The Sports Report Olympics edition: Why isn’t there a mercy rule in rugby?

Welcome to our second Olympic newsletter as we wonder why there is no mercy rule in rugby-sevens. I’m John Cherwa, and I’m your tour guide as we get closer to an unforgettable opening ceremony. The question is, unforgettable in which way?

The first day of competition, better known as Day -2, at the Paris/Stamford Olympics has come to a close with the United States looking OK, bad and unbelievably bad. But fear not, things will be looking better when the U.S. gets its first “W” today in women’s soccer.

Our Kevin Baxter was in Marseilles on Wednesday as the U.S. men’s soccer team lost to France 3-0. First of all, France is a pretty good team. Secondly it had a huge home-field advantage. And thirdly (is there such a word?), the U.S. team, after a strong scoreless first half, didn’t show up for the second half.

Rather than me telling you about it, read Kevin’s story here. He was actually there.

As for the other two matches in rugby, check back after this next section.

Paris/Stamford Olympics?

Today will also mark the first time that NBC will call an event at these Games from Paris. A lot of the coverage of sports that — to put it kindly — few people care about are being called from NBC Sports’ international broadcast center in Stamford, Conn. Stamford, as you know, is also the longtime home of World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE).

Isn’t Stamford one of those rich fancy-pants areas where no one can afford to live, you ask? Funny, I was wondering the same thing. According to my uncredited co-host, Mr. Google, it’s part of a region that also includes Bridgeport and Norwalk, where 17.9% of households are in the top 5% of earners in the country. OK, back to our regularly scheduled programming.

Speaking of the haves and have-nots, NBC has set up a caste system where not all sports are created equal. In fact, there are more have-nots than haves. It seems that 21 of the sports will have no announcers or reporters on-site for coverage of those sports. There are five sports that will do the play-by-play from Privileged-land, Conn., but will have a reporter on-site. Those are cycling, volleyball, men’s soccer (there will be a play-by-play team for the women), taekwondo and triathlon.

All of this leads us to the sports with status: basketball, beach volleyball, diving, golf, gymnastics, open water swimming, rhythmic gymnastics, women’s soccer, swimming, tennis and track and field.

In fairness, play-by-play announcers and analysts are pretty skilled at calling games off television. But it’s always better in person, not on the big stuff, but the little stuff that exists beyond the camera.

Hello, rugby!

With not much to watch on Day -2 of the Games, it seemed appropriate to sit down and watch rugby-sevens. I covered a rugby match once at the Orlando Sentinel, but it was so long ago that Gutenberg was actually printing the paper. Rugby-sevens was not an Olympic sport until Rio in 2016. So, no base of knowledge.

When my wife asked why a score, or a try, was worth five points, I responded by saying, “I think I hear the mail truck. Let me check.” Got no idea. I’m also puzzled about why they miss so many two-point conversion kicks. Seems if you practice enough you should be able to kick it through the uprights at a very bad angle.

Perhaps one of the best things about rugby-sevens is a match is only 14 minutes, or about half the time you would spend on the phone with AT&T customer service … if you’re lucky.

The first U.S. game against France was really pretty good, with it ending in a 12-12 tie — sorry, draw. Although the end of the match was puzzling. The U.S. had the ball with 20 seconds to go and rather than try to score and win, it kicked the ball out of bounds to end the game. Yeah, that’s the U.S. spirit — “Go for the draw.”

Then the U.S. played Fiji, which if you know nothing about rugby, seems like a favorable matchup. Well, it seems that Fiji is the two-time Olympic champion and has never lost a match. The score at the end of the first half was 33-5, prompting the question at the top, why no mercy rule? Fiji took its foot off the pedal in the second half and the match ended 38-12.

Back to today’s play

The high point on Day -1 is the U.S. women’s soccer team opening play at noon PDT against Zambia. Germany and Australia are the other two teams in the U.S. group. Our memories of the women’s team is probably better than reality. It has won four Olympic titles but none since London in 2012.

