I think I speak for most New Yorkers when I say–without the slightest intention of sour grapes–good. One less thing to worry about.
PAD
I think I speak for most New Yorkers when I say–without the slightest intention of sour grapes–good. One less thing to worry about.
PAD
• 
I’m sure I’m not the first to say/think/post this, but…
I see London, I see France, I see Jacques Chirac’s underpants!
We just had the Summer Olympics in ’96, so we didn’t need ’em again this soon anyways.
I’ve seen analysis to the effect that every city to get the Olympics suffers a financial hit, the only real beneficiaries being the developers building the facilities.
What frustrates me about this is that we lost out because Cablevision and Bloomberg’s political opponents managed to shut down his plans for the West Side Stadium. I’m no Republican, but Bloomberg hardly is either, and he was absolutely right; the stadium would have been great for New York’s economy. But now it’s finished, and so are our Olympic dreams, all because of a bunch of greedy, selfish, dishonest people.
No more talk about a West Side Stadium, Thank God.
I think that New York is still healing and rebuilding, the Olympics might have been a detriment to the entire process.
We can always try again in 2012.
Regards:
Warren Samuel Jones III
Matt Adler:
Summer Olympics
1976 – Montreal, Canada
1980 – Moscow, Russia
1984 – Los Angeles, California USA
1988 – Seoul, South Korea
1992 – Barcelona, Spain
1996 – Atlanta, Georgia USA
2000 – Sydney, Australia
2004 – Athens, Greece
Winter Olympics
1980 – Lake Placid, N.Y.
1984 – Sarajevo, Yugoslavia
1988 – Calgary, Alta.
1992 – Albertville, France
1994 – Lillehammer, Norway
1998 – Nagano, Japan
2002 – Salt Lake City, Utah USA
2006 – Turin, Italy
So, since 1976, 6 of 16 Olympics were held in North America. About 38%. That’s not good enough? Seems to me NA was already overly represented in the sites choosen.
I’m not a North American. I’m a New Yorker.
Matt Adler
The US tends to use the same American nomination for a site until it’s actually accepted by the IOC. If you’re THAT worried anyway.
WarrenSJonesIII:
This selection of London was for the 2012 Olympics.
Matt Adler:
That attitude is exactly why this country has so many problems.
the US will host the Olympics again when they stop acting silly. Probable VISA problems were raised today at the presentation by, guess who, Syria…
You can argue all you want that the bid was by sane people in NYC, and think that the West End stadium was all that mattered; reality is, US reputation abroad is horrible.
That attitude is exactly why this country has so many problems.
What, hometown pride?
Good. Who needs the extra grief & chaos of trying to hold the olympics here in NYC. There is no good reason for it.
Well, I’m from London… and I’M jealous of YOU for not getting it.
I can’t believe that dámņëd thing will break even – Londoners have already been told that they’re going to have to pay additional taxes for the next few years to finance it.
The London transport infrastructure can barely handle the numbers of people who use it now and we’re expecting HOW many people???
It’ll be impossible to get around London for the two and a half weeks of the event.
London 2012? Bûggër and blast.
You ain’t lyin’ Peter, the Olympics in NYC would have been a horrific mess. The whole thing struck me as an exercise in ego-boosting for Bloomberg anyway. I don’t think any other New Yorker actually wanted the games here. Remember the RNC? Imagine that spread over a month and all 5 boroughs instead of 3 days in midtown Manhattan. The costs, not just for the new stadium and other facilities, but the security, would have been astronomical and eliminated any sort of imaginary financial benefit. Good riddance!
Matt Adler:
Saying you aren’t a North American, that you are a New Yorker? That’s not hometown pride. That’s arrogance or just plain ignorance. Something this country has PLENTY of, either way.
Saying you aren’t a North American, that you are a New Yorker? That’s not hometown pride. That’s arrogance or just plain ignorance.
Please get a sense of humor.
budgie:
Hey, at least you get some hometown/nationalist pride out of the deal. That is, if you even care about that sort of thing.
Look at it this way. You will continue to get new episodes of Doctor Who broadcsst on your airwaves over there, while we Americans are stuck having to extralegally download these episodes. I think in the end, you’re still the lucky ones. 😉
Amen, PAD. Even above and beyond the satisfaction that comes of Bloomberg’s plans getting shot down, with everything else the last thing New York needs right now is to plan for an Olympics.
