and in every sport. However, usually we don't have people calling for the expulsion of the entire delegation from one of the largest countries at the Olympics. The stories of Russian state sponsored doping sound like a bad movie. As an example, in Sochi, Russian officials allegedly cut a hole in the wall, so they could pass "dirty" urine through the hole and have it replaced with "clean" urine. This sounds like something Dan Akroyd and Chevy Chase would have come up with in Spies Like Us.
Being Ready. Apparently, on Wednesday you could still hear hammering and sawing at several of the venues. I am not a construction expert. However, the sawing kind of concerns me. If you are still cutting the pieces to build the structures, it seems to me you are REALLY FAR BEHIND.
And there's more. But I am an Olympics optimist and apologist, so I don't want to keep going.
Back to the fans booing Hope. (I smiled a little when I thought of Brazilians booing hope. Who can be against hope?) Sorry, blog hijack there. Hope didn't create Zika. Hope didn't bring Zika to Brazil. So why are you booing her? And why are you yelling Zika? Are you trying to warn her? Her Instagram photo made it clear she is aware of the threat. Are you trying to throw her off her game? If so, you may be knowledgeable about soccer, but you know nothing about Hope. She thrives on crazy. Do you want to make sure the 37 people watching on NBCSN still remember Zika? That is understandable. Brazil is reportedly doing well with Zika, so they may want to emphasize that to drown out the bodies on the beach and the sewage infested long distance swimming waters. Still seems like not the best idea.
With all this, even I am a little concerned. I am a firm believer that the Olympics finds a way. Kind of like life, Dr. Malcom. (Who gets the reference?) Brazil will have great competition, compelling stories, beautiful scenery and Matt Lauer. That is a lot of good to overcome. But that is quite the list above. The potential for disaster is real. I'll keep a happy face on for you, but we can't ignore something if it happens.
Over the next two weeks, I will be here, for good or bad, giving my thoughts and observations. We will return to the sections from previous Olympics. To give you a little preview, here they are:
Today's Olympic Story Line - good v. bad. See above.
Reflections on What Has Happened (Focus for this will be on US sports and medals, but we will touch on other stuff as time permits) -
1. Michael Phelps was selected as the flag bearer for the US Team. This is a well deserved honor. However, I wish they gave it to someone else. I love Phelps and what he has accomplished. I am one of 9 people not related to Phelps or Tom Malchow who can tell you who won Olympic gold in the first Olympic event Phelps ever swam. (OK, that number just went up.) However, Phelps will get a ton off publicity in Rio. I think the honor of carrying the flag should go to someone a little less known.
Predictions Wrap Up -
1. I haven't made any predictions, so no wrap up, yet.
What to Watch For -
1. Opening Ceremonies.
2. My predictions.
3. Kier Simmons.
4. Most importantly, tomorrow I will review the rules for the Olympics.
Predictions -
1. We'll wait a day to begin predictions.
Fat Old Man Update -
We'll bring this back, and explain it at some point.
I can't promise daily posts. I can promise I will be back, regularly over the next couple of weeks. I will be funny sometimes, informative sometimes, and will try to let you know something you didn't already know sometimes. I am already getting input from my Volleyball Insider. I need to touch base with my Baltic States Insider, Anti-Diving Insider and all those people who boo hope. Hopefully we can get to the bottom of things, especially about hating on hope.
So come back. Enjoy. Tell your friends.
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