2016 Summer Olympics in Rio not looking so good

The 2016 summer games are shaping up to be a real E36 M3 show.

The water events are happening in polluted waters: http://bigstory.ap.org/article/cabd453515244bf2b1063e15f6b680c9/ap-test-rio-olympic-water-badly-polluted-even-far-offshore

http://espn.go.com/espn/feature/story/_/id/14791849/trash-contamination-continue-pollute-olympic-training-competition-sites-rio-de-janeiro

The Track & Field stadium is without power or water due to unpaid bills: http://bleacherreport.com/articles/2605257-rio-olympic-track-and-field-stadium-reportedly-without-power-due-to-unpaid-bills

It is so bad that the IOC even looked at having London host the games again: http://www.standard.co.uk/news/london/olympic-chiefs-bosses-make-secret-plea-to-use-london-venues-for-the-2016-games-9344084.html

The only question left to ask is: how big a house did each IOC official buy with the bribe money?

just think, someone had to pay someone else a LOT of money to get the right for their city to get the right to lose millions of dollars on this, and now it's looking like every athlete will get a nice case of diarrhea as a memento..

Don't forget zika

The debt of holding the recent Olympics in Greece almost toppled the entire country.
No thank you if they want to hold them in The US.
The level of "out-do the other" has risen to ridiculous levels.

You'd almost think the IOC hired Bernie as a consultant.

I mean, its Rio, whats the worst that could happen?

Oh. Right. Nevermind.

The Olympics has become a disgusting and corrupt shambles. Same as they've been since ancient times, I suppose.

HappyAndy wrote: The Olympics has become a disgusting and corrupt shambles. Same as they've been since ancient times, I suppose.

If by "ancient times" you mean the 1800s...in the BC-period Olympics, they were pretty damn serious about keeping things on the up-and-up.

In reply to GameboyRMH:

I was thinking more of the first century.

Wikipedia said: Nero was persuaded to participate in the Olympic Games of 67 in order to improve relations with Greece and display Roman dominance.[112] As a competitor, Nero raced a ten-horse chariot and nearly died after being thrown from it.[113] He also performed as an actor and a singer.[114] Though Nero faltered in his racing (in one case, dropping out entirely before the end) and acting competitions,[113] he won these crowns nevertheless and paraded them when he returned to Rome.[113] The victories are attributed to Nero bribing the judges and his status as emperor.[115]

There are are plenty of more scholarly sources to confirm this, and in fact, Wikipedia is being generous in how they describe Nero's trip to the games. His is also not the only abuse of the games for political gain in the Roman era.

One benefit of being a lifelong Bible student is that I've also gotten a pretty good knowledge of ancient history, but pre Alexandrian Greek history is an area I seldom cover.

I'm from Brazil but living in Canada. I've been in Rio once and promised to my self never go back there. One have to drive near by the so famous "polluted' water to get in to yourthe city. The smell is incredibly bad. You wouldn't believe.

Maybe it's time for a real gong show just to bring the whole thing back to reality. The IOC have cities lining up to host, and then the unlucky winner is saddled with incredibly expensive demands that just about destroy them. What if they had the selection process and.....no one applied! Maybe the whole thing would back up a little. I don't need to see a billion dollar opening show in a 2 billion dollar stadium to watch the world's best athletes in action. I can watch them at the world championships or whatever in some 50 year old arena somewhere. They run/swim/bike just as hard.

Streetwiseguy wrote: You'd almost think the IOC hired Bernie as a consultant.

Jacques Rogge, IOC President with Bernie Ecclestone, CEO Formula One Group

One might think indeed...

I figured Toretto left the city in shambles again.

What the Olympic swimmers will see...or look like after they get out of the water.

Still makes more sense than holding the World Cup in Qatar.

Brian wrote: Don't forget zika

They found a cure for that..

In reply to novaderrik: Last I heard no known antidote? Case of it sexually transmitted in Texas. Bad juju there.

Ever since the Olympics were announced I wondered how they were going to deal with the street crime issue?

Rio is not like Toronto, Seoul or Tokyo where a visitor can have reasonable expectations of safety as they stroll around the city. Rio keeps a full complement of criminal types stocked in the Favelas that overlook the city. The street-kids are a sub-species unto themselves who operate as pack hunters; fascinating to watch if you are not the victim.

