Salt Lake 2002 10th Anniversary

[bunt_q]

Originally Posted by Old&New

I think Salt Lake City would be a great choice. The IOC is interested in smaller cities to host the Olympic games (if they can afford them) as the activities in larger cities are beginning to overshadow the Olympic Events. And this way, the USA could be the first country to have a city host both a summer and winter Olympic games. The only event we couldn't host in SLC is the sailing, but that could be hosted in Utah's port city (San Diego). And then the "athletes" could be flown up to Salt Lake City for the medals ceremony in Salt Lake's original Medals Plaza. Of course a new stadium would need to be built, which would probably have to coincide with Salt Lake getting an NFL team.

Was this meant to be a joke?

You guys seem to "know" an awful lot about what the IOC is thinking. I wonder why reality doesn't seem to match. "The IOC is interested in smaller cities to host the [summer] Olympic games"... evidence?

Beijing. London. Rio. (Tokyo, Istanbul, Madrid, Rome.)

Maybe you define smaller differently than I do.

[bunt_q]

Originally Posted by RiceXIX

I personally would like USOC to bypass a 2022 winter bid and focus heavy on a '24 or '28 summer bid. Its been awhile since we have had a summer olympics in the US. If the winter olympics were awarded to the US in either '22 or '26 we probably would not see a summer olympics until the '40s at the earliest. I think Seattle would be a good choice maybe if they have any interest?

I actually don't disagree with this. If it's not Denver (Reno? Seriously?) I would agree that we should look to a summer games instead. The summer games are just a much bigger deal.

That said, it should be one of our marquee cities. No offense to Seattle, I love Seattle, but that's not you guys. New York, Chicago, San Fran (LA has already hosted). That's really the foot we should be putting forward for the world.

Like I said above - Beijing, London, Rio... I'm hoping it's finally Istanbul's turn in 2020, but if not, Rome, Tokyo... that's some steep competition. Let's be realistic.

[Old&New]

Originally Posted by bunt_q

Was this meant to be a joke?

You guys seem to "know" an awful lot about what the IOC is thinking. I wonder why reality doesn't seem to match. "The IOC is interested in smaller cities to host the [summer] Olympic games"... evidence?

Beijing. London. Rio. (Tokyo, Istanbul, Madrid)

Maybe you define smaller differently than I do.

You seem to "know" what our limitations are as a city. If we came up with an awesome-sauce proposal, something like shutting down the tesoro refinery, replacing those jobs with renewable energy jobs, building an Olympic Village in it's place, and filling in the smaller gravel pit near victory road and 300 West with a new NFL stadium (built into the side of the mountain)... then I think we'd have a good chance! Oh and build a gondola from the Olympic village to a rotating restaurant up on one of the mountain ridges above ensign peak. And if we're lucky, the church would even rebuild Saltair

[bunt_q]

Epic. Salt Lake City: What do Beijing, London, and Rio have on us?

I think that's my cue to check out. Speaking of checking out, you might want to go get checked out. When the doc asks about your symptoms, tell him you're suffering from delusions of grandeur.

[Brainpathology]

Originally Posted by Cirrus

This is all academic. Neither SLC nor Denver will host an olympics any time soon, because they are both tainted. SLC is tainted by the bribery scandal, and Denver is tainted by being the only city ever to be awarded the olympics and then turn them down. That's just all there is to it.

Yeah that's the problem with the rest of the world and especially Europe. They are busy teaching each other history while we are busy deleting things from our books that make us look bad (The founders owned slaves??? No reason to teach that.. it makes them less saintly). We can't even get a 5 story building built in Denver without screeches from the neighbors, that's the first place I'd start if I were SLC (Yeah I did that.. one tiny building could lose us the Olympics.. HA... take that hyperbole No Highrises in Highlands!). Couple that with us saying no thanks the last time and presto we get punked.

What just happened to Chicago? They had what everyone thought was a great bid and they got knocked before the celebretory ralliers could even get drunk at Mellenium park.

Lets hope SLC OR Denver gets a games before I'm pushing daisies. It would be great if either of them could get '22. As both cities grow it's going to get more and more difficult to separate the two and what is good for one will most certainly be just as good for the other.

[Old&New]

Originally Posted by Brainpathology

Yeah that's the problem with the rest of the world and especially Europe. They are busy teaching each other history while we are busy deleting things from our books that make us look bad (The founders owned slaves??? No reason to teach that.. it makes them less saintly). We can't even get a 5 story building built in Denver without screeches from the neighbors, that's the first place I'd start if I were SLC (Yeah I did that.. one tiny building could lose us the Olympics.. HA... take that hyperbole No Highrises in Highlands!). Couple that with us saying no thanks the last time and presto we get punked.

