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Post by Wolfgang on Jul 24, 2016 23:58:13 GMT -5
I'm just wondering if there's any reason for holding an all-sports event like the Olympics. It's a huge financial gamble for the host city/country -- granted, they go into the venture willingly -- and it encourages extravagance and waste, e.g., construction of new stadiums and arenas and courses, that may never be used again. I hope the Rio Games pushes the world away from such events. I think that the Olympic Games are one of humanity's greatest inventions. I hope you're wrong. I admire your idealism. However, the Olympic Games has been corrupted for a long time. My earliest memory of the Olympics was the cheating of East German swimmers in the 1970s. I can't enjoy the Games now. Too commercial, too much cheating, too much fake patriotism, too much mugging for the cameras, too much forced storylines, and too much glorification of athletes who are, by and large, spoiled bullies. |
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Post by HappyVolley on Jul 25, 2016 1:19:42 GMT -5
Most modern, developed nations are moving away from wanting to host events like the Olympics because of the expense and the indeterminate economic benefit. Increasingly, countries that want to show their entry to the world, their "coming out party" so to speak are more willing to bear the tremendous burden of an event like the Olympics (see, eg, Beijing 2008). Don't forget that when Rio was chosen, it was one of the most rapidly developing economies, and one in which every major country wanted to invest (Brazil, Russia, India, China). It would have been hard to predict at the time that by now, Brazil's economy would have collapsed, while mired in political crisis. Sure, you can say it's more likely to happen in Brazil than the US perhaps, but the level and speed at which Brazil collapsed is really quite amazing and unexpected. This is all true, but it's also true that Brazil has always had a dark underbelly. Many of the current issues (poor infrastructure, high crime, pollution, etc.) were pervasive even during Brazil's rise a few years ago. |
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Post by cardinalvolleyball on Jul 25, 2016 6:31:50 GMT -5
Most modern, developed nations are moving away from wanting to host events like the Olympics because of the expense and the indeterminate economic benefit. Increasingly, countries that want to show their entry to the world, their "coming out party" so to speak are more willing to bear the tremendous burden of an event like the Olympics (see, eg, Beijing 2008). Don't forget that when Rio was chosen, it was one of the most rapidly developing economies, and one in which every major country wanted to invest (Brazil, Russia, India, China). It would have been hard to predict at the time that by now, Brazil's economy would have collapsed, while mired in political crisis. Sure, you can say it's more likely to happen in Brazil than the US perhaps, but the level and speed at which Brazil collapsed is really quite amazing and unexpected. Key word in your quote is "developing" I dont' want to hold a major sporting event in a "devleoping" country. |
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Post by akbar on Jul 25, 2016 6:56:36 GMT -5
Brazil is the 8th largest economy in the world and had shown tremendous growth with a few blips from 2004 to 2014 and then things went south and couldn't adjust to the economic slowdown. Things certainly projected very well when the IOC granted Rio the Olympics.
I imagine this one will have bumps and bruises like most every Olympics in recent memory. Perhaps a few more.
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Post by SportyBucky on Jul 25, 2016 7:51:02 GMT -5
Other than the U.S., Japan is the only other country that can host these types of events, they have state of the art venues, and technology-wise they're far more advance. Yeah, because Australia, Spain, Italy, London, etc...bombed out. SMH |
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Post by SportyBucky on Jul 25, 2016 7:54:05 GMT -5
I'm just wondering if there's any reason for holding an all-sports event like the Olympics. It's a huge financial gamble for the host city/country -- granted, they go into the venture willingly -- and it encourages extravagance and waste, e.g., construction of new stadiums and arenas and courses, that may never be used again. I hope the Rio Games pushes the world away from such events. It's a life-long dream of many to compete in just such an event. It's a life-long dream of many to attend such an event. It engenders peace and sportsmanship, or one would hope. People of many different backgrounds come together, at a time in which we need people to come together. Need any more reasons? |
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Post by bc1900 on Jul 25, 2016 10:34:44 GMT -5
I'm just wondering if there's any reason for holding an all-sports event like the Olympics. It's a huge financial gamble for the host city/country -- granted, they go into the venture willingly -- and it encourages extravagance and waste, e.g., construction of new stadiums and arenas and courses, that may never be used again. I hope the Rio Games pushes the world away from such events. The Olympics are the pinnacle event for most minor sports like wrestling, fencing, gymnastics, swimming, VOLLEYBALL, etc. Once every four years people are paying attention to these sports because they are rooting for their home (national) team, even if they don't know much about the sport. Losing the Olympics would be awful for volleyball and many other sports. |
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Post by Wolfgang on Jul 25, 2016 10:37:27 GMT -5
I'm just wondering if there's any reason for holding an all-sports event like the Olympics. It's a huge financial gamble for the host city/country -- granted, they go into the venture willingly -- and it encourages extravagance and waste, e.g., construction of new stadiums and arenas and courses, that may never be used again. I hope the Rio Games pushes the world away from such events. It's a life-long dream of many to compete in just such an event. It's a life-long dream of many to attend such an event. It engenders peace and sportsmanship, or one would hope. People of many different backgrounds come together, at a time in which we need people to come together. Need any more reasons? I admire your sentiment. But I'm still convinced it should be scrapped. |
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Post by pepperbrooks on Jul 25, 2016 11:17:48 GMT -5
