The embarrassment known to the world as the “Rio Olympic Games” is half way through, and I am not coming up short in thinking many can’t wait for it to be over. Sunday was another bad day when the news broke about gold medalist Ryan Lochte being held up at gun point on a roadway. But the real Three Stooges Like story the world will remember is: The green pool. Pool attendants putting peroxide in the pool instead of chlorine? Needless to say algae grows quickly in hot temperatures and as it goes the games are days behind. There will be a flurry of activity this week, but I do not think it will matter, for as the first weeks ratings came in on NBC, not surprising that they were 25 to 35 percent viewership down.
The clear water appeared slightly cloudy under sunny skies on a day when temperatures reached 90 degrees (32 degrees Celsius) after a recent string of cool and cloudy weather.
“It was a lot better than it was the other day,” American swimmer Anita Alvarez said. “Switching the water helped a lot. The temperature was little bit better for us and it’s a little bit clearer underwater, which also helped.”
I am pretty sure we can say goodbye to Brazil hosting the games in our life time again. The burden of cost on a nation in financial crisis is not going to warrant it happening. Just think of all the venues that will not be used again where the money is still owed. These events mirror life, and as the world goes, so do the games. We have Egyptians not wanting to shake hands with an Israeli, Muslim Americans talking disrespectfully about a nation that gave them a chance they would never have had from where they came. Friendship and camaraderie is not what I will think of when these games come to mind. What do you think?