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We should host the Olympics in the same place every time

washingtonpost.com

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Re: We should host the Olympics in the same place every time

#51

Post by lordnacho »

kiiski wrote: post #45
lordnacho wrote: post #5

I'd be all for it. A permanent site can rely on repeat business and a permanent economy can grow around it. A sort of Mecca for sports. The current process is a shambles. It's basically about telling the world how prosperous the host is, and for the IOC members it's all about milking the process for money. You end up building a ghost town someplace every four years at huge cost. I suppose the same arguments apply for…

Wouldn't having it in the same place every time make it more expensive/difficult for people to go see the games live? When the location changes every time, there will be a different set of people who go watch the games because it's nearby, but who possibly couldn't afford to (or wouldn't want to) travel to the other side of the world for them.

I don't think distance is all that big a deal. Sure, you can't just drive there if it isn't near, but for most people the Olympics is a once-in-a-lifetime experience that they're willing to take a week off to visit. No different from any other trip, eg people will come to Paris from Australia just to see the Eiffel tower and the Notre Dame. Why wouldn't they fly to some other town to see the Olympics?

And let's face it: you have to be from a wealthy country to be able to do this in any case.

Re: We should host the Olympics in the same place every time

#52

Post by lordnacho »

briandear wrote: post #38
lordnacho wrote: post #5

I'd be all for it. A permanent site can rely on repeat business and a permanent economy can grow around it. A sort of Mecca for sports. The current process is a shambles. It's basically about telling the world how prosperous the host is, and for the IOC members it's all about milking the process for money. You end up building a ghost town someplace every four years at huge cost. I suppose the same arguments apply for…

Winter Olympics in Greece? Nonsense. Chamonix vs Greece -- there is just no comparison. Very few people plan world class ski vacations in Greece. That's like having surfing competitions in New Jersey. Sure there's an ocean, but that doesn't make it good.

If it's there permanently, you can make it good. You can buy a ton of snow machines, you can make the slopes the way you like.

We just had the Winter Olympics in a tiny Russian resort.

Re: We should host the Olympics in the same place every time

#53

Post by hmate9 »

Hosting the Olympics also many side effects: - improved infrastructure - increased tourism - stadiums, hotels, training grounds - good way to get people into doing sports

just to name a few. Hosting Olympics on a small ireland would mean we give up all of these benefits. While hosting the Olympics costs a lot of money, income from tourism and media attention surely makes up for it (correct me if I'm wrong).

Re: We should host the Olympics in the same place every time

#54

Post by cma »

antaviana wrote: post #49
bluedevil2k wrote: post #16

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The World Cup requires a country to have 10-14 stadiums when only 2-4 games are played a day. There's no reason for more than 4 stadiums.

For best performance, natural grass needs to rest at least 4 or 5 days after a real game takes place. Artificial grass is not comparable, its almost a different game.

Seems like it would be cheaper to lay down new sod between matches.

Re: We should host the Olympics in the same place every time

#55

Post by tellthetruth1 »

pakled_engineer wrote: post #13
braythwayt wrote: post #3

I think this is a piece of learned trolling, satire designed to provoke us into thinking hard about what the IOC really is. The IOC profits from the selection process as much as it does from the games. The bribes, the payments, everything involved in this horrible “competition” fills their coffers with money. If the games were held in the same place every year, there would be no bribes to rig bids. There would be no…

The local politicians in my city that lured the IOC here through bribes were all later parachuted into lucrative foreign service diplomatic posts and various IOC connected director positions after. That's the true legacy of the games, the politicians raise their profile, network with the world's elite and move into international politics while the rest of us pay for their promotions. Having the winter olympics in Swi…

Oh yeah. Let those Europeans have it. No corruptions! No country would have an edge because no country is within 1000km radius of Switzerland.

Re: We should host the Olympics in the same place every time

#57

Post by mschuster91 »

Gys wrote: post #8
sp332 wrote: post #4

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's hard to imagine that prime real estate like that would be "uninhabited".

'Greece has an extremely large number of islands, with estimates ranging from somewhere around 1,200 to 6,000, depending on the minimum size to take into account. The number of inhabited islands is variously cited as between 166 and 227.' Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_islands_of_Greece And it would not even have to be uninhabited I guess. Greece is very poor and really needs any investments it can get…

> With a budget of billions it would not be a problem to spend (only once) some money for a new airport (I guess now its spend every four years in some city to modernize their nearest airport).

Look at the BER disaster, it was supposed to open 2007 and most likely won't open until way after 2017.

I believe building a permanent Olympic site in Greece would bring similar delays...

Re: We should host the Olympics in the same place every time

#58

Post by mschuster91 »

cma wrote: post #54
antaviana wrote: post #49

Earlier quoted context omitted.

For best performance, natural grass needs to rest at least 4 or 5 days after a real game takes place. Artificial grass is not comparable, its almost a different game.

Seems like it would be cheaper to lay down new sod between matches.

Grass has to settle, too, or you end up with the players dismantling the place during the game.

Re: We should host the Olympics in the same place every time

#59

Post by kleer001 »

tellthetruth1 wrote: post #56
kleer001 wrote: post #24

Earlier quoted context omitted.

that might help fix their economic problems...

But why the world should fix their economic problems?

Because it is part of the world. Because it would take the burden off of other countries.

A family lives or dies by how they treat their shitty uncle.

In the end I believe people are essentially good. Not that they eventually do good things. That's a measure for time and luck.

Re: We should host the Olympics in the same place every time

#60

Post by tellthetruth1 »

kleer001 wrote: post #59
tellthetruth1 wrote: post #56

Earlier quoted context omitted.

But why the world should fix their economic problems?

Because it is part of the world. Because it would take the burden off of other countries. A family lives or dies by how they treat their shitty uncle. In the end I believe people are essentially good. Not that they eventually do good things. That's a measure for time and luck.

So the whole "family" has to pay for the uncle's drinking and drug habit? I am not gonna pay for your "belief".
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