The USOC selects Boston as U.S. bid to host the 2024 Olympic & Paralympic Games

Orel Miraculous

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By the way, for non-Greater Bonston venues, it looks like:
 
Boxing:  Tsongas
Canoe, rowing:  Merrimack River
Soccer: around the country, finals at Gillette
 
Tufts is listed as the secondary option for aquatics, Conte Forum the secondary option for volleyball.
 

TallerThanPedroia

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Orel Miraculous said:
They didn't go with my idea to do beach volleyball on Castle Island, but Boston Common is a pretty kick ass location too.
 
I assume you're using the Cougar Town definition of kicking ass.
 
 
 
 

That's an absurd monstrosity. They want to take over at least at third of Boston Common. Boston2024 sees the oldest public park in the country (arguably the world) and sees merely a blank space with a nice backdrop on which to build. They love Boston like glampers love the outdoors. We're not a city where people live and work, just an amusement park in need of a makeover.

I said it earlier, and I repeat: I don't know how one can love this town and not be chilled by the idea of privatizing (and essentially militarizing) its precious public spaces for months or more.
 

TomRicardo

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Harry Hooper said:
Beyond the MBTA, the biggest new transportation asset for the region would be a viable second airport within ~45 minutes of Boston, either via an express rail link to the Worcester Airport or an entirely new facility. Yes, both longshots for multiple reasons..
 
TF Green?  I know the MBTA stops there.
 
Edit - TF Green will be able to handle international flight (Condor is flying out of there to Germany now).  The Patriots fly their 767 out of TF Green and international soccer teams playing at Gilette have chartered A340s  so it can take medium to large aircraft.
 

Comfortably Lomb

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The Napkin

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I like how they plan on using Long Island for the shooting things. How convenient that the bridge was just condemned and they had to move all the homeless people away from there. Wouldn't have looked real good if that had happened after the bid was announced, would it? Would have maybe almost looked like they were just shuffling the homeless people out of the way so they could have a pretty new shooting complex. Good thing they're not around to worry about anymore.
 
And I'm sure they'll let the homeless shelter reopen after the Olympics too. There won't be luxury condos (built by Fish) going up. I mean we have this nice new bridge we had to build and all this infrastructure and the homeless people are already someplace else, right? Nope. That'd never happen.
 

Comfortably Lomb

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The Napkin said:
I like how they plan on using Long Island for the shooting things. How convenient that the bridge was just condemned and they had to move all the homeless people away from there. Wouldn't have looked real good if that had happened after the bid was announced, would it? Would have maybe almost looked like they were just shuffling the homeless people out of the way so they could have a pretty new shooting complex. Good thing they're not around to worry about anymore.
 
And I'm sure they'll let the homeless shelter reopen after the Olympics too. There won't be luxury condos (built by Fish) going up. I mean we have this nice new bridge we had to build and all this infrastructure and the homeless people are already someplace else, right? Nope. That'd never happen.
 
Serious question (that is going to come off really poorly but whatever): exactly why shouldn't homeless people be shuffled around to suit whatever economic/development/beautification/etc plan is currently being pressed? Because the new site in Dorchester isn't as scenic? Tough.
 

TallerThanPedroia

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Comfortably Lomb said:
 
Serious question (that is going to come off really poorly but whatever): exactly why shouldn't homeless people be shuffled around to suit whatever economic/development/beautification/etc plan is currently being pressed? Because the new site in Dorchester isn't as scenic? Tough.
 
In that particular case, I don't think we should have been shipping homeless people out to an island every day anyway. That's a separate issue from whether Long Island - which is public land - should be sold off to private developers. I expect the fine people of Squantum, who disliked a few daily bus trips through their neighborhood, would like even more traffic from putting mansions out there.
 
There are other things out there, including a day camp for city kids:
 
http://www.bostonglobe.com/business/2015/01/22/keeping-camp-harbor-view-alive-latest-challenge-for-jack-connors/3Ofngxvarq0mlLvadeTIOK/story.html
 

Comfortably Lomb

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Comfortably Lomb said:
Early criticism for Walsh over the boilerplate anti-criticism agreement: http://www.bostonglobe.com/opinion/editorials/2015/01/21/walsh-olympic-committee-must-drop-ban-criticism/vUIHPHkDhEWCTu5zcWigdK/story.html
 
I have to say I agree. If the Olympics want to be here they shouldn't be allowed to expect a free pass on criticism. Maybe they're used to dealing with the likes of China or Atlanta but we're better than that.
 
