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  2. zigzag

    Tokyo 2020 Mascots

    zigzag replied to TeamBlakeUSA's topic in Tokyo 2020 Summer Games

  3. Today
  4. zigzag
    Nah.. That'll only give a legitimate reason to vote "no"..
  5. bokrow haram
    has the IOC ever considered dumping some of those huge cash reserves of theirs into a targeted counter campaign designed to combat a smear campaign before a referendum? seems like maybe they should consider it.
  6. Yesterday
  7. luan luan changed their profile photo
  8. Barcelona_'92

    Beijing 2022

    Barcelona_'92 replied to TeamBlakeUSA's topic in Beijing 2022 Olympic Winter Games

    I still can’t believe they’re going to keep the February 4th start date and go up against the Super Bowl. That is going to result in disastrous opening weekend viewership for NBC (and the first Sunday was the most-watched night of the Games this year). I know the world does not revolve around the U.S., but I’m really surprised that NBC was not able to influence a change in the start date to February 11th.
  9. MileHighRob MileHighRob changed their profile photo
  10. mont76 mont76 joined the community
  11. TheLamp TheLamp changed their profile photo
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  13. roango89 roango89 changed their profile photo
  14. Last week
  15. FYI
    Lmfao - “not at all” what you were going to say, but yet you couldn’t resist in the end & said it anyway. Sounds just like Bach. And last I checked, cities ARE dropping out on the IOC. So it’s not like that would be anything new bcuz they’re now talking about ‘producing less losers’ (again). They tried talking to Innsbruck & Sion but to no avail. And now they’re still trying to talk with Calgary & Sapporo. And let’s be real for a moment - Erzuzum is anything but a reliable/desirable option. So in that sense, I can see why the IOC would want to produce less losers. And as been noted before around here, a lot of the exacerbation of the situation is social media. Much as the IOC tries to take “control of the conversation” again (talk about using one of our favorite other poster’s favorite lines lol), you then have idots like Chris Dempsey (for example) trying to infringe on the IOC’s ‘new message of reform’. The IOC can only do so much in this instance. Cuz if they were to try too hard, they would then be accused of having an agenda. Or if they hardly tried at all, then they’re being too disconnected. So it can be one of those ‘damn if you, or damn if you don’t’ circumstances.
  16. gotosy

    The IOC Membership

    gotosy replied to Sir Rols's topic in General Olympics Discussion

  17. Quaker2001 started following Beijing 2022, IOC Chief “Pretty Happy” With 2026 Olympic Bids, But Hints At “Producing Less Losers” and Figure Skater Denis Ten Stabbed To Death
  18. Quaker2001
    Sorry to disappoint my biggest fan, but no, not at all what I'm going to say. What I am actually going to say is.. FFS, really Bach? You're still giving us the "less losers" line? Keep going with that and the biggest loser will be the IOC. You should be focusing on producing more bids and then yes, you can vet them on your own terms and decide who actually has a legitimate shot of being a winner. But tread carefully in that water where cities can and probably will drop out on you. Right now, they don't want to hear your bullshit. They want to (and need to) hear how you're going to make your organization more transparent and make hosting an Olympics less of a strain on the host city/country. Tough task that it's now a matter of convincing the citizens rather than the bid committees, but know the game you're playing right now. I really hope for the sake of the Olympics that this is just the happy face they're putting on what they know is a more serious problem. Good for him (that's for you, "other poster") that they're committed to increasing the dialog with cities and trying to reduce the number of cities on the final ballot. But as the other other poster likes to point out, "you have to be in it to win it." Work on that part now, then reduce, if you even have that luxury.
  19. Olympianfan

