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I really hope this topic doesn't get locked like the last one, as it's becoming an interesting race for the 2024 Summer Olympics and Paralympics. (Start of Sarcasm) Thanks for mentioning my name people, even though I didn't even write much on this topic, but I could still be accused of being the attention seeker (End of Sarcasm). I just hope GBMod see's that I have improved and gives my freedom back on here.

Anyway.......

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I thought you mentioned elsewhere that they're very likely, at least for the short-list. Other than L.A., Boston & perhaps Dallas, I can't see San Fran, D.C. nor San Diego (even though they think they do) of having their acts totally together.

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Alright. Boston.

Will they proceed or not? Do people agree they're a strong bet to make the USOC's shortlist?

I think they've got enough that the USOC will hear them out. We've said for a while that they seemed to be behind the times in comparison to some of the other cities out there, but it seems like they have some direction, enough so that they USOC will give them a chance to get their ducks in a row. If it winds up being 3 cities, we're probably looking at L.A., Dallas, and Boston.

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I really hope this topic doesn't get locked like the last one, as it's becoming an interesting race for the 2024 Summer Olympics and Paralympics. (Start of Sarcasm) Thanks for mentioning my name people, even though I didn't even write much on this topic, but I could still be accused of being the attention seeker (End of Sarcasm). I just hope GBMod see's that I have improved and gives my freedom back on here.

.......

:D After writing this?...I seriously doubt it!

Boston!

Clearly taking the cautious route and might be intimidated by the huge octopus over on the West Coast? Still, they do have a couple of cards in their favor, A new venue, and it's History!

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Hopefully Dallas has a plan on where to put Athletics.

Because right now, I cannot imagine where track and field would be held. The only track and field venue in the area is University of Texas-Arlington's Maverick Stadium, but that only holds 15,000 and you would have to expand it by 20,000. I guess the only logical path would be to remove the lower section of the Cotton Bowl (the areas in blue).

10553-cotton-bowl-stadium-tx-longhorns-v

However, if the Cotton Bowl is used for Soccer, then well....athletics is out of luck.

As for swimming? I read a long time ago that AT&T Stadium could accommodate Olympic Swimming.

Not sure what the plan is for Athletics in Boston's bid.

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Boston shouldn't try and compete on an apples to apples basis with other, bigger cities. They should put out a plan for a much smaller, more intimate games.

The Olympics where everyone knows your name.

There are selling points Boston can push. Whether or not the IOC would be interested, if it even got to that, remains to be seen. Unfortunately for Boston, the IOC doesn't seem to have much interest in smaller and more intimate these days. Even if they did, Boston might be a little too small and too intimate for their liking.

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Boston still a contender for 2024 Olympics as U.S. committee visits city

Bringing the 2024 Olympics to Boston seemed like a far-fetched dream a year ago to many of us.

But this dream could still become a reality. The U.S. Olympic Committee's board of directors is scheduled to meet in Boston on Tuesday, and our metro area remains a contender on a short list under consideration for a U.S. bid. New York and Philadelphia recently dropped out of contention. Other candidates have reportedly included Washington, San Diego, Los Angeles, Dallas and San Francisco.

A spokesman for the USOC advised me not to read too much into the location of Tuesday’s meeting. He says this a standard quarterly board meeting, and the USOC tends to move them around the country a fair bit and have them hosted by board members.

There are at least three people on the 15-member USOC board with local ties: former John Hancock Life Insurance CEO James Benson, Candlewick Press licensing director Mary McCagg and Bain Capital private equity associate Whitney Ping. (It’s also worth noting that there are also board members with ties to Los Angeles, a city seen by some as a frontrunner.)

The USOC has been expected to narrow down its candidates for the 2024 Olympics this month, with a goal of picking a U.S. city by 2015. There will be inevitable competitors from other countries if the USOC moves ahead with a bid, and the International Olympic Committee will pick the host city in 2017.

