2012 Olympics

[Martino]

London won the bid.

Oh shit.

[truMp]

As long as the French didn't get the bid... : )

[~Angel*M~]

London won the big OMG
2012 olympics in my home town wow!!! :biggrin:

[Martino]

London won the big OMG
2012 olympics in my home town wow!!! :biggrin:

Seven years of disruption, rushed building work, increased travel costs, the loss of a London nature reserve and bird santuary, forced relocation of businesses and people, a massive increase to London Council Tax (40% year on year according to some sources), and a repeat performance of the Jubilee Line/Millenium Dome fiascos, or the Wembley Stadium fiasco at twentyfold the costs.

Yeah, wow.

[yoMAMA]

the loss of a London nature reserve and bird santuary,

there are nature reserves in london?

:wink:

[DragonKnight]

Congrats, London! :biggrin:

[yoMAMA]

everyone!

fish and chips on Martino.

;)

[Yeahman]

Take it! We didn't really want it anyway.
:frown: :frown: :frown:

[yoMAMA]

on another note,

Beijing has announced the 2008 olympics slogan:

one world, one dream.

[Faithless]

Take it! We didn't really want it anyway.
:frown: :frown: :frown:
That's what the small sampling of New Yorkers in the news seemed to say.

I understand that during the NY pitch for the Olympics, they briefly mentioned 9/11.

Depending on what was really said, that would seem awkward.

[Martino]

London closed down at five to nine this morning - city wide security alert or some disaster? Don't know yet, only just struggled into work.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/london/4659093.stm

[~Angel*M~]

Seven years of disruption, rushed building work, increased travel costs, the loss of a London nature reserve and bird santuary, forced relocation of businesses and people, a massive increase to London Council Tax (40% year on year according to some sources), and a repeat performance of the Jubilee Line/Millenium Dome fiascos, or the Wembley Stadium fiasco at twentyfold the costs.

Yeah, wow.
40% increase what!? :eek:
Mainly i was thinking all the jobs it will create and i was told its going to improve economy too (work at a estate agents)
Olympics is a good thing and yeah i was in the euphoria of it all yesterday however today is a different story altogether.

[Faithless]

London closed down at five to nine this morning - city wide security alert or some disaster? Don't know yet, only just struggled into work.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/london/4659093.stm
Wild.

What time was this? And what time did all the crap start?

[Martino]

All four bombs went off whilst I was struggling to work - the Tube shut down, without explanation, at about 8.50 am. I resumed the journey by overground train and got into central London just as everything shut down. I went on-line just as news of the bus 'explosion' came in.

I posted here on the Olympics thread because, well, the story going around was that it was still some sort of disaster, a 'London breaks down' story, not an attack.

At around 10.30 there was an attempt to evacuate staff, but we found there was nowhere to go, so most of us returned to the office.

[haplesshobo]

Seven years of disruption, rushed building work, increased travel costs, the loss of a London nature reserve and bird santuary, forced relocation of businesses and people, a massive increase to London Council Tax (40% year on year according to some sources), and a repeat performance of the Jubilee Line/Millenium Dome fiascos, or the Wembley Stadium fiasco at twentyfold the costs.

Yeah, wow.

that's being awfully negative. the olympics will act as a catalyst to improve badly needed infrastructure of london, and it will revitalize and regentrify some of the more gritty parts of London as well.

the transportation in athens has improved dramatically due to the preparations of the olympics. in athens, they finally cut the commute time from the northern suburbs (where a lot of people live, and a lot of what high tech industry there is in Greece is located) into the down town by building a pretty good metro and a few good roads.

without the olympics, you would have never seen those investments into infrastructure. it is very difficult for a city administration to take on a 10 year commitment to quality of life without a "sexy" cause. I have seen several cities, that should have had good mass transport years ago, but it just draws on and on, because no municipal adminitration will tackle it.

the olympics gave athens a trigger to tackle several tough projects that should have been done years ago but were'nt. and a better cell network, better mass transport, better roads. better airport all contribute to economic growth.

