Bringing a closed topic from 2004 back to life: Summer Olympics OKC 2024

[OKCMallen]

Helsinki is the capital city of an entire country. I mean, that alone distinguishes it from OKC, not to mention Kerry's very corect point made above.

[namellac]

Something that would be even more do-able:

EXPN.com - Global X Games I

How many participants in the X-Games are Okies?

Vert skate ramps in the Cox.
Dirt in the Ford.

Or has this been done already?

[OKCMallen]

Something that would be even more do-able:

EXPN.com - Global X Games I

How many participants in the X-Games are Okies?

Vert skate ramps in the Cox.
Dirt in the Ford.

Or has this been done already?

NOW we're talking!

[Luke]

While Helsinki may be the capital of a whole nation, the state of Oklahoma has more sovereign national capitals or headquarters within its borders than any other state.

From travelok.com

More American Indian tribes are headquartered in Oklahoma than any other state and 39 of those are federally recognized nations

That counts for something.

[OKCMallen]

Man, it just doesn't count for anything for the Olympics. I'm sorry, but I really disagree with you on this one.

[Patrick]

Wow...

The thread four years ago was much more optimistic than this thread.

Don't get me wrong, folks. Is it plausible? No. Is it possible? Of course!

Shows you how much this message board has changed in the past 4 years. Just a different group of folks now. There's nothing wrong with that, just stating the obvious. Back when all this started we had a lot of dreamers on here with big ideas. A few of those have actually come into fruition. I remember back in the 1990's, people thought myself and others at the time were crazy for suggesting riverboat rides on the river. And I remember people telling Rob Anderson and myself that a major league team in OKC was never going to happen. But, seems as if some of the dreamers are gone now. But, that's life. There are always going to be naysayers out there.

[Luke]

Shows you how much this message board has changed in the past 4 years. Just a different group of folks now. There's nothing wrong with that, just stating the obvious. Back when all this started we had a lot of dreamers on here with big ideas. A few of those have actually come into fruition. I remember back in the 1990's, people thought myself and others at the time were crazy for suggesting riverboat rides on the river. But, seems as if some of the dreamers are gone now. But, that's life.

Agreed, Patrick.

However, that won't stop me from dreaming.



I have another idea I might float out here.

I'd actually need to have volunteers to help me out with this one though...

I'll post a new thread soon with the details.

[hipsterdoofus]

Chicago is doing what debt free? They haven't won a bid yet. Anyway, if they were to do it "debt free" I suppose they'd up their taxes again? What is it, 10% now?

Anyways, I thought it interesting that a lot of the swimming qualifiers were in Omaha of all places - that sounds like something we could aim for. The rowing stuff is ok, but swimming and diving would probably draw a large crowd.

[JWil]

Uh, there are plenty of dreamers on here, but to believe that OKC is ever going to have a shot when America could put up half a dozen other cities before it is just laughable.

[okcustu]

doesnt the USOC only let obne US city put in a bid

[JWil]

Yes. The USOC has a mini round to nominate a US city for the games.

[chuckdiesel]

The olympics are boring anyway. Who cares about ribbon dancing and curling? I'd rather recruit an NFL expansion team. It's a smaller pipe dream.

[JWil]

Don't be dissin' curling dude...

[OKCMallen]

Shows you how much this message board has changed in the past 4 years. Just a different group of folks now. There's nothing wrong with that, just stating the obvious. Back when all this started we had a lot of dreamers on here with big ideas. A few of those have actually come into fruition. I remember back in the 1990's, people thought myself and others at the time were crazy for suggesting riverboat rides on the river. And I remember people telling Rob Anderson and myself that a major league team in OKC was never going to happen. But, seems as if some of the dreamers are gone now. But, that's life. There are always going to be naysayers out there.

Putting boats on a river and having a economic resurgence is far-removed from hosting an Olympics. I don't think we're non-dreaming naysayers; I don't think you guys have a good grasp on what it takes to be an Olympic host city.

