BREAKING: AP Source: US Olympic Committee ends effort to bring 2024 Olympics to Boston.
— The Associated Press (@AP) July 27, 2015
At a press conference at which he confirmed the decision, Gov. Baker said the state had a review schedule set in March and USOC knew that in March, so, meh. "I've never planned an Olympics before" and wanted to know how to do it right, he said. We can still use some of the Olympics proposals - like fixing "K Circle" in Dorchester, he said. Also, the Brattle Group report will have helpful hints.
Baker wouldn't strongly criticize the USOC but suggested they just don't understand how we do things here. He said he's lived here all his life, and one of the things he likes about Massachusetts is that "we do have loud and robust policy and political debates on stuff like this."
Walsh statement:
I strongly believe that bringing the Olympic Games back to the United States would be good for our country and would have brought long-term benefits to Boston. However, no benefit is so great that it is worth handing over the financial future of our City and our citizens were rightly hesitant to be supportive as a result. We always anticipated having the time to do our due diligence on the guarantees required and a full review of the risk and mitigation package proposed last week. This is a monumental decision that cannot be rushed, even if it means not moving forward with our bid for the 2024 Summer Games.
Excerpt from Boston 2024 statement:
Notwithstanding the promise of the original vision for the bid, and the soundness of the plan developed under Steve Pagliuca, we have not been able to get a majority of the citizens of Boston to support hosting the 2024 Olympic and Paralympic Games. Therefore, the USOC does not think that the level of support enjoyed by Boston’s bid would allow it to prevail over great bids from Paris, Rome, Hamburg, Budapest or Toronto.
Boston 2024 has expressed confidence that, with more time, they could generate the public support necessary to win the bid and deliver a great Games. They also recognize, however, that we are out of time if the USOC is going to be able to consider a bid from another city. As a result, we have reached a mutual agreement to withdraw Boston’s bid to host the 2024 Olympic and Paralympic Games.
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Comments
"No Corruption"?
By APB
Mon, 07/27/2015 - 3:53pm
It was ALL corruption.
As Dan Shaughnessy said, "In my view, there are only two groups of folks that favor bringing the Olympics to Boston: 1. People who stand to profit. 2, Hopelessly naive people."
it's amazing whom I've agreed with lately
By Ron Newman
Tue, 07/28/2015 - 1:10am
Dan Shaughnessy? Howie Carr??
Just goes to show...
By Scratchie
Mon, 07/27/2015 - 4:28pm
Any idiot could see what a bad idea this was. Literally. Any. Idiot.
Even our own MarKK
By jmeltzer
Mon, 07/27/2015 - 4:34pm
thinks it was a bad idea :-)
Of course!
By Markk02474
Mon, 07/27/2015 - 5:01pm
Horse and bicycle riding events and no motorcycle or car racing events in the Olympics.
Hooray Indycar Boston 2016 - we have something to celebrate!
indycar is a huge mistake
By anon
Mon, 07/27/2015 - 11:09pm
not as big of a mistake as the olympics would have been, but it will definitely be something people regret. you seriously want to turn this city into Detroit? This event is usually a move by a city desperate for money, and the neighborhoods who are within 2 miles of the race will HATE IT. I give it one year.
I live in Southie
By relaxyapsycho
Tue, 07/28/2015 - 8:32am
I'm looking forward to it, and I'm not a racing fan.
They will have to fix the potholes
By anon
Wed, 07/29/2015 - 11:36am
Right?
Going to be funny to see all the space savers lining the course.
I KNOW!
By APB
Mon, 07/27/2015 - 4:48pm
n/t
Shank
By moxie
Mon, 07/27/2015 - 4:18pm
We killed Boston2024. And I agree with the Curly Haired Boyfriend on something!
It's a day for the history books
Excuse me, reddit wants
By gotdatwmd
Tue, 07/28/2015 - 5:19pm
Excuse me, reddit wants Boston to become a cultureless intelligencia only community like San Francsico. Its population of college kids and overpaid computer nerds will hold you in high praise for any comment that looks positive.