What just happened to Chicago? They had what everyone thought was a great bid and they got knocked before the celebretory ralliers could even get drunk at Mellenium park.

Lets hope SLC OR Denver gets a games before I'm pushing daisies. It would be great if either of them could get '22. As both cities grow it's going to get more and more difficult to separate the two and what is good for one will most certainly be just as good for the other.

I just read the book "Lies my Teacher Told Me." Great book! Who knew Helen Keller was a Socialist!? She fought so hard to communicate, and now our "History" books silence her, by chalking up her story to overcoming life's obstacles or something like that.

[wong21fr]

Originally Posted by Old&New

We made the old IOC look bad. A new IOC was created after the scandal, when most of the comity stepped down.

Hah! Ten members were expelled out of 115, the rest took their bribes and went home (though reforms were put in place on gift limits and the like). The Salt Lake Olympic Committee was the one that was completely burned to the ground with ol' Mitt coming to the rescue.

[Brainpathology]

Originally Posted by Old&New

I just read the book "Lies my Teacher Told Me." Great book! Who knew Helen Keller was a Socialist!? She fought so hard to communicate, and now our "History" books silence her, by chalking up her story to overcoming life's obstacles or something like that.

Yeah it's funny, there were/are lots of real live socialitsts to learn from (and even glean some pretty good ideas to adapt to capitalism from), but we're too busy labeling everyone who wants 1% more in taxes than someone else "Socialist".

I really shouldn't have said "Just as good" for both cities.. Certainly whoever gets to host will enjoy the majority of advantage. It certainly wouldn't hurt Denver to have SLC host the games though. Worst case.. slightly more people skip skiing in Utah to avoid crowds/construction/tourists in favor of Colorado mountains. Best case, someone like Hickenlooper is governor of CO and finds a way to cooperate which helps Denver/CO even more than otherwise.

[wrendog]

Old&New. I'm glad you are being TIC when you say SLC would be a good choice for the summer olympics. Whew!

[Cirrus]

Originally Posted by Stenar

I think it's ridiculous that SLC is tainted by the "bribery scandal." Every host city prior to SLC had also bribed Olympic officials. SLC was the place that put a stop to it by having a whistleblower expose the way the IOC had operated. SLC should be lionized for that, not denigrated.

That might be more fair, but life isn't fair. Everybody associates the SLC olympics with the bribery scandal, just like everybody associates the Atlanta olympics with the park bombing.

Originally Posted by Stenar

Plus, I don't really think we're all that tainted after we put on the greatest Winter Olympics in recent history. The two recent Winter Olympics that were praised the most for being the best were '94 Lillehammer and SLC.

Not to mention '92 Albertville, '98 Nagano, '06 Turin, and '10 Vancouver. Everybody always claims to have hosted the most awesome olympics ever. In fact, for years and years and years the chief of the IOC proclaimed every single games held as the "best ever" during closing ceremonies. That's just not a compelling argument.

[Brainpathology]

Originally Posted by Cirrus

That might be more fair, but life isn't fair. Everybody associates the SLC olympics with the bribery scandal, just like everybody associates the Atlanta olympics with the park bombing.

Not to mention '92 Albertville, '98 Nagano, '06 Turin, and '10 Vancouver. Everybody always claims to have hosted the most awesome olympics ever. In fact, for years and years and years the chief of the IOC proclaimed every single games held as the "best ever" during closing ceremonies. That's just not a compelling argument.

Every freshman medical school class is the best ever too. Probably every freshman engineering class, law school class etc... always, without exception they are better than the last.

[bunt_q]

Ha, maybe you doctors. Both my engineering and law classes knew we were schmucks, especially compared to our more talented and more successful predecessors. Good thing there are engineers in Asia and lawyers...well, we just don't need them...to pick up the slack.

I don't know how anybody can gloss over Turin and Vancouver, both of which were quite good, I though (well, what little I saw of Vancouver at least). If there's an international concensus that the last two winter games sucked, I've never heard it.

[wrendog]

Originally Posted by bunt_q

Ha, maybe you doctors. Both my engineering and law classes knew we were schmucks, especially compared to our more talented and more successful predecessors. Good thing there are engineers in Asia and lawyers...well, we just don't need them...to pick up the slack.

