Death From Above Posted July 31, 2015 Share Posted July 31, 2015 I don't think there's any doubt the IOC has a serious image problem for the new president to clean up, and I wish him luck with that. Some of those problems are real, some imagined. I'm really sick of hearing about how the Olympics bankrupted Greece. That's sort of like saying a guy that couldn't repay his mortgage, his student loan debt, and his smartphone bill was bankrupted by Verizon. It contributed to the problem undoubtedly and he never should have had the smartphone to begin with, but Verizon didn't break the guy. People also trying to stretch "Barcelona hosted in 1992 and now in 2015 Spain has financial problems so the Olympics are bad" is the reachiest reach that ever reached. Sochi is also a bizarre example because they basically built a city that doesn't really exist just for a two week games and basically nothing about it made sense on any level. They weren't just building venues and infrastructure, they literally built a city. I don't really see that happening again in the near future. The Sochi games basically cost more than every other previous winter Olympics put together, which is more an indictment of how ridiculous Russian politics are than anything else to me. Of course a lot of blame still has to fall on the IOC for electing them to host in the first place. They do really need to look at reforming some of what they expect in terms of the overall costs though, because when Oslo, Boston, Paris, and Rome (among others) are balking, you have problems. I sort of think people will always be willing to bite on the summer games because it really is the biggest show on earth for better or worse every 4 years. The PR is too appealing. The winter games just isn't as prestigious, and if they lose the NHL going to do hockey which is still very likely, they've lost a lot of that prestige especially in north America whose TV money they need. They have to find ways to make it more worth people's time to be involved. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dolfan in NYC Posted August 13, 2015 Share Posted August 13, 2015 So LA is going to get the '24 USOC bid. Also, Lebron has said he hasn't "penciled in" the '16 Games. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dolfan in NYC Posted September 15, 2015 Share Posted September 15, 2015 Toronto will not bid for the 2024 Summer Games Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
odessasteps Posted September 15, 2015 Author Share Posted September 15, 2015 Toronto will not bid for the 2024 Summer Games But may explore bidding for 2026 winter olympics. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dolfan in NYC Posted November 9, 2015 Share Posted November 9, 2015 And this just in from the World Anti-Doping Agency. Looks like Russian athletes have been doping. Like ALL of them, including 55(!!) gold medalists. Subsequently, Russia may be banned from the Rio Games. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
elizium Posted November 9, 2015 Share Posted November 9, 2015 I'm shocked. Are you shocked? We should all be shocked. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
elizium Posted November 9, 2015 Share Posted November 9, 2015 Man, "shocked" doesn't even look like a word anymore. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Robert S Posted November 9, 2015 Share Posted November 9, 2015 Why being shocked? There are a couple of sports where I am personally abolutely certain that there is hardly any way of being competitive on world class level without doing some kind of doping and track & field is on that list. Or at least many disciplines. There are some technicals events I would exclude, like high jumping, pole vault, triple jump or discuss throwing. I am not sure about decathlon / heptathlon as I would assume that doing certain PEDs might actually hurt in certain disciplines (e.g. roiding up for 100 m or shot put will hurt in pole vault or 1500 m). Anyway the Russian PED bubble is hardly the first of its kind, thinking about the reports of doping in GDR that came out in the mid 90ies, BALCO, some stuff I saw about Kenyan long distance runners etc. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brian Fowler Posted November 14, 2015 Share Posted November 14, 2015 And Russian track and field had officially been suspended from international competition. Including, as it stands right now, the 2016 games. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dolfan in NYC Posted December 4, 2015 Share Posted December 4, 2015 Hey, that sludge infested water around Rio that was supposed to be cleaned up hasn't. Doctors are on record as saying that infections are "likely". Also, apparently 'budget cutbacks' are to blame for the following: Athletes in the Olympic Village are not getting air conditioning unless they pay for it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Raziel Posted December 6, 2015 Share Posted December 6, 2015 It's shit like this that I really want 2024 in a decent country, in the remote off chance my daughter actually does end up being good enough at gymnastics. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Nature Boy Posted December 29, 2015 Share Posted December 29, 2015 The IOC needs to stop giving the Olympics to places who "promise" to clean up. Either get your shit together before you bid or don't bid. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dolfan in NYC Posted April 21, 2016 Share Posted April 21, 2016 The Olympic Torch was lit today, so we're 15 weeks away from Rio. To celebrate, a bridge collapsed in Rio killing 2 cyclists. It was part of the infrastructure 'upgrades' made by the Brazilian government. Also, The Guardian reports that several of the firms who built the new venues and infrastructure improvements are currently under investigation for bribes and kickbacks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
