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Post by vergyltantor on Jun 21, 2024 14:37:42 GMT -5
softball in oklahoma? what’s next, volleyball in omaha? I’d be okay with that. Easier for me to get to and cheaper in the long run. It would do some Volleyball fans good to see Omaha in August. (Hint, it isn't always cold) |
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Post by BearClause on Jun 21, 2024 14:55:37 GMT -5
I’d be okay with that. Easier for me to get to and cheaper in the long run. It would do some Volleyball fans good to see Omaha in August. (Hint, it isn't always cold) The 2028 Olympics are going to be in July. However, there's no need for volleyball outside of Southern California where there's no shortage of indoor arenas. |
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Post by BearClause on Jun 21, 2024 15:12:22 GMT -5
That seems like a pretty crappy thing to do to the softball teams (the canoe slalom teams as well). It's one thing to be 2 or 3 hours away from the main venue, but 3 to 4 states away seems like a lot. I agree. Yes, the softball stadium already exists, and the canoe site is already hosting the 2026 World Championships, so they should be ready for the 2028 Olympics. But it does seem unfair to the participants in those sports that they don't get to experience the whole Olympics environment. Looked up what they had in OKC, which seems really sweet. It's owned/operated by a nonprofit, but the complex also contains a waterpark with various things like waterslides. www.riversportokc.org/mission/www.google.com/maps/@35.4599117,-97.4969285,279m/data=!3m1!1e3?entry=ttu There was no canoe slalom at the 1984 Olympics. Artificial course seem to be the norm these days, like this one used in Rio:  |
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Post by geddyleeridesagain on Jun 21, 2024 15:59:45 GMT -5
BTW, volleyball is currently penciled in at the Honda Center in Anaheim - where the Ducks play, and five minutes from the national team training center.
Anyway, a bit of a bummer for softball teams and canoeists, I do hope they get to at least attend opening and closing ceremonies. But I get it. The cost savings are significant, and the IOC has been pushing the idea of moving events to pre-existing venues outside the host city area instead of forcing the local organizing committee to build venues from scratch. Nice little economic boost for OKC in July - I imagine softball should draw pretty well, although I could not tell you the first thing about canoe slalom attendance...
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Post by mikegarrison on Jun 21, 2024 16:25:35 GMT -5
BTW, volleyball is currently penciled in at the Honda Center in Anaheim - where the Ducks play, and five minutes from the national team training center. Anyway, a bit of a bummer for softball teams and canoeists, I do hope they get to at least attend opening and closing ceremonies. But I get it. The cost savings are significant, and the IOC has been pushing the idea of moving events to pre-existing venues outside the host city area instead of forcing the local organizing committee to build venues from scratch. Nice little economic boost for OKC in July - I imagine softball should draw pretty well, although I could not tell you the first thing about canoe slalom attendance... I would rather watch the canoe slalom, which will probably be more competitive and more exciting. But having actually been to Oklahoma in the summer ... no. |
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Post by mikegarrison on Jun 21, 2024 16:31:05 GMT -5
Did you know that Oklahoma has about 200 lakes (all but two of which are man-made)? That's, like, one county in Washington. But Oklahoma is proud of it, so I guess good for them.
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Post by BearClause on Jun 21, 2024 16:49:13 GMT -5
BTW, volleyball is currently penciled in at the Honda Center in Anaheim - where the Ducks play, and five minutes from the national team training center. Anyway, a bit of a bummer for softball teams and canoeists, I do hope they get to at least attend opening and closing ceremonies. But I get it. The cost savings are significant, and the IOC has been pushing the idea of moving events to pre-existing venues outside the host city area instead of forcing the local organizing committee to build venues from scratch. Nice little economic boost for OKC in July - I imagine softball should draw pretty well, although I could not tell you the first thing about canoe slalom attendance... In the past, the IOC seemed to love new building where they'd leave monuments behind that said "The Olympics were here". That hasn't turned out all that well. Even in a place like Beijing, they thought they'd turn their stadium into a soccer stadium. But that failed miserably when crowds of 10,000 looked horrible in a stadium that hold 80,000. And then there are the specialty facilities built and then abandoned because the land wasn't worth much and it cost too much to remove. Like the beach volleyball facility in Athens.  It can work out sometimes. A lot of the stadiums ended up being used for Premier Leage teams, like the main stadium in London now as the home of West Ham United. |
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Post by mikegarrison on Jun 21, 2024 16:52:22 GMT -5
In the past, the IOC seemed to love new building where they'd leave monuments behind that said "The Olympics were here". In the past, they had cities begging to host the Olympics. Now it is the IOC who does the begging, because hosting the event is just too damn expensive. |
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Post by BearClause on Jun 21, 2024 16:59:19 GMT -5
In the past, the IOC seemed to love new building where they'd leave monuments behind that said "The Olympics were here". In the past, they had cities begging to host the Olympics. Now it is the IOC who does the begging, because hosting the event is just too damn expensive. Going back to 1984, the IOC seemed to hate that they used as many existing facilities as possible rather than building new facilities. I think they only built two new facilities - a velodrome and a swim stadium at USC. The latter made sense. I think velodrome was in use for a while, but was then demolished to build a state of the art indoor velodrome with a wooden track. |
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Post by BearClause on Jun 21, 2024 17:07:24 GMT -5
Way back when the Bay Area tried to bid on the 2012 summer Olympics, it was kind of crazy. The organizing committee seemed to have an inordinate number of Stanford grads and their goal seemed to be to try and build as many new facilities as they could on the Stanford campus that would then be used by the athletic department. I think they toned it down because I remember before the final bid they wanted something like 6 different competition sites on the Stanford campus. Having been there before, I can't imagine how bad transportation would be. basoc.org/basoc2012/about_bid_main.php |
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Post by avid 2.0 on Jun 21, 2024 18:23:50 GMT -5
im curious if the athletes had any say in it for softball.
