The question is about fixing the games themselves; please do not go off on athlete behavior. You did stupid things when you were young too. Also, keep in mind this is the CDZ.... Please try to stay on topic and stay civil.
Two things come to mind on how to "fix" the games.
First off, it's no secret that the stadiums quickly become useless once the games leave town. They often fall into disrepair and become a sore spot with the local populous.
Here is a slideshow by ABC News
Abandoned Olympic Venues Around the Globe
Revisit the derelict venues of Olympics past.abcnews.go.com
So my solution would be to do what the NFL did so successfully for several years with the Super Bowl. They rotated it from Miami to the Rose Bowl to New Orleans. Everyone loved it; the hotels were close by, the venues were mint.... Just rotate the Summer Olympics through 3 or 4 cities that have the infrastructure already in place and, of course, are willing to hold the Olympics. Los Angeles and Paris come to mind for example.. University Stadiums, roads, multi-cultural populations, airports, etc... are already in place. There doesn't need to be a lot of new construction for venues. And maybe every fifth Summer Games have a NATION put together a responsible bid that takes into account what will happen after the games leave. By utilizing a whole nation, you prevent a city from building a bunch of soccer stadiums it doesn't need for example. You may not have a great swimming venue in Toronto...but they may have a great one in Montreal; use it!
Secondly, the Winter Olympics should be expanded to include an awful lot more sports (more about this later) taking many from the Summer Olympics. Is there any reason that the martial arts, Basketball, Boxing, or handball can't be in the Winter Olympics? The largest benefit will be that these sports may (and should in my opinion) get more exposure.
Here are the 24 Winter Olympic events...
View attachment 517883
Vs the 50 Summer Olympic events...
View attachment 517881
Even it out. Weightlifting can be done at a Winter Olympics, right?
----
What else would I do? Glad you asked....
Some thoughts there.
- I would stop the repeat Olympians who compete/medal for more than two Olympic Games. You get two in the same event and your are done. I say two Olympics because I would give someone a mulligan in case you don't do well. But I don't want to penalize someone who does well either. So you get two games in the same events....that's it. Now, if you're a swimmer who competes only in the 100M Backstroke for example in 2000 and 2004...feel free to come back in 2008 competing in the 2008 Olympics in the 200M Backstroke or any sport other than the 100M Backstroke. If you can make the team...no problem there.
- I would have a lot more sports than is currently in the Olympics. I'd stop calling them sports for one thing. I'd say events or activities. If there is an activity that someone does on five continents (I think that is the acid test) that both genders can participate in...sure. Go for it. I wouldn't have poker or gambling...and no...not ballroom dancing. Cornhole...sure. Darts...sure. Axe throwing? Sure. Even Log Rolling. I'm not sure when the Olympics became some sort of "us" and "them" proposition as to where you need to start at the age of 5 and work daily until you're 16 to go to the games. I reject that premise. So I believe that other activities should be included and encouraged.
- Limit athletes to either their nation of birth or make it to where they will have to had to have been a citizen of the nation they are competing for...for a certain amount of time....5 plus years I'd say. If America only sends two decathletes to the Olympics and you're the third best...you are an alternate. Sorry. You don't get to go as a Canadian because your Mom was Canadian or whatever.
- Needless to say this as well...if you have outdoor plumbing, you compete as a man; indoor plumbing, you compete as a woman.
What are yours. Please leave the politics out of it for a change.
Interesting idea.... So would it be regional places accepted? Could you have swimming in Switzerland, taekwondo in Trinidad, Judo in Japan permanently.... Or are you talking about swimming in Switzerland, football in France, rugby in Romania (having all of them in Europe) followed by badminton in Brazil, taekwondo in Trinidad, archery in Argentina (South American nations) at the next Olympics
I'd be against this. I like the random sports myself.
Go back to the original program of 1896. Only 43 events.The question is about fixing the games themselves; please do not go off on athlete behavior. You did stupid things when you were young too. Also, keep in mind this is the CDZ.... Please try to stay on topic and stay civil.
