Olympics, movies, and Afghanistan

Traffic report

Olympics, movies, and Afghanistan

By Igordebraga, Mcrsftdog, SSSB, Kingsif, Benmite

This traffic report is adapted from the Top 25 Report, prepared with commentary by Igordebraga, Mcrsftdog, SSSB, Kingsif, and Benmite.

July provided a welcome distraction for pandemic-riddled times with much sports content. And then August brought in an early reminder that the 9/11 attacks are about to complete 20 years with more.

Greek Freak, c'est Chic (July 18 to 24)

Most Popular Wikipedia Articles of the Week (July 18 to 24, 2021)

Rank	Article	Views	Notes/about
1	Giannis Antetokounmpo	2,034,685	The NBA Finals wrapped up on Tuesday, with the Milwaukee Bucks prevailing over the Phoenix Suns. The game's MVP is Antetokounmpo, a Bucks player hailing from Greece; previously, he was the league's MVP for two straight years.
2	2020 Summer Olympics	1,974,359	International sports fans now will spend two weeks in the very unfavorable (for those outside East Asia/Australia) Japan Standard Time to see the multi-sport event that started in spite of the pandemic delaying it for a year (and the protests of a populace that started immunizing itself too late). One of #1's teammates, Jordan Nwora, will compete for the Nigerian basketball team – Giannis' Greece certainly missed him as they couldn't qualify.
3	Jeff Bezos	1,018,493	The recently retired Amazon CEO has decided to pour his fortune into escaping the rest of us. The Blue Origin NS-16 mission took Bezos into near-space for a couple minutes before safely landing. The mission was largely an advertisement for Blue Origin, a company that will provide more rich guys with very short trips to Space™.
4	Old (film)	976,648	The newest M. Night Shyamalan film opened this week. Shyamalan used to be famous for making great movies with surprising twists, though after a few embarrassing pictures in the mid 2000s, he instead became a punchline. Judging by the Rotten Tomatoes score, Old might not be the next The Sixth Sense, but at least it's not the next The Happening.
5	Naomi Osaka	877,081	The opening ceremony of #2 ended with the Olympic cauldron lit by a current local idol, this tennis player who certainly also hoped to ignite during her tournament.
6	Deaths in 2021	849,619	You take what you get And get what you please It's better to die on your feet than to live on your knees!
7	Space Jam: A New Legacy	846,983	Welcome back to the Space Jam! (Alright!) One could wonder for ages why someone in 1996 thought it was necessary to real-life retcon Michael Jordan's 1995 return to basketball so that he was instead playing alongside the Looney Tunes characters, even though most conclusions would probably just amount to corporate greed and what I like to call crossover lust. But you wouldn't have to wonder about whether or not it was a slam dunk in theaters, which is why we received this so-so sequel starring LeBron James in 2021. A New Legacy first got people talking back in March, when promo images for the film showed that Lola Bunny, the love interest of Bugs Bunny, was designed a little less provocatively this time. Inevitable outrage occurred, because duh, which might have been worth it if A New Legacy didn't completely miss the rim. (#1 possibly dodged a bullet declining the movie) Critics hated it, audiences hated it, meaning the only winners of this overlong basketball game are the movie execs lining their pockets with nostalgia bucks. Thufferin' thuccotash!
8	Money in the Bank (2021)	776,667	WWE held its latest event, which showcases a ladder match.
9	Black Widow (2021 film)	736,095	#7 took its place atop the box office, and given the fact that Disney+ offers the opportunity to watch it at home, either for a surplus now or for free in a few months, Black Widow isn't making the usual Marvel truckloads of money (though it at least will gross more than The Incredible Hulk), but unlike Space Jam, reviews were positive. It can also please viewers who don't vouch for the men's rights movement, and has a post-credits scene that certainly makes people eager to watch the Hawkeye Disney+ show.
10	Collin Morikawa	732,845	On July 18, this American golfer won the Open Sandwich in the English town of Sandwich. Next, Tokyo (#2).

It's easy when you're big in Japan (July 25 to 31)

Most Popular Wikipedia Articles of the Week (July 25 to 31, 2021)

