Olympics 2012, in Londontown

I am thoroughly going to enjoy the samba music during Rio 2016.

 

Indeed. Watching him gave me a WTF jjolt almost reminiscent of when I first saw Bolt run in 08, in terms of seeing a physical freak of nature who you instantly sensed could change the sport. I suspect this gold is only the beginning of the impact Muserkiy will have on team volleyball in the coming years.

Also couldn't help but wonder what kind of shotblocker that kid could've become on a basketball court. I'd rather have had his defensive skill set guarding the Gasol brothers today than Kevin Love's.

 

You stated it better than I did, Stoney, and I identify wholeheartedly with the Bolt analogy.

EDIT: I'm hesitant to speculate on the skill set, but basketball quickly entered my mind, too.

 

There was a report on Yahoo sports last week that some Toronto leader (can't remember who) was touting a joint bid with Buffalo. I seriously doubt that will happen anytime soon. There have been a couple of joint bids through the years (Seoul even offered to let North Korea host a few minor events in 1988) that were quickly shot down by the IOC.

I suspect the IOC wants a clear chain of command in the event, God forbid, of another Munich incident.

 

Ended it with a rerun of a Super Bowl halftime show.

 

Has NBC shown the US/Canada Gold medal hockey game yet?

 

Indianapolis fits all of these, but (6) absolutely blows chunks in town and it's too small to host an Olympics.

You forgot (7) A fistful of cash to buy off the IOC.

Rio will mark 5 straight Summer Olympics outside of North America. The IOC usually goes to Europe every second or third Games, but it's gone Australia-Europe-Asia-Europe-South America since Atlanta. Interestingly, the Summer Olympics were not held in North America between the 1932 (Los Angeles) and 1968 (Mexico City) games, but between Mexico City & Los Angeles, the Games went to a North American city every other Olympiad.

As mentioned, there are a few major cities that can do something like this, as big as the Olympics have become. Chicago is probably the best example, but it's so spread-out -- for example, the convention space (McCormick Place) is nowhere near many of the venues, save Soldier Field, but it is on a public transport hub.

The U.S. (or Toronto) is due. The USOC certainly has enough $$ and American TV rights go a long way in funding the IOC, so it's likely that either Toronto or a U.S. city will get them soon. Los Angeles is the only U.S. city that has successfully hosted a Games, but I could see Dallas, Houston, San Francisco/Oakland/San Jose, Chicago among the frontrunners, with Chicago really having the best shot.

The Winter Games have a much more limited pool of cities to draw from, but since WWII, they've seemed to rotate between an Asian, European and North American city, with an Asian Winter Games every 20 or so years and a North American one every 8-12, and the rest in Europe, so I'd expect a North American city to be due to host again in 2022 or 2026.

 

Be patient. They just got around to showing WWII highlights last night.

 

"One city" isn't really going to happen anymore, but there has to be a central place. Several events are going to be farmed out to neighboring areas, with some sort of transportation connection between them -- e.g., a Chicago bid would likely use some venues in Indianapolis, Milwaukee and even possibly Urbana-Champaign.

London spread the soccer games throughout the country, almost like a more compact World Cup.

 

How about a Toronto/Buffalo bid?

http://news.yahoo.com/olympics--toronto--buffalo-discussing-joint-bid-for-2024-olympics.html

If that would happen, I would guess Toronto would get most of the marquee stuff (opening ceremony, track, gymnastics, basketball) with Buffalo getting a bone here and there (swimming, volleyball).

 

After the trial run during the Super Bowl in February, Indianapolis is proud to introduce its entirely zip-line based transit system!

Well that's a given

During the controversy of the Nagano/ Salt Lake City selection it came out that one member trying to convince (or buy off) another said "It would be an inconvenience to his excellency (Juan Antonio Samarach) for the games to be in North America yet again."

I always got the sense the IOC thought of a trip to North America as a journey that was a lot more difficult that it really was. They hated the idea of going back to North America in '98 after being there in '96, but no one batted an eye at the Albertville/Barcelona/Lilehammer trifecta of the early 90s.
Nonetheless, with the '20 finalists already picked it'll be '24 before we see the games here again. 1996 will have been 28 years ago by then. But then maybe the IOC can't tell the difference between North and South America and thinks we'll be hosting in '16 anyway.

Since the IOC has recently said no to NY and Chicago, SF may be the best bet. Anyone know if the 49ers are angling for a new stadium yet? Mixing that with a bid could work. Hoops at a new arena for the Warriors, handball at the home of the Sharks. Soccer always gets spread out anyway so having games in Seattle, LA and Portland will be fine. Stuff like weightlifting, boxing and wrestling can be housed by Stanford or Cal.

And of course, sailing around Alcatraz.

 

I think Disney World would be a great place to have the Summer Games., in September.