Walsh says city employees may speak freely regarding the Olympics and will not face negative consequences: http://www.wbur.org/2015/01/22/walsh-boston-olympics-speech
 

TallerThanPedroia

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Marathon route:
 

 
I suppose I'd be excited to live on the route (I live on L Street) except that I hate everything about this.
 
Dec 10, 2012
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Price on CH Ave just went up. Men's race is on the last SUnday correct, so damage somewhat minimized. When's the women's race? Closing down Route 9 and/or CH Ave is going to be the clusterf*** of all clusterf***s
 

swiftaw

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maufman said:
Why wouldn't the marathon route be, you know, the Marathon route?
All international competitions in athletics, including the Olympic games, are governed under the rules of the International Association of Athletics Federations. The IAAF rules define the standard length of the marathon as 42.195 km and specifically state that the course must not be less than this distance. The rules further state that in Olympic competition the standard distance may not be exceeded by more than 0.1%. In order for a marathon performance to be ratified as a world record by the IAAF, the course must also meet other criteria that rule-out "artificially fast times" produced on courses aided by downhill slope or tailwind: the distance between start and end points when measured in a straight line should not exceed 50% of the length of the course (21.092 km in the case of the marathon); and the difference in altitude between the start and end points should be no more than 0.1% of the course length (42.19 m). World records for intermediate distances (i.e. 5 km, 10 km, 20 km, and 30 km) must meet similar requirements.
 

TallerThanPedroia

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So in addition to Boston's downhill, there's usually a tailwind, since it runs west to east. Hence the speedy finishing times in 2011, including what would have been a world-record time by Geoffrey Mutai, who ran 2:03:02 (since exceeded, officially, last fall at Berlin by Dennis Kimetto with 2:02:57).
 

Myt1

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Comfortably Lomb said:
 
Walsh says city employees may speak freely regarding the Olympics and will not face negative consequences: http://www.wbur.org/2015/01/22/walsh-boston-olympics-speech
Well, because the clause is almost comically unenforceable.
 
The question, of course, is why one would be willing to get into bed with an entity that demands this kind of contractual language.
 
And calling it "boilerplate" is an insult to reason (I know the term wasn't yours).  This isn't a cell phone contract or shrink-wrapped EULA.
 

SoxJox

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I chuckle at much of the discussion here.  It reminds me of a well-known adolescent psychological phenomenon known as desire-avoidance syndrome.
 
Perfect example: small child; big dog; child sees dog from distance; wants to pet dog; dog suddenly in face of child; waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa.
 
We suffer the same thing here in Newport with sugar plum visions of America's Cup returning.  But we don't have suitors lining up to spend millions on infrastructure improvements (even the NY Yacht Club has its limits, you know).  That's why the 2017 America's Cup will be held in..........Bermuda?
 

Fred not Lynn

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Honestly, I think Boston has more than a fair shot. The bid lines up with the geographical rotation, and I don't see the US losing three bids in a row.
 

moly99

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Fred not Lynn said:
Honestly, I think Boston has more than a fair shot. The bid lines up with the geographical rotation, and I don't see the US losing three bids in a row.
 
There is no geographical rotation in the Olympics.
 
Personally I think this bid is crazy. But I say that as someone who doesn't give a crap about stuff like "prestige." If people think Boston's honor is worth $10-15 billion in taxpayer money, a massive transit clusterpuck for a month and the disruption of normal business in the city then I can't really dispute it. It's two different ways of viewing the world.
 

TallerThanPedroia

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Myt1 said:
Well, because the clause is almost comically unenforceable.
 
The question, of course, is why one would be willing to get into bed with an entity that demands this kind of contractual language.
 
And calling it "boilerplate" is an insult to reason (I know the term wasn't yours).  This isn't a cell phone contract or shrink-wrapped EULA.
I strongly considered explaining this to him at the meeting at Suffolk. But I couldn't think of a non-dickish way to phrase it as a question.

