Rob2012

The Trump regime summed up in one post: Trump voters summed up in one post:

It's the first thing I've seen written about Olympic bidding contests in mainstream news for bloody ages! Obviously it's aimed at a general sports audience, there's not going to be much new there for us, but it was an entertaining upsum of everything (even if in the end I thought it was a little too generous towards the current closed systems).

OK, so my guess is a small but not insignificant drop when it comes to sports tourism (if you want to go to a world cup, you have to go to where the world cup is, and if you don't go someone else will take 'your' tickets so it'll be hard to tell). BUT...I would predict there'll be a far bigger drop in general tourism, where people will just decide to go to another country if they feel even slightly nervous about the news coming out of America. Heard plenty of this already, anecdotally. Also, bear in mind the link I posted was from the right-wing, conservative, historically US-friendly, Murdoch owned Times. Just in case anyone's inclined to tell themselves this is somehow confined to left-wing bubbles.

Reeling off things that used to be better in the “good old days” is a fine way to start an argument: music, television, social media… It is a long and contentious list. But surely nobody can dispute that bidding races for major sports events have gone to the dogs. Without meaning to sound like my father, when I was a lad, the contests to host Olympics or World Cups were almost as exciting as the events themselves. In 2005, we had wild celebrations in the room in Singapore and back in Trafalgar Square when London beat Paris for the right to host the 2012 Olympics. Four years later, there was shock in Copenhagen when Rio beat Madrid, Tokyo and Chicago, including its cheerleader-in-chief, new U.S. President Barack Obama, in the race for the 2016 Games. And then, in 2010, there was the ultimate needle-scratch moment when FIFA impresario Sepp Blatter surprised even himself by saying the World Cup circus was heading to Qatar in 2022. These were moments of genuine jeopardy that left millions elated and even more deflated. The decisions were made live on news channels, topped bulletins and were splashed over front pages. For politicians, it was as close as they would get to lifting a trophy, and for sports fans it was like winning a backstage pass to their favourite show. Or, if you are an England football supporter, they were regular reminders of just how unpopular we are around the world — character-building stuff. Compare that to what we have now. Hands up, who remembers how Brisbane “won” the right to stage the 2032 Olympics or even knew the decision had been made? If that one passed you by, I suspect you missed the emails about the 2030 Winter Olympics going back to the French Alps and the 2034 edition returning to Salt Lake City.... More @ https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/6278309/2025/04/22/why-have-dramatic-bidding-contests-to-host-major-sporting-events-stopped/

Probably just as well. As short a stay as possible is probably wise...

But also....you probably have a point! Maybe time to stop moving things around to appease Indian cricket

I wasn't being sarcastic. I'm aware of the ridiculous goings on with India refusing to play in Pakistan (I can't say I know the details as well as you do @yoshi), but I wasn't referring to that at all. I simply meant taking sports out of the host city for the reason speculated (i.e. to have it in a more convenient timezone for Indian viewers) isn't good. Ridiculously expensive venues which can't be done as temporary setups ok (e.g. choosing an existing sliding track somewhere else), but sending a sport thousands of miles away just so it's more convenient for a certain segment of the TV audience would be a bad precedent.

Yeah, moving it 3000 miles away just for viewers in India could've set a really bad precedent.

Said nation being America, not Russia, to be clear.

In case you missed it, today the leader of said nation has said the double-tap attack on Sunday was done by "mistake" and has blamed Zelensky for the invasion.

Not the most elegant looking object in the world.

Seems to have a similar goofy Dad vibe to Tim Walz. Nice vid. But I think it'd be falling into the trap of American exceptionalism to imagine people would make exceptions for blue states or Dem cities. I saw on bluesky photos of Palm Springs putting up 'Love Canada' banners to try to stop the upcoming slump in tourism. The replies to these posts from Canadians are what you'd expect - thanks, but not till you've taken out the trash.