Crusader

Do members have the options of deleting their accounts? I did not see any warning if this was not possible when I joined which surely is not correct nor fair

Does the proposed Markham Arena strengthen a Toronto bid? Less than 30km from Port Lands it provides another major arena to go alongside the Ricoh Coliseum, The Rogers Center, the ACC and the Direct Energy Centre - as the Palau Sant Jordi has shown a major indoor arena can be converted in a temporary acquatics centre

Interesting pics from B+H Architects about the 2008 bid

And Velodrome's aren't necessarily massive - they are only about 7000 seats max. A venue like Glasgow where the Velo can be turned into an indoor athletics venue by lifting the velodrome track to the ceiling is a clever way of making it multipurpose

None of the mountains are remotely close to being big enough - 800m minimum vertical drop. There isn't a mountain in Minnesota that is even 800m tall

Well some cities severly restrict the building of skyscrapers so it depends what you look for in a skyline

But then Toronto has the large Port Lands area just to the east of 'downtown' where the IOC can be part of Toronto's skyline

Yes This and this and this

I'd get a refund from your tour company.... its not the Toronto I saw.

By 2015 1) He will be almost 80 2) the major corporate sponsors who contribute at least 26% of FIFAs revenue will not accept this 3) He will actually face a younger challenger, potentially untainted.

The proposed Denver Winter Olympics were to be held in February. Independence Day is on 4th July but I am sure you know that which means there was five months between the two. The FIFA World Cup is held between the end of the first week of June and the 2nd week of July, slap bang in the middle of which are the 250th anniversay celebrations of the Declaration of Independence. It is one thing hold an event several months away from the celebration date, and another to hold an event which conflicts directly with this major exclusively American occasion. And Sepp Blatter has already said he will not seek re-election in 2015. This was part of his agreement in not cancelling the Presidential elections in 2011. The host for the 2026 FIFA World Cup will be held in 2017 two years after Blatter will have left.

Except Moscow got the most votes in Round 1 and then the West backed Canada to keep them out of the Soviets hands. Moscow went head to head with LA for 1980 (with the US getting the Winter Games) whilst LA were uncontested for 1984. I still say that the Summer Games and World Cup want to be the biggest show in town so won't want it clashing or close to a huge national celebration (and I mean less than a month between the two) In my opinion

You should be aware the Los Angeles bid to host the 1976 Olympics as part to celebrate the bi-centennial of the United States, and came third .... quite possibly because the IOC didn't want the games to be part of another more important celebration to the host nation. This was what happened in 1976 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USA_Bicentennial

Why? Are you suggesting that there will not be a major 250th celebration in the USA of the Declaration of Independence? FIFA would not want to host their pre-eminent competition held once every 4 years if it takes back seat or 2nd place to another major event.

Except the 250th celebrations will be nationwide and there will certainly be celebrations in every American city. The Bastille Day celebrations happen every year. It was not a particularly significant celebration with it being the 211th anniversary in 1998. And the FIFA World Cup finished on the 12th July, two days before Bastille Day, not in the middle of it. Football is the national sport in France, in the USA it is a minor sport. Will the US be prepared to interrupt such a major cultural event for a soccer tournament? There was close to a couple of months between the Diamond Jubilee and the Olympics in London - we are talking a day between the 4th July and a likely date for the World Cup quarter-finals. FIFA cannot bring the tournament forward as it will clash with all the European Leagues and no European country, the most powerful bloc, will not vote for the USA if that is what they proposed