Rank	Article	Views	Notes/about
1	2020 Summer Olympics	3,775,926	Sports fans of the New World (and maybe a few of the Old one as well) are currently sleep-deprived to fit into the Tokyo Standard Time where the biggest multi-sport event is happening. The pandemic that delayed the Olympics is still having its effects felt, with medalists forced to wear masks on the podium and such.
2	Simone Biles	2,654,995	Simone Biles, the most successful American gymnast of all time, withdrew mid-way through the Women's artistic team all-around citing mental health problems. She also withdrew from individual contests, opening the way for compatriot Sunisa Lee and Brazilian Rebeca Andrade, among others, to win it all. Certainly not the way all the media who claimed she'd be the name of the Olympics expected things to go.
3	Katie Ledecky	1,444,410	Ledecky won her sixth individual Olympic gold medal this week—the most of any female American swimmer, and the third most of any American period, after Carl Lewis and...
4	Michael Phelps	1,376,312	The most successful Olympian of all time is retired now, but people are still keen to remind themselves of his records.
5	Tom Daley	1,256,729	This British diver made his Olympics debut at Beijing 2008, aged 14. He became World Champion for the first time in 2009 in the 10 m platform. He is a three-time World Champion, five-time European Champion and four-time Commonwealth Champion (across two displines). Yet, he didn't become Olympic Champion until 2021. When he did, this picture (the first one) even promoted an emotional reaction from me. It was also fun to see him knitting on the stands.
6	Joey Jordison	1,219,852	A break from sports to go tragic: Jordison, founding drummer of metal band Slipknot, passed away on Monday at just 46.
7	India at the 2020 Summer Olympics	1,086,402	In contrast to neighbor China, India's massive population didn't translate into a nation dominating on sports. Hence in one week of #1, only one medal came, a silver by weightlifter Saikhom Mirabai Chanu (pictured). It is India's 29th overall Olympic medal – for comparison's sake, that's only one more than China's worst performance in a single edition.
8	Caeleb Dressel	979,812	To the despair of people who want non-American swimmers to win for a change, this guy (who already got 2 relay golds in 2016) appeared at #1 like a second coming of #4, winning five races.
9	2020 Summer Olympics medal table	918,449	Which is the most successful country at these games so far? If gold medals are the standard, it's China (so far). If overall medals is the way, it's the United States. (You might notice US media always shifts standards when the country lags behind...) In other news, San Marino and Turkmenistan got their first medals of any colour and Bermuda and the Philippines take their first golds. Bermuda and San Marino are the smallest countries to achieve those respective accomplishments (in terms of population).
10	Dusty Hill	918,056	The longtime bassist/singer of ZZ Top passed away early this week at the age of 72, 5 days after the band played without him for the first time in 51 years – the other leader, Billy Gibbons, said Hill specifically asked him to put his guitar tech in his place.

I'm living my life for Olympic Platinum (August 1 to 7)

Most Popular Wikipedia Articles of the Week (August 1 to 7, 2021)

Rank	Article	Views	Notes/about
1	2020 Summer Olympics	3,278,702	One more week where sports fans supported their countries from a distance, even in host city Tokyo, as the same pandemic that delayed it for a year forced events without outsiders or reduced crowds. The Games closed on Sunday, August 8, to the relief of those who are losing their sleep to watch events late at night. At least the next ones are only three years away and, for Europeans, in a more favorable timezone!
2	The Suicide Squad (film)	1,912,835	And for another thing that was around in August 2016, DC Comics' supervillainous black ops team had another go, and instead of a messy production clearly showing studio interference, it's a lively and unorthodox production clearly showing writer-director James Gunn is a weird guy. It's not for everyone (specially with the amount of blood, tasteless dialogue and rats!), but certainly fun, and thus reviews have been overwhelmingly positive. The director of the previous maligned version pulled a Zack Snyder: "it wasn't my movie"; weird timing suggests he doesn't want to be compared to a better movie and now knows that fans will get behind directors disavowing their work if they blame corporations. Move along, Alan.
3	Neeraj Chopra	1,840,314	Our South Asian friends managed to turn #1 into their most successful showing ever, including javelin thrower Neeraj Chopra winning India's first athletics medal (and looking good doing it), a gold no less! In total it was 7 medals, including a return to the podium for the country's most victorious Olympic sport, field hockey. And considering fellow billion people nation China usually emasses the same quantity of medals in a single day, it's been long discussed how India never fares well in multi-sport events.
4	India at the Olympics	1,362,217
5	India at the 2020 Summer Olympics	1,222,400
6	Marcell Jacobs	1,135,626	This Italian sprinter won the Men's 100 metres sprint, taking the crown that had been #10's since 2008, #10 having retired. Marcell then went on to win the Men's 4 × 100 metres relay. This is the first time Italy has won either event.
7	Athletics at the 2020 Summer Olympics	1,114,844	People who can run, jump and throw stuff really well. The United States are still the most victorious, but the dominance of Jamaica in sprint races and East Africa in long ones remains unbroken. And there was an amusing story in that the two guys who were tied for first place in the high jump opted not to do a tiebreaker and just share the gold.
8	2020 Summer Olympics medal table	1,052,094	Americans had gone rogue and started sorting tables by most medals in an apparent attempt to claim you're better than you actually are. And then in the last day the USA gets a few golds – including one very painful for one of the writers here – to still finish at the top, to the chagrin of every other country. This week also saw Burkina Faso win their first medal at the Olympics, in the Men's triple jump. And like in 2016, the previous host country managed to get more medals than when they had athletes in every sport!
9	Simone Biles	961,851	After withdrawing from several events after suffering from the "twisties" (where you lose orientation whilst rotating; very dangerous, as shown by the case of a Soviet gymnast who got tetraplegic in a botched landing), she returned for the balance beam, in which she finished third.
10	Usain Bolt	885,806	Like Michael Phelps the other week, a dominating athlete that went out on a high note at the previous Games yet still attracts people's attention.