Amen, PAD. Even above and beyond the satisfaction that comes of Bloomberg’s plans getting shot down, with everything else the last thing New York needs right now is to plan for an Olympics.
Amen, PAD. Even above and beyond the satisfaction that comes of Bloomberg’s plans getting shot down, with everything else the last thing New York needs right now is to plan for an Olympics.
Matt Adler:
Got one, it just doesn’t think your statements are funny.
Thanks Matt for being so willing to force your precious multi-billion dollar stadium down the throats of the rest of us who have no interest in paying for it.
They still hold the Olympics?
Does Vegas have odds yet that that relations between the US and Great Britain break down, and we decide to boycott?
Anyone else think that Chirac’s comments about Finns (I hear there were 2 Finns on the selection committee) were deliberate? With the financial hit due to productivity lost during those 2 weeks, and the security issues in today’s world, is there anyone in their right mind that would actually want to invite the world to stomp around their biggest cities? Not to say that we need to live in fear from now on, but until there are fewer crazies running around willing to die in the name of their cause, this kind of gathering runs at an extremely higher risk level than in the past.
Who cares about the Olympics? It’s a boring two weeks of terrible television. I can honestly say I that I do not care a lick for the summer OR winter Olympics. I haven’t watched them since I was 8 years old, and I don’t miss it. Olympics in New York? Like the friends & family I have that commute need to pay MORE taxes for an overpriced, unnecessary traffic jam-creator in a West-Side Stadium that will be used for its intended purpose 10 times a YEAR. Over one billion dollars for a stadium? No thank you.
Hey, at least you get some hometown/nationalist pride out of the deal. That is, if you even care about that sort of thing.
Wary of admitting it here, since I really don’t want to irritate everyone with a ‘provocative’ message, but no, honestly, I couldn’t give a dámņ about “national pride”. I’ve never understood why one should be “proud” of one’s town, city or country just because one happened to be born there.
You will continue to get new episodes of Doctor Who broadcsst on your airwaves over there,
This is, of course, true.
Wary of admitting it here, since I really don’t want to irritate everyone with a ‘provocative’ message, but no, honestly, I couldn’t give a dámņ about “national pride”.
Honestly, it seems more provocative (at least here) to admit you do.
When Toronto lost the bid for the 2008 Olympics to Shanghai, we (Canadians) were pretty dámņ pìššëd. However, Vancouver has 2010, so it anger didn’t last long.
Budgie,
I’m confused by your comment: “The London transport infrastructure can barely handle the numbers of people who use it now and we’re expecting HOW many people???”
We recently spent a week in London on vacation, and we found the Underground to be incredibly functional, never so full that it was a problem, no major delays (and line delays were well reported) and honestly the best mass transit system I’d ever used (easily beating NY Subway and Boston T). We rode it at all times of the day, including rush hour, midnight, and 8:30am on a Sunday, and had no issues. Did we just get incredibly lucky?
Lou
As a New Yorker, I am happy that both the Olympics and the West Side Jets Stadium have been turned down. The Olympics were supported by only about 60% of the residents and the Stadium by less than half.
What was the point of hosting the Olympics? Did they want to put NY on the map? I think it was all about the egos of Bloomberg and Pataki, who wanted the have an accomplishment.
Congrats, London.
Be prepared to have your city locked down for two weeks. You won’t be able to fart without permission.
And all that money will go to security.
WE GOT THE GAMES!
We know what we are letting ourselves in for. The support for the games has grown slowly in this country.
What the heck is softball?
Coz for two weeks we will all end up watching it ..
Being a New Yorker, and living in Hëll’s Kitchen, my bias shows, but I definitely did NOT want a West Side stadium, and protested against it. The mayor and folks persisted with the stadium, and I was glad they got turned down. I’m sure, if they could have, they would have bullied the people into accepting it if Cablevision didn’t step up. Their motives obviously weren’t to help anyone else, but I’m glad they spoke up, so at least the New Yorkers who didn’t want this stadium got their voices heard.
I don’t think losing the West Side stadium was the big factor in the loss. I think, even if the city won the stadium, there would have still been the huge backlash, and the IOC still would have seen the division of New York over the Olympics. It wasn’t whether we had a stadium on the West Side that lost it for us, it was the attitudes of the people not supporting the Olympics that lost the bid for New York. By not entertaining any other options for a stadium until they lost, Bloomberg, Doctoroff and the others running this bid turned the people against them, and they only have themselves to blame.