Oh no!
By anon
Mon, 07/27/2015 - 3:23pm
That was such a click bait bonanza while it lasted. Oh well, there's still bike lanes, southie townies and great white guilt...
We still have space-saver
By anon
Mon, 07/27/2015 - 4:48pm
We still have space-saver outrage. It's a few months away, but I'm looking forward to it.
Last time morons
By Anon
Mon, 07/27/2015 - 6:09pm
Townies are from Charlestown, a small one square mile neighborhood north of the City.
Capital-T Townies, yes.
By anon
Mon, 07/27/2015 - 8:02pm
Capital-T Townies, yes. Lowercase-t townies, neeeewwp! You know the term did not originate with Charlestown and is by no means exclusive to the neighborhood, right? There is a whole big world outside, go introduce yourself to it someday.
He can't. He's a Townie.
By DotDefender
Tue, 07/28/2015 - 4:54am
He can't. He's a Townie.
Hooray!
By PeterGriffith5
Mon, 07/27/2015 - 3:24pm
Hooray!
Sometimes the political process works.
Thanks, Tito J !
By mariac
Mon, 07/27/2015 - 3:33pm
Thanks, Tito J !
If you're going to thank city councilors
By adamg
Mon, 07/27/2015 - 3:41pm
Don't forget Josh Zakim (first to propose ballot questions), Michelle Wu (first to demand fiscal accountability) and Steve Murphy, who brought his usual outrage to the topic.
A pity we'll never learn what Charles Yancey thought about the Olympics.
I don't know about that
By Brian Riccio
Tue, 07/28/2015 - 10:24am
Tito was on Howie Carr (!) yesterday and when our local Klansman radio host mentioned that he wasn't so popular amongst Jackson's constituents, Jackson let it slide and kept mentioning his four opponents. To say I found it off putting would be an understatement.
Thank you, Mr. Doctoroff!
By Cantabrigian
Mon, 07/27/2015 - 3:34pm
Enjoy watching the games in Paris. We wish you the best.
Does anyone know if this
By mariac
Mon, 07/27/2015 - 3:36pm
Does anyone know if this means Franklin Park won't get any beauty salon money?
Can we still get some horses?
By Sally
Mon, 07/27/2015 - 4:23pm
I can still dream about horseback riding in Franklin Park, right? I don't need a Ann Romney-style dressage horse--any old moke will do.
Oh no!
By anon
Mon, 07/27/2015 - 3:36pm
That was such a click bait bonanza while it lasted. Oh well, there's still bike lanes, southie townies and great white guilt...
Got you to click, didn't it?
By Scratchie
Tue, 07/28/2015 - 9:19am
Got you to click, didn't it? Too bad there's nothing else on the internet worth reading or watching.
Now what will happen with all
By Mr. Rull
Mon, 07/27/2015 - 3:36pm
Now what will happen with all those Walsh cronies that jumped ship to 2024?
Maybe I'm the only one but....
By Gary C
Mon, 07/27/2015 - 3:46pm
I'm kinda sad that we're out of the running.
I'm 100% sick of seeing (but never reading) the every-single-day story on the front page about the Olympics. Despite that, it would have been a real kick to have the games here. Would we have lost money? Probably. Would it have been awesome to be the focal point of the world for a couple weeks? Sure.
In the end, I never really thought we'd get it, but I really did like the idea, even if it turned out to be a costly pain.
Kick, Indeed
By APB
Mon, 07/27/2015 - 3:58pm
You can probably get the same kick by writing a check for a few thousand to John Fish and attending a couple of local swim meets.
And parking your car in the
By Scratchie
Mon, 07/27/2015 - 4:52pm
And parking your car in the middle of a major artery for several hours.
I agree
By Waquiot
Mon, 07/27/2015 - 5:22pm
To be honest, my bet is still with Hamburg or Paris, which never changed. Still, we were going to be the representative of the United States, and with what everyone has been saying about the Hudson Yards redevelopment in New York, even losing would have been winning.