"Do you have no one on your staff who can explain your misuse of the word 'boilerplate'? I mean, we're in a law school, I can go grab someone..." And I was considering working in "treating it like an iTunes user agreement" in there somewhere.

I'm saving my killer question about trademark law for the Condon meeting.
 

soxhop411

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Sharman Sacchetti ‏@SharmanTV  3m3 minutes ago
JUST released list of who is on payroll at #Boston2024, see what they're making: http://bit.ly/1wUAFLG #Fox25
 
 
 
 
See the full list of staff and salaried consultants:

Boston 2024 Staff (annual salary)
Richard Davey, Chief Executive Officer ($300,000)
Erin Murphy, Chief Operating Officer and Chief Bid Officer ($215,000)
Joe Rull – Chief Administrative Officer ($175,000)
Loreen Watts, Executive Assistant and Office Manager ($55,000)
Paige Scott Reed, General Counsel ($182,500)
Nikko Mendoza, Vice President of Engagement and External Affairs ($120,000)
Amy Sennett, Vice President of Strategic Initiatives and Assistant General Counsel ($120,000)
Ingrid Oelschlager, Project Manager ($80,000)
Sarah Caruthers, Director of Special Projects ($70,000)
Chris Ciampa, Executive Assistant ($73,000)
 
Consultants (monthly contract)
 
Community and Government Relations
William Coyne, Jr. ($10,000)
Jack Hart ($10,000)
 
Communications
Northwind Strategies ($15,000)
Keyser Public Strategies ($15,000)
Josiane Martinez/Archipelago Strategies Group ($5,000)
SwiftKurrent ($9,000) 
 
Grassroots and Community Outreach
Reverend Jeffrey Brown ($5,000)
CK Strategies ($10,000)
Walsh Strategies ($10,000)
Sheba Shadrach ($2,500)
Mary Tibma  ($2,500)
Willie Bodrick  ($2,500)
Diego Huezo-Rosales ($2,500)
Pat Johnson ($2,500)
Brendan Joyce ($2,500)
 
Fundraising
SCR & Associates ($20,000)
 
Engineering and Accounting Services
VHB Consulting (as needed)
In Source (as needed)
 
Pro-bono or reduced rate services
Elkus Manfredi
Mintz Levin
Mass Mutual
Deloitte
Hill Holliday
Bain Consulting
Pricewaterhouse Coopers
CBT Architects
Vertex
Boston Consulting Group
Black Math
Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum
Be Our Guest
 

Myt1

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TallerThanPedroia said:
I strongly considered explaining this to him at the meeting at Suffolk. But I couldn't think of a non-dickish way to phrase it as a question.

"Do you have no one on your staff who can explain your misuse of the word 'boilerplate'? I mean, we're in a law school, I can go grab someone..." And I was considering working in "treating it like an iTunes user agreement" in there somewhere.

I'm saving my killer question about trademark law for the Condon meeting.
Just so you all know, TTP stumped them with this one.  Startled Davey out of smugness, too.
 
Dec 10, 2012
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I somehow missed the fact that Davey, the previous previous MBTA chief, is the chief of Boston 2024. I can't help to admit that I am not as gung-ho as I formerly was (in terms of possibly being a MA resident and taxpayer. Still gung-ho as an Olympic fan though.
 
I don't see how this passes the referendum, based on traditional MA NIMBYism, though
 
Can we get his wife instead?
 

moly99

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As a relative neutral (a former Bostonian now living in Seattle) this plan is objectively worse than Atlanta's 1996 Olympics which is generally viewed as being the worst Olympics ever. If this plan moved the Pats and Revolution into Boston I could kind of understand it. This is going to blow a minimum of $10 billion in taxpayer money and leave almost nothing useful behind after the three week party.
 
