A photographer focuses on the National Stadium, also known as the Bird’s Nes in Beijing. The stadium will host the opening and closing ceremonies and athletics competition at the Olympic Games, which open Aug. 8. AP Photo/Robert F. Bukaty
Timing is everything. Just ask all the other movies that were up against Gone With the Wind for the 1939 Best Picture. Goodbye Mr Chips, Mr Smith Goes to Washington, Wuthering Heights and The Wizard of Oz would most likely have won in any other year.
Then other years, Million Dollar Baby and Crash win.
In three months, the host city of the 2016 Olympics will be decided. Only four are left in the running and I don’t think any of them is an outstanding case for winning the right to host the games.
The race for 2012 was a blockbuster, with London beating out Moscow, New York, Paris and Madrid. Of the four, only Madrid is returning. It is joined in the final four by Rio de Janeiro, Chicago and Tokyo.
Let’s play devil’s advocate:
* Madrid – London is hosting 2012 and no continent has gone back to back since London –Helsinki in 1948-52.
* Tokyo – Beijing just had it. It wouldn’t go back to Asia after just an eight year break.
* Rio de Janeiro – South America has never hosted an Olympics. There are huge (HUGE) question marks about it having the wherewithal to do so and being able to accommodate all the logistical issues that come with the gig.
* Chicago – America has had it too many times already.
Now, IF Rio can host it, then why not?
There is no time like the present to give South America its first guernsey, and if it isn’t going to be now, then when? It will be hosting the 2014 World Cup and that should help its chances.
As the Olympics gets bigger and bigger, the number of cities which will be able to host it is only going to get smaller and smaller.
Cities also need to pay more attention to what happens after the sixteen day party is over. The two most feared words in a host city’s lexicon are white elephant.
Sydney and Athens are still grappling with this and Beijing is now dealing with what to do with a world class 80,000 seat stadium, as well as other facilities that no-one is interested in using.
The days of Havana, Dublin and Istanbul even making the shortlist are over.
This is an issue that the IOC needs to work on. And hopefully in four years time, it will have 20/20 vision.
AJ
Guest
GO CHICAGO!
Koala Bear
Guest
Bozokurt, stop, stop, you’re getting too close to the bone laddie... lol :lol: ... Does this mean you will not stand with all of us Australians, new and old, who have come across the seas, to this new fair land of ours, to toast and rejoice with “the Australian National Football Team”, for its new historic world rating; (16th in the world out of 208 nations)... God damn it laddie that’s un-Australian... You have been working far too long in Wally World USA, it’s time to turn in your pinkie red nose and come back home... You have missed the undeniable jubilation in OZ and the ground swell down under... ~~~~~~ KB
Kurt
Guest
Mullah Bear - getting pretty antsy now, aren't we? It's funny how the Brits who post on the roar with Aussie style monikers get quite upset when you call them out for what they are. All this pretense about the 'world game' yet in reality it's a bunch of unemployed English tradies who miss standing on some godforsaken windswept terrace shouting abuse at the visiting fans. And the pain that comes from knowing how utterly ignored they are by the Australian mainstream just eats away at them, leading to more and more fear and hatred directed at Australian sports such as aussie rules and rugby league. Stop me if I'm getting a little too close to the bone for you Mullah Bear...
Koala Bear
Guest
Norm, Bozokurt works at Wally World USA and struggles with reality; as you have rightly pointed out... Alas his ventriloquist handler has always had trouble keeping up with his wild imagination of Groooky global expansion... :lol: ~~~~~~~ KB
Norm
Guest
KB the problem for Kurt is that after 151 years the melbourne game – like his imagination – has gone nowhere.
Koala Bear
Guest
Bozokurt, A quiet day at Wally World laddie; has your mouth drop at the figure of participants in Australia...? Btw did you read that the Socceroos are now placed 16th in the world rankings out of 208 nations... Ladies and Gentlemen, you too Bozokurt, a toast, I give you the Socceroos.... :lol: ~~~~~~~ KB
mattamkII
Guest
what a great idea..give the gave to one of the most dodgy cities in the world - Rio. I can see the copy for the package tours "........its going to be fun and all costs are included - other than mugging"
Kurt
Guest
Ah yes, Mullah Bear and his 'facts', just back from Iran and your role in overseeing the election are we? Off you go and have a good cringe with your pommy mates as you desperately try to seek the approval of your cultural superiors by desperately trying to appear knowledgeable about soccer.
Koala Bear
Guest
Bozo, (the voice of reason from Wally World USA) are you talking to me or addressing the Minister for Foreign Affairs...? In any case you should send him an email about you concerns... No doubt he will reply to you that there are near to 1 million playing Football players in Australia more then your Groooky participants... Check for yourself Bozo... ~~~~~~~~~ KB
Kurt
Guest
Mullah Bear - so we should support a sub-standard Olympic games bid so Australia can get lumped with a soccer world cup that 90% of the population doesn't give a rat's about? Your reasoning has not improved I see.
Koala Bear
Guest
David, The interesting thing in all of this is that the Minister for foreign affairs said in parliament about 18 months ago that Australia will support Brazil’s 2016 bid for the Olympics, as they, Brazil, said they are going to support Australia’s 2018 FIFA world cup bid... Let's all get behind Brazil.... ~~~~~~~ KB
MVDave
Guest
Agreed David Time to start sharing the sporting joy around the world. Timezones for the Yanks would be similar to Rio from memory, so shouldn't be a major problem with TV...otherwise just let the states have it every time, keeps them thinking they are the centre of the sporting universe.
Kurt
Guest
Bollocks to that David, Chicago would be a brilliant host city for the olympics - it's a great sports loving city and would host a fantastic event. The US has hosted the games a number of times but given that they generate a huge chunk of the IOC's revenue this hardly seems unreasonable.