Watching the progression of the Tokyo Summer Olympics has been kind of like watching a soap opera.
- For years: They’re going to be in 2020!
- March 2020: No wait; they’re going to be in 2021 because of COVID
- December 2020: Japan says they will hold the 2021 Tokyo Summer Olympics without vaccines or quarantine!
- January 2021: As per Reuters, 80% of people in Japan say the Olympics should be canceled or delayed due to COVID concerns
- January 2021: Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga insists the Olympics WILL happen in Tokyo this summer
So now what happens? PLOT TWIST!
Yup…in the form of this headline from the South Florida Sun Sentinel:
Top Florida Official Makes Pitch For Tokyo Olympics To Be Moved To Sunshine State, despite Pandemic
Of course he did. Because Florida (I usually cringe when I hear that term, since I live in Florida. But this time? Yeah, it’s totally deserved).
Florida Chief Financial Officer and State Fire Marshall Jimmy Patronis (I know the spelling is different, but I will be good and will not make a Harry Potter reference) wrote to the International Olympic Committee with the suggestion that the 2020-turned-2021 Summer Olympics should be held in Florida instead of Japan.
The letter included all kinds of stats about tourism and sports in the Sunshine State (although I suspect we were welcoming more than 900 people per day before the pandemic started).
He also touted how Governor DeSantis kept the state (and its economy) open while other states shut down (I wonder if he mentioned that the White House Coronavirus Task Force recommended on January 17th that Florida should take significantly more precautions than it’s currently doing?).
He then followed his letter up with a series of tweets:
So every Spring the biggest spectator event in automotive racing takes place, @NASCAR’s Daytona 500. It’s described as the Super Bowl of racing, EXCEPT it happens in Florida every year!……
— Jimmy Patronis (@JimmyPatronis) January 25, 2021
.@NCAA_FCS College Football. @twitter doesn’t offer enough characters to allow me to explain the role Florida plays this pastime. Attached is a report by @SDSU on the economic impact of bowl games https://t.co/uT3mDtDBxk…….
— Jimmy Patronis (@JimmyPatronis) January 25, 2021
What Patronis neglected to mention was that, while Japan (population 126 million) is concerned enough about their 366,000 cases of COVID that most of their citizens don’t want the games to happen, Florida (population 21 million) has over 1,600,000 cases (the third-highest state in the U.S.). The Sunshine State also adds over twice as many new cases per day as the entire country of Japan. Oh, and while Japan has suffered just over 5,000 COVID-related deaths, Florida’s has well over 25,000.
Again, that’s JUST IN FLORIDA.
“Whatever precautions are required let’s figure it out and get it done,” Patronis wrote in the letter to Thomas Bach, president of the International Olympic Committee (I suspect that a mask mandate might be a concern. Florida doesn’t have one and our governor has made it clear he won’t make one).
Anyway, the IOC’s media team said in an email that they hadn’t received Patronis’ letter, but referred to their recent statement that they are “committed to the successful delivery of the Olympic and Paralympic Games Tokyo 2020 this year.”
Good.
Frankly, I don’t know if the 2021 Olympics will happen in Japan. I question if it even should. But if there’s any place it SHOULDN’T happen, it’s Florida.
Feature Photo: Pixabay
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This post first appeared on Your Mileage May Vary
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