The fiscally sound side of me is happy with how things ended up going down. We didn't reject the USOC. They decided not to go with us. If we rejected the bid outright (through a vote or acts of politicians) my feeling is that we would once again be seen as a city where things can't get done. This way, it has been reinforced that we can do things, but we are not willing to break the bank to get it done.
I was looking forward to the pentathlon. And all the infrastructure improvements they were throwing around. Now, without the deadline, I guess we'll see work on Kosciuszko Circle begin in the spring of 2030.
Whoa
By Lanny Budd
Mon, 07/27/2015 - 6:50pm
"we would once again be seen as a city where things can't get done"
How soon we forget that we undertook the largest highway project in US history and completely reconstructed our downtown not too long ago.
Yeah, but
By Waquiot
Mon, 07/27/2015 - 10:18pm
Ask anyone about the Big Dig. Sure, thinking folk can easily see how things got better, but both in Boston and outside, they still gripe. To be fair, the cost overruns were horrible.
As far as downtown development goes, most of us still call in the Filenes Hole.
Of course, the moral of the story of sports development projects in Boston is that we will not front public money. Too bad the rest of the country can't figure that out, but the Krafts learned.
Yes, yes...
By Horseface forme...
Mon, 07/27/2015 - 10:57pm
and at only over budget by a factor of what? Oh, never mind, it was a bargain!
It had to happen...
By PharmaGuy
Mon, 07/27/2015 - 3:54pm
I didn't like the idea from the first moment I heard it. I didn't support it. I still don't. There is a small part of me though that was a little excited at the though that Boston could fix the Olympic mess that has been the case of late. Part of me wanted to be proven wrong, that Boston could provide a plan that made sense for the community and economically. The IOC is just not a reasonable organization. The mayor is 100% right to need to read something before signing it. That's just business 101.
I wonder if Deval Patrick would have made the difference at $7,500 a day?
Don't go cheering Marty so quickly...
By Cutriss
Mon, 07/27/2015 - 5:15pm
Yeah, I just wish he'd have taken that position, oh...months ago?
Marty's just trying to come out looking like a good guy after months and months of sleaziness.
I agree but...
By PharmaGuy
Fri, 07/31/2015 - 1:13pm
I agree that he should have been firmer sooner but what I always tell my children is true here as well, "Now is always the best time to do the right thing." Even past mistakes don't preclude you from doing the right thing right now. Maybe it's all a political calculation or maybe he learned something these past few months. Bash him for what he did before but give him some credit for making a valid point. It's all reasonable.
Well done, adamg!
By makeshift_vicinity
Mon, 07/27/2015 - 4:03pm
UHub was my main source of news about Boston2024's nefarious deeds. It's a big reason (apart from learning how awful the IOC is in general) that I opposed bringing the Olympics to Boston, and the whole affair has gotten me more into local politics.
This feels like a win for the little people! Keep up the good work!
support for universl hub
By briannefitz@gma...
Mon, 07/27/2015 - 7:59pm
So let's put our money where our mouth is and support Universal Hub as the only legitimate source of unbiased news in this city. DONATE today!
Great idea
By Bob Leponge
Mon, 07/27/2015 - 9:58pm
Just ponied up again.
A major win for the left.
By anon
Mon, 07/27/2015 - 4:14pm
A major win for the left. Adam and Co. will rest well tonight.
The "left"?
By Michael Kerpan
Mon, 07/27/2015 - 4:54pm
You don't think plenty of politically conservative Bostonians were also troubled by the alleged Olympics plans.
Don't forget about the moderates
By Nancy
Mon, 07/27/2015 - 5:02pm
I sometimes joke about how I'm the rarest of rare birds in Massachusetts - an unenrolled, moderate issues voter.
I vote for Democrats, Republicans, Libertarians, Unenrolleds. It doesn't matter what letter they have next to their names.
I think sensible people...
By Michael Kerpan
Mon, 07/27/2015 - 5:04pm
... across the entire political spectrum were massively "unenethused" by the would-be-Boston Olympics.
