The 2020 NFL Week 14 Roundup | Tokyo By The Day
Discover Tomorrow
The Hilton Buenos Aires, erupting prominently in the city’s swanky Puerto Madero section nuzzled tightly against the famed Rio de la Plata, is a foreboding hotel that from certain angles resembles a 7-story steel and glass toaster oven on stilts. OH it’s a doozy of a structure that — outwardly — wouldn’t look out of place as a nondescript federal agency’s Washington, DC headquarters. Officially opening it’s pull-down glass oven door for the first time at a cost of $80M in January 2020, the Hilton’s best kept secret is what it conceals beneath its unimaginative, pedestrian skin. The centerpiece of this Buenos Aires landmark is its cavernous, airy and naturally sunlit interior atrium that features Carrara marble flooring leering skyward 750 uninterrupted feel to the 630 square foot glass canopy. FOUR see-through elevators flank the space’s northern wall and each of the hotel’s 417 rooms open onto spacious walkways that spill out onto this showpiece that is punctuated with stringy metallic sculptures dripping from neatly integrated ceiling-mounted girders. While the kiddos might be forgiven for frolicking about in the Mattel-themed Hot Wheels and Barbie play suites, it was an excitement of another sort that exploded radiantly from this hotel on September 7th, 2013. The Hilton’s attached Convention Center (the largest in Latin America), on that fateful day hosted the International Olympic Committee which was to select the host city for the 2020 Summer Olympic Games. Via live Member-Country vote in three rounds, it was with much merriment and jubilation that the 32nd Olympic Games were announced and to be held in Tokyo, Japan. Turned away were politically perilous Istanbul and perennially penniless Madrid. Checking out of the hotel later that day, the Japanese contingent led by the late Prime Minister Shinzo Abe held their coiffed heads high. The group raced home to start planning for the unparalleled Sino event of a lifetime.
But there were problems. Chief among them was the still unfolding Level 7 Fukushima nuclear plant disaster just 180 miles northwest of the newly-coronated host city. Radioactive waste waters, constantly bathing the still-sizzling nuclear core, to this day continue to cascade into the mighty Pacific. Attempts to erect an underground frozen-walled dam circumnavigating the plant to hem-in the toxic water have been met with mixed success — and plenty of heartbreaking failure. Pumping of this trapped water goes on around the clock and is stored onsite in 961 giant plastic vats for processing and later discharge “with minimal radiation not to exceed naturally occurring Pacific background levels” right back into the ocean. Super yikes. The Fukushima pant has been mothballed and nearly 50,000 nearby residents remain displaced. Radioactively charged winds rush downwind to Tokyo occasionally and is not an insignificant matter. Then there was the rampant issue of raw sewage in Tokyo Bay, slated to be the home of innumerable outdoor aquatic events. This Is to say nothing of the $1B Japan National Stadium (home to the Opening/Closing ceremonies; Track & Field events) fiasco that called for a complete demolition of the “old” National Stadium and the erecting of its replacement only to find out half way through officials couldn’t afford all the design flourishes promised so gushingly in the architectural renderings. So out went AC, a retractable roof and swoopy sky walkways. In their place was penciled in a more budget-friendly permanent oval roof open to the sky above allowing for unfettered access to the summertime 100 degree humid Tokyo heat (and traditional ramps). Lovely. Of course, what talk of Olympic Games would be complete without graft. Oh there where whispers of sketchy $8M sponsorship payments to IOC luminaries paid through shady Singapore banks but who has time for Accounting when a proposed 2013 budget all-in $10B budget billows north to $25B once all is said and done in 2021-ish.
Today, The Fukushima radioactivity is no longer spoken about (but is still a showstopping issue, just perhaps not for Olympians) and the pollution in Tokyo Bay has been ameliorated with the construction of higher capacity sewage treatment plants and the inspired employment of a clam phalanx, the ultimate filter feeders. Japan National Stadium shines as a penny-pinching architect’s star progeny. And political graft will be political graft; at least Tokyo landed the Olympic Games. And THEN… like a wrecking ball, Covid in Winter 2020 came in and whacked Japan’s methodical planning and perfectly synchronized timetable into smithereens.