All my friends are heathens, take it slow (August 8 to 14)

Most Popular Wikipedia Articles of the Week (August 8 to 14, 2021)

Rank	Article	Views	Notes/about
1	The Suicide Squad (film)	2,004,116	The newest DCEU film, following a squad of supervillains compelled by the U.S. government to fight a big monster, was released to theatres and HBO Max on August 5. The Suicide Squad is a reboot/sequel of 2016's Suicide Squad (no "The"). While no-The was an embarrassment for all involved, The is getting pretty decent reviews – it only won't make as much money (hasn't even broken $100 million, a quantity the other surpassed in a weekend).
2	Lionel Messi	1,709,170	One of the world's best footballers bid a tearful good-bye to his old club (FC Barcelona) and joined a new one (#5).
3	Neeraj Chopra	1,242,885	The games are over, with the closing ceremony being held on August 8. If you miss international sports don't worry; the 2020 Summer Paralympics start on August 24 and the 2022 Winter Olympics is in only a few months (thanks, COVID). Chopra, a javelin thrower, became the first Indian track and field athlete to medal, and a gold no less, on August 7.
4	2020 Summer Olympics	1,080,347
5	Paris Saint-Germain F.C.	1,047,096	Messi's new team plays at the park of princes and was, coincidentally, bought by the Qatari then-crown prince (now Emir) in 2011. The team is also reuniting Messi with friend and former Barça teammate Neymar.
6	Taliban	948,626	The United States military invaded Afghanistan less than a month after 9/11, nearly twenty years ago. A total withdrawal of U.S. troops started in the waning years of the Trump administration, with President Biden setting a deadline for the twentieth anniversary of 9/11. As troops left the country, the Taliban—an Islamist terrorist group that the U.S. had invaded Afghanistan to remove from power—took control of several major cities.
7	Deaths in 2021	909,342	And I tread a troubled track My odds are stacked I'll go back to black...
8	Trevor Moore (comedian)	818,709	The whitest kid you know passed away on August 7. He's left behind a bunch of great sketches; probably the best known is one about how you can't say "I want to kill the President of the United States of America", which prompted an actual Supreme Court case.
9	Vikram Batra	780,441	Shershaah, a film based on Batra's service in the Kargil War, was released to Amazon on Thursday.
10	Andrew Cuomo	758,143	In February, the Governor of New York state was accused of sexually harassing multiple women on his staff. After widespread calls on him to step down, he denied the allegations and told his Attorney General to investigate. That report, concluding that he is (allegedly) a menace to women around him, dropped on Monday; Cuomo promptly held a press conference where he again denied, this time showing a slideshow of him touching the faces of and kissing countless people. The next day, he put in his two weeks notice.

US Forces give the nod, it's a setback to your country (August 15 to 21)

Most Popular Wikipedia Articles of the Week (August 15 to 21, 2021)

Rank	Article	Views	Notes/about
1	Taliban	6,195,799	Good news: the United States's war in Afghanistan is over, after 20 years of bloody, expensive occupation. Bad news: The United States did not do any nation-building. As the U.S. pulled out its troops, the Taliban – Islamist fundamentalists, a.k.a. the antagonists of 2000s American culture – removed during the invasion of 2001, took power over the weekend with little resistance. American President Joe Biden has come under fire from everybody in Washington, including the former President that had started the withdrawal.
2	Afghanistan	4,384,165
3	Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan	1,658,975	Once the Taliban took Kabul, they effectively reinstated the government that existed from 1996 to 2001. The old government was notoriously repressive of women and blew up some really big Buddha statues before getting ousted by the Americans. However, this new government have styled themselves as "Taliban 2.0" and seem keen to tell the world that they intend to be less extreme this time around. Not that many believe them...
4	Sean Lock	1,418,904	This British comedian died this week, aged 58. He once joked that NASA killed Michael Jackson. What made it so funny was his delivery, something for which he was well-known. Lock also appeared frequently on panel shows, most famously 8 Out of 10 Cats.
5	Ashraf Ghani	1,347,322	Afghanistan's president since 2014, who had been helping the nation rebuild ever since the invasion, fled the country the same day of the Taliban's hostile takeover.
6	Vikram Batra	1,282,514	Going a little south of Afghanistan to India, busy remembering a war through Shershaah, a film based on this captain's service in the Kargil War.
7	Fall of Kabul (2021)	1,182,724	One of the most retrograde governments in recent history (#3) was forcibly removed from Afghanistan after the Battle of Tora Bora in 2001, but in 2003 started to reorganize and try to get back into power. The Americans and Taliban signed the Doha Agreement agreeing to remove US troops last year, which only served to fuel the insurrection that took over the capital Kabul and will reinstate Taliban.
8	2021 Taliban offensive	1,107,809
9	Hibatullah Akhundzada	970,805	#1's current leader.
10	War in Afghanistan (2001–2021)	875,738^[1]	After Osama bin Laden and al-Qaeda claimed responsibility for the 9/11 attacks, George W. Bush started the War on Terror and sent all hell loose on #2, where said terrorist group was given refuge. #1 might (possibly) have been willing to talk, but that would've required stopping the bombings that eventually escalated to their removal. Afterwards, soldiers from all nations of NATO remained there to help the country rebuild and contain a Taliban insurgency until their withdrawal this year, leading to all this recent turmoil.