I have never seen anything
By RhoninFire
Mon, 07/27/2015 - 5:12pm
I have never seen anything before on UHub that have raised such a collective. A topic that generated 100+ comments, but people from all range from Markkk to Swirrly express dissent. All types of views.
I might be closest to "support" here - comparatively, as in I recognizes that I would have like to been proven wrong and we get tons of things fixed with Boston getting oodles of money. I'm okay if we were "defeated" like that.
Regardless, this was from all spectrum.
Yes
By chaosjake
Mon, 07/27/2015 - 7:01pm
All the fiscal conservatives on the "left" won. *massive eye roll* ...this may be the least partisan issue in Boston history.
Almost
By Michael Kerpan
Mon, 07/27/2015 - 8:26pm
> least partisan issue in Boston history.
Celebrating the Red Sox winning the World Series in 2004 might edge this out...
I think he said blessed are
By h00ks
Mon, 07/27/2015 - 11:42pm
I think he said blessed are the big noses
All righty then
By lbb
Mon, 07/27/2015 - 4:17pm
Over, done, the world is improved by one less irrelevant distraction for people to foam at the mouth about.
Interesting Logic
By Stevil
Mon, 07/27/2015 - 4:18pm
Basically the primary argument was - don't saddle us with a bill and many of us would actually consider the Olympics. So instead of the USOC coming out and saying "We are so confident you won't get hit with a big overrun, we'll (somehow) guarantee it - safe in the knowledge that such an occurrence would never have come to pass".
So the mayor calls their bluff and says - we won't sign anything that commits us to overruns and mortgage our future - a few hours later they kick Boston to the curb because they know how this really works.
That should be a warning to you LA - Coliseum and facilities notwithstanding.
LA didn't sign such a commitment in 1984
By Ron Newman
Mon, 07/27/2015 - 4:24pm
In fact, they passed a referendum prohibiting such a commitment.
Hope the remember that
By Stevil
Mon, 07/27/2015 - 5:41pm
And do it again.
Very different era
By tachometer
Tue, 07/28/2015 - 7:58am
It was still the cold war and after the US boycott of the Moscow Olympics over the invasion of Afghanistan (which pretty much led to the Soviet and eastern bloc nations boycotting the games in LA). Leading up to the 1984 games the losses in Montreal and the low interest from other cities gave LA some leverage. They used mostly existing facilities, didn't have to guarantee to cover the losses and were given a much bigger cut of the television revenue.
The political winds are shifting again and the USOC & IOC seem to be acknowledging that a bit in what they are looking for in bids but they are not ready to put their money where their mouth is just yet.
Yay, because the Big Dig went so well
By Markk02474
Mon, 07/27/2015 - 4:22pm
staying on promised budget and didn't leak that we would need to do it again with more big projects!
Yeah, and we need T unions to have us over a barrel demanding more workers, pay, benefits, and retirement with the Olympics as leverage because people getting to work every day isn't leverage enough.
Remember Rio. IOC is rightly nervous about it. How things go or fail will impact future bids.
Nervous about Tokyo, too
By Ron Newman
Mon, 07/27/2015 - 4:35pm
as they just scrubbed their entire plan for a new stadium -- after already demolishing the previous stadium that they could have renovated for the purpose.
Hooray hooray hooray!!!
By Ami
Mon, 07/27/2015 - 5:17pm
I've just returned from 10 days completely off the grid and this was the first news alert on my phone. Best news I could wish to turn on phone for! Special thanks to all who kept asking questions and especially to Adam and others for ensuring coverage wasn't all Shirley's voice. We are a world class city - today more than ever!
WOOOOOO!!!!!!!
By Marco
Mon, 07/27/2015 - 5:24pm
Praise be to Jebus! Admiral Ackbar! Happy Quanza!
Whatever! No cluster-bang 2024! This is a huge victory for public opinion!
It must be some kind of milestone that a people's government did NOT sell out their future for