The Daily Valet. - 7/23/21, Friday

✔️ The Look of the Olympics

Friday, July 23rd Edition

Cory Ohlendorf, Editor in Chief of Valet.

Get ready to hear that “this is an Olympics unlike any other” over and over.

Cory Ohlendorf, Editor ⋯ @coryohlendorf

↦ Correction: Yesterday’s newsletter misstated the size of Texas in regards to the wild fires. Believe us … lesson learned.

Today’s Big Story

The Look of the Olympics

In an unprecedented Games, the sartorial storylines still matter

The 2020 Olympics are finally officially kicking off today in Tokyo. They’re starting a year late, there won’t really be any spectators, some athletes have opted to skip it and the host city is under a state of emergency, but the Games will nonetheless commence.

And since there are no spectators, no families in the stands, all eyes will be on the Olympians—and what they’re wearing. Ralph Lauren (above) is once again designing the looks for the opening and closing ceremonies.

Kim Kardashian’s SKIMS brand is the official purveyor of the American’s athletic undergarments. New York designer Telfar Clemens, born to Liberian parents, is making Olympic history with his unisex designs for the five-person Liberian national track and field team, reports Forbes.

As for other sartorial choices to watch out for, InsideHook points to the Australian women’s basketball team, who is bringing back the sleek one-piece bodysuits they played in for over a decade before scrapping for the last two Olympics.

Other eye-catching uniforms include the Russian athletes, who are not permitted to wear the country’s national flag on their uniforms due to a doping scandal. In fact, they won’t even be representing Russia, but rather the ROC (short for “Russian Olympic Committee”), and their national anthem won’t be played at any medal ceremonies.

A more technical swap will likely happen on the track. Nike’s ZoomX Dragonfly has become the shoe of choice for runners—even those signed with other brands. So if you see a runner wearing shoes that appear to be unbranded, it’s highly likely that they’re Nikes with the signature swoosh removed.

↦ Dig Deeper: Here's what team USA's summer Olympics uniforms have looked like over the past 50 years.

The NBA’s First Billion Dollar Man

LeBron James becomes first player to make $1 billion in earnings while still playing

Fresh off Space Jam: A New Legacy opening to $31 million at the box office, Los Angeles Lakers superstar LeBron James' pockets just got a lot deeper.

According to Sportico, the four-time champion has earned the distinction of the first player in NBA history to make $1 billion in career earnings while still playing. James has netted $330 million from his NBA salary and $700 million from merchandise, endorsements, his media company and other off-the-court endeavors.

Michael Jordan, not surprisingly, surpassed the $1 billion mark (and the $2 billion mark, for that matter), but he didn't get there until after his playing career ended.

And while James is the first player from a U.S. team sport to earn a billion dollars during his active career, athletes from other sports and other countries have also done it. Golfer Tiger Woods, boxer Floyd Mayweather, tennis player Roger Federer, and soccer players Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi have all earned $1 billion while still playing.

↦ The King's Empire: Take a closer look at the businesses that make up LeBron's portfolio of companies.

Right to Repair?

Why you should care about simplifying tech maintenance

The Federal Trade Commission formally pledged to take on unlawful “right to repair” restrictions in a new policy statement this week. Why does this matter?

Think about when something goes wrong with your smartphone—say a shattered screen or a depleted battery—you may wonder: “Is it time to buy a new one?” Studies have shown that when tech products begin to fail, most people are inclined to buy new things rather than fix their old ones.

One consumer advocate told the New York Times it doesn't have to be this way. More of us could maintain our tech products (like we do with cars), if it were more practical. If we all had more access to the parts and tools to revive products, repairs would become simpler and less expensive.

Of course, not everyone considers this good news. Bloomberg reports some large manufacturers say encouraging individuals or technicians to make repairs could endanger them or make products less secure.

Natural Graffiti

One man’s art is another man’s nuisance

If you've been out on a hiking trail lately, you've probably noticed them suddenly popping up everywhere—small, intentionally stacked piles of rocks. They're called cairns.

Environmentalists worldwide are increasingly alarmed. Because moving rocks can have numerous unintended consequences for the landscape. It's tempting to create your own and leave your mark, but according to National Geographic, that's not a good idea: misplaced rock stacks can endanger fragile ecosystems; or, if stones are pried loose for cairn-making, promote erosion.

Even more dangerous, they can get people lost in our National Parks. On particularly confusing trails and paths, park officials began creating cairns as trail markers to help ensure hikers don't get off track. But these unofficial cairns are leading some hikers astray.

“Moving, stacking, or making shapes out of rocks is a form of vandalism and will impact every visitor who comes after,” one park official told U.S. News & World Report, asking visitors to “respect these sacred landscapes.”

↦ Biased Opinion: Let your actions be guided by what we were told growing up in the Boy Scouts: Leave no trace.

In Other News

↦ Mississippi Asks U.S. Supreme Court to Overturn Abortion Rights Landmark

↦ Why Everyone Has the Worst Summer Cold Ever

↦ These Are the Pop Stars With the “Cleanest” and “Dirtiest” Lyrics, According to a Study

Other Things We’re Talking About Today

A skywalk above the redwoods

This familiar face

“Cave Syndrome”

A Weekend Pairing

Old + a Beachcomber Cocktail

It's being called the scariest beach movie since Jaws. Director M. Night Shyamalan's new film Old (in theaters and streaming on HBO Max) is set in a beautiful tropical location. But before long, the beachgoers figure out that they are aging at a dangerously accelerated rate. They say the sun can age you, but this is taking the idea to new terrifying lengths.

According to Gizmodo, for almost two hours, the filmmaker “grabs his audience with a vise and squeezes them in the guts. It's a film relentless in its terror, fear, and anxiety, but simultaneously you can't take your eyes off the screen because you simply have to know what's going to happen next.”

↦ Your Pairing: I want a beach-themed drink, but a wild tiki cocktail doesn’t seem to fit the shock value of this film. So I’m opting for the Beachcomber. A light and simple, but potent, tropical tipple, it’s like a rum sour, made of light rum, triple sec, lime juice and maraschino liqueur.