[CuatrodeMayo]

Shows you how much this message board has changed in the past 4 years. Just a different group of folks now. There's nothing wrong with that, just stating the obvious. Back when all this started we had a lot of dreamers on here with big ideas.

Like the "Heartland Castle"...lol.

[Chicken In The Rough]

I love to dream. But that's all this is. OKC is lacking nearly everything sought by the Olympic Committee. We do not have extensive (or any) international flights. We don't have a subway or other effective method of mass transit. We don't have the abundance of hotel rooms. We are lacking in facilities for the media. Etc.

I would love to see OKC go agressively after the Pan American games, NCAA championships, and other more attainable sports events. These will help OKC build and fill the facilities needed for bigger events later.

For example, Rio is hoping its hosting of the 2014 World Cup will allow it to transition into the Olympics in 2016 more seemlessly. The costs of many of their facilities can be shared by both events.

By the way, Toronto hasn't a prayer at the Olympics. I recently left Toronto after having lived there over a year. First, it is a rat hole. It does not deserve its glowing reputation. Second, the politics in that city are astounding. The Police Department ransoms The Transit Commission. The Housing Authority Threatens closures in attempts to rob money from other agencies. The entire city is running ENORMOUS deficits and as dangerously close to bankruptcy (remember New York in the 70s & 80s?).

Toronto also has a growing crime problem; they are cutting back their library budgets; and they are defering road projects. In a nutshell, they'll never get fiscal their act together for any Olympics in the next 24 years. Even if the miraculous were to happen, their political bickering will doom their attempted bid.

[chuckdiesel]

How about just trying to host a bowl game? Maybe for the winner or 2nd place team from C-USA, that would give Tulsa U a good place to play at the end of the season. Plus it gives the city some good exposure once a year. I think it would be cool, JMHO.
Memphis, Boise, Shreveport all have annual bowl games, no reason OKC couldn't have one.

[venture]

Bowl Game would be cool...but where?

OU would be the easiest choice, but not sure how well that would go over. The other option, I guess, would be to use the Brick downtown and just configure the grounds for football and add in some stands.

NCCA Regional/Finals, a new (cause we don't have enough LOL) bowl game, and other sporting events like that would be nice step up events. Then we can look at a NBA All Star game down the road (about 10 years away) and larger sporting events.

[jbrown84]

I think we should try for things like the Final Four, the Global X-Games (or just the X-Games for that matter), and more Olympic Trials. I think we are well on our way towards all of these in the near future.

[OKCDrummer77]

The NCAA wants the Final Four venue to have a capacity of at least 40,000. We don't have anything close to that. We've had the first and second rounds before. We could host the Sweet Sixteen/Elite Eight rounds, though. Then, those games and the first- and second-round games that feed into it would be called the "Oklahoma City Region."

[ssandedoc]

I think it's too much wishful thinking. How can we have an Olympics when we haven't even hosted a Super Bowl, Democratic/Republican Convention, or something on those levels. Let's dream for an Olympics, but realistically we need to be able to handle the other stuff first. Maybe in 50 years we might be in a position to do something, but I don't know.

I think the nearest city to be able to host the Olympics is Dallas - but they lack a subway system. I think it would be cool for OKC to have an Olympics, but it isn't reasonable for right now. Besides, do you want OKC to be ten to twenty times larger than it is now? Can you imagine the amount of traffic and constant construction we would face?

The steady growth OKC is experiencing now is leading us to bigger things, but not that big. My bet is for Chicago or New York to snag the next Olympics for America.

[jbrown84]

Yeah the political conventions too. That's a big one.

[Patrick]

Like the "Heartland Castle"...lol.

Exactly.

[okcustu]

the other thats hurting us is past failures Atlanta was over commercialized over crowded bus and subway, lack of security (causing 2? deaths). Athens went very overburget, was famously late, and had transportation issue. Plus the IOC is trying make the smaller trying to favor cities that reuse venues and those who done have do massive infastructure improvements to host