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Here is my new Olympic forecasting index -- the SORRI (Summer Olympic-Revolving-Restaurant-Index). It is based on the presence or not of a revolving restaurant in a candidate city/country...and is used primarily for the Summer Games race! Based on SORRI, I can predict that Durban will definitely beat Rome for the 2020 Summer Olympics.
Revolving restaurants supposedly first appeared with the Ala Moana in Honolulu in 1960. OK, Rome (and Squaw Valley's year)...but Rome was first picked in 1955 to host for 1960, so 5 years before RR's came into being. ANd then of course, the world really took notice of Revolving Restaurants with the Space Needle at the 1962 World's Fair in Seattle.
The winning Summer Olympic cities of the last 30 years somehow HAVE revolving restaurants of one sort or another. Mexico City, Munich, Montreal, Moscow, LA, Seoul, Atlanta, Sydney and Beijing all have one within their city proper. Now, per Wikipedia's list, Barcelona, Athens, London and Rio each don't have one within their city limits but there is at least ONE revolving restuarant elsewhere in the country: Spain has one in Granada; Greece's is in Thessaloniki; the UK's is in something called Elveden Forest (is that a Tolkien amusement park?) and Brazil has one each in Manaus and at the Iguazu Falls.
The 2012 race which London won is the wonkiest one. Aside from all 5 finalist being 2 syllable cities: Lon-don, Mad-rid, Mos-cou, Neu Yawk and Pa-ris (strange, huh?), the SORRI worked in strange ways: NYC and Moscow each have a native, urban one - OUT! THe 3 remaining western Euro cities had an elsewhere R.R. But Madrid's was already used for Barcelona's run, so it couldn't be used a 2nd time. Pass. Which just left London and Paris: one each elsewhere outside the capital. However, London 2012 sent some staffers to board their Eye with some snacks...thus snuck it in as a vertical "Revolving Drive-By Restaurant."
Paris, meanwhile forgot to have its staffers board the Mad Hatter's Tea Party ride at Euro-Disneyland with some croissants and tartes, as I would've wanted them to...and won that race!! 
Of course, Paris can still consult with me for 2024!! What's Rome's excuse? All of Italy (not even San Marino and the little Knights of Malta legation within Rome's city limitts) does NOT have one revolving restaurant. That's why they lost 2004 to 2nd-time bidder Athens and will lose 2020 again...UNLESS...I repeat...UNLESS they petition the Vatican to open a temporary R.R. around St. Peter's Dome, then maybe...maybe the Eternal City will get a chance for 2020. Or get the one atop that Tower in Pisa working again!
Mario P. and Silvio B, that's where $50 mil of your $87 mil warchest should go...otherwise, it's arrividerci, Roma otta vez!! So as of now here is how SORRI rates the declared 2020 candidates:
Durban - 100
Istanbul - 80
Rome - 0
(Tokyo - 50%)
Other SORRI facts (per wikipedia):
Of the winter cities, Calgary, Vancouver AND 3 in PyongYang...so that charm might carry over to PyeongChang's chances.
IRAN alone has 15..get it...15 REVOLVING REstaurants. No wonder the Tehran gov't and those mullahs are soo DITZY!!
The Ginza Sky Lounge in Tokyo rotates COUNTERCLOCKWISE (unlike all the other revolving restaurants)...so until they correct that, I predict Tokyo will NOT host until 2028 or they fix that rotation.
Otherwise, it's DURBAN 2020 all the way!! Keep those restaurants in the sky revolving, baby!!
Edited by baron-pierreIV, 24 April 2011 - 10:28 AM.
