After a quick review of last night's opening ceremony re-run (there was extra filler for prime time, including The Rock giving the US team a pep talk), we moved on to the first full day of competition.
BTW--the music used for the march of nations had a unique source: videogames. It was all lushly orchestrated stuff from Soul Calibur, Final Fantasy, Kingdom Hearts, and Dragon Quest. I'm too much of an old fogey to have recognized it.
We kick off with a new QISE sport, one of many designed to pull in younger viewers--3x3 Basketball. All the action, none of the endless timeouts. Then it was crew aka rowing. This is fascinating to me from a production perspective, with cameras switching off throughout the course--some running on rails, others in the air (drones?). We move on to volleyball--not the sexy beach version, but the traditional indoor sport. (The former is saved for prime time coverage.) The lack of spectators is particularly evident here, with moments of silence during play. It's like a scrimmage.
Water Polo is extremely confusing. Exclusion v. Normal fouls? Whistle patterns? Inside water? Geez. Well, the US won, so that's good. Archery is all about technique--and screaming (at least for the Koreans). The bows look complex enough to shoot the arrows by themselves. Road Cycling? It's like NASCAR on two wheels--people watch for the crashes--followed by early swimming heats. Dan Hicks and Rowdy Gaines turn an otherwise boring event into something--less boring.
Men's gymnastics got started as well. Not quite the marquis event as it is for the women. It doesn't help that the US rarely gets on the podium. Of course, they changed the scoring system again, which now involves traffic light colors.
As I was watching all this, I was reading a Washington Post article about NBC's production setup. Not all of their staff were allowed in Japan due to COVID restrictions. As a result, while marquis events have announcers at the venue, most of the others are stuck in "closet sized" booths in Connecticut, watching events just like we are--on TV.
Meanwhile, it's being reported (by NBC News no less) that 100 AMERICAN athletes at the games are UN-VACCINATED!!! What the?@^&?? Where is the USQISE Committee? Just tell everyone--"You want on the team, get the shot! There's plenty of people who would love to get your slot!"
Moving on to prime time for the first night of events--
Tirico greets us on the dock, tossing to women's beach volleyball. To paraphrase Chandler--"Could they WEAR anything less?". I notice that the referees and judges can wear normal clothing. This was also the first opportunity to see the athlete's families in live viewing parties back home--a replacement for the normal shots of anxious parents in the stands. Then more men's gymnastics--they held the US performances for prime time. Over to the swimming pavilion, with Michael Phelps getting behind the mike as a commentator. He's pretty good at it. They tried to show winning US swimmers their families at watching parties, but it was a bit of a clusterfrack.
Enough for one day—more to come.