Well, you didn’t bite with electing my friend David D’Arcangelo as Secretary of State and now we have another 2,000 years of Galvin.
Let’s give you all another chance.
Let’s start a movement to welcome the Olympics to Massachusetts and hold the games in…..SPRINGFIELD!!!
Every argument about jobs, infrastructure, and positive commerce made about siting a casino there applies to the Olympics in spades. There are some college facilities there now, but future facilities can be added as expansions to the public college system there, a justification for the tax dollars we are going to get hosed for anyway.
By taking the construction out of Suffolk County, it will be exponentially cheaper. The long hoped-for IT and internet capacity for western MA can finally be constructed, with the profits from the games to off-set the costs of doing so.
Instead of a casino, let’s build an Olympic Village instead. We could even use the Lake Placid model and relieve crowding in the corrections system as the courts have demanded.
The location will have an appeal for nearby New Yorkers, and existing public transport can be upgraded while vehicular transportation can also be accommodated.
Viva Olympics! Springfield – 2024!
chris-rich says
If the IOC weren’t such a bunch of stuff wads, they’d be looking for sites that would actually benefit from all the effort and expense. Boston is crowded and precious.
A Springfield location would also benefit adjoining areas of Connecticut.
petr says
… exactly one year ago. As it is, it is only distraction because the City of Boston has already signed agreements, however much those agreements might be distasteful, with the USOC. Any effort to pull the rug out from underneath the City of Boston is likely to result in unlooked for, and ultimately unwanted, repercussions for everyone. Unless your goal is to stir the pot of shit, and then to watch the shit fly until it hits a random fan, your timing is deplorable.
As the birthplace of the sport of Basketball, which is now a very popular world wide sport, and home to the Hall of Fame for that sport, the city of Springfield has every claim to sports glory. As such, I would certainly support the inclusion of Springfield in the Olympics, even up to the inclusion of Springfield as the basketball and even football venues (I”m looking at you Kraft, build a stadium in Springfield already) leading up to the medal rounds. I would not support, at this time, the inclusion of Springfield to the exclusion of Boston.
chris-rich says
..to those who are increasingly confident that it won’t happen here.
It’s an example, an ephemeral idea,.. of how the Olympics might almost maybe be useful rather than a bloated imposition ego picnic. It probably didn’t need fly swatting with a sledgehammer.
chris-rich says
The new set are interesting.
The regular globe has an IOC person from Germany.
https://www.bostonglobe.com/metro/2015/01/31/boston-compelling-candidate-for-olympics-says-ioc-head/8RXywz6sW1JJJ7r4i0JFqJ/story.html
Money Quote”
And then some reassurance from the Mayor regarding land seizure.
http://www.boston.com/business/news/2015/01/30/walsh-says-boston-wouldn-use-eminent-domain-for-olympic-stadium/Gr5qGMUNoqZllxqklPUgmN/story.html
Money Quote:
So both are addressing what must have been surprising levels of opposition with qualifications and hedges. Now it will be interesting to see how it reconfigures itself if it’s prime parcels are taken off the table.
Where will it go?
Springfield 2024!!
Or more likely, Rome.
Mark L. Bail says
impossible, right?
This is a joke, right?
TheBestDefense says
It has to be weak humor. Boston submitted a bid to the USOC, as did many other cities in the US. Boston was chosen, all others eliminated. The USOC is not going to allow a swap of cities within the state, to a city with with no infrastructure and no leadership.
chris-rich says
Yes, Boston is locked in and will go down in flames without a need to restart the application process.
But IF the IOC wanted sites that were highly likely to benefit from being selected, Springfield would probably be a better pick.
It’s all hypothetical and a nice distraction from the relentless opposition which should resume with the next news cycle excretion.
I already like the down shifting I’m seeing from the two articles I linked.
Peter Porcupine says
…there was never a plan to hold all events within the city limits. Cambridge and even Foxboro were included as venues.
North, south…WEST…what’s the difference?
I am just trying to show how the bid could have been done save for the parochialism of Boston. Who ever heard of Lake Placid before the Olympics were held there? Instead of coming up with something that would benefit the Commonwealth as a whole, the cheerful destruction of homeless shelters and food co-ops are planned as a tribute to the Hub of the Universe.
Bostin…ain’t….my hometown.
marcus-graly says
use the money to invest in Springfield *and* in Boston, and tell the IOC to go to hell.
Would you support that Porcupine? Or does it bristle your quills?
Peter Porcupine says
..only in MBTA communities, where people have the alternative to drive. Besides, that’s where all the gas tax money goes anyway.
Pablo says