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OT: UPDATED: Boston 2024 Olympics bid IS dead

Fenway

Fenway

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Looking more and more like the USOC will withdraw from Boston as early as today as the Governor and now the Mayor are refusing to meet their demands.

Boston won’t yield to USOC pressure on Olympics, Walsh says

Walsh said at a hastily called City Hall press conference that the US Olympic Committee is pushing him to sign a host city contract soon. But he said he will not sign any such contract until he knows more about the financial picture of the proposed games.

“I cannot commit to putting the taxpayers at risk,’’ said Walsh. He said if signing the contract is required by USOC, then “Boston is no longer pursing to host the 2024 Summer Games.â€

USOC members are set to discuss Boston’s status at a board meeting Monday. Walsh thanked bid organizers for the hard work they’ve put in so far, and said, “we’ll see what happens†going forward.

Walsh said he will not yield to pressure from the USOC to put taxpayers on the hook to guarantee the 2024 Olympic Games take place in Boston.

“I refuse to mortgage the future of the city away,’’ he said. “This is a commitment that I can’t make without ensuring the city and its residents will be protected. ... I think it’s unfortunate that it’s come to this point.â€
Click to expand...


The USOC is in panic mode as Toronto is suddenly in play and they have most of the venues already in place from hosting the Pan Am Games this summer.
Click to read more...
 
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Fenian24

Fenian24

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Jun 14, 2010
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Thank God, the mere thought of what my commute would become was already causing stress, never mind the taxes that I'm sure would find there way to us. While their is a part of me that would like to see the Olympics here the practical part is envisioning two weeks of pure mayhem with traffic from hell.

Toronto seems like a great option to me.
 
GarbageGoal

GarbageGoal

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Dec 1, 2005
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And Steve Paliuka sounded so cheerful the other day....

Take it out back and end it already.....
 
sarge88

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On one hand it's kind of sad, but the direction Walsh is taking is understandable and prudent.

Personally, I was hoping that Boston could find a way to get the games here --- provided it be advantageous to Boston and Massachusetts as a whole.

Time and age makes you look at things differently. If I were in my 20's I probably wouldn't have cared either way. In my 30's I'd likely have been against it, due to the disruptions it would cause. Now in my 40's (50's when the games would be held) I look at it differently.

As I've aged, I've found that (for me) life is now more about experiences than material things. Aside from the things that most people experience --- graduating high school and college, getting married, having kids ---- how enjoyable your life is tends to become more about who you spend your time with, and what you do with that time, than it is about anything else.

I recently took my 14 year old daughter to the US-Germany World Cup game in Montreal. (She knows the women's WC Team like we know the Bruins). I'm not a huge soccer fan, and really didn't know what to expect, but it is now a cherished memory.

Just her and I, enjoying something that she's passionate about, and something that a relatively small number of people get to experience. Not going out on a limb here when I say that I'm very unlikely to attend another WC game.

Which is why, for me, losing the Olympic bid/dropping out is understandable, but disappointing. It's unlikely, but conceivable that I could have attended an event with one or both of my kids in 2024 (They'll be 24 and 22), and maybe those would become important memories for all of us.

Again, I wouldn't want to see this state or Boston, suffer financially because of the Olympics, but on a base level, it would be really cool to be the host city, once in my lifetime.
 
BigGoalBrad

BigGoalBrad

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Noone wants to pay for it glad if we get it it won't come with tons of taxes and new construction.


I'd love to try and do it on the cheap and use the local colleges to provide the venues for the smaller sports and


Way I see it is anything in downtown Boston will be walkable and if its in the surrounding area it will be at a college and you'll need to bus there public trans doesn't really go to most of the smaller type schools in the area either but there are so many freaking colleges around 128 and inside 495 that it could work really easily.

Building the Revs a stadium (that would have 25k temporary stands) in the right part of Boston would be an excellent use of money theres 2 things for the Olympics that I will pay for and its a soccer stadium downtown and improving the T particularly the Green line of death.
 
Fenway

Fenway

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You summed up how I feel.

Projects being built on time and on budget don't happen in Massachusetts. The insanity of building a 60,000 seat stadium in South Boston and then tearing it down boggles the mind.

The first warning flag should have been when they announced Harvard would be the site of swimming and other events which sounded fine but nobody asked Harvard what they thought.

Just end this now.


sarge88 said:
On one hand it's kind of sad, but the direction Walsh is taking is understandable and prudent.

Personally, I was hoping that Boston could find a way to get the games here --- provided it be advantageous to Boston and Massachusetts as a whole.

Time and age makes you look at things differently. If I were in my 20's I probably wouldn't have cared either way. In my 30's I'd likely have been against it, due to the disruptions it would cause. Now in my 40's (50's when the games would be held) I look at it differently.

As I've aged, I've found that (for me) life is now more about experiences than material things. Aside from the things that most people experience --- graduating high school and college, getting married, having kids ---- how enjoyable your life is tends to become more about who you spend your time with, and what you do with that time, than it is about anything else.

I recently took my 14 year old daughter to the US-Germany World Cup game in Montreal. (She knows the women's WC Team like we know the Bruins). I'm not a huge soccer fan, and really didn't know what to expect, but it is now a cherished memory.

Just her and I, enjoying something that she's passionate about, and something that a relatively small number of people get to experience. Not going out on a limb here when I say that I'm very unlikely to attend another WC game.

Which is why, for me, losing the Olympic bid/dropping out is understandable, but disappointing. It's unlikely, but conceivable that I could have attended an event with one or both of my kids in 2024 (They'll be 24 and 22), and maybe those would become important memories for all of us.

Again, I wouldn't want to see this state or Boston, suffer financially because of the Olympics, but on a base level, it would be really cool to be the host city, once in my lifetime.
Click to expand...
 
WhalerTurnedBruin55

WhalerTurnedBruin55

Fading out, thanks for the times.
Oct 31, 2008
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Between this and the Hamilton trade return, I haven't seen this much agreement in a thread in a while!
 
Boston BROin

Boston BROin

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Wanted to see the games in Boston. Mostly because I live far enough away for it to not affect me, but close enough to feel part of the action.

Ultimately, this seems like a good thing for everyone in Boston save for the few in line to line their pockets with that sweet sweet development money.
 
BMC

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I would have loved to have had the Games here in New England but Boston would not have been a good choice.

Too bad the six states couldn't work together to come up with a Games that would be spread out amongst them.
 
Paddington

Paddington

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I hope Toronto can follow Boston's lead. The Pan-Am games just wrapped up here and the 2024 Olympic talk is gaining traction. I want it far, far away from here.
 
talkinaway

talkinaway

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On the couch
Fire Sweeney said:
Olympics and FIFA - Corruption. Stay far, far away.
Click to expand...

When I read Walsh's comments about nixing public funding today, this is exactly what I said. The parallels are scary - both FIFA and the IOC essentially bully their way into getting taxpayer funding for their events, and running off with as much money as they can

The only Bostonian I know who wanted the Olympics here is my cousin's husband, who, big surprise, is a cop. I understand that he saw dollar signs from the potential 24/7 details that would be available...doesn't mean I particularly want to pay for it.
 
Fenway

Fenway

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it's dead

The United States Olympic Committee says Boston will no longer be its choice for the 2024 summer games, NewsCenter 5's Janet Wu reported citing a source close to the process.
 
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