Olympics 2012, in Londontown

Portillo will be shocked to hear it.

www.skiportillo.com/?lang=en

 

There is NO WAY Dallas or any Texas city hosts (add Phoenix to this) the Summer Games because of the godawful heat. And assuming Jerry Jones got a piece of the action, they'd make Atlanta look like London.

 

Anybody on the board attend the Atlanta games? I did. I hate the way they're characterized. I thought they were great, if for no other reason than they were accessible to lots and lots and lots of folks who'd otherwise never get a chance to attend an Olympics. Isn't that at least one of the points of the damn things? The continued snipping about the Atlanta games is one reason I hope the summer games NEVER come back to the U.S.

 

Dr. Quant: I covered the Atlanta Games. The attendance was one of the best things about them. Every venue of every event full of enthusiastic spectators. But a major and lethal security failure is a pretty big negative.

 

Yes, but that's not what I've heard the most about. All I hear is how tacky/commercial/etc. they were. It's as if the Olympic types think host cities are obligated to: A) load up with billions in debt so that; B) visitors can not be bothered with anything that smacks of the fact that, hey, this stuff costs real money.

 

Whether Atlanta did a good job or not falls secondary to the fact there are other US cities that want to host, have never done so yet and have facilities that are just as good. I do think Boston would be near the top of the list, but if they don't want to bid, there are others who will.

I would rule out Texas or Florida unless they agree to a fall date because of the heat.

 

http://www.theonion.com/articles/michael-phelps-returns-to-his-tank-at-sea-world,2515/

 

Destinee Hooker is the only thing I will remember about this Olympics. That is a GOAT sports name.

 

I have a friend who grew up in Durban. She makes it sound nice except.... for the one time her uncle went on a nature hike outside the city and somehow got drowned by a hippo. I could never look at most Disney films the same after that day.

 

I think we underestimate how big of an influence Coca-Cola will have in keeping Atlanta, at least, in the conversation.

 

Granting the Summer Olympics permanently to Athens* solves a number of problems.


*Greece.

 

Wouldn't any Winter Olympics in a Southern Hemisphere city have to be held in mid-summer for the Northern Hemisphere? And while I know Chile and Argentina are mountainous, is there much of a ski culture down there? Would just seem to be odd to see a Winter Olympics in southern Argentina in June.