Kevin
Ðámņ. I really wanted to see what the NY 2012 mascot would have been. Sounded interesting.
http://www.theonion.com/infograph/index.php?issue=4127
PAD,
“I think I speak for most New Yorkers”
Maybe you do, maybe you don’t.
“good. One less thing to worry about.”
Yes, heaven forbid we rise to new challenges. Better, I guess, in your opinion, to run away from them.
Craig J. Ries,
“We just has the Summer Olympics in 1996, so we didn’t need ’em again this soon anyways.”
Well, if you want to get technical about it, a;; we “need” is food and water – and shelter and a weapon would be nice as well. But it would have given the world a chance to see us – and our largest city – at our/their best. That would have been nice.
That said, I am happy for London. If we had to lose out, I am glad it was them.
Budgie,
You’re from Europe. That explains a lot. Instead of crying about your infrastructure, ever think this may be the impetus to – oh, I don’t know – IMPROVE it?
“No, honestly I couldn’t give a dámņ about national pride.”
Well, obviously a lot of people feel the way they do. The first thing you notice about people who have no pride in themselves is their unkempt appearance. Maybe if you had more pride in your country and carec about, you wouldn’t have to whine about the infrastructure, because nobody would have let it get that bad.
They’d have too much pride.
“I’ve never understood why one should be ‘proud’ of one’s town, city or country just because one happened to be born there.”
It has little to do with geography. It has to do with appreciating what your country and the people you interact with and identify with achieve, accomplish and allow you to do. And by allow, I simply mean that if you are born in the U.S. – or London – your chances at a long, happy, healthy life are greater than in other parts of the world – in many cases to an incredible degree. It’s appreciating being able to go back to a small town and have everybody remember your name and have low crime and people who take care of their property.
With cities like New York, it’s appreciating being able to take part of so many different experiences and sensations and just a buffet of what life has to offer.
That’s why. It’s a shame you can’t understand a concept such as this. Also, remember, if you cannot allow yourself to feel pride in these institutions, then you also cannot allow yourself to feel shame, and that is when these institutions and entities rot. Because no one cares. No one has any pride.
Bbayliss,
Leave Matt alone, will you? He likes where he lives and considers himself a New Yorker. That IS hometown pride. If you want a sample of arrogance AND ignorance, then kindly take a look in the mirror. Who the hëll are you to tell him the proper way he should describe himself or how he should feel?
What the heck is softball?
Baseball, with a larger, softer ball, which is thrown underhanded by the pitcher. (Underhanded describes the motion of the pitch, as opposed to any diabolical nature. It tends to make the ball slower.)
I had no idea this was an Olympic sport. It always seemed to me to be a ‘safer’ form of Baseball for those who were scared to get injured by a harder, faster ball. You know, like for kids.
Jerome Maida:
Arrogance and stupidity. As I said, something of which the US of freakin A has plenty.
And for those unfamiliar with Baseball, here are Baseball Basics courtesy of the official Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy.
> Over one billion dollars for a stadium? No thank you.
I hear and agree. In Ottawa we were promised no taxpayer involvement when they built their showpiece NHL hockey arena some years back.
First thing which happened was it changed its name because it needed a corporate bailout. Then it went bankrupt anyway. Then taxpayers started to get dragged in until there nearly was a revolution.
Showpiece megaprojects? No thanks.
>When Toronto lost the bid for the 2008 Olympics to Shanghai, we (Canadians) were pretty dámņ pìššëd.
Pretty much everybody I know here in Ottawa and in Toronto were delighted. They remember what a fiscal fiasco the Montreal Olympics (not to mention the Skydome and other megaprojects) were and weren’t keen on a repeat.
>However, Vancouver has 2010, so it anger didn’t last long.
There are already problems brewing with that one. I just hope the taxpayer hit gets limited to BC and not get spread across Canada.
> We know what we are letting ourselves in for.
That’s what the people of Athens thought.
>Coz for two weeks we will all end up watching it ..
I won’t. Haven’t in many years.
> The mayor and folks persisted with the stadium, and I was glad they got turned down.
Pat yourselves on the back for that one. A narrow escape. What I want to know is, we keep getting told they don’t have the money for this essential item or that necessary thing but they somehow believe they can get the loot for these optional luxuries?
