Tokyo Olympics hits 200-days-to-go mark
Tick-Tock-Tick. The countdown clock for the postponed Tokyo Olympics hit 200 days to go on Monday.
Also on Monday, Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga said he would consider calling a state of emergency as new coronavirus cases surge to record numbers in Tokyo and neighboring prefectures. Japan has never had a lockdown for COVID-19, attempting to juggle the economy and health risks.
It’s nearing deadline time for Tokyo Olympic organizers, the International Olympic Committee, and various Japanese government entities as they try to pull off the Games in the middle of a pandemic.
Officials have promised to announce concrete plans early in the new year about how to get 15,000 Olympic and Paralympic athletes into Japan; about the safety of the Athletes Village, and hundreds of thousands of fans, media, judges, officials, broadcasters and VIPs. The new year is here.
Suga pledged again to hold the Olympics, saying it would be “proof that people have overcome the coronavirus.” And he said vaccine approval would be speeded up by a month so that vaccinations could begin in February instead of March.
Japan has attributed more than 3,400 deaths to COVID-19, modest by global standards for a country of 125 million, but worrying as new cases rise quickly. A poll last month by national broadcaster NHK show 63% want the Olympics postponed or canceled.
Tokyo Gov. Yuriko Koike and the governors of Saitama, Chiba and Kanagawa prefectures asked the national government Saturday to declare the state of emergency after the capital saw a daily record of 1,337 new cases on New Year’s Eve. That marked a jump of almost 400 in just a few days.
Yoshiro Mori, the president of the organizing committee and a former prime minister, again ruled out any cancellation of the games in an interview several days ago with the Nikkan Sports newspaper. He was asked when a decision would come about having local fans or fans from abroad.
“Sometime from March through May,” he replied. “The final deadline for a decision would be May, but it may come sooner.”
College football
TEXAS QUARTERBACK EHLINGER ENTERING NFL DRAFT >> Texas quarterback Sam Ehlinger is passing on a fifth season with the Longhorns to enter the NFL draft.
Ehlinger finished his Texas career with 11,436 yards passing and 94 touchdowns in 46 games, 43 of them starts. He also ran for 1,907 yards and 33 touchdowns. HOLLIDAY OUT AS MARSHALL COACH DESPITE CONFERENCE HONORS >> Marshall football coach Doc Holliday is out after 11 seasons with the Thundering Herd after the school said it would not renew his contract.
Holliday was named Conference USA coach of the year, but the Thundering Herd lost their final three games of the season after starting 7- 0 and moving up to No. 15 in The Associated Press poll. The 63-yearold Holliday went 85-54 at Marshall, including 6-2 in bowl games. SABAN INTERESTED IN GASE, O’BRIEN FOR OC ROLE >> Nick Saban is reportedly interested in discussing Alabama’s vacant offensive coordinator job with fired NFL head coaches Adam Gase and Bill O’Brien.
According to a report from The Athletic, Gase and O’Brien are “two of the coaches Nick Saban is considering for Alabama’s soon to be vacant offensive coordinator role.” Steve Sarkisian will be leaving the staff to coach at Texas.
Gase was a graduate assistant under Saban at LSU.
Baseball
HUGHES RETIRES MORE THAN 2 YEARS AFTER LAST PITCH >> Phil Hughes has retired from baseball, more than two years after throwing his last pitch.
A World Series champion with the Yankees in 2009, Hughes was 88-79 with a 4.52 ERA in 211 starts and 79 relief appearances over 12 major league seasons with New York (2007-13), Minnesota (2014-18) and San Diego (2018). He was an All-Star in 2010, when he went a career-best 18-8, and won 16 games in both 2012 and 2014.
NHL
STARS GOALIE KHUDOBIN MISSES START OF CAMP AFTER VISA ISSUES >> Dallas Stars goaltender Anton Khudobin missed the start of training camp while still going through NHLmandated quarantine after some immigration issues. General manager Jim Nill said Khudobin is back in Texas, but the Russian goalie was delayed because of a backlog for people trying to get U.S. visas.
Veteran forward Joe Pavelski also missed the first day of practice. Nill said Pavelski’s absence isn’t expected to be long-term, and that the team was waiting for the results of a couple of more tests.