^ This page was moved mid-week and this total combines the page views across both article titles.

You can't always get what you want (August 22 to 28)

Most Popular Wikipedia Articles of the Week (August 22 to 28, 2021)

Rank	Article	Views	Notes/about
1	Cristiano Ronaldo	1,857,188	On August 22, Ronaldo played his first game in this year's Serie A. It was also probably his last game for Juventus, as his transfer to Manchester United was announced this week, rejoining the club where he made his breakthrough from 2003-2009, after being set to join Manchester City beforehand.
2	Charlie Watts	1,644,892	The longtime drummer for the Rolling Stones died on Tuesday. The surviving band members and numerous other musicians paid tribute to him. Since Watts was a member of the band for six decades, it remains unclear if the Stones will continue without the Wembley Whammer.
3	Spider-Man: No Way Home	1,273,853	After a leak, the trailer for the eighth solo movie of Marvel Comics' most popular hero (third in the Marvel Cinematic Universe) was released. And it's clear the other movies are returning in a way reminiscent of the animated flick Spider-Man: Into the Spiderverse, as Willem Dafoe's Green Goblin and Alfred Molina's Doctor Octopus appear in the preview, and Jamie Foxx's Electro is also confirmed.
4	Afghanistan	990,547	The NATO-led evacuation of foreign nationals from Afghanistan was interrupted by a suicide bombing at the NATO-controlled Hamid Karzai International Airport on Thursday. The current death count is at 182, including 13 members of the U.S. military. Some American political figures are, in light of this, pushing for President Biden to either move up the troops-leaving-deadline or to simply restart the war; it seems that the guy who literally just pulled out of Afghanistan isn't eager to go right back in.
5	Deaths in 2021	940,780	In homage to #2: Catch your dreams before they slip away Dying all the time Lose your dreams and you will lose your mind Ain't life unkind?
6	SummerSlam (2021)	929,184	WWE's latest event, bringing back John Cena as he might be in theaters with The Suicide Squad but will never turn his back on his wrestler origins.
7	The Rolling Stones	928,717	Unlike The Beatles, who broke up amid conflict, the other standout of the British Invasion remained together and on the spotlight for six decades. It's up in the air whether the Stones will continue without #2, aside from finishing the current tour with Steve Jordan.
8	Taliban	901,298	The terrorist group in control of #4 is not behind the airport bombing. In fact, the group that has claimed responsibility, a local ISIL branch, has been fighting the Taliban for year.
9	Candyman (2021 film)	587,635	After three movies in the 90's, Clive Barker's spectral assassin who appears if his name is spoken five times in the mirror was brought back in this movie (originally planned for last year, but you know...), still played by Tony Todd and with positive reviews.
10	Havana syndrome	568,329	Staff at multiple U.S. embassies, most recently in Hanoi, have been dealing with the "Havana syndrome" for several years. It's either caused by miniature microwave weapons that are shared between the world's Communists, an outright lie by American intelligence, intentionally leaked to the media through the years to get people more onboard a second Cold War, or mass psychogenic illness, like a Cold War-themed version of the Dancing plague of 1518. Who's to say?

Exclusions

These lists exclude the Wikipedia main page, non-article pages (such as redlinks), and anomalous entries (such as DDoS attacks or likely automated views). Since mobile view data became available to the Report in October 2014, we exclude articles that have almost no mobile views (5–6% or less) or almost all mobile views (94–95% or more) because they are very likely to be automated views based on our experience and research of the issue. Please feel free to discuss any removal on the Top 25 Report talk page if you wish.

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