I think the reason the USOC is so damned determined to push this even if it makes little sense for the city is the revenue sharing deal they signed with the IOC. Since the USA contributes about half of the IOC's entire revenue, the USOC used to get a big share of the broadcast revenue pie. The IOC squeezed them to give up a hefty chunk of that back when Chicago was bidding, and killed off the Chicago bid early in the vote to send the USOC a message. (Don't give up revenue and we won't give the USA the Olympics.) So the USOC gave up the revenue after already laying off something like a hundred workers back in 2009.
 
http://news.yahoo.com/ioc-usoc-revenue-deal-done-us-bid-games-181709143--oly.html;_ylt=AwrTcd2Z0hBV56oAJCknnIlQ;_ylu=X3oDMTEzcGRqY2I1BHNlYwNzcgRwb3MDMgRjb2xvA2dxMQR2dGlkA1lIUzAwM18x
 
Since then they have not gotten anything in exchange for giving up that share of the broadcasting money. And their leadership now has to explain to the rank in file why they gave up so much money and laid off so many people. If the USA doesn't even bid after handing the IOC billions of dollars over the next decade, Scott Blackmun and Larry Probst are likely out of the USOC.
 

kenneycb

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jose melendez said:
I thought Montreal was the consensus worst olympics ever...  or the nazi one.
Or the one where a bunch of Jews were killed for being Jewish. Which is amazingly enough different from the nazi one.
 

Fred not Lynn

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jose melendez said:
I thought Montreal was the consensus worst olympics ever...  or the nazi one.
Yes, this is what the consensus is that I am aware of...which is why the one-time rumored joint Lake Placid/Montreal Winter Games bid seemed so ridiculous (as Lake Placid is oft mentioned as the worst Winter Games ever).
 

moly99

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jose melendez said:
I thought Montreal was the consensus worst olympics ever...  or the nazi one.
 
Atlanta had the worst transportation and venues. And it had its own terrorist attack as well.
 

Myt1

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Comfortably Lomb said:
State-wide referendum pledged: http://www.bostonglobe.com/metro/2015/03/22/boston-vows-not-move-forward-without-majority-support/sy71VhxrPzwylapxRilEaM/story.html
 
Good, at least it will feel less like this is being shoved down our throats.
It's a cynical move to provide cover for the mayor ignoring the results of the non-binding referendum questions on the city-wide ballot in 2015.  Complete bullshit.  If Boston 2024 really supported a referendum, they could have backed one from the beginning.  Now that they're losing in the court of public opinion, they're willing to respect one . . . a year and a half from now . . . where they get to write the question?
 

moly99

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kenneycb said:
Or the one where a bunch of Jews were killed for being Jewish. Which is amazingly enough different from the nazi one.
 
What country was that one held in?
 

Comfortably Lomb

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Fred not Lynn

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I am not sure if there is such a city in the US where an anti-Olympic group wouldn't gain such traction...the IOC has a serious PR problem, and they need to take steps to correct it.
 

Comfortably Lomb

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USOC denying WSJ report that Boston may be dropped as host city: http://www.bostonglobe.com/metro/2015/03/31/usoc-denies-report-that-will-drop-boston/nsMj4ktalRXmPiUPkisi8I/story.html
 
The WSJ report is here: http://www.wsj.com/articles/lack-of-public-support-may-doom-bostons-bid-for-2024-olympics-1427827053
 


Any decision about the future of the U.S. entry would have to happen well before a November 2016 vote in Massachusetts. The International Olympic Committee nomination deadline is in September.
 

Harry Hooper

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deadline is in September
 
 
Yes, this thing is so front-loaded that September is when the mayor is supposed to sign the sheet committing the City of Boston to covering all cost over-runs.
 
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Tony C said:
 
As a longtime NYC resident who's a big booster of how great a city this is, the NYT can fuck right off with its "oh isn't Boston cute, trying to launch an Olympics bid that it's totally unprepared for!" patronizing garbage.  Maybe if this goddamn city had a shred of the political skill they seem to think the Boston organizers lack, then NYC 2012 wouldn't have gone over like a lead balloon.
 
"oh, but Los Angeles still wants it!"  yeah, sure, if you ask politicians and their construction-industry backers.  But why would the IOC ever approve a bid that didn't include billions in new construction for them to take bribes on?  At least Boston would have a fighting chance of getting the games awarded to them, if the city decides it wants it.  I mean, it's not like we don't have an obviously-enticing history of corruption in our construction industry.