Can you say "Publicity Stunt"?

I guess since Tulsa got back to back Eagles
concerts, they think they're ready for something
bigger....

Tulsa 2020 Olympics, I don't think it will happen.
Tulsa/OKC doesn't have the infrastructure to handle the world coming in for half a month to a full month. We are talking Media from around the world, athletes from around the world, fans from around the world, your general disrupters who think its cool to disrupt major events for tv time. The Tulsa infrastructure couldn't handle that amount of people needing media services, transportation to and from events and housing. The Tulsa police and ambulance force would be max out beyond beyond. I don't think its a good idea to have this in Oklahoma at this time. Maybe Tulsa and Oklahoma City should begin to work out plans now through 2020 and get things planned out before bidding on something the World will look at. I'm all for it, but now (2020) is not the time. the two major cities and surrounding areas need major work before we can host somthing like the Olympics.

Bunty - we're not against it at all and far from jaelous. As bluedog said, if OKC had done it, we'd be laughing equally. It's a publicity stunt to get exposure for Tulsa, nothing more. The problem we have is with folks like In_Tulsa that are blind to those facts that decide to start rambling off the deep end.

The problem with making a proposal like this is that if people are laughing, i'm not sure that's the kind of publicity they want. There's the view on one hand where people are now talking about Tulsa, so it has it's name out there. On the other hand, if they're talking bad about Tulsa, does that hurt more than the discussion helps?

I think this area might be ready to host the Olympics... in 2032 or 2036 or so. All the improvements and developments that we're making with MAPS are just the first step out of many that would be needed to host something of this magnitude. If Core 2 Shore develops and works out, and we continue to grow and prosper as we're doing now, and Bricktown keeps developing, and we get a real mass transit system going (etc, etc,) then by the time the 2024 Olympics roll around, we might start thinking about putting in a bid for something at that point.

The Olympics in Oklahoma aren't an impossibility. They simply aren't going to happen any time soon. Nobody ever has enough police or ambulances when they put in an Olympic bid. They have to scale up to that.

I was in Tulsa sat night. Downtown was dead other than a few people entering their downtown performance theatre and the BOK Center. Nothing else going on. Cherry St. was okay but Western Ave. has more foot traffic on any given night than Cherry St. did on Sat. night.

No, just laughable....just like it would be if some OKC leaders said the same thing.

Exactly.

I'm just glad our leaders didn't take a swan dive headlong into concrete and go retarded like whoever came up with this idea in T-town. I hate to be a jerk, but way to showcase Oklahoma's intelligence to the nation, Tulsa.:bright_id

I guess OKC will have to do our part to reverse this way of thinking when we represent the state to the entire world with our NBA team. Hell, the Thunder even has fans in other countries (I was surprised to hear.lol)

Tulsa 2020 Olympics, I don't think it will happen.
Tulsa/OKC doesn't have the infrastructure to handle the world coming in for half a month to a full month. We are talking Media from around the world, athletes from around the world, fans from around the world, your general disrupters who think its cool to disrupt major events for tv time. The Tulsa infrastructure couldn't handle that amount of people needing media services, transportation to and from events and housing. The Tulsa police and ambulance force would be max out beyond beyond. I don't think its a good idea to have this in Oklahoma at this time. Maybe Tulsa and Oklahoma City should begin to work out plans now through 2020 and get things planned out before bidding on something the World will look at. I'm all for it, but now (2020) is not the time. the two major cities and surrounding areas need major work before we can host somthing like the Olympics.

I'd have to disagree. If Salt Lake City didn't win the 2000 bid, I'd agree. But the Salt Lake City MSA proper is a smaller metro than the Oklahoma City MSA proper, and certainly smaller than OKC and Tulsa combined. Infrastructure isn't the question, it's the bidding and venues that are at question.

Perhaps OKC and Tulsa combined could host the summer Olympics, but neither city alone has the combined venues available.

But infrastructure-wise? Salt Lake City's airport isn't exactly a major hub, and neither is its public transit. They had to supplant the Olympic crowds after they won the bid, and had less than a decade to get it done. Salt Lake got off lucky because of all of the winter venues available.

okcpulse, the Winter Olympics are a much smaller scale and have fewer nations participating than the Summer Olympics. You're talking apples and oranges.

FYI...
1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta: 197 Nations participating and 10318 athletes
2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City: 77 Nations participating and 2399 athletes
2006 Winter Olympics in Torino, Italy: 80 Nations participating and 2508 athletes
2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing: 204 Nations participating and 11028 athletes

just sayin'...

And unless we grow some magical mountains to ski down, i don't think we'll be holding the winter olympics any time soon...lol.

Exactly, the Winter Olympics are a completely different animal, a much smaller animal.


Also, I was just thinking. I wonder if this is Tulsa's reaction to OKC becoming two of only eight official Olympic training site's in the U.S.? After all, post MAPS, they seem to attempt to copy everything big that comes our way.

Maybe they should bid for a winter Olympics. I think they (or OKC for that matter) would have about the same shot as they have at getting a summer Olympics.

However, I think too much is being made of this. The Tulsans I know are calling this a small group of crackpots, and they are as embarrassed by this whole thing as anybody.

I don't know... we could set up an artificial snow machine on top of the landfill by Crossroads Mall. :)

Looks like the Tulsa crackpots aren't alone, and that the USOC has decided it's time to put a muffle on the nonsense.

Here's a link (http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/olympics_blog/2009/08/usoc-boss-shoots-down-wouldbe-vultures-circling-chicago-bid.html) to an announcement that came out today (via the L.A. Times).