Two things come to mind on how to "fix" the games.
First off, it's no secret that the stadiums quickly become useless once the games leave town. They often fall into disrepair and become a sore spot with the local populous.
Here is a slideshow by ABC News
Abandoned Olympic Venues Around the Globe
Revisit the derelict venues of Olympics past.
So my solution would be to do what the NFL did so successfully for several years with the Super Bowl. They rotated it from Miami to the Rose Bowl to New Orleans. Everyone loved it; the hotels were close by, the venues were mint.... Just rotate the Summer Olympics through 3 or 4 cities that have the infrastructure already in place and, of course, are willing to hold the Olympics. Los Angeles and Paris come to mind for example.. University Stadiums, roads, multi-cultural populations, airports, etc... are already in place. There doesn't need to be a lot of new construction for venues. And maybe every fifth Summer Games have a NATION put together a responsible bid that takes into account what will happen after the games leave. By utilizing a whole nation, you prevent a city from building a bunch of soccer stadiums it doesn't need for example. You may not have a great swimming venue in Toronto...but they may have a great one in Montreal; use it!
Secondly, the Winter Olympics should be expanded to include an awful lot more sports (more about this later) taking many from the Summer Olympics. Is there any reason that the martial arts, Basketball, Boxing, or handball can't be in the Winter Olympics? The largest benefit will be that these sports may (and should in my opinion) get more exposure.
Here are the 24 Winter Olympic events...
View attachment 517883
Vs the 50 Summer Olympic events...
View attachment 517881
Even it out. Weightlifting can be done at a Winter Olympics, right?
----
What else would I do? Glad you asked....
Some thoughts there.
- I would stop the repeat Olympians who compete/medal for more than two Olympic Games. You get two in the same event and your are done. I say two Olympics because I would give someone a mulligan in case you don't do well. But I don't want to penalize someone who does well either. So you get two games in the same events....that's it. Now, if you're a swimmer who competes only in the 100M Backstroke for example in 2000 and 2004...feel free to come back in 2008 competing in the 2008 Olympics in the 200M Backstroke or any sport other than the 100M Backstroke. If you can make the team...no problem there.
- I would have a lot more sports than is currently in the Olympics. I'd stop calling them sports for one thing. I'd say events or activities. If there is an activity that someone does on five continents (I think that is the acid test) that both genders can participate in...sure. Go for it. I wouldn't have poker or gambling...and no...not ballroom dancing. Cornhole...sure. Darts...sure. Axe throwing? Sure. Even Log Rolling. I'm not sure when the Olympics became some sort of "us" and "them" proposition as to where you need to start at the age of 5 and work daily until you're 16 to go to the games. I reject that premise. So I believe that other activities should be included and encouraged.
- Limit athletes to either their nation of birth or make it to where they will have to had to have been a citizen of the nation they are competing for...for a certain amount of time....5 plus years I'd say. If America only sends two decathletes to the Olympics and you're the third best...you are an alternate. Sorry. You don't get to go as a Canadian because your Mom was Canadian or whatever.
- Needless to say this as well...if you have outdoor plumbing, you compete as a man; indoor plumbing, you compete as a woman.
What are yours. Please leave the politics out of it for a change.
Hey, look at those kids on Skateboards…..We should have that in the Olympics!
Athens proved they could not handle it in 2004.
I tend to disagree. I have noticed more and more events every olympics. I never checked but a freind told me every nation can add events when they host. As a result the events are bloated with all sorts of crap. Softball for example yeah we love it in the US and maybe a few other nation but it seems a lame excuse to get another medal. Then there's stuff like Curling. Looks like a bunch of drunk Canadians started sliding cinder blocks across a frozen lake and dreamed up a game while doing so. Kinda like people in cincinnati did with cornhole. I think it be more interesting if they stuck to the classics which every nation can compete in rather than a lot of obscure sports largely ignored anyways.The question is about fixing the games themselves; please do not go off on athlete behavior. You did stupid things when you were young too. Also, keep in mind this is the CDZ.... Please try to stay on topic and stay civil.
