Olympic rings back in Tokyo Bay; a sign of hope in the pandemic
TOKYO — The five Olympic rings are back in Tokyo Bay.
They were removed for maintenance four months ago shortly after the Tokyo Olympics were postponed until next year because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The rings arrived on Tuesday after a short cruise from nearby Yokohama and are positioned on a barge in the shadow on Tokyo’s Rainbow Bridge.
The rings — painted blue, black, red, green, and yellow — are gigantic. They stand about 15 meters tall and 33 meters in length — about 50 feet tall and 100 feet in length.
The rings will be lighted at night and herald the coming of the Tokyo Olympics, which are to open on July 23, 2021, followed by the Paralympics on Aug. 24.
The rings made their first appearance early in 2020, just a few months before the Olympics were postponed late in March.
The reappearance of the rings is the latest sign that organizers and the International Olympic Committee are increasingly confident that 15,400 Olympic and Paralympic athletes can safely enter Japan during the pandemic.
These Olympics are sure to be like no other.
They will hinge partly on the availability of vaccines and rapid testing for COVID-19, and on athletes and other participants following strict rules that could involve quarantines, a limited number of fans in venues, and athletes leaving Japan shortly after they finish their competitions.
Organizers have been vague about exactly how the Olympics will be held. Plans are in flux with dozens of COVID-19 countermeasures being floated involving athletes, fans, and tens of thousands of officials, judges, VIPs, and media and broadcasters.
Protocols should become clearer early in 2021 when decisions must be made about permitting fans from abroad, which will affect revenue from ticket sales.
The meter continues to run on billions in costs, with Japanese taxpayers picking up most of the bills. Reports in Japan this week say the cost of the postponement is about $3 billion.
Ready or not, NBA training
camps are set to open again
For the Los Angeles Lakers and Miami Heat, it was the shortest offseason ever. For the eight teams that haven’t played since March, the offseason dragged for longer than most seasons last. And for all 30 clubs, questions are far more prevalent than answers these days.
Ready or not, the NBA is back.
Training camps open around the league Tuesday, though on-court sessions will be limited to individual workouts and only for those players who have gotten three negative coronavirus test results back in the last few days. Mandatory “group training activities,” another way to describe what would otherwise be called practice, will begin in some cities Friday and for most clubs Sunday, the league said.
“I feel like a kid getting excited for the first day of school again,” Atlanta guard Trae Young tweeted.
As is the case with school, there will be tests in NBA camps. Lots of them.
Players and coaches will be tested for coronavirus daily around the league, and a positive test at this point would likely derail someone for most of camp and probably into the preseason. The rules are so strict that clubs cannot even hold a team dinner on the eve of training camp; the NBA isn’t allowing those to take place until at least Dec. 11, or the start of Phase 4 in the league’s five-phase plan for health and safety.
“We’re all going to have to be very nimble, first of all keeping guys safe and healthy,” Utah general manager Justin Zanik said Monday. “We’ll get an idea of the schedule, how travel is, how the pandemic affects us. … No one in the NBA, other than a three-month bubble, has ever gone through what we’re about to go through.”
Preseason is less than two weeks away, starting Dec. 11. The regular season starts on Dec. 22, three weeks from Tuesday. A schedule for the first half of the shortened 72-game regular season could be known in the coming days, and many teams are still deciding if they can begin the season with fans in their arenas or not. The NBA champion Lakers have already said they aren’t having fans in their building to start the season; Charlotte and Oklahoma City announced Monday that they will begin their home schedules the same way.
Virus forces Gophers to cancel game vs. No. 16 Northwestern
Minnesota announced Monday it has called off this weekend’s game against No. 16 Northwestern, the second straight cancellation for the Gophers due to a spike in COVID-19 cases within the program.
University officials made the decision in consultation with the Big Ten after seven additional positive cases were confirmed. The Wildcats, who lead the West Division by one game at 5-1, were scheduled to play Saturday at TCF Bank Stadium. Those Gophers who’ve contracted the virus have experienced “very, very mild symptoms,” according to coach P.J. Fleck.
College football is limping toward the postseason in late December as multiple programs deal with COVID-19 outbreaks and contact tracing protocols. Four games on this week’s schedule have been postponed or canceled. Over the last three weeks, 52 games have been called off because of COVID-19 issues out of 179 that were scheduled. Since late August, the total number of canceled or postponed games is 103.
Bengals rookie QB Burrow to have knee surgery this week
CINCINNATI — Cincinnati Bengals rookie quarterback Joe Burrow is expected to have surgery on his injured left knee this week, coach Zac Taylor said Monday.
Burrow’s season ended Nov. 22 when he was sandwiched between two Washington pass-rushers and his leg was bent severely. The structural damage in his knee requires surgery and extensive rehabilitation.
“I just know that it’s the middle of week sometime,” Taylor said without discussing any more details of the procedure.
Taylor said he expects Burrow to be ready to play again at some point next season.
By wire sources