    Egypt Targets Bid For 2032 Olympic Games

    Olympianfan replied to GBModerator's topic in GB Newswire

    I would wait about 20 years for Kenya to host the first Commonwealth Games in Africa, South Africa is becoming a failed state Zimbabwe 2:0 with what is going on in South Africa right now unless the Western Cape Cape Town breaks away from South Africa, An African Olympic and Paralympics Games would not happen in the first half of the 21st century Kenya is a top country for the first games in Africa.
  20. Olympianfan
    The Botswana and Nigerian bid I can see getting through, Senegal and Tunisia don't have much hope, The only country which I would go to in that case is Botswana out of all 4 I would not go to the other 3 countries at all.
  21. Olympianfan
    The IOC has lost winter powerhouses of Switzerland and Austria and risk losing Italy and Sweden if they don't get the ok from the government and what is shaping out to be in Sweden they could not have a working government months out after the September election so it might not get government in working before the January due by date with government support . What is going through Thomas Bach mind I think he is Lord Killaian 2:0 right now. If Calgary Votes NO then we could have 3 Asian Winter Olympic and Paralympics Games in a row with Sapporo Japan 2026.
  22. FYI
    Well, well - what do we have here. Bach ‘hinting’ (again) “at producing less losers”. Gee, where have we heard that one before? But ‘some other random poster’ will predictably say - “ ‘good for Bach’ that he said that. But, but..”. :-P And of course there’s also the predictable Bach response - “we’re not to concerned. We still have five (other) bids in the race” mantra. But then acknowledging that they might not all be there come vote day lol. Which then there’s this: “With Sapporo serious about 2030, and still in the 2026 race, the circumstances seem very right (about a double).” I’ve ‘hinted’ at that all along, when the counter-argument is that Sapporo 2026 is still to close to Tokyo 2020, etc. Again, if that’s ‘simply’ the case, then why not withdraw (just like Graz did). Why continue to waste money on a 2026 bid if money is what’s the issue bcuz of 2020. Doesn’t make sense, unless of course your real goal is 2030 instead.
  23. FYI
    Yet you always still had some argue about the choice, & a few (well, mainly one in particular) very nastily, too. You also still have some around here, besides the poster in this thread, about what a “mistake” it was for the IOC to choose China for 2022 & that “it should have been” the other bid, & a lot of it is simply for the contempt that they have for China. As if the other bid was that much better anyway, which it clearly wasn’t, as been duly noted again here. Interesting though, that Almaty still needed to construct multiple venues (when the argument was that they were ‘ready to go’) & that it would be a ‘very compact Games’. And yeah, speaking of the temperature there, people were already starting to complain when it looked like there for a while that PC 2018 was going to be a bitterly cold Winter Games when temperatures at some spots were hovering right around 40F below zero right before the start of the Games. It’s one of the arguments used against Harbin, which some said should’ve been the Chinese winter host instead, but that it’s way too cold there in the winter.
  24. Quaker2001
    I just came across the story online.. what a terrible tragedy. He gets killed over someone trying to steal a car mirror? That's absurd
  25. Quaker2001
    What it came down to is where did the IOC want to leave their legacy? In an East Asian country of more than a billion people or a relatively obscure Central Asian country with 1 person for every 77 in China. History should remember how close that decision was, but if we're going to play the "should have" game, then let's talk about Oslo, not Almaty. Beijing will not pose the same problems as Sochi. With China, they spent obscene amounts of money in 2008 to try and showcase themselves to the world. Sochi was more about Putin and was fraught with corruption. We can all list the numerous reasons why Beijing is not a good place to host a Winter Olympics, but given the alternative they had in front of them, hard to argue with the choice
  26. Quaker2001
    What exactly is the traditional Olympic spirit these days anyway? Yea, the IOC was once about cities building these big monuments in their honor, but we've seen where that got them. Hence their reforms of Agenda 2020 (not Project 2020) to give off the impression they're trying to cut costs. And you're absolutely right that it's difficult to figure if the IOC is actually serious about it. Either way though, the IOC doesn't have the benefit of choice. If even they do have a preference, if only 1 or 2 bids are on the table for them, that's what they have to choose from. May not be a can't of what they want. And even if it's Calgary, that Olympics wouldn't happen until 2026. Which means it could take a cycle or 2 before we see how that turns out. And even then, if we're talking about Calgary or Salt Lake City hosting a successful Olympics, what will that show Europe? They both have a good amount of their existing infrastructure. Similar to an LA or a Paris, that means only a city with a lot in place and little to build is likely to succeed. How many of those kinds of cities exist in Europe? The answer is obviously higher than zero, and that's where Agenda 2020 needs to kick in where the IOC is more accepting of things that a decade ago would have been bid-killers.
  27. GBModerator
    International Olympic Committee (IOC) President Thomas Bach Friday painted a rosy picture of the 2026 Olympic Winter Games bid race, even as he hinted that there may be some volatility ahead. While wrapping up the organization’s Executive Board meeting in Lausanne, Switzerland, Bach boasted about the candidates in line to welcome the world’s athletes in […] The post IOC Chief “Pretty Happy” With 2026 Olympic Bids, But Hints At “Producing Less Losers” appeared first on GamesBids.com. View the full article
  28. Quaker2001

