Commentary on the Olympics

I am currently prepping the College Football Preview, which will be downsized this year.  I have other things on my plate, but will continue to blog weekly about the college football scene in Utah.  I find the Big 12 expansion debate thrilling, but I have no credible information leading to how it will turn out in the end.

The Olympic games just finished in Rio.  Overall, things went well for the United States.  There were some disappointments.  There always are, and there always will be.  At this level of competition, anything can happen.  Eventually, the women's basketball team will lose, and someone else will dominate the pool.  But that is all another place and time.  But there is nothing for Americans to be ashamed of.  I, for one, am proud.

There were some off-the-field embarrassments.  Ryan Lochte was one of them.  He should just admit he was drunk, and therefore not capable of telling the truth about what happened.  That would be the most believable thing he should say.

Hope Solo was an ungracious loser.  Soccer is a funny sport.  More than any other popular sport, the underdog has a chance in any given game.  This is why most professional soccer leagues world-wide do not crown a champion after a playoff.  It is very likely that the best team overall during the season will lose.

The same thing can be said in selecting a host city for the games.  I do not think that Los Angeles will be the hose of the 2024 games.  It is likely Rome or Paris.  There were 52 years between the LA games of 1932 and 1984.  That is about right time between games hosted in the United States.  Even if it can be done on the cheap.  Atlanta hosted the Olympic games of 1996.  The next time the United States should host the summer games is 2048.

Sale Lake City had a good plan when building Olympic Venues for the 2002 winter games.  They set aside money for continuous upkeep.  They constantly bid to bring the World Cup to Salt Lake.  They open up the venues for the public to use.  Some of the venues are still used for training.  If Salt Lake were to host the games again, they really could do it with little money.  It is a much better plan that hosting the game and then letting the venues wither away through neglect and non-use.  This should be the template going forward.

There were 22 years between the Lake Placid games of 1980, and the Salt Lake games.  24 years is about right for the United States to wait for their next Winter games.  The USOC should plan on putting a strong bid for the 2026 Winter games.

I am very surprised to find that no cities in North America are bidding for the 2028 games.  Buenos Aries will host the 2018 youth games.  If Paris or Rome wins the right to host the 2024 games, Argentina becomes the front runner for the 2028 games.  No other cities in either North or South America are planning bids for 2028 so far.  Perhaps this is a sign that the USOC will put together a bid for the 2026 Winter games should the LA bid fail.

If 2024 LA fails, then the next window of opportunity for the US to host the summer games, is literally 2040 as the IOC loves to rotate the games around the world.  2024 is likely to be in Europe.  2028 is likely to be in the Americas with Buenos Aires the only city in the Americas that has expressed interest, so far.  2032 is likely to be in Asia or Oceania.  2036 would then be in either Europe or Africa.  US Cities will likely try and bid, but the best chance is 2040 when the Summer games will visit the Americas once again.

The winter games don't necessarily follow this pattern.  No one in Europe or the Americas bid for the 2022 winter games.  All of the other cities dropped out.  That is why you get two winter games in a row for Asia and three consecutive Olympic games in that part of the world.  Very good chance that if the USOC goes for the 2026 Winter games, they will get it, whatever city they choose.  Therefore, choose wisely.

Hosting the Olympic games is costly.  Most cities don't plan for what to do with the venues after the games.  With planning and architecture improving, I see more games making use of temporary stadia and venues that will be taken down or re-purposed after the games are over, much like some of the venues in Rio.  Many of the venues in Tokyo will be temporary.  This is another model that may work for future Olympic games.

Let's hope that they can find ways to keep the Olympic games affordable for host nations and keep the tradition alive.