it looks like some of the games in Tokyo weren't actually in Tokyo. (albeit they were later)
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Post by geddyleeridesagain on Jun 21, 2024 18:47:36 GMT -5
im curious if the athletes had any say in it for softball. it looks like some of the games in Tokyo weren't actually in Tokyo. (albeit they were later) I would doubt there was much input from the athletes. When it comes to the Olympics, softball is kind of a red-headed stepchild as it is. Softball was left out of the Paris games but is being brought back in 2028 because of its relative popularity in the USA. After that, who knows. Anyway, the L.A. organizing committee and Oklahoma City have apparently been working on this arrangement for several years now. |
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Post by n00b on Jun 21, 2024 19:05:44 GMT -5
im curious if the athletes had any say in it for softball. it looks like some of the games in Tokyo weren't actually in Tokyo. (albeit they were later) I would doubt there was much input from the athletes. When it comes to the Olympics, softball is kind of a red-headed stepchild as it is. Softball was left out of the Paris games but is being brought back in 2028 because of its relative popularity in the USA. After that, who knows. Anyway, the L.A. organizing committee and Oklahoma City have apparently been working on this arrangement for several years now. It doesn’t seem like softball would’ve been TOO expensive to add temporary seating to an existing college stadium. Building the canoe course might’ve been a different story. |
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Post by BearClause on Jun 21, 2024 19:41:53 GMT -5
I would doubt there was much input from the athletes. When it comes to the Olympics, softball is kind of a red-headed stepchild as it is. Softball was left out of the Paris games but is being brought back in 2028 because of its relative popularity in the USA. After that, who knows. Anyway, the L.A. organizing committee and Oklahoma City have apparently been working on this arrangement for several years now. It doesn’t seem like softball would’ve been TOO expensive to add temporary seating to an existing college stadium. Building the canoe course might’ve been a different story. Depends. UCLA seats about 1300. www.google.com/maps/place/Easton+Stadium/@34.0763967,-118.4540083,142m/data=!3m1!1e3!4m6!3m5!1s0x80c2bc92cfa266c7:0x18934018955354c!8m2!3d34.0763967!4d-118.4533646!16s%2Fg%2F1260qbtl1?entry=ttu I was surprised that USC has never had a softball team. Neither does Cal State LA. Cal State Fullerton actually has two softball fields, but the space for temporary seating seems to be limited. Certainly not where they could provide 10,000 seats. www.google.com/maps/place/Anderson+Family+Field/@33.8857293,-117.8858197,284m/data=!3m1!1e3!4m6!3m5!1s0x80dcd5c969806d71:0x501fa77e47821d78!8m2!3d33.8859653!4d-117.8849829!16s%2Fg%2F11r_tkznm0?entry=ttu Not LMU: www.google.com/maps/place/Smith+Field/@33.9675595,-118.4157169,284m/data=!3m1!1e3!4m6!3m5!1s0x80c2b0be421793f5:0x504f30aa42ef8b78!8m2!3d33.9675595!4d-118.4144348!16s%2Fg%2F11f4pq2tp2?entry=ttu They're all on tiny footprints other than at UCLA, and that can't really expand much. What else is there. CSU Northridge and CSU Dominguez Hills? The only thing I can think of is maybe use an existing baseball stadium, but that tends to look awkward because the foul territory would be too big and the seating would look weird. |
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Post by bbg95 on Jun 21, 2024 20:18:19 GMT -5
softball in oklahoma? what’s next, volleyball in omaha? Oklahoma City has by far the best dedicated softball stadium in the country. I'd rather it be there than an MLB stadium with temporary fences. |
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