Who Had the Worst Week?

• The Olympics are here, and already we have seen some interesting storylines:
  • Charlotte Dujardin, a six-time Olympic medalist from Great Britain, withdrew from the Paris Olympics abruptly after a video of her repeatedly whipping a horse during a training session surfaced. In a statement, she said the video “does not reflect how I train my horses,” but of course it actually does.
  • It was a tough week for the U.S. men’s and women’s national basketball teams. In tune-up games leading to the Paris Olympics, the men’s team barely beat South Sudan and the women’s team lost to a WNBA all-star team composed of women who were not picked for the national team.
  • The head coach of the Canadian national women’s soccer team has been sent home after members of her staff were caught flying a spy drone over the practice of their first opponent, New Zealand. Seems like a pretty low risk-to-reward ratio. The drone probably confirmed that New Zealand planned to kick the ball around a bunch and then try to shoot it in the opponent’s goal.
  • Vandals created a series of arson fires on high-speed rail lines overnight in what officials describe as a “coordinated attack” intended to disrupt access to the opening ceremonies.
  • Meanwhile, the IOC awarded the 2034 Winter Olympic Games to Salt Lake City, but only if the United States goes easy on the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA). WADA has been accused of allowing Chinese swimmers who tested positive for a banned substance to participate in the Tokyo Olympics in 2021. Every time you think FIFA is the most corrupt organization on the face of the planet, the IOC steps its game up.
• It’s not exactly like Cleveland Browns fans throwing D-cell batteries at opponents, but a professional soccer match in Norway had to be suspended after fans objected to a referee’s call by throwing fish cakes onto the field.
• The janitors who clean the office buildings in downtown Denver could strike as early as Sunday if they don’t reach a new agreement.
• RTD police chief Joel Fitzgerald has been on administrative leave since July 1 for unspecified reasons.
• It’s not just reporters who have an issue with what records governmental agencies hand over. Denver City Auditor Tim O’Brien is pushing to give his office subpoena power. Meanwhile, the Colorado Department of Human Services is charging its own Colorado Child Protection Ombudsman $30 per hour to gather records it has requested.
• Things are tough all over. King Charles and his British Monarchy have received a $60 million pay raise as Great Britain grapples with the impacts of inflation.
• Stop me if you’ve heard this one before: A brother of a Denver Nuggets player has been arrested. This time it was Strahinja Jokic, the brother of NBA MVP Nikola Jokic, who was arrested for assaulting a man during a Nuggets playoff game against the L.A. Lakers in April.
• Wildfires in the Pacific Northwest have caused Denver to rank in the Top 10 globally for worst air quality.
• Former Denver Bronco and local sports radio host Chad Brown has agreed to pay $200,000 to settle a lawsuit filed by a former business partner. Curiously, the settlement bars the business partner from defaming Brown, including any mention of “’sex, sexuality, cameras, extramarital affairs, pornography’ or a particular adult toy.”
• Southwest Airlines announced it would begin assigning seats, ending its 50-year practice of letting passengers pick their seats when they board. Business passengers, particularly, had not been happy with the number of people pre-boarding by claiming medical, military or other reasons.
• Climate activists in Germany forced the cancellation of more than 100 airline flights in an attempt to highlight climate change. The protesters breached security fences at Frankfurt Airport, an important European hub. Meanwhile, flights in South Korea have been disrupted by a North Korean campaign to send large balloons filled with trash into the country. The balloons have small explosive devices with timers that cause the balloons to pop and rain debris.
• After 101 years in Denver, the Hanneck Dry Cleaners on East Sixth Avenue is closing. As Westword noted, Hanneck is older than bubble gum, parking meters and penicillin.
• You think you are annoyed by the never-ending 16th Street Mall construction? The Clocktower Cabaret in the basement of the Daniels & Fisher Tower on 16th Street was flooded with raw sewage during a construction mishap.

Who won the week?

• The Colorado State Rams are retiring the No. 14 across all of its sports teams in honor of Lt. Col. John Mosley. Mosley, who enrolled at CSU in 1939, was a Tuskegee Airman and the first Black person to earn a varsity letter at the university.
• Colorado Rockies star Todd Helton was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame.
• Denver Nuggets announcer Chris Marlowe, a volleyball gold medal winner in the 1984 Summer Olympics, is headed to Paris to serve as an announcer for his tenth Olympics.
• Boulder was named one of six finalists to be the new host of the Sundance Film Festival.
• The movie “Twisters” nabbed $80.5 million in its opening weekend, blowing away pre-opening estimates of $50 million to $55 million.