The scheduled start of the 32nd Summer Olympic Games this past July came and went imperceptibly, drowned out by at-the time murmurings of Covid’s lessening worldwide grip. In the meantime, officials for the Tokyo Games reluctantly offered refunds to ticketholders who regrettably were unable to contemplate journeys to the unknown hard-set against a global pandemic. The games delayed to July 23rd-August 8th 2021, officials were delighted that under 10% of fans opted to return their tickets. Admission to Tokyo events to this day remain exceedingly difficult to land. Whether this optimism that the Games will actually take place in 9 months time is based in reality is quite another matter. NBC alone has billions riding on the Olympic Train pulling fully into Shingawa station on time. So too, Japan Inc. which is eager to sell the country as a credible business and leisure destination to the millions that had been expected for the Games. The IOC is also looking to turn the page from a turbulent, corrupt recent past under a new Thomas Bach-led leadership. And then there is the matter of the Athletes. Normally, Olympic qualifying events would already be well under way to span the 33 official Summer sports. That’s not really happening now with planes largely grounded and Covid caseloads once again soaring. But in the coming months, 206 countries will face identical dilemmas in pulling together their slates of Olympic hopefuls. Siloed training, expedited qualifying event calendars, frequent testing, and of course a Vaccine, will hopefully conglomerate into a lit cauldron in Tokyo in late July.
The Tokyo Games that athletes will attend will be like nothing before. Themed “Discover Tomorrow”, Tokyo officials boast that their Games will be the most sustainable ever. Tokyo is still on track to achieve net-zero carbon emissions for the entirety of the Games trough they key deployment of electrified mass transit, hydrogen fuel cell-propelled Toyota and Honda vehicles, and of course solar and wind energy. The Athlete’s Village was constricted out of 40,000 pieces of exposed Japanese larch, cedar and cypress from each of the country’s 47 prefectures. The lumber will at the games completion be carefully disassembled and shipped back to their home prefectures for reuse in their communities, forever an Olympic inclusion messaging beacon. The Victory Ceremony Podiums, used in the medaling ceremonies, were fabricated completely from recycled plastic gathered from Japanese households and tellingly Pacific Ocean debris patches. The medals themselves were forged substantially from precious metals gleaned in turn from secondhand digital devices like cell phones. And what a success that turned out to be. 32 kg of Gold, 3500 kg of Silver and 2200 kg of Bronze were collected for the 5000 medals needed. Torchbearer uniforms are to be comprised of 15% recycled plastic and the Olympic Torch was crafted from second-hand Fukushima aluminum. The beds the Athlete’s will slumber upon? Cardboard to be recycled yet again post-Games. Did I mention the autonomous, multi-lingual AI army of robots to be rolled out in visitor-facing informative and operationally-supportive facing roles?
All of this is to say while these items compsirse just a slice of the innovation on tap for the Summer Games, the Tokyo Games are essentially the Kitchen Sink Games. The Host Committee is throwing everything at Athletes and fans alike in a valiant bid to make for an Olympic Games like no other, that’s for sure. Officials are confident ticketholders will be allowed into events but at what capacity remains to be seen. The Athlete Opening Ceremony procession will most likely be a masked affair. Rapid-testing kiosks will dot the Campus and anchor event sites. And tellingly participants will be asked to leave the Games as soon as their events draw to a close. So much for that much-fabled quadrennial unlikely intersection of international athletes lazing about, communally munching on quinoa bars in the Athlete’s lizard lounge. That might have to wait until Paris in 2024.
