Waking up in these Covid games

There is this man in a photo taken by Yuichi Yamazaki of a Japanese man carrying a placard that reads, “No Olympics 2020. Use that money for Covid-19!”

Seeing that photo was like waking up from some deep sleep.

Maybe it is because I do not live in Japan and have been caught up in my own day-to-day things trying to live, survive, and cope.

Maybe it is also because while looking for stories to write about as part of my job, I have forgotten what is practical, rational, and right.

So the Tokyo Olympics is on. Honestly, now I am torn about it.

On one hand, I think it should have been cancelled or postponed until this pandemic is beaten. Japan stands to lose $800 million alone because of the lack of fans in the sporting venues. And that isn’t counting ancillary monies from side businesses who will lose as much, maybe more.

You cannot discount that. Every time a pitch is made for some international sporting event, one considers the economic benefits.

I surmise that after this Olympics—memorable or not—if Japan will bid for another Summer or Winter Games due to the financial losses for quite some time.

Okay, let’s not talk about profits here—existent or nonexistent.

The rub is—isn’t whatever money being poured into the Olympics better off spent for tackling Covid-19? This virus is a long way from being beat.

Didn’t some staff, athletes and workers who are a part of the Olympics test positive from Covid? That already tells you of the underlying danger of spreading this even more. We saw that in the recently concluded Major League Baseball All-star Game that spread the virus because not everyone is vaccinated (or do they even want to).

I believe the Olympics is money not well spent. It’s impractical and even to the point of being selfish.

To make it up to the Tokyo Olympic Committee, the International Olympic Committee should have pushed it back when it is safer and better to host it… with Japan still running it.

That means pushing back everything including the next hosts. It isn’t like it would be unfair.

The problem when you make it about money is you do not do the right thing. Your judgement and decisions are clouded by profit.

On the other hand, I understand the need to get on with various aspects of our lives. Sports is supposed to provide entertainment and even livelihood.

And yet, even with that, I am torn.

While people like me who lost my job due to this pandemic are scrambling to find alternative sources of income, others who are paid lavish sums of money are getting a chance to continue.

Okay, professional athletes are being paid by their corporate sponsors so that is the latter’s look out, but national athletes get their support from the national government. Well, they do get some private support. Now if the latter is the case, then it is fine, but if it comes from the national coffers...now I am against it.

Mine is but a tiny voice in this. This column will not even make a dent. Besides, the games are here. When the action startsbarring serious cases the Covid-19 concerns will be forgotten if only for the duration of the Olympics.

Let’s hope that after this unpopular Tokyo Olympics (50 percent of Tokyo’s population is against it and 78 percent of all Japanese feel the same way) the Olympic motto of “Citius, altius, fortius” that means “faster, higher, and stronger” will still remain in an athletic context and not in the spread of Covid-19.