Cluster, meet Fuck
Starting to think there’s at least a non-zero chance the Olympics get canceled.
the IOC would fine Japan a ton of money if that happens. They’re happening no matter what
But what we need to happen is Japan cancels the Olympics arguing safety concerns, the IOC tries to fine them, and Japan tells the IOC to go Fuck Themselves and withdraws from the so-called Olympic Movement. IOC comes off with a LOT more bad publicity than Japan does in that scenario.
I suspect there’s domestic (Japanese) interests that want the Olympics. Leadership seems adamant since January to go through with it
Another state of emergency!
2 weeks left!
I’m excited.
Probably just the usual IOC corruption factor.
If the Olympics don’t happen, the IOC is dead since all their expensive way of life is supported by the outrageous American broadcasting money rights, which (I am guessing, eh) they might not get in case of cancellation.
Pathetic event from a pathetic organization that shows daily how disconnected it is to any concern but its members’ comfort.
They’d get the money from Japan if it doesn’t happen. If it wasn’t for the billions Japan would owe, they’d cancel the Olympics.
In Olympic dreamland maybe. In the real world, lol.
USA basketball looking…not great right now, lol
Tell me more!
Yeah, that was foreseeable. This season was brutal for the players. Most of them didn’t get a proper offseason due to the way the previous season had been delayed by the pandemic, and the injuries piled up to absurd levels.
Those superstars that aren’t recovering from season-ending injuries are willing to pass up a shot at a gold medal for serious rest and recuperation.
Interesting. So it should still make for a really competitive Olympics basketball then, right?
There’s talk of reinforcements arriving after the NBA finals wrap up. Guys like Booker might want a shot at that gold medal. But, yeah, this is probably the best shot for other countries in a long while.
Basically, Team USA right now is KD and a bunch of scrubs. Durant, if you recall, missed all of last season recovering from that Achilles injury, but that also saved him from the brutal wear-and-tear that all his buddies went through.
I mean, there are absolutely good players on the squad. Jayson Tatum is very solid, Bradley Beal and Damian Lillard are scoring machines, and Bam Adebayo is a bit of a do-everything guy. And Draymond Green remains one of the best defenders across all positions in the league (Bam is actually similarly talented, albeit perhaps not quite as strong against smaller guards).
But right now, apart from Dray and occasionally KD, no one is playing defense, and everyone seems to be playing awful, motionless, uncoordinated iso/hero ball. At the end of the Aus game, only down 3 for awhile, KD just kept jacking up contested 3s off barely-there screens rather than the group running any kind of meaningful set play. It was rough.
Book (Devin Booker) is solid all around, Khris Middleton can get hot on any given night, and Jrue Holiday is an excellent defender for guards, but the three of them are going to be wiped out if the Finals keeps going back and forth like this.
So Japan/IOC didn’t make any demands that all athletes and workers had to be vaccinated?
Why would they need to do that? They have Thomas Bach’s personal assurance that there is “zero” risk of the virus spreading to the local population given the Games’ COVID-19 countermeasures.