BACK THE BID
So NYC just lost the Olympics... as much as I would have loved to have them here in MY city, I just think we didn't push hard enough for it. I think the late effort is admirable, but too little too late, and I was not surprised when we didn't get it. HOWEVER, I was stunned and thrilled when longtime frontrunner Paris LOST and the 2012 games went to LONDON, my beloved city across the pond! Ever since I went over there a couple weeks ago and saw their publicity, I've been saying that they deserved to win. They've got BACK THE BID: LONDON 2012 banners on every lamppost in London, and they have entire buses and tube cars WRAPPED in pictures of Olympians hurdling and diving and pole vaulting over Big Ben and the London eye. Very clever, and expensive, I might add. Virgin Atlantic's planes (the airline I flew there) had LONDON 2012: BACK THE BID on EVERY SEAT as well as their Candidate City logo and an Olympian PAINTED on the outside of the plane! Tell me they didn't want it bad. Everywhere you look in London, you see something Olympic-related. They have ads on the side of buses saying "Make Britain Proud. Back the Bid." followed by a number to which you can text something to show your support. They had all their people fired up for it. I even had a woman from a London radio station call me at work to ask how she could get on one of our shows in order to discuss the feelings of each candidate city and its people regarding the IOC upcoming decision. She said they were calling stations in all five cities because their people were buzzing about it like mad. I also drove past Wembley Stadium which is just being built as a football (soccer) stadium and to host part of the Games, and it looks splendid! (At least they BUILT their stadium... snort.) As much as I love New York and America, no city deserved this more than London, and I'm glad they'll be hosting the 2012 Olympics. As for NY, I hope we try again soon and learn from London's example. I think with more public involvement, NYC could definitely win its next bid.