    Beijing 2022

    Quaker2001 replied to TeamBlakeUSA's topic in Beijing 2022 Olympic Winter Games

    Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics add seven new events
  29. thatsnotmypuppy
    The whole "should have been Almaty" rhetoric is getting old. Beijing didn't put that bad of a deal on the table. Beijing itself is unlikely to have snow - however it has nearly all the ice venues there bar one. Yes a high speed train is being built - the Chinese are building them like mad anyway. Yes - the snow sports venues will have dubious legacy and may not be exactly ethical environmentally. I'm sure this can be said of most recent hosts - just google. PC18 had issues, Sochi definitely did. And yeah politically they are not exactly a beacon of openness and hope. Almaty is in Kazakhstan. A deeply corrupt, despotic regime. Their human rights record is as bad as China's. Multiple venues needed to be constructed (few of which have materialised between the bids - so the claims of there being a need for them does not play out). Vast infrastructure upgrades were also required. Winter there can be harsh and no-one wants to be watching ski jumping in minus 30 degree celcius weather. A whole new airport would need to be built and getting a Kazakh visa is already a nightmare. Both were as bad as each other - the big difference? Better the devil you know. Almaty was a new frontier - but not a stable one. Furthermore the Central Asian countries are nowhere near the force that China is becoming in winter sports. Would an Almaty Games inspire a Tajikistani luger, or an Azerbaijani speed skater to strive that little bit harder? Unlikely. Between the two the IOC made the right bad decision.
  30. mountainboarder_530@yahoo.
    sports mecca might be strong, but a regional powerhouse thatll draw crowds with the sanctions on Iran, Russia, and well......possibly until recently, Turkey. As far as regional tourism goes It it looks to be gathering a good crowd and doing quite well. Freely admit if i had the time and leave Id love to do the Sochi-Batumi-Tbilisi route, looks interesting as hell. Sochi, despite the inundation of events, has been doing well as a summer and winter destination by the sounds of it. So yeah, Erzerum probably would enter the calculus to a degree (though probably miniscule as Russians during tight times will stay with Russia, and Turks might go to Erzerum at least initially out of sheer curiousity). Sochi is appealing to "patriotic Russians" to not go to western europe to enjoy a holiday at home, and it sounds like its actually been working out pretty well, especially since opening the Gambling Zone. I know Sochi is pretty much the antithesis of the traditional Olympic spirit........but as much as the IOC might not care to admit it, Putin's Sochi has a lot more common than they'd like with the IOC, and its the IOC's burden to shed that image. Will they go full-on Project 2020 and really look to embrace frugality? or will it be business as usual? There arguably isnt a country in Europe now that believes the IOC as far as they can throw them, and for the time being, the pendulum has swung towards the authoritarians. Calgary is our hope by being a new example, because Beijing sure as hell wont be. Im still shaking my head in contempt at that total disaster; should have been Almaty..........hell should have been Oslo. It should be a lecture on the IOC right now and how much they have to prove. They need a calgary and a SLC to show well to get the europeans even slightly interested again IMO. North America can save this party, but a lot depends on the Calgary voters right now, especially the elder romantics and the millenials.
  31. mountainboarder_530@yahoo.
    probably no more and no less than to see where they stand and if they are indeed lost causes. After those meetings theyll probably have a better idea if this is code red or not. I think they should batten down the hatches.
  32. LatinXTC
    News outlets are reporting that 2014 figure Skating bronze medalist Denis Ten died as a result of stab wounds he received during an attempted car robbery. It all happened in Almaty, where he lived and trained. So sad to see this in the news. https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/early-lead/wp/2018/07/19/olympic-figure-skating-medalist-denis-ten-killed-in-stabbing/
  33. zigzag

    Ceremonies on UTube, Part 3

    zigzag replied to baron-pierreIV's topic in Past Bids Discussion

    Here's the full version btw..
  34. zigzag

    Ceremonies on UTube, Part 3

    zigzag replied to baron-pierreIV's topic in Past Bids Discussion

    XXIII Central American and Caribbean Games Barranquilla 2018 Opening
  35. Quaker2001
    In post-Olympic Sochi, white elephants – and improved daily life I don't think Sochi deserves the label of "sports mecca". It was a resort town before the Olympics and I think that's what it's mostly known as now. The investment and infrastructure was a big boon for them, but aside from the F-1 race they have annually, the region hasn't seen too many sports events come there recently (the World Cup notwithstanding, but that's more the stadium than anything else). Could Erzurum, with similar investment become a competitor? Don't know, but the question is what exactly would they be competing with? And I know when a certain other poster reads that article, he knows what my favorite section is. To be fair, it does help put Sochi's place in the world and specifically in Russia into perspective to understand what they're all about.
  36. mountainboarder_530@yahoo.
    I was thinking that would be collateral damage as well. Especially since if Erzurum ever came to pass, there is every indication that it would be another Sochi budget games. An even further tangent, Russia wouldnt want a competitor in the region to Sochi, which theyve invested a ton in to become a regional sports mecca. I researched on the Azerbaijan resort, how cool........I had no idea about its existence. Maybe one day it happens. Has the Azerbaijan government shown any indication they'd be up for something like that? My guess is itd be pretty popular with Turks, Iranians, Saudis, the like.
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