“Women’s Olympic soccer for $800, Ken”

“The teams that won the last two tournaments”

”Who are Canada and Germany?”

“That’s right.”

The U.S. men’s rugby-sevens finishes pool play against Uruguay in a must-win big game to advance. And that’s likely before you’ve read this at 6 a.m. PDT.

There is also team handball, a sport in which the U.S. only qualifies if it is hosting the Games, which means we’ll see them in 2028. The U.S. team’s last two appearances were in Atlanta (2016) and Los Angeles (1984). There is also some men’s and women’s qualifying in archery.

All competition will be on USA Network and Peacock.

L.A. 2028 fast forward

Speaking of team handball, a phrase used as much as you might expect, the sport will be held at the Long Beach Arena, seating about 14,000. In 1984, it was held at Cal State Fullerton. Those of you looking for a volunteer opportunity might find team handball an easy assignment to get. And besides, it’s actually pretty fun to watch.

Salt Lake capitulates

In what can only be described as another example of the pompous and megalomaniac nature of the International Olympic Committee, the IOC forced Salt Lake City to turn against its own country in order to secure the bid for the 2034 Winter Olympics. Yes, maybe a bit overstated but then again .…

The IOC, you see, is upset because U.S. federal law enforcement is investigating suspected doping by Chinese swimmers during the 2020 Tokyo Games. Some of those swimmers will be participating in Paris. So, in order to get the 2034 bid, Salt Lake City had to promise to lobby the Congress and future presidents “to alleviate … concerns” about the U.S. investigation and its ability to control Olympic participants and visitors.

“That was the only way that we could guarantee that we would get the Games,” said Utah Gov. Spencer Cox. He added that if the United States does not respect the “the supreme authority of [the World Anti-Doping Organization]” that the Games could be pulled from Salt Lake City.

So, yeah, WADA has been doing a bang-up job of keeping doping out of the Olympics. Nothing to see here, right? Move along.

Again, let’s not forget Salt Lake City was the only bid city allowed to negotiate for the Games. So, who really had the leverage?

Most disappointing was NBC’s solid journalist Mike Tirico, slumming down on USA Network, doing a seven-minute interview with Salt Lake organizing biggies Fraser Bullock and Lindsey Vonn and never bringing up the IOC’s extortion. (Now, I’ve done interviews with people not knowing everything I should, so he could have been let down by his prep team. Don’t know.)

The last time the Games were in Salt Lake City (2002), the bid was hit with a major corruption scandal, with SLC officials accused of bribing IOC members. Remember, it takes two sides for a bribe to take hold. In response to that, the IOC instituted a rule that the head, currently Thomas Bach, could serve only one 12-year term. Bach’s expires next year, but the IOC is looking to change its anticorruption safety rails and give Bach more time.

While we search for a way to transition to the final part of the newsletter, let’s finish with a movie recommendation, totally unrelated to this section. Try the 1990 film with Angelica Houston, Annette Bening and John Cusack. It’s called “The Grifters.”

Must-read links

Let’s catch up on some stories you might have missed, but shouldn’t have:

• 2024 Paris Olympics: How to watch every event and the opening ceremony
  
• U.S. men’s soccer team fades in 3-0 loss to France after 16-year Olympics absence
  
• Maggie Steffens wants to build U.S. water polo. That’s where Flavor Flav comes in
  
• Most picturesque Olympics ever? Paris venues will offer ‘phenomenal backdrop’
  
• Russian man among those arrested in suspected plots targeting Paris Olympics
  
• IOC awards 2034 Winter Games to Salt Lake City, pushes Utah officials to help end FBI probe
  
• Patt Morrison: As the world arrives in Paris for the Olympics, Paris food goes local. How can L.A. compete
  
• Opinion: The Olympics promise to be socially responsible. How’s that working out?

Your TV guide

How can you watch the Games today? Check out our Thursday Olympic TV listings.