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Olympics 2016: Cement Jesus in your face 200 times a day
deadonthestreet
Registered User regular
Registered User regular
So tomorrow we get to know where the summer 2016 olympics will be. Candidates are:
Rio
Chicago
Tokyo
Madrid
Chicago and Rio seem to be in the lead from what I've seen. Obama is visiting the IOC to pitch Chicago.
Who are you hoping wins? My vote is "not Rio" because I don't want to spend three hours a day looking at Cement Jesus. Chicago would be nice because at least everything would be live on TV, but doesn't that exclude America for some years subsequent? Chicago seems kind of uninspired, and I'd rather see the next US olympics in a more interesting place like Boston, but that's probably home town bias. I'm sure Tokyo would produce a super awesome opening ceremony. Madrid, who cares about that?
So yeah, talk about what city you want to win, what cities you'd rather see it at, and just how messed up the selection process is.
Rio
Chicago
Tokyo
Madrid
Chicago and Rio seem to be in the lead from what I've seen. Obama is visiting the IOC to pitch Chicago.
Who are you hoping wins? My vote is "not Rio" because I don't want to spend three hours a day looking at Cement Jesus. Chicago would be nice because at least everything would be live on TV, but doesn't that exclude America for some years subsequent? Chicago seems kind of uninspired, and I'd rather see the next US olympics in a more interesting place like Boston, but that's probably home town bias. I'm sure Tokyo would produce a super awesome opening ceremony. Madrid, who cares about that?
So yeah, talk about what city you want to win, what cities you'd rather see it at, and just how messed up the selection process is.
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(I'm from Chicago!)
Actually it will be a horrifying clusterfuck if Chicago gets it, unless in the next 7 years they completely reinvent their public transit system.
They haven't, but holding it in Rio will result in one of two things:
1.) When the games happen, a whole slew of tourists get raped/mugged/murdered by the local criminal element.
Or
2.) About five minutes after the announcement is made the police begin rounding up all suspected or known gang members and begin throwing them in prisons or executing them en masse.
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Tokyo could be good, I remember the Nagano Olympics back in 98(?) more than any other winter Olympics. Rio is kind of interesting but not anything to get worked up over. Madrid could be fun too.
Any of those places are "decent" but honestly they all seem kind of... lame. Can't think of anywhere better off the topic of my head, though.
EDIT: Looks like the next two are going to be held in Vancouver (OK) and London (eh). Also, London's logo is uglier than fuck. It looks like it stepped out of 1991.
Are things that bad in Brazil in general or is this Rio specific?
It's cool man, there's a vaccine for that now.
I work with a couple people who have both visited and have family from there... let's just say it isn't the safest place.
Edit: And I totally should have included kidnappings. Good god do those people love holding others for ransom.
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South America is a scary place
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Is it like the african vaccine? Because there aren't that many virgins in the US to rape.
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We are for certainly talking about different things.
Yeah between MTV and increased security at grade schools it gets harder every year.
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Madrid? Spain had a Summer Games in 1992, which is pretty recent in Olympic terms. Even Greece doesn't get the Games twice in 25 years.
I have a feeling that if Chicago gets them, the locals will still care more about what's going on at fields Wrigley, Comiskey, and Giant Alien Spaceship.
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Atlanta is more recent than Barcelona.
Yeah, but, America.
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Usually the olympics wants you to build all new sites when you host, its insanity. Part of the reason Athens was a huge money waste.
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Atlanta and Nagano were both more recent. Do we have links to their actual proposals? (I'm lazy and don't want to google them right now :P)
If Rio's proposal is decent I bet they get it because all of the other countries have had recent olympics. Plus the intervening ones are one north america and one western europe (Vancouver and London).
Generally Olympic proposals do include significant upgrades to public transportation and safety.
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I'm not pulling for Chicago either. I'd pick Tokyo. They have several venues remaining from the 1964 Olympics, and their plan includes creating a forest island in the middle of Tokyo Bay for stuff like equestrian, archery and rowing. Clean, safe, awesome public transit.
BTW - what happened to Paris? They wanted the 2012 Games but lost to London, but they're absent from 2016 consideration?
(Which is not to say that the US does a bad job, on the contrary, part of the reason they keep hosting is because they can.)
Brazil having an opportunity would be cool, though I don't know if its economically feasible at the moment, I'm a bit behind when it comes to the Brazilian economy. If not, than Tokyo.
I count Winter and Summer Olympics separately. Summer is definitely the bigger showcase and competition, it's not like Rio can bid on the Winter Games.
Rio has said they'll build a bullet train if they win. Tokyo already has one (though I'm sure they'll be willing to sell the specs to Rio).
I should be more excited about Chicago, seeing as I fall within the area slated to host (I think we'd have some soccer and road-course cycling in the area), and I'd love it if we won, but there you go.
Don't you plan to be in the Pacific Northwest by the time they're there? I sure as hell do, though if I were still around I'd probably try to catch something.
The last time the US hosted a games was 1996. They aren't hosting one in 2010, 2012 or 2014, meaning there'd be twenty years between US hosting. Madrid's a long shot because London's got it in 2012, and they're unlikely to go to two European countries back to back. Tokyo has a similar problem.
Rio's key selling point is that South America's never had one, along with the possibility of reviving Rio and the whole country. They've got serious money problems though, and just canceled a world cup swimming event like a month before it was supposed to happen.
Chicago's probably a safer, more monetarily lucrative choice, but Rio's more exciting and risky. It'll be close between those two, though.
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No, it's not necessary. The Olympics doesn't "want" new stuff, the host city goes ahead and makes its decision. Atlanta and Los Angeles famously reused many old facilities built prior to the Olympics. That and extensive corporate advertising deals allowed the two cities to make a profit.
But countries with nationalist axes to grind will spend lots more, of course. Beijing. Athens. But that's their own damn fault.
In Rio it'd be a marked improvement from the usual.
I have nothing against madrid I guess
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That's the other thing. We all know how jingoistic NBC gets during the Olympics. Every American medal contender is given blanket coverage, American medal contenders in popular events get saturation coverage, and the other countries are noted only for being the guys trying to deprive the Americans of the gold medal that is their birthright. The NBC guys will talk over other nations' national anthems.
And when the Games actually get held here, it's like the other countries don't even exist. It's like it's the US Open With Special Guest Rest Of The World. In Atlanta, the crowds inside the actual stadiums tended to not even notice that other countries were competing. Didn't even see them. Gymnastics was particularly bad in this regard. When they get held abroad, everyone is forced to at least acknowledge the host nation's participation.
So, yeah. It'd be cool to have the Games in Chicago, but the coverage would just be completely insufferable. More than usual. And add in the fact that Obama would potentially be wrapping up his second term and NBC might just run a two-week loop of the Star-Spangled Banner and have done with it.
It may get crowded.**
*:winky:
**:winky::winky: