It's going to be Rio in 2016...and that's a good thing!
For a variety of reasons Rio de Janeiro will triumph in the competition to land the 2016 Olympics. Working in their favor are the facts that South America has never hosted the games, and the US, Spain and Asia all had the games recently. (Europe will have hosted them three times since 1992: Barcelona, Athens and London.) In addition the IOC has stated a disdain for the "commercial" style of the Atlanta games and Chicago is promoting its effort as a money-making venture (to gain political support).
Even the "hometown" fans are voicing doubts about the costs and benefits of hosting the Olympics:
Second, the cost of hosting the Olympics is likely to outweigh the benefits. While Los Angeles is championing its profit-producing abilities, its Olympics success in 1984 was 23 years ago, under different leadership, with fewer traffic and pollution problems, and in a different sports and economic climate.
In the case of the 1996 Olympics in Atlanta, another city that made a profit, the city found itself overwhelmed with infrastructure concerns and a bombing that overshadowed the action on the field.
Despite some successes, the list of Olympic failures grows. Montreal is only now paying off its debt from 1976. Athens spent $14 billion in 2004, more than double the estimate, and is now saddled with huge financial problems and unusable stadiums. And Beijing is taking a big gamble on its Olympics, spending more than $40 billion on infrastructure and channeling significant resources into an event it views as an international "coming-out" party.
And it is not just the US. In Russia there are concerns that monetary gains from hosting the Olympics are only an illusion.
Indeed, as an American watching the government spend trillions of dollars we don't have it isn't exactly reassuring to watch the city of Chicago, the state of Illinois and the federal government lobby for another project that will consume billions of dollars. I mean, hey, it's not like Chicago has any outstanding issues like crime and substandard housing that need taken care of, right? Right? Or that our nation has a lot more important things to think about right now so Obama will be staying here to take care of them, right? Right?
Oh, I see. Well if the priorities of our national leaders are something other than the huge problems we're facing right now I suppose we need to change our national leaders! In the mean time help our country by helping Rio!
So brush up on your Portuguese and get ready to head south...for the summer!
Even the "hometown" fans are voicing doubts about the costs and benefits of hosting the Olympics:
Second, the cost of hosting the Olympics is likely to outweigh the benefits. While Los Angeles is championing its profit-producing abilities, its Olympics success in 1984 was 23 years ago, under different leadership, with fewer traffic and pollution problems, and in a different sports and economic climate.
In the case of the 1996 Olympics in Atlanta, another city that made a profit, the city found itself overwhelmed with infrastructure concerns and a bombing that overshadowed the action on the field.
Despite some successes, the list of Olympic failures grows. Montreal is only now paying off its debt from 1976. Athens spent $14 billion in 2004, more than double the estimate, and is now saddled with huge financial problems and unusable stadiums. And Beijing is taking a big gamble on its Olympics, spending more than $40 billion on infrastructure and channeling significant resources into an event it views as an international "coming-out" party.
And it is not just the US. In Russia there are concerns that monetary gains from hosting the Olympics are only an illusion.
Indeed, as an American watching the government spend trillions of dollars we don't have it isn't exactly reassuring to watch the city of Chicago, the state of Illinois and the federal government lobby for another project that will consume billions of dollars. I mean, hey, it's not like Chicago has any outstanding issues like crime and substandard housing that need taken care of, right? Right? Or that our nation has a lot more important things to think about right now so Obama will be staying here to take care of them, right? Right?
Oh, I see. Well if the priorities of our national leaders are something other than the huge problems we're facing right now I suppose we need to change our national leaders! In the mean time help our country by helping Rio!
So brush up on your Portuguese and get ready to head south...for the summer!