- In a blow to the confidence of the Rio Games, the main ramp for the sailing venue has been destroyed. Sailing events begin in Rio on the 14th of August, should the Games get that far.
- One of the International Broadcast Centers, this one on the world-famous Copacabana Beach, has been flooded -- again!! (Deadspin for these first two.)
- The Rio Games have placed 630 engineers in charge of making the Olympic Village habitable. According to a statement from the Games, just ONE of those engineers found problems in over 300 of the high-rise apartments! (And that was in only five of the relevant buildings!) (Deadspin)
- And in a move that should make all the athletes rest easy (especially the Chinese hurdler who was robbed after a fake drunk vomited on him), the private security firm the Rio organizing committee hired to protect the Games... has been FIRED for incompetence! Rio and Brazilian police will try to keep the peace at the Games.
- The IOC Executive Board has placed a three-member Commission on the final eligibility of individual Russian athletes for the Rio Games. (Inside The Games)
- Speaking of Russia, the Rio division of the Council for Arbitration of Sport will already be busy dealing with them. The Russian weightlifters have appealed their blanket ban from the Games, and two of the disqualified Russian swimmers have also gone to the CAS. (Inside The Games: Swimmers and Weightlifters)
- To give you an idea of how little faith the world has, even in the face of the IOC's statements and several sports banning the Russians, here's a story from the UK: Paddy Power, a betting site where betting on the Games is legal, has offered a free bet equal to the losing bet on a gold medal if an Irish or British athlete or team gets silver... to a Russian. (Inside The Games) (I don't know if US sportsbooks take bets on the Games, but I will be in Vegas for part of the first week...)
E-Sports next:
- Virtus.pro of Poland defeated the European e-sports powerhouse Fnatic in straight maps today in Atlanta to win the first Turner Broadcasting System E-League of Counterstrike: Global Offensive. 22 teams split $1.4 million in the first-ever fully-broadcasted e-sports league on American cable television. Virtus.pro's championship earned them a cool $390,000. (By comparison, the official world championships for CS:GO only award a $100,000 prize pool. The DoTA2 Interntaional, long the richest of e-sports tournaments and to be held this and next week (August 2-12) will have a prize pool almost-certainly exceeding... TWENTY MILLION DOLLARS! (The total is over $19M as we speak.))
- Yes, I said 22. At the beginning of the E-League season, I reported a story making the rounds about a contract dispute/tampering/poaching incident involving SK Gaming purchasing outright the entire team of Luminosity Gaming, as the latter won the first qualifying spot for the eight-team playoffs. SK Gaming would have won the opportunity to play in a Last Chance Qualifier in the seventh week for the final two spots.
- However, E-League officials tossed both teams from the tournament on July 6, but stressed that the disqualifications were only for violations of E-League rules and agreements (and at the behest of six of the other teams), as it had been noted previously that CS:GO does NOT (unlike League of Legends) have rules specifically prohibiting such tampering and poaching.
- Hence, no further known action will be taken against SK Gaming.
Basketball:
- There will be new rules next year about the "Hack-a-Player" situation. The "away from the play" "technical" which applies last two minutes of a half or overtime now becomes last two minutes of all periods. Also, the "jump on the back" foul will now probably be a Flagrant-1. Also, any foul by the defense before the ball is inbounded (including legitimate attempts to play) will also be a "technical" (not an actual T, but enforced as one: One freethrow plus the ball.)
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