With Boston out, can Los Angeles revive a US Olympic bid?

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With Boston out, can Los Angeles revive a US Olympic bid?
By EDDIE PELLS

BOSTON: -- Boston's bid to host the 2024 Olympics was undercut by its own mayor, its skeptical public and, finally, leaders of the U.S. Olympic Committee, who were tired of the city's ever-changing blueprint.

Next, it may be time to see if there's more Olympic love in Los Angeles.

After the USOC and Boston cut ties on Monday, CEO Scott Blackmun said the federation still wants to try to host the 2024 Games. The USOC has until Sept. 15 to officially name its candidate. Several Olympic leaders have quietly been pushing Los Angeles — the city that invented the modern-day template for the Olympics when it played host in 1984 — as the best possible substitute.

Approval ratings that couldn't sneak out of the 40s were the first sign of trouble for Boston, and it became clear the bid was doomed in the 72-hour period before the USOC board met with bid leaders Monday and they jointly decided to pull the plug.

On Friday, Massachusetts Gov. Charlie Baker stuck to his previous position: That he'd need a full report from a consulting group before he would throw his weight behind the bid. On Monday morning, Mayor Marty Walsh slapped together a news conference to announce he wouldn't be pressured into signing the host city contract that essentially sticks the city and state with the burden of any cost overruns.

No governor. No mayor. No bid.

"Boston 2024 has expressed confidence that, with more time, they could generate the public support necessary to win the bid and deliver a great games," Blackmun said. "They also recognize, however, that we are out of time if the USOC is going to be able to consider a bid from another city."

The Boston bid started souring within days of its beginning in January, beset by poor communication and an active opposition group that kept public support low. At his news conference, Walsh said the opposition to the Olympics amounted to about "10 people on Twitter." He miscalculated, and the Internet struck back. The hashtag #10peopleonTwitter started trending.

The chairs of No Boston Olympics planned a celebration at a Boston pub.

"We need to move forward as a city, and today's decision allows us to do that on our own terms, not the terms of the USOC or the IOC," they said in a statement. "We're better off for having passed on Boston 2024."

Boston 2024 chairman Steve Pagliuca said the move was made "in order to give the Olympic movement in the United States the best chance to bring the Games back to our country in 2024."

The United States hasn't hosted a Summer Olympics since the Atlanta Games in 1996, or any Olympics since the Salt Lake City Winter Games in 2002. Bids for 2012 (New York) and 2016 (Chicago) both ended in fourth-place embarrassments.

The USOC spent nearly two years on a mostly secret domestic selection process for 2024 that began with letters to almost three dozen cities gauging interest in hosting the games. The thought was that the long gap between Olympics, combined with the USOC's vastly improved relationship with international leaders, would make this America's race to lose. Instead, the federation ran into trouble before getting to the starting line.

There's still time to save face if chairman Larry Probst and Blackmun make quick phone calls to leaders in Los Angeles, including Mayor Eric Garcetti and agent/power broker Casey Wasserman. Garcetti released a statement saying he'd had no contact with the USOC, but was willing to talk.

Los Angeles, a finalist in the domestic bid process along with San Francisco and Washington, has already hosted the 1932 and 1984 Olympics.

The '84 Games, with former USOC chairman Peter Ueberroth helping call the shots, came in the wake of the 1980 Moscow boycott and a bidding process in which only one other city — Tehran — expressed serious interest. Los Angeles reinvigorated the struggling Olympic brand. Some of the venues, including the L.A. Coliseum, are already in place and could be spruced up for the 2024 Games.

Still, when the USOC was going through its vetting process, some in the International Olympic Committee chafed at a possible return to a sprawling, traffic-choked city that the Olympics had been to twice already. But as the Boston bid tanked, Los Angeles started looking better.

Probst will get a first-hand feel for it all later this week when he attends an IOC meeting in Malaysia.

Meanwhile, the Boston bid will never see where it stands against Rome, Paris, Hamburg, Germany, and, quite possibly, Toronto, which is considering a bid. The bid's one and only public disclosure report, released in March, said they spent $2 million over the initial months of the bid.

Boston's initial bid team talked a big game, but made empty promises. Recently released documents show organizers underestimated the amount of opposition and downplayed the possibility of a statewide referendum on the games.

Most of that bid team was replaced, though the new team, led by Pagliuca, didn't fare much better. Their new plan took a blowtorch to the popular idea of a compact, walkable Olympics, instead spreading venues around the metro area and the state. There was no firm plan for a media center, considered one of the biggest projects at any games. Even though complex insurance policies were in place, claims that the public wouldn't be on the hook for the multibillion-dollar sports event never gained traction.

Walsh's news conference Monday reflected that.

"I will not sign a document that puts one dollar of taxpayers' money on the line for one penny of overruns on the Olympics," he said.

Turns out, he won't have to.
___

Associated Press reporters Bob Salsberg, Philip Marcelo and Jimmy Golen contributed from Boston.


-- (c) Associated Press 2015-07-28

[Jupiterjim]

This will be convenient for the Mexican athletes. Any that can run, jump or swim are already in Los Angeles.

[IMA_FARANG]

The truth is the taxpayers of Boston did not believe the (male cow fecal matter) that the Olympic Committee and it's big money Capitalist backers were trying to feed them. The Olympics was going to be a debacle with the local taxpayers paying the high cost for overpriced hype of a 'Olympics" fiasco.

Now let the (male cattle fecal matter) be moved to Los Angeles.

That is a city that lives on (male cattle fecal material) so they will Have no problem swallowing another batch of the same.

The truth of the matter is that the taxpayers of Boston preferred paying for new hospitals and schools than a new sports stadium for the Olympics.

As they say in Boston fornicate the (male cattle fecal material) Olympics.

[Jingthing]

Paris.

Next ...

[Jupiterjim]

The 1984 Los Angeles Olympics turned a profit of around $232,000,000.

[elgordo38]

The truth is the taxpayers of Boston did not believe the (male cow fecal matter) that the Olympic Committee and it's big money Capitalist backers were trying to feed them. The Olympics was going to be a debacle with the local taxpayers paying the high cost for overpriced hype of a 'Olympics" fiasco.

Now let the (male cattle fecal matter) be moved to Los Angeles.

That is a city that lives on (male cattle fecal material) so they will Have no problem swallowing another batch of the same.

The truth of the matter is that the taxpayers of Boston preferred paying for new hospitals and schools than a new sports stadium for the Olympics.

As they say in Boston fornicate the (male cattle fecal material) Olympics.

Give it back to Greece they need the revenue and already have the proven infrastructure. Return happiness to the Greek people God knows they need it. Start saving your drachma's now.

[stoli]

Living in Los Angeles at the time, and for 36 years, I can tell you the this was the best time to be in Los Angeles. Everyone not interested in the Olympics left town, and the traffic was the easiest that I have ever seen in Los Angeles. I was able to go to the Closing Ceremonies', and had a blast. As mentioned, the Olympics were led by Peter Uberoth, who made Los Angeles a huge profit. Someone like him could certainly do it again. They have the infrastructure in place, all world class. They have the successful blueprint to follow, and the people to get it done.

[Jingthing]

Boring. Same place. No thanks.