The Olympic Games Drone On, And What Have We Learned?

1. TV ratings are in the toilet. They were down about 33 percent for the opening ceremonies and have continued to be tepid for most broadcasts. Some apologists note streaming opportunities cut into TV ratings, but even counting those platforms, far fewer people are watching these Woke Olympics in the U.S., and we congratulate them for their good taste.
2. The ratings flop is all the more notable because network and cable competitors have gone out of their way to clear the decks for NBC’s coverage by scheduling re-runs and other stale programming. Even NASCAR and Indy Car are not having races. Only the Major League Baseball broadcasts go on and those are scant competition in view of that sport’s similarly poor TV ratings, exemplified by the recent All-Star Game broadcast that plumbed long-term lows for viewership.
3. U.S. female gymnast, Simone Biles, promoted as the GOAT of her sport (Greatest Of All Time) became a metaphorical goat of a different kind by choosing to sit out decisive competition due to what she described as mental issues. Support poured in on social media, including from former U.S. Women’s gymnast Kerri Strug. For those who may have forgotten, Strug broke an ankle on a vault, but performed a second vault with the injury to enable to the U.S. team to win gold in 1996. This year’s U.S. women, competing at the end without Biles, took silver
4. Another touching tale from the Olympics is the quick demise of “Japanese” tennis player Naomi Osaka. She was the face of these Olympics in Japan, even being chosen to light the ceremonial flaming cauldron. Not bad for a kid who grew up in Long Island, NY, and Florida. While born in Japan, Osaka has been in the United States since age 3. The daughter of a Japanese mother and Haitian father, Osaka once had dual citizenship with Japan and the U.S, but renounced the latter in recent years. She opted to retain Japanese citizenship and compete for Japan. I wonder if she was yet another non-citizen who voted for Biden? Cynics suggested lucrative marketing opportunities in Japan weighed in the decision to represent that country. And we wonder if representing Haiti was ever considered?

The exposure of these Olympic Games for what they truly are, that being an exercise in propaganda, exploitation and telling of tall tales, likely will continue until the closing ceremonies. Expect said ceremonies fittingly to be conducted before a virtually empty stadium and to be viewed by a similarly sparse TV audience.