The U-T San Diego reported last week that L.A. and Boston are expected to make the USOC’s list of finalists at Tuesday's meeting, and possibly Washington and San Francisco, but not San Diego. (San Diego’s inferior airport was cited as one of its biggest liabilities.) The Summer Games haven’t been in the U.S. since 1996, when they were held in Atlanta.

...

more: Boston Business Journal

"L.A. and Boston are expected to make the USOC’s list of finalists at Tuesday's meeting, and possibly Washington and San Francisco, but not San Diego" - I think that's pretty much what most of the more informed people around here have been guessing.

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Interesting that they didn't mention Dallas.

LA's ready to go.

I'll be curious to see if Boston can close the gap. I suspect they'll get stronger, but probably not enough to be the candidate.

I was thinking the same thing but.. this is an article from a Boston media source. And they're citing an article from U-T San Diego. So I'm taking this one with a grain of salt. Will be interesting to see if Dallas figures into this though. I have feeling if they don't make this cut, we'll find out about it sooner rather than later, whether the USOC wants the rest of the world to know or not.

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Interesting that they didn't mention Dallas.

LA's ready to go.

I'll be curious to see if Boston can close the gap. I suspect they'll get stronger, but probably not enough to be the candidate.

To me, if Boston gets the edge and is selected over LA it will be for geopolitical reasons. The US northeast has never hosted the Summer Olympics, and if NY isn't up for it then Boston is a reasonable, and extremely attractive alternative. Plus its history is a big draw card.

Los Angeles is the pragmatic, old reliable option. Still exciting, and has the potential for a London 2012 style revitalisation, but Boston, as far as the US goes, is a bringing the Olympics to a 'new frontier' - if only New England.

This factor must be playing on the minds of the USOC in some way.

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Agreed.

Have to say, I know Dallas could do the Olympics I'm just not excited about that idea at all. I can't imagine the IOC would be either.

I've mentioned it before, and a few Americans did correct me that there is a big geocultural difference, but to me Dallas is too "Atlanta" - that image of a cashed up, brash, postmodern American city in the South... there is just something so deeply average about it. To me, Dallas just looks like another Atlanta, but with less trees.

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Agreed.

Have to say, I know Dallas could do the Olympics I'm just not excited about that idea at all. I can't imagine the IOC would be either.

I've said it since London when a Dallas bid was first on the radar.. I don't know that they've got the goods to win, but I at least want to see them get far enough so we can see their plan. I think something centered around Fair Park would be intriguing. Yes, I know it's in Dallas. But I'd like to see them give a legit shot.

I've mentioned it before, and a few Americans did correct me that there is a big geocultural difference, but to me Dallas is too "Atlanta" - that image of a cashed up, brash, postmodern American city in the South... there is just something so deeply average about it. To me, Dallas just looks like another Atlanta, but with less trees.

I could see how an outsider's perspective would see it that way. I'm sure there's some sort of viewpoint about Australia you could tell me about that's similarly misguided. That's 1 of the great things about the United States.. there's more than just "the South" that Atlanta tried to introduce the world to. Which is to say Dallas and Atlanta have similarities, but there are many more distinctions between the 2 that I don't think they are that comparable

To me, if Boston gets the edge and is selected over LA it will be for geopolitical reasons. The US northeast has never hosted the Summer Olympics, and if NY isn't up for it then Boston is a reasonable, and extremely attractive alternative. Plus its history is a big draw card.

Los Angeles is the pragmatic, old reliable option. Still exciting, and has the potential for a London 2012 style revitalisation, but Boston, as far as the US goes, is a bringing the Olympics to a 'new frontier' - if only New England.

This factor must be playing on the minds of the USOC in some way.