Two things come to mind on how to "fix" the games.
First off, it's no secret that the stadiums quickly become useless once the games leave town. They often fall into disrepair and become a sore spot with the local populous.
Here is a slideshow by ABC News
Abandoned Olympic Venues Around the Globe
Revisit the derelict venues of Olympics past.
So my solution would be to do what the NFL did so successfully for several years with the Super Bowl. They rotated it from Miami to the Rose Bowl to New Orleans. Everyone loved it; the hotels were close by, the venues were mint.... Just rotate the Summer Olympics through 3 or 4 cities that have the infrastructure already in place and, of course, are willing to hold the Olympics. Los Angeles and Paris come to mind for example.. University Stadiums, roads, multi-cultural populations, airports, etc... are already in place. There doesn't need to be a lot of new construction for venues. And maybe every fifth Summer Games have a NATION put together a responsible bid that takes into account what will happen after the games leave. By utilizing a whole nation, you prevent a city from building a bunch of soccer stadiums it doesn't need for example. You may not have a great swimming venue in Toronto...but they may have a great one in Montreal; use it!
Secondly, the Winter Olympics should be expanded to include an awful lot more sports (more about this later) taking many from the Summer Olympics. Is there any reason that the martial arts, Basketball, Boxing, or handball can't be in the Winter Olympics? The largest benefit will be that these sports may (and should in my opinion) get more exposure.
Here are the 24 Winter Olympic events...
View attachment 517883
Vs the 50 Summer Olympic events...
View attachment 517881
Even it out. Weightlifting can be done at a Winter Olympics, right?
----
What else would I do? Glad you asked....
Some thoughts there.
- I would stop the repeat Olympians who compete/medal for more than two Olympic Games. You get two in the same event and your are done. I say two Olympics because I would give someone a mulligan in case you don't do well. But I don't want to penalize someone who does well either. So you get two games in the same events....that's it. Now, if you're a swimmer who competes only in the 100M Backstroke for example in 2000 and 2004...feel free to come back in 2008 competing in the 2008 Olympics in the 200M Backstroke or any sport other than the 100M Backstroke. If you can make the team...no problem there.
- I would have a lot more sports than is currently in the Olympics. I'd stop calling them sports for one thing. I'd say events or activities. If there is an activity that someone does on five continents (I think that is the acid test) that both genders can participate in...sure. Go for it. I wouldn't have poker or gambling...and no...not ballroom dancing. Cornhole...sure. Darts...sure. Axe throwing? Sure. Even Log Rolling. I'm not sure when the Olympics became some sort of "us" and "them" proposition as to where you need to start at the age of 5 and work daily until you're 16 to go to the games. I reject that premise. So I believe that other activities should be included and encouraged.
- Limit athletes to either their nation of birth or make it to where they will have to had to have been a citizen of the nation they are competing for...for a certain amount of time....5 plus years I'd say. If America only sends two decathletes to the Olympics and you're the third best...you are an alternate. Sorry. You don't get to go as a Canadian because your Mom was Canadian or whatever.
- Needless to say this as well...if you have outdoor plumbing, you compete as a man; indoor plumbing, you compete as a woman.
What are yours. Please leave the politics out of it for a change.
Basically agree but I think it jumped the shark long before that with curling, and snowboarding and white water rafting.
Couldn't agree more but I would say that like every fifth olympics...perhaps include a non-rotation city/state For one thing; it's fair. For another thing, an Olympics can really boost the profile of a city. But there has to be some actual sustainability behind the bids. Like, just for an example, lets say Boston is going to put in a bid to host the Summer Olympics in 2040. A natatorium to be built for swimming and diving, instead of being built at 1234 Main Street in Beantown will, instead, be built on the campus of UMASS and they will use it for Big East tournaments, swimming classes, continuing education, training life guards, etc... Something like that...all new construction (or most of it anyway) will have to have a concrete "after life".