BUT It’s been 2899 days since the Buenos Aires Hilton illuminated as the Olympic Games were handed to Tokyo and a $25B check was cashed in exchange. Obviously, no one could have ever foreseen the reality that has setup shop so stubbornly in 2020. The Tokyo Host Committee has adapted admirably as the Covid downdraft whipsaws even the best laid of herculean plans. But perhaps the most brilliant and prophetic action to come out of the coming Summer Games is its aforementioned theme of “Discover Tomorrow.” It’s an undercurrent and overarching story that is now more relevant than ever. What better way to unite the World and put an exclamation mark on the Human Condition after an unbridled generational achievement than with an event ordained by Zeus. And who better to host the show than faces and voices representing every Country on Earth. And where better than the outstretched arms of our friends in Tokyo. We’ve collectively travelled a long way in the past year and our path has been an circuitous, uncertain, imperfect one. Hopefully in 220 days we’ll all be able to breathe again as we Discover Tomorrow.
Turning now to the NFL as Week 14 is officially suspended in amber, we really can’t Discover Tomorrow until we revisit last night. Yes, about last night! What a raucous, audacious and fitting end to what is unsurprisingly being billed as THE Game of the Season. And why not? At 89 points, the combined BAL-CLE score tied an NFL record. Beyond that all the nuttiness unfolded in an out-of-control 4th quarter that saw the battle-strong Brownies muscle 22 points to Baltimore’s 13 in an zig-zag affair. It was in this quarter that BAL QB Lamar Jackson sidelined with indigestion/cramps made way for backup Trace McSorley who nearly sealed his team’s coffin if not for an unfortunate and quite serious late-quarter ankle injury. Deep in the visiting Team’s locker room meanwhile, Lamar Jackson heeded his brethren’s siren call to action. He affixed his cape, flew onto the field and helped to fuel a grand finale for the ages. Trained operatic singer and sturdy kicker Justin Tucker along with a costly CLE interception all but did the Brownies in. But not for lack of trying. And as with all things life, there are no trophies for participation. The final score, 47–42, Ravens. The battle between the top two Rushing teams in the Business did NOT disappoint. For the suddenly sterling Browns (9–4), this Loss amounts to little more than a hitch in their playoff-bound giddyup, if ever a heartbreaking one. For the Ravens, it’s perhaps much more. They saw the Lamar that catapulted to he and the Team to stardom so powerfully last year. And the Team FELT the return of the cohesive fever that when harnessed can deliver Charm City magic. From one powerhouse to the next, the Chiefs caught up to the Fins at Hard Rock Stadium and in the end caused their opponents to pound rocks, 33–27. Miami burst out of the gate and raced to a 10 point lead in the first half in a game that saw MIA QB sensation Tua Tagovailoa throw for 316 yards in an uneven outing. That momentum wasn’t to last despite the Teams stalwart Secondary. The power and cleverness of KC’s Patrick Mahomes-fronted Offense is such that no lead is insurmountable no matter how deep into the game. 16 unanswered points in the 3rd resulted. But four costly KC turnovers nearly derailed their Offense-forward philosophy. NO matter. The Chief (12–1)’s sit atop the entire AFC and are already booking travel plans for Tampa, every bit their own Super Bowl-bound mirror image from last year.