That all said, if you have been to the beaches in Rio or like to party hard, you would know that Rio is a place to be.

As to wanting to host the Olympics? I often wonder how stupid you have to be to put your hat in the ring, and then every four years Toronto politicians answer my question by dragging out the dog and pony show and the public purse to try and seduce the IOC. You really have to love an auction where everyone who bids has to pay regardless of if they are the winning bid or not!

JohnRW1621 wrote: The debt of holding the recent Olympics in Greece almost toppled the entire country. No thank you if they want to hold them in The US. The level of "out-do the other" has risen to ridiculous levels.

Seems to me, it depends on how they are held.

The most expensive thing about the Olympics is making the stadiums. Just like the World Cup, for the most part. And seeing how Brazil is using the brand new stadiums that they build for parking, the fact that there's waste is pretty obvious.

On the other hand, in the US, there are facilities for most of the events in many of the larger cities. Granted, they are not the newest, and prettiest, but they will work just fine.

The next big hurdle is the participant village. That would be a challenge. But thinking about it, and the number of athletes, close a college campus for a few months, and use the dorms.

BTW, I'm not pointing this out so that we bid on some new Olympics, but we could pretty easily (relatively speaking, of course) host one or even a WC if so asked, and paid off some. Instead of giving Million$ to get a bid, take Million$ to be an emergency host.

alfadriver wrote:

JohnRW1621 wrote: The debt of holding the recent Olympics in Greece almost toppled the entire country. No thank you if they want to hold them in The US. The level of "out-do the other" has risen to ridiculous levels.

Seems to me, it depends on how they are held. The most expensive thing about the Olympics is making the stadiums. Just like the World Cup, for the most part. And seeing how Brazil is using the brand new stadiums that they build for parking, the fact that there's waste is pretty obvious. On the other hand, in the US, there are facilities for most of the events in many of the larger cities. Granted, they are not the newest, and prettiest, but they will work just fine. The next big hurdle is the participant village. That would be a challenge. But thinking about it, and the number of athletes, close a college campus for a few months, and use the dorms. BTW, I'm not pointing this out so that we bid on some new Olympics, but we could pretty easily (relatively speaking, of course) host one or even a WC if so asked, and paid off some. Instead of giving Million$ to get a bid, take Million$ to be an emergency host.

This. I think, anyway.

I've always felt that a few small format changes could turn what is usually a money-losing dumpster fire into a real benefit to a region.

Forget about a "host city" and instead switch to a "host region" mentality. Maybe do your opening ceremonies in Atlanta, then send the soccer games to Charlotte, the swimmers to Jacksonville, the track and field to Orlando, the gymnastics to Tampa, etc. Smaller athlete concentration would all ow you to use existing infrastructure (hotels) to house them.

Three weeks instead of two. Would give the networks more time to cover more events and increase their ad revenue. Of course, each host city would really only have about 4-5 days of events.

And, really, if you want to be picky, there's almost no reason to even limit it to a region, except for opening and closing ceremonies, which are kind of bullcrap, anyway. There's no reason you can't have events in San Diego, St. Louis, Philadelphia and Miami during the same time period and under the Olympic sanction.

In reply to alfadriver:

This was essentially the thrust of Boston's bid to host, plus building a few of the specialty venues that don't exist.

I'm still glad they didn't get it - dealing with the commute is bad enough as it is.

After hearing this, it sounds like Chicago would have been the better option.

I don't care what you think about the city itself, gun laws, or city politics, but their plan was pretty sound. They were going to use existing facilities (like Soldier Field) along with a few new ones and had plans for the new ones after the Olympics left.

I like JG's idea of a "region" hosting

We could have track and field events in Boston, swimming in Philly, and all the sailing events in Baltimore.. And it would mean there would be a chance for more people to see these events rather than driving to one central location, trying to find hotel space, parking, and food when everyone else is trying to find those same things

But if you aren't building new facilities, how are the kickbacks and bribes supposed to be done?

Tom_Spangler wrote: But if you aren't building new facilities, how are the kickbacks and bribes supposed to be done?

And there it is.