See, here's the thing though.. as much as Los Angeles can be viewed by us as the old reliable, they're also the ones who seem to have a plan in place. Does Boston have that? Will that have that in the next year when the USOC has to decide whether or not to pull the trigger on a 2024 bid? I'll certainly grant you that almost any of the big cities in the Northeast could offer up a strong narrative. But that narrative means nothing if they don't have the technical merit to back it up. New York somewhat learned that the hard way. Again, I understand the outsider view that if there's going to be another Olympics in the United States, you'd like to see it somewhere it hasn't been before. Unfortunately, that might not be an option. Boston needs to have some substance or else there is little to attract the USOC, let alone the IOC.

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Which is to say Dallas and Atlanta have similarities, but there are many more distinctions between the 2 that I don't think they are that comparable.

But to the most foreign of opinions (& in this case, IOC members from all over the world), who's really going to disect those 'distinctions' to make a distinction in the first place.

A lot of Americans believe the notion that many nationalities are "it's all the same thing" mantra simply bcuz they share a language, religion or bcuz many of them are located on some particular continent (when it fact those misconceptions couldn't be further from the truth). Yet Americans want the world to know that even places like Georgia & Texas are still "so different".

So why should we expect someone (when we don't do it ourselves most of the time) from Indonesia, China or Egypt to make some subtle differentiation between places like Atlanta & Dallas (in this case), when in their much different mindset, it's simply going to be "it's all the same thing".

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But to the most foreign of opinions (& in this case, IOC members from all over the world), who's really going to disect those 'distinctions' to make a distinction in the first place.

A lot of Americans believe the notion that many nationalities are "it's all the same thing" mantra simply bcuz they share a language, religion or bcuz many of them are located on some particular continent (when it fact those misconceptions couldn't be further from the truth). Yet Americans want the world to know that even places like Georgia & Texas are still "so different".

So why should we expect someone (when we don't do it ourselves most of the time) from Indonesia, China or Egypt to make some subtle differentiation between places like Atlanta & Dallas (in this case), when in their much different mindset, it's simply going to be "it's all the same thing".

Well, Americans by and large are morons, especially when it comes to geography. So I wouldn't go off that. Or off what people say in this forum, the place where we're told that Kazakhstan is culturally European. No offense to rings, but that's a misconception about Georgia versus Texas, but I'd like to think that a voting member of the IOC is going to be smarter than that and not fall into a trap of making comparisons like that. Granted, this is the IOC where there were members who thought Atlanta was Atlantic City, so perhaps they're not that smart either.

You talk about the subtle differentiation between Atlanta and Dallas.. what about if San Francisco was the USOC's bid city? Wouldn't those same folks look at a map of the United States, see that it's in the same state as Los Angeles and think they're culturally similar. Worth noting also that it's 731 miles from Atlanta to Dallas. New York is only 760 miles from Atlanta.

I would like to think (and maybe this is wishful thinking) that these IOC members will do their due diligence and dissect those distinctions to make a distinction in the first place. Yes, someone here thinks that Atlanta and Dallas are similar. Doesn't mean that's going to be some widely held viewpoint amongst IOC members who will think to themselves "we shouldn't pick Dallas, it's too much like Atlanta." I don't buy that would be a common line of thinking should Dallas get that far to be presented to the IOC. Nor is it a reason for the USOC to shy away from Dallas for that reason.

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A more accurate representation of how Americans think of America (geography-wise):

http://www.buzzfeed.com/adamellis/heres-what-happens-when-you-ask-people-to-draw-maps-of-the-u

grid-cell-14937-1384460051-32.jpg

How Americans view the world geography-wise:

http://twentytwowords.com/artist-invites-people-to-draw-a-world-map-from-memory-makes-a-single-map-from-the-results-13-pictures/

HCpoKlg.jpg

Perspective of different nationalities in the world (America included):

http://www.boredpanda.com/mapping-stereotypes/

mapping-stereotypes-yuri-tsvetkov-1.jpg

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Well, Americans by and large are morons, especially when it comes to geography. So I wouldn't go off that. Or off what people say in this forum, the place where we're told that Kazakhstan is culturally European. No offense to rings, but that's a misconception about Georgia versus Texas, but I'd like to think that a voting member of the IOC is going to be smarter than that and not fall into a trap of making comparisons like that. Granted, this is the IOC where there were members who thought Atlanta was Atlantic City, so perhaps they're not that smart either.