Philadelphia was home to perhaps the UPSET call of the week where the Eagles snuffed out any remnants of NOLA’s formerly hot-hot-hot 9 game winning streak, 24–21. The Eagles in their undoing of the Saints also look to have landed a new versatile starting QB in Jalen Hurts (17/30 167 yards 1 TD + 106 Rushing) in their post-Carson Wentz daydreams. Jalen’s Offensive drives displayed particular flexibility and perceptive alertness in a 2020 PHL Season bereft of them. That’s as welcoming as this game’s putting an end to their 4 game losing skid. IF for a moment, NOLA’s hearty Defense was outgunned but at 10–3 are paying little mind to a lowly NFL East also-ran. Up in Buffalo, the Bills hosted the Steelers and literally found them at the nearby Target frantically searching for every last spray can of Rust-Oleum. The formerly undefeated Team has now whiffed two in a row (after last week’s embarrassment to WAS). Big Ben slumped as did his Offensive squad in grievous recognition of the fact the a cast iron Defense can only get you so far. Especially when linchpin Steel City linebackers are on the IR. Hopefully this isn’t how things begin to come undone for the Black and Yellow otherwise a swift exit in the post-Season might become ANTOTHER thing for a Team once considered the SURE thing. And speaking of WAS and the NFC East, don’t’ look know but the Footballers are on a 4 game tear. This time they claim the 49ers are their latest victims. Their 23–15 victory over San Francisco exhibited the promise and peril of WAS’s much-heralded Alex Smith return. Alex has performed surprisingly well (NOT great, NOT bad) by WAS standards anyways. But as with all good things Washington, injury inevitably arrives to interrupt any semblance of hope. And so it would be that starter Alex Smith suffered a look-through-your-fingers hit to THAT leg. Yes, THAT leg. Luckily and fortuitously at the same time, the injury was “just” to his ankle. Mum is the word on Alex’s prognosis. But word on the street is that Washington’s woeful Offense will continue to embody the qualities of messy cooked spaghetti. Not so the Team’s Defense which has nicely developed into a trusted battering ram week in and week out. Case in point: star DE Chase Young who helped to furnish 1 of 2 Defensive TDs in ultimately toppling the one-time and now injury-riddled West Coast Kings. As for WAS, it’s simply a wildly contrasting internal tale of TWO Teams: The Bold and the Meek.
In our weekly Round Robin, The Packers trucked it up to Detroit where the Aaron Rodgers-Davante Adams show rendered the Lions little more than paper tigers, 31–24. An MVP faceoff between these two offensive superheroes is an internecine luxury Green Bay can well-afford perched high atop the NFC North. Elsewhere, the Cards personally saw to it that the bloom is now officially off of NYG’s rose and their unlikely 4 game winning streak. The Cinderella of the NFC East is officially no more having suffered at tough 7–26 loss to ARI. The best news for Arizona? Kyler Murray has regained his footing (24/35 244 1TD) to keep pace with his Team’s ironclad Defense. NYG’s Daniel Jones and Colt McCoy were left to pick through the wreckage of crashed hopes, if however tethered in fiction. Also returning nicely to form after a well-utilized bye week is Tom Brady and his Buccs. Tampa Bay finished off the Vikings, 26–14, and are poised for their first playoff appearance in 13 years. The Vikings for their part were let down by crucial self-inflicted Offensive mistakes. Yet another sturdy MIN QB Kirk Cousins outing was ultimately undone by typically reliable kicker Dan Bailey who missed 4 essential attempts. Dan entered the game as the 6th most accurate kicker (87%) in the League and exits with a likely pink slip. The Jags hosted the Titans and decided that they’ve tired of losing (12 games in succession now), the Mike Glennon as QB thing having run its course fatefully. So Mike was shown the bench and IN was famed QB Gardner Minshew. Gardner’s late-game production was formidable but can be filed in the too-little-too-late category. Not that there was much chance no matter when in the game Minshewmania was inserted. The Ryan Tannehill-powered Titans crushed JAX, 31–10. Similarly over on the West Coast, the Seahawks flattened the foolhardy Jets, 40–3. It was such a hearvy-handed victory that SEA QB Russel Wilson was seen shopping for Christmas Trees DURING the 4th quarter. The Jets, at 0–13, have a nice long Christmas list for Santa to accompany the plate of chocolate chip cookies and icy glass of milk the Team has set besides their unlit frumpy Charlie Brown Christmas tree. The top of that Wish List is a #1 Draft Pick for 2021. Finally, the Raiders implosion continues with their punishing 27–44 loss to the Colts and the Chargers FINALLY eeked out a W; this time overtop the topsy turvy Falcons, 20–17. 10 unanswered LAC points in the second half all but sealed ATL’s loss. And then there’s Dallas. America’s Team smashed the Joe burrow-less Bengals (30–7) and in doing so showcased the surprising stability and success story that is QB Andy Dalton in a visit to his former employer. This stability and tempered success does quite not equate to a Winning record (4–9) and post-Season hopes unfortunately. But with the trauma this Team has endured this Season and the battle scars to show for it, Dallas fans know that every marathon begins with a step. Just 55,373 more to go, Destination (un)known.