I don't know how anybody can gloss over Turin and Vancouver, both of which were quite good, I though (well, what little I saw of Vancouver at least). If there's an international concensus that the last two winter games sucked, I've never heard it.

Vancouver sucked. It was raining half the time.

[Stenar]

Originally Posted by Cirrus

That might be more fair, but life isn't fair. Everybody associates the SLC olympics with the bribery scandal, just like everybody associates the Atlanta olympics with the park bombing.

Not to mention '92 Albertville, '98 Nagano, '06 Turin, and '10 Vancouver. Everybody always claims to have hosted the most awesome olympics ever. In fact, for years and years and years the chief of the IOC proclaimed every single games held as the "best ever" during closing ceremonies. That's just not a compelling argument.

The previous IOC head used to say each games was the best ever. The current one, Jacques Rogge, doesn't do that. Juan Antonio Samaranch didn't make his usual comment at the end of the Atlanta Olympics because logistics at those games were so messed up. Atlanta was a joke. And their idea of showing off the local culture during Opening Ceremonies was having rednecks drive pickup trucks around the field. WHAT!??

And I'm not talking about my personal feelings. I'm talking about news reports saying Lillehammer and SLC were the best. Vancouver was universally panned. For one thing, they didn't have any snow. The IOC didn't like Albertville because the events were all held hundreds of miles apart. They like a central Olympic Village with all the events nearby so all of the athletes from different disciplines can associate with each other. Turin games were fine but not raved about like Lillehammer and SLC. There were some issues with Nagano, but I can't remember now what they were.

[Cirrus]

Well let me put it to you this way: I hope you're right and I'm wrong, because I think both SLC and Denver are natural, wonderful places for the winter olympics, but I'll believe it's possible when the IOC actually awards the games to either city a 2nd time, and not one minute before.

[SnyderBock]

Now there isn't a thread to discuss the potential 2022 Winter Olympic Denver bid, because a few Salt Lake City forumers flooded it with city vs. city crap.

[(Eco)nomy_404]

Originally Posted by wong21fr

While you may have exposed the corruption in the IOC, it went over positively in the circles who view corruption as a thing to constantly root out. The IOC is not in that circle (along with such stellar bodies as FIFA's congress). You guys made the IOC look bad, and I don't know if it's been long enough to not be a detraction. Give it another ten to fifteen years.

I do think that the 2002 Olympics were a wonderful event, but a lot of that was also due to the global goodwill that everyone was feeling towards the US after 9/11. The world was able to have a big, collective circle-jerk before we pissed it all away in the proceeding six years.

Another 10 to 15 years...2022 or 2026 - perfect!

So basically the only reason the SLC games were a success was because of globally pity, huh? Yeah, I`m sure that`s why so many people came

The SLC games were successful not only because of all the people who showed up to the games, but also the economic successes. For example, all the investment was very well utilized not only during the games, but well after. The light-rail investment that put in two lines totaling about 20 miles of track was expanded to three lines covering more than double the millage of the original system to all corners of the valley, two lines of commuter rail spanning 80 miles, and an ever evolving system of BRT and street car lines up and down the Wasatch Front urban corridor. All the venues are still used to this day. Unlike South Africa, which is already having vacancy problems with some of its facilities.

I`m sure that when considering a city for hosting the Olympics, the IOC considers weather it is a worth-while investment. Seeing how good of an investment SLC was, we can only imagine how much more it would be with another chance two decades later. The IOC also likes a city with good infrastructure, facilities, amenities, and winter sports areas in close proximity to the city. SLC is just a half hour drive from a half dozen winter resorts, several being accessible by bus.

[glowrock]

Originally Posted by SnyderBock

Now there isn't a thread to discuss the potential 2022 Winter Olympic Denver bid, because a few Salt Lake City forumers flooded it with city vs. city crap.

And a few Denverites too, SnyderBock.

And this thread is treading on VERY thin ice at this point. My god, it's like dealing with a bunch of whining 5 year olds around here sometimes!

Aaron (Glowrock)

[UTAZLoVer]

as much as I don't love reading the city vs. city stuff, its not nearly as carnal on this thread as it was on the Denver one. That said, I don't think we (SLC) should be able to have an Olympic-related thread while Denver can't - due to dung flinging from both sides of the aisle. I suggest restarting one to provide each city with its own thread to discuss their respective Olympic-related news without trying to prove who has the biggest package, and thus the pissing contest can end.

[s.p.hansen]

I enjoy it when the Denver crew and the SLC crew get together, even if it is always to tease each other.

Anyone who asserts that SLC should have the Summer Olympics deserves to get a noogie.