I would like to think (and maybe this is wishful thinking) that these IOC members will do their due diligence and dissect those distinctions to make a distinction in the first place. Yes, someone here thinks that Atlanta and Dallas are similar. Doesn't mean that's going to be some widely held viewpoint amongst IOC members who will think to themselves "we shouldn't pick Dallas, it's too much like Atlanta." I don't buy that would be a common line of thinking should Dallas get that far to be presented to the IOC. Nor is it a reason for the USOC to shy away from Dallas for that reason.

Yeah, but let's keep in mind though, that this is the same organization that zeke constanty calls "a bunch of corrupt weasels". And due diligence? This is also an organization that has a working group go through the painstaking process of writing a full, dozens of pages-long. evaluation report for IOC members to read & make informed decisions when it comes to voting time. But it's been noted that many IOC members don't even bother looking at them.

So yeah, I think it's mostly wishful thinking for the most part. Sure, there's probably a few well-traveled, informed members like Prince Albert. But most of them could probably give a rats a$s if Georgia is the peachtree state & Texas the Lonestar state.

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You talk about the subtle differentiation between Atlanta and Dallas.. what about if San Francisco was the USOC's bid city? Wouldn't those same folks look at a map of the United States, see that it's in the same state as Los Angeles and think they're culturally similar. Worth noting also that it's 731 miles from Atlanta to Dallas. New York is only 760 miles from Atlanta.

What was that about having to explain silly comparisons & giving them context in the Durban thread? I really don't think that any of this compares. Los Angeles & San Francisco are big international cities in their own right. Can't really say that with either Atlanta (even after their Olympics) or Dallas. I'm sure most IOC members have travelled at some point to both California cities, too. I wouldn't be so sure about Dallas & Atlanta, though.

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Yeah, but let's keep in mind though, that this is the same organization that zeke constanty calls "a bunch of corrupt weasels". And due diligence? This is also an organization that has a working group go through the painstaking process of writing a full, dozens of pages-long. evaluation report for IOC members to read & make informed decisions when it comes to voting time. But it's been noted that many IOC members don't even bother looking at them.

So yeah, I think it's mostly wishful thinking for the most part. Sure, there's probably a few well-traveled, informed members like Prince Albert. But most of them could probably give a rats a$s if Georgia is the peachtree state & Texas the Lonestar state.

What was that about having to explain silly comparisons & giving them context in the Durban thread? I really don't think that any of this compares. Los Angeles & San Francisco are big international cities in their own right. Can't really say that with either Atlanta (even after their Olympics) or Dallas. I'm sure most IOC members have travelled at some point to both California cities, too. I wouldn't be so sure about Dallas & Atlanta, though.

What does the IOC being corrupt have to do with their knowledge of geography? If you want to say they're idiots who don't do their homework, that's a different argument. Being corrupt and being ignorant are not necessarily 1 in the same.

And my comparison didn't require context. It wasn't "Durban is Bach's Barcelona" which is essentially where that initial discussion stemmed from. I'm just saying that if you think IOC members can't discern between Dallas and Atlanta, can they make the distinction between Los Angeles and San Francisco? Yes I know they're more well known cities than either Dallas or Atlanta (although whether or not most IOC members have been to both is pretty questionable). If, like you alluded to, they're less than knowledgeable about Dallas, just like once upon a time they were less than knowledgeable about Atlanta, how are they to know they're similar in the first place. As if these folks know what the American South is? But either these IOC are smart enough to know the differences between cities or they're not smart enough. Can't be both.

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