[Pookie_gal]

It's so sad that London was in the throes of celebrating on Wednesday, before other events overshadowed them. There were meant to be Olympic celebrations over the weekend, but I'm not sure if they're going ahead now.

[Faithless]

Vote to move this thread to Sports.

Anyway, so baseball and softball are out as sports in the Olympics.

Popularity, one reason. Only Americans really like them, there.

The other reason for Baseball being dropped --

(Anyone?)

Steroids.

[deez nuts]

i'm glad ny didn't get it.

moving to sports

[Faithless]

With the departure of baseball and software, sports like golf and karate are now possible venues.

Where does one golf in England?

[BeTheReds]

Vote to move this thread to Sports.

Anyway, so baseball and softball are out as sports in the Olympics.

Popularity, one reason. Only Americans really like them, there.


Wrong! Baseball is loved in the Americas and in East Asia. I personally think it was an unwise decision to remove baseball and softball from the olympics, considering that the two sports that might replace them would be golf, and rollerblading. While baseball isn't as popular the world over as soccer, It's still played and watched by far many people on a regualar basis than say.. gymnastics, bicycle time trials, curling, or even ice hockey.

The main reason that it's getting dropped is because Major League Baseball has not yet once allowed its players to participate.


The other reason for Baseball being dropped --

(Anyone?)

Steroids.

Wrong again! Steroids might be the reason that MLB teams would not allow their players to participate in the Olympics. The olympics has strict strict drug policies such that none of the roiding players would even dare participate in a single game or risk being outed to the public. Steroids is only a problem in Major League Baseball, and in Japan and Mexico's leagues it's pretty much not as existant.

With efforts to clean up MLB we might be able to see an actual Olympics with MLB players in Beijing in 2008. That might convince them to reinstate baseball in 2016.

If not, then we can enjoy watching archery and ping pong.zzzzzzzzzzz

With the departure of baseball and software, sports like golf and karate are now possible venues.

Where does one golf in England?

Golf was invented in Scotland. Which is still the UK...

I was hoping for the Baltimore Washington bid to go through, so that we'd get better mass transit between the cities.

[Faithless]

Rats. I hate being wrong.

I'd watch the rollerblading, though. Heck yeah.

I heard about the steroids thing from ABC radio news.

Baseball out... (http://www.summitdaily.com/article/20050708/SPORTS/50708004)

Baseball, which became a medal sport in 1992, has been vulnerable because of steroids in the United States and the absence of major league players from the Olympics. Softball, a women’s only medal sport since 1996 that the United States has won all three times, has been in danger because of its association with baseball and a perceived lack of global appeal and participation.

“The lack of the MLB players — I think people have looked and said, ‘Well, all right, if there’s to be a change, that seems to be the logic of it,”’ British IOC member Craig Reedie said.

While Major League Baseball has toughened its drug-testing programs, they still fall far short of Olympic standards.

“Problems with doping in U.S. baseball probably cost the sport dearly,” Australian IOC member John Coates said.

As far as the popularity ...

USA Today article (http://www.usatoday.com/sports/olympics/2005-07-08-baseball-softball-dropped_x.htm)

Friday's secret vote reflected a heavy European influence of the IOC, which claims a near majority of European members. The popularity of baseball and softball are limited primarily to the Americas, Canada and Asia. Both sports were founded in the U.S.

Baseball also suffers from its failure to reach an agreement with Major League Baseball that would send the top players to the Olympics. "The problem is not only one problem," said Aldo Notari, head of the International Baseball Federation. "The problem is we need further development in the world."

[kurei kun]

they need like streetball in the next olympics. that would be c-c-c-c-crazyy

[s1eve]

I think rugby might be introduced into the Olympics.

[hooligan]

Keep your hands off of the Asian athletes, martin. By the way, congrats to London.

[demoore]

... Paris would have been a so beautiful Olympic city.