A few telling paragraphs:


The U.S. Olympic Committee took a potshot Monday at the cities circling Chicago's 2016 Olympic bid like vultures.

Stephanie Streeter, the USOC's acting chief executive, issued a "Statement of USOC Commitment to Chicago 2016.''

That was prompted by recent stories, which drew attention on some Olympic news sites, suggesting Tulsa, Okla.; Pittsburgh, Pa.; Minneapolis; Detroit and Birmingham, Ala., are thinking about bids for the 2020 Summer Games. Such putative bids, preposterous at face value (The Tulsa Olympics? Riiight...), would be out of the question if Chicago was selected the 2016 host on Oct. 2.

I worked for the organizing committee of an Olympic-sanctioned event (World Alpine Ski Championships) when I lived in Colorado. Even having one small "section" of an Olympic-caliber event takes a few years of preparation, hundreds of volunteers, an inordinate number of staff hours for sponsorship sales, political handling, USOC handling, coordination of all athletes, coaches, media, etc., not to mention the tourists. The manhours needed to put something even as small as the WASC on is mind-boggling. When you increase that by a hundred fold (Summer Games), you are talking coordination on a scale that very few cities can pull off. It's extrodinary that any of these get done.

Tulsa is no way prepped to handle anything like this, nor would they ever be. Sorry, it's just a fact.

Will be interesting to see how Chicago can handle the summer games. As I recall, Samaranch's closing remarks about Atlanta were less than glowing.

Also, I was just thinking. I wonder if this is Tulsa's reaction to OKC becoming two of only eight official Olympic training site's in the U.S.? After all, post MAPS, they seem to attempt to copy everything big that comes our way.

As if OKC was the first city to built an arena, a downtown baseball stadium, a canal, a new downtown library, and add on to their convention center. Some of you in the OKC seem to think you invented urban renewal. Granted you've come a long way (no one is arguing differently), but there were many before you and many that have come further in revitalizing their downtown. Now what you guys did with the Oklahoma River was brilliant and it is paying big dividends. My point here is that just because Tulsa does something that OKC has done, doesn't mean Tulsa copying OKC. And even if they are, what does it matter, OKC copied stuff from other cities after all.

Can this thread be moved to the Tulsa forum?

Who knows? Maybe in 11 years, Tulsa will be Olympic ready! Its sounds a little far-fetched but again, who knows?

Ture urban. I don't feel like OKC invented some new urban renewal idea....but the way it was done sure was a new concept. I also don't feel like Tulsa copies...it's mostly just the natural path one would take. Now there are some situations like Vision2020 that one has to look at and think...."i wonder where that idea came from". There have been many cities that have to OKC to specifically look at the MAPS idea of doing things. It's a much different concept than typical urban renewal and a debt free way to do it. You just have to convince your citizens that it's a good idea.

Can this thread be moved to the Tulsa forum?

please.....

You hit the nail right on the head bombermwc. MAPS was (is) the novel concept to urban renewal. That's where OKC is especially innovative. And the fact that the city has had so much success keeps the momentum going, which facilitates future MAPS projects, like MAPS 3.

Salt Lake City's airport isn't exactly a major hub.

It's a lot more of a hub than either OKC or Tulsa. They also have a lot more built in toursim with the ski resorts and the mountains in general, which obviously made them a great site for the winter Olympics.

I was just in Salt Lake.... that airport was very much the same size as ours... but way uglier.

I don't think you can consider a winter sports destination a 'hub' however.

I was just in Salt Lake.... that airport was very much the same size as ours... but way uglier.

I don't think you can consider a winter sports destination a 'hub' however.

Your joking right - SLC international has 83 gates and is a Delta hub. It had 9.9 million passengers last year. It isn't the largest in the US but way bigger the WRWA and Tulsa combined. They also 7 non-stops to Paris and 5 non-stops to Tokyo each week.

Your joking right - SLC international has 83 gates and is a Delta hub. It had 9.9 million passengers last year. It isn't the largest in the US but way bigger the WRWA and Tulsa combined. They also 7 non-stops to Paris and 5 non-stops to Tokyo each week.

Wow, that's insane. I had no idea SLC had that much traffic and international destinations. Why do you suppose that is considering their metro population is almost equal to ours? Is it for ski tourism.

Not to go too far off topic, but Wikipedia says Hispanics make up 22% of the population in Salt Lake City, pretty high for an inland state don't you think?

If you fly Delta from OKC to points west you are stopping in SLC. I have spent much time in that airport and it is pretty nice. Perhaps you never got out of the commuter portion of the airport?

Your joking right - SLC international has 83 gates and is a Delta hub. It had 9.9 million passengers last year. It isn't the largest in the US but way bigger the WRWA and Tulsa combined. They also 7 non-stops to Paris and 5 non-stops to Tokyo each week.

Well I wasn't joking but I'm obviously wrong.... sorry.

It just... seriously... didn't seem much bigger.... I stand corrected.

They would be hard pressed to host a national gathering of the Special Olympics, which is where the originators of this idea belong.

What would be funny is if the Olympic committee came to Tulsa for a visit, then offered it to Oklahoma City. I would be laughing til I died on that one. Tulsa might actually secede from the state if that happened.

But seriously, anyone who watched the Beijing Olympics knows how far-fetched this idea is. Parking cruise ships in the waterways? They can't handle traffic in most parts of the city during Christmas, let alone the Olympics.

Tulsa should work on fixing their potholes and bringing quality jobs to the city and lay off whatever they are on.