evilwaldo Posted April 22, 2016 Share Posted April 22, 2016 On 12/28/2015 at 0:25 PM, The Nature Boy said: The IOC needs to stop giving the Olympics to places who "promise" to clean up. Either get your shit together before you bid or don't bid. They got sucked in over China who spent gobs of money. I remember living in Shanghai while the preparations were underway and it was a HUGE deal to the Chinese to pull this off successfully. I would be told at least once a day that only the major countries and biggest cities in the world get to host the Olympics so in their eyes it was a huge boost to the country and people in how they are viewed by the world. No longer would they feel like a third class nation. By hosting the Olympics they would be a world class nation and the people should be proud of it but they had to pull it off. Everywhere you went there was a single-minded focus that the eyes of the world would be on China and they had to impress the six billion plus people in the world that would be watching. Then the IOC got sucked into grandeur and everyone knew that they could not top China but places like Rio believed they could put a stamp on their country by hosting the games. Unfortunately, they did not have the focus of China. The big problem is outside of the major events like hockey, ice skating, baseball, and some track nobody pays attention to the games. If there were more grass roots efforts put into the weaker sports it would be a big deal but very few people watch the weaker sports. If there is no top American we don't care most of the time. As an example, the casual fan could care less about archery and luge. There is very little done at the grassroots level to introduce more people to those sports. You end with lots of sports that make little or no blip on the consciousness of Americans. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dolfan in NYC Posted April 26, 2016 Share Posted April 26, 2016 So it turns out the Tokyo 2020 logo was super plagarized, so they came up with a new one: God, it's like they asked for the most boring design humanly possible. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dolfan in NYC Posted April 28, 2016 Share Posted April 28, 2016 Ralph Lauren has apparently gone Yacht Rock with the USA's Opening Ceremony Uniforms: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
elizium Posted April 28, 2016 Share Posted April 28, 2016 The belts are cool (hopefully the socks match), everything else should be set on fire. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dolfan in NYC Posted June 1, 2016 Share Posted June 1, 2016 Hey Olympics news! A bunch of doctors from around the world are begging the organizers to cancel or move the games because of the Zika virus outbreak (which will probably be the Zika Pandemic by September!). Also, the company building the velodrome declared bankruptcy on Monday! This cancelled their contract and they may not have it ready on time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kuetsar Posted June 11, 2016 Share Posted June 11, 2016 http://deadspin.com/study-rio-olympics-will-expose-athletes-to-antibiotics-1781810923 They really need to just cancel the games . . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dolfan in NYC Posted June 17, 2016 Share Posted June 17, 2016 The IAAF has upheld the ban on Russia. Unless a miracle happens, no Russians will participate in any Track & Field event in Rio. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
odessasteps Posted June 17, 2016 Author Share Posted June 17, 2016 I had heard this morning they would let athletes who were not part of Russian system (ie, lived abroad and could be proven clean) might be allowed to compete as an "independent." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kuetsar Posted June 18, 2016 Share Posted June 18, 2016 Just cancel the damn games. . . http://deadspin.com/rio-declares-financial-emergency-may-not-be-able-to-ho-1782191537?utm_campaign=socialflow_deadspin_twitter&utm_source=deadspin_twitter&utm_medium=socialflow Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
piranesi Posted June 18, 2016 Share Posted June 18, 2016 Are you crazy? Bob Costas got mad cola to sell. Pandemic? I think you said tastedemic??? COCA COLA!!!!!! WHOOOOO!!!!!!! 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kuetsar Posted June 21, 2016 Share Posted June 21, 2016 Fuck Brazil. . . http://www.thedailybeast.com/cheats/2016/06/21/jaguar-fatally-shot-at-olympic-torch-ceremony.html Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RIPPA Posted June 22, 2016 Share Posted June 22, 2016 And Rory McIlroy has withdrawn from the Olympics - specifically citing Zika Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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