scooter133

I was too young to attend the Atlanta Olympics, but having lived in Atlanta for the last two years, I'll give my perspective. I feel like Atlanta is proud to have hosted, but it doesn't come up all the time if that makes sense. I think part of the reason is because a lot of the venues don't exist anymore or have been totally repurposed (Olympic Stadium, Georgia Dome, Aquatic Center, tennis center, Omni, etc.). The most Olympic-esque event lately was the US Marathon Trials last February where they relit the cauldron. The best legacy is for sure Centennial Olympic Park - it's been really cool to see how most of the city's major attractions now surround the park. Not only places that have been here for a while such as CNN Center and World of Coke, but also newer attractions Georgia Aquarium, College Football Hall of Fame, and National Center for Civil and Human Rights.

Does anybody have BBC's coverage of Super Saturday in 2012? Would love to see it, whether it's digital or physical.

Do you have access to the Olympic Channel? They've been playing ceremonies throughout the week. So far I've watched parts of Barcelona, Atlanta, and Sydney.

Has anybody used this website? Does it work? https://www.os-site-tracker.com/

Assuming there's anything left, will there be any kind of live box office in Tokyo? Has that happened for past Games?

I would love to see another European Winter games, but it looks like Rio and Sochi have cities scared stiff right now. The IOC desperately needs a well-organized, well-attended, on-budget Games that doesn't have legacy issues. I think this scenario would bring back some of these cities that have been so skittish the last couple of years. But when will this happen? Paris? LA?

I totally agree. I got confirmed for enough tickets to make the trip worthwhile, but without any good hotel options, it just doesn't seem like a good idea to take them. I wish CoSport would tell us whether they have any good hotel options - I may call them tomorrow.

The lack of information is definitely concerning. Between hotels and transportation, most of the small amount of information out there is in Korean. From what I can tell, there aren't that many hotels in the Pyeongchang area, at least not from Western-based chains (2 Holiday Inns and an InterContinental notwithstanding). Commuting in from Seoul every day just sounds tiring. I may go ahead and submit a ticket request (just to see what I could get) but save my money for 2020 or 2024.

It's really interesting to me how Kazan is using their soccer stadium (with a temporary setup) for the FINA Worlds this week. I'm wondering if the US bid city would consider doing this in perhaps their football or soccer stadium. If the NFL ever does come to LA, this could be a possibility for their stadium. I just wouldn't want it to have a Final Four basketball in a football stadium feel. I've always heard that the atmosphere is really lacking at those.

Michele Tafoya was introduced as the new poolside reporter during NBC's coverage of the FINA worlds today. She replaces Andrea Kremer, who's now on the NFL Network.

There was a lot of discussion on transportation/traffic for sure. It's a valid issue, but there was definitely more to talk about. The reporters on the after-debate panel were impressed by the bid's opponents, but I felt like Doctoroff and Pagliuca did a good job holding their own. Seems like the opposition is focusing on traffic/transportation, the Olympic stadium, and cost overrun guarantees as their main issues. If the bid comes up with good strategies for these three issues and then communicates them well, I think you'll see public support start to turn around.

Here's an article talking about Harvard's decreasing role in Boston's bid. The writer states this may be because Harvard announced that they would not help the bid committee with fund raising. You just have to wonder how the USOC board is feeling about Boston at this point. I think the main selling point of their bid was the walkability/closeness of venues. Now, that is slowly unraveling. Did they have everything worked out in their original plan or was it just speculation? Is the spreading out of venues a way of trying to appease their detractors? What does the USOC want more: a summer Games or a Games in general? If it's the latter, should Boston not succeed, I think they should go for 2026. https://www.bostonglobe.com/business/2015/06/12/harvard-once-prominent-role-boston-plans-now-shrinking/ZEJqrKJkh7MpgPsZ8P6aIM/story.html

Congrats to Boston! Can't wait to see how the bid improves now that it can receive the USOC's full attention.

I just finished this book a couple of days ago. It took me a while to get into it, but I ended up really liking it. The Olympic portion of the story is only the last 100 pages or so, but the author does a good job of painting the story of the boys in the boat and how it leads into the Olympics in Berlin. I saw about the book being optioned for a movie as well, but it looks like it's been stuck in development for the last couple of years.

Here's a couple of good recent articles from the Boston Globe: http://www.bostonglobe.com/sports/2014/09/15/why-boston-could-have-edge-bidding-for-olympics/bgGdIzqsXtFRhDPs8L7ddJ/story.html http://www.bostonglobe.com/metro/2014/08/02/atlanta-games-venues-from-left-legacy-some-lessons/Jj8zIJqrUcdTT6sEXUjseK/story.html?p1=Article_Related_Box_Article_More

While this new arena won't have the glass wall with views of the bay like the former site, at least this one is 100% privately financed. In today's sports climate, that extremely rare (and refreshing).

Very interesting paper. The IOC would be well-served to consider some of its suggestions. Lowering venue capacities, shortening the bid process, and more clearly explaining the budgeting process should encourage developed nations (such as the ones who wrote this paper) to start bidding again. It's unfortunate that Athens and Sochi left such a poor taste in potential bidders' mouths, when London and Vancouver managed the process so much better.

To keep the thread updated, Castelli has announced that she's partnering with Mervin Tran. He most recently competed for Canada but also won a world medal for Japan. Still waiting to find out if Skate Canada will release him to compete. Link: http://web.icenetwork.com/news/2014/06/10/79080006/

I would say my biggest plus is that the athletes and officials are really happy with their experiences in Sochi. No major problems or incidents, everything running smoothly. The biggest negative is all the empty seats...come on now, there has to be a way to fix it!

If you have any other regional sports networks, check them for Back to London repeats. For example, around here CSS (Charter Sports Southeast, I think) has been reairing the Back to London shows. There's a couple more airing this week.

I was actually able to get some things on sale in London during the Games. A Debenham's near where I was staying had their clothing on sale, and Marks & Spencer did as well. I also got some things on sale at the John Lewis on Oxford Street even though I didn't know they were on sale until after I paid. If the merchandise stores at the venues were anything like they were when I was there, there won't be anything left! I'm thinking about getting the BBC's Blu-ray collection of their Olympic coverage. Does anyone know if a British Blu-ray would play in my American Blu-ray player?

Has anyone seen if the Today Show set will be accessible to spectators? I've tried looking on their website but haven't found anything.

Some Americans think the nordic events are boring... they're wrong. I watched biathlon and the nordic combined yesterday on NBC and was on the edge of my seat the whole time. Congrats to Johnny Spillane and good luck to him, Bill, and Todd as they continue in competition.

Is it possible that VANOC will release any of its block of rooms? I noticed Chicago has already blocked out double the IOC's requirement of rooms. Is this pretty standard?

CoSport had their phase 2 tickets sales start on Wednesday. Did anybody get any more tickets? Last time I looked yesterday, there were some closing ceremony, hockey, and curling tickets still available.