Dingergate
Liberal blue checkmark Twitter exploded last night, after an apparent shocking incident in the late stages of a baseball game in Denver, Colorado.
Kaiju Big Battel: Love is a Danger of a Different Kind
Back in 2000, in the final printed issue of Trash City, I wrote about a strange form of entertainment which has been spawned out of Boston. Kaiju Big Battel was the unholy spawn resulting from a late-night booty call between pro wrestling and Japanese superhero/monster shows. We fell in love with it immediately, naturally. On our bucket list is getting to see one of their shows live. It hasn’t happened yet, due to KBB largely sticking to the East Coast for shows. This is for obvious logistical reasons: transporting giant dust bunnies, silver potatoes and all the other characters is not a trivial task.
The Joy of the Olympics: Artistic Swimming
This is the sport previously known as “synchronized swimming.” The organization in charge changed the name in 2017, apparently to bring it in line with artistic gymnastics, though not everyone was on board with the change (the Russians were especially vocal). Like that wing of gymnastics, it’s for women only at the Olympics. There is a men’s event at the world championships, but that hasn’t made its way to the Games as yet. Ironically, the sport was originally male only when it began in the late 19th century.
The Joy of the Olympics: Archery
This is a sport which changed its Olympic format, and basically re-invented itself, to enormous effect. The contest has now become adversarial, with competitors facing off in head-to-head battles, after a ranking round, which make for considerably more interesting viewing. It’s set-based, with each competitor firing three arrows, alternately. The highest total score wins the set, and gets two points – one each if the scores are level. First to five points wins. It’s elegant in its simplicity, easy to understand and follow.
The Joy of the Olympics: Table Tennis
It’s that time of the four-year cycle again. Except, thanks to COVID, it has been five years since the last Olympics. Not that you’d know it from all the signage in Japan, which sternly insists these are the Tokyo 2020 Olympics. Still, it’s time to slump in front of the TV, and become instant experts, passing harsh criticism on the failure of a gymnast to stick the landing. Another Dorito? Don’t mind if I do. But while the schedule is dominated by swimming, athletics and gymnastics, we get our greatest pleasure on the fringes. We enjoy watching the sports you never really see the rest of the time.