Let The Games Begin

Last night on the news it was announced that 35 cities were offered the opportunity to compete to host the 2024 summer games.  Among the cities were both Seattle and Portland.  If I had to pick one, Seattle is better suited in the majority of categories but the one spot Portland is so far ahead is in the transportation realm.  Their mass transit is amazing compared to Seattle.

This morning I got a text message from my brother asking if I would be getting involved since I had worked on the Chicago bid for the summer games for 2016.  I still think they should have gotten it, but it got botched by our own arrogance.  Sending in Oprah and then having the President arrive at the last minute and leave before the final announcement was an insult to the International Olympic Committee.  I will never forget the experience and in fact, this blog began out of that experience.  But boy was it a grind.  The number of times I would be at the airport Friday night flying back arriving in time to work Saturday and Sunday and then fly back.  It was insane.

So now, who knows?  I do not know if I want to go through that grind again.  I enjoy watching the events on TV, but all the behind the scene stuff gets exhausting.  And it is at such an early phase that we do not know if either city will make the final cut.  The list of requirements is steep, and the U.S.O.C. predicted the operating budget for a Games would exceed $3 billion. Cities not only need adequate hotel space, but they must also construct an Olympic Village to house 16,500 athletes and operations space for 15,000 news media members. An extensive public transportation network is required, and the letter states that a work force of 200,000 people is necessary.
      

The last American city to host an Olympics was Salt Lake City, for the 2002 Winter Games. There have been four Summer Games in the United States: St. Louis, Los Angeles (twice) and Atlanta.

      

The cities that received the letter were Phoenix; San Jose, Calif.; Los Angeles; Sacramento; San Diego; San Francisco; Denver; Washington; Jacksonville, Fla.; Orlando, Fla.; Miami; Atlanta; Chicago; Indianapolis; Baltimore; Detroit; Minneapolis; St. Louis; Las Vegas; New York; Boston; Rochester; Charlotte, N.C.; Columbus, Ohio; Tulsa, Okla.; Portland, Ore.; Philadelphia; Pittsburgh; Memphis; Nashville and Davidson County; Austin, Tex.; Dallas; Houston; San Antonio; and Seattle.