I'm just wondering if there's any reason for holding an all-sports event like the Olympics. It's a huge financial gamble for the host city/country -- granted, they go into the venture willingly -- and it encourages extravagance and waste, e.g., construction of new stadiums and arenas and courses, that may never be used again. I hope the Rio Games pushes the world away from such events. It's a life-long dream of many to compete in just such an event. It's a life-long dream of many to attend such an event. It engenders peace and sportsmanship, or one would hope. People of many different backgrounds come together, at a time in which we need people to come together. Need any more reasons? But at what point does the price tag and hangover from these events cancel out the benefits? Take Qatar and the farce of them holding the World Cup. Is all those workers dying worth the sportsmanship and peace of those two weeks? |
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Post by SportyBucky on Jul 25, 2016 12:18:03 GMT -5
It's a life-long dream of many to compete in just such an event. It's a life-long dream of many to attend such an event. It engenders peace and sportsmanship, or one would hope. People of many different backgrounds come together, at a time in which we need people to come together. Need any more reasons? But at what point does the price tag and hangover from these events cancel out the benefits? Take Qatar and the farce of them holding the World Cup. Is all those workers dying worth the sportsmanship and peace of those two weeks? You cannot put a price on these things...I think that is the point. |
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Post by n00b on Jul 25, 2016 12:18:07 GMT -5
It's a life-long dream of many to compete in just such an event. It's a life-long dream of many to attend such an event. It engenders peace and sportsmanship, or one would hope. People of many different backgrounds come together, at a time in which we need people to come together. Need any more reasons? But at what point does the price tag and hangover from these events cancel out the benefits? Take Qatar and the farce of them holding the World Cup. Is all those workers dying worth the sportsmanship and peace of those two weeks? Everybody in the world (except the corrupt FIFA officials) knows that Qatar was/is a massive mistake. The price tag and hangover is very small for many countries because they already have the infrastructure to support the event. There are a dozen countries in Europe, plus the US and a handful of others throughout the world that could host the World Cup with only minor construction. However, Brazil and Qatar are not two of them. These organization are so interested in including underdeveloped nations that this happens far too often. Rotate the World Cup between USA, Europe and Asia (China + Japan) and this wouldn't be an issue. You can make a similar argument about the Olympics. |
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Post by SportyBucky on Jul 25, 2016 12:19:04 GMT -5
It's a life-long dream of many to compete in just such an event. It's a life-long dream of many to attend such an event. It engenders peace and sportsmanship, or one would hope. People of many different backgrounds come together, at a time in which we need people to come together. Need any more reasons? But at what point does the price tag and hangover from these events cancel out the benefits? Take Qatar and the farce of them holding the World Cup. Is all those workers dying worth the sportsmanship and peace of those two weeks? Is that not bad oversight both form the IOC and Qutar? Not really a reflection of the institution. Leadership can be replaced keeping the spirit intact. |
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Post by saywho on Jul 25, 2016 16:04:13 GMT -5
That's not true at all. there are several countries with the finances and the infrastructure, or the ability to build the infrastructure to accommodate the Olympics. Germany, France, England, Canada, China, Australia, a few oil rich middle eastern ones, provided the heat can be factored in. What does not exist is the political or public will to commit the resources. The Olympics is trending like all sports, an ugly excuse to satisfy wealth and greed. As an American, going to the middle east for the Olympic Games is a big no-no, for safety reasons. London had just host the Olympics, so they are out, and so is Australia, China, and Canada, all have hosted the Olympics not too long ago. Japan is an attractive destination, South Korea as well, all have the finances. You've obviously never been to the middle east. Abu Dhabi and Dubai are two of the safer cities I have ever been to (and I have been to most large cities in the world.) I would much rather walk the streets alone there than say Chicago. |
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Post by gobruins on Jul 26, 2016 2:19:10 GMT -5
As an American, going to the middle east for the Olympic Games is a big no-no, for safety reasons. London had just host the Olympics, so they are out, and so is Australia, China, and Canada, all have hosted the Olympics not too long ago. Japan is an attractive destination, South Korea as well, all have the finances. You've obviously never been to the middle east. Abu Dhabi and Dubai are two of the safer cities I have ever been to (and I have been to most large cities in the world.) I would much rather walk the streets alone there than say Chicago. Would you still feel "safe" if you were a female and wanted to drive a car, or walk around in a summer dress when it is 100+ degrees? |
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Post by ironhammer on Jul 26, 2016 7:50:42 GMT -5
I think the principle that major global sporting events should not be limited to the rich developed countries is fine in theory. One does want to be more inclusive and let others join and have their day in the sun. The problem comes down to capability. Do they have the management skills and resources to pull off such an event? Some developing countries clearly do, like China for the 2008 Olympics and South Africa for the World Cup in 2010.
So the solution is clear, modified the principle. Yes, retain inclusiveness as a principle and avoid being a simple "rich countries club", but also include assessment of capability as a more serious criteria in judging potential hosts. Have a good hard look at both the "hardware" and "software" infrastructure to see whether a country can do it. And also a host of ancillary but vital issues like geography and climate (Yes, Qatar, absurd example, can players really perform in a desert climate of 110 degrees heat? I don't think so. They would be lucky not to get heat stroke).
Put in those criteria so only developing countries that meet it can host. Problem solved.
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