“I had no idea this was an Olympic sport. It always seemed to me to be a ‘safer’ form of Baseball for those who were scared to get injured by a harder, faster ball. You know, like for kids.”
Yikes, guess you ain’t seen the new fast-pitch softball they play now? That ball may not be moving in the 90mph range, but it’s still cruising.
apparently, softball may not be a part of the 2012 Olympics.
(Unless the US team intentionally plays under-par so they aren’t seen as too dominating.)
“Arrogance and stupidity. As I said, something of which the US of freakin A has plenty.”
Speaking of which…
Toyota to build 100,000 vehicles per year in Woodstock, Ont., starting 2008
“WOODSTOCK, Ont. (CP) – Ontario workers are well-trained.
That simple explanation was cited as a main reason why Toyota turned its back on hundreds of millions of dollars in subsidies offered from several American states in favour of building a second Ontario plant.
Industry experts say Ontarians are easier and cheaper to train – helping make it more cost-efficient to train workers when the new Woodstock plant opens in 2008, 40 kilometres away from its skilled workforce in Cambridge.
‘The level of the workforce in general is so high that the training program you need for people, even for people who have not worked in a Toyota plant before, is minimal compared to what you have to go through in the southeastern United States,’ said Gerry Fedchun, president of the Automotive Parts Manufacturers’ Association, whose members will see increased business with the new plant…
Several U.S. states were reportedly prepared to offer more than double that amount of subsidy. But Fedchun said much of that extra money would have been eaten away by higher training costs than are necessary for the Woodstock project.
He said Nissan and Honda have encountered difficulties getting new plants up to full production in recent years in Mississippi and Alabama due to an untrained – and often illiterate – workforce. In Alabama, trainers had to use “pictorials” to teach some illiterate workers how to use high-tech plant equipment.
“The educational level and the skill level of the people down there is so much lower than it is in Ontario,” Fedchun said.
In addition to lower training costs, Canadian workers are also $4 to $5 cheaper to employ partly thanks to the taxpayer-funded health-care system in Canada, said federal Industry Minister David Emmerson.”
Yeah, but that presentaion by that Doctor fellow
was very compelling…
But we have to consider the hazards in London-
Daleks…Cybermen…The Master….
Oasis…Robbie Williams….The Spice Girls!!!!
um…fastpitch softball is nothing new, it has been around for many years. in fact, it has been an olympic sport for awhile now (women’s fastpitch softball).
and good pitchers can actually pitch the softball FASTER than a baseball – rich hoppe, who pitches with “the king and his court” has been clocked at 106 mph. the king, eddie feigner (who used to pitch, but had to turn over the reigns to hoppe after a heart attack), was almost impossible to hit off of, and even pitched to a over 16,000 batters blindfolded (striking out more than half of them).
i saw them play when i was a kid, easily beating our local softball team (which was a pretty big deal in the town i lived in). oh, and i forgot to mention – the king and his court was a four man team. playing four against nine, they almost always won (about 90% of the time), primarily because of the pitching.
anyway, all that said, softball is not a game for kids, in fact, most people who play it (whether slow pitch or fast pitch) are adults…
Some are adults who act like kids.
Allow me to vent somewhat here. Our company softball team has gone 0-9 mainly because of the lack of teamwork and everyone’s (including me, I’ll admit, after watching it for half the season) desire to make their own stats look good.
The summer Olympics should be held in the same place every four years: Somewhere in Greece (if they’ll have it). It makes no sense to move it around every four years, spending billions to build new facilities each and every time.
Because so much new construction is usually necessary for host cities under the current hosting system, it is more of a financial drain than a boon, I think. The main benefit of hosting the Olympics seems to now be bragging rights. Is that really worth all that cost?
If you want a sample of arrogance AND ignorance, then kindly take a look in the mirror.
Lately, I’ve gotten the impression from you, Jerome, that YOU have plenty of arrogance and ignorance to go around.
R. Maheras:
Holy HANNAH! We agree on something!! 😉
Bobb wrote: “Yikes, guess you ain’t seen the new fast-pitch softball they play now? That ball may not be moving in the 90mph range, but it’s still cruising.”
Real athletes play 16″ slow-pitch softball — where no mitts are the norm, and sprained/broken fingers and bruised body parts are a badge of honor.
“no mitts are the norm…”
What, are you pretending to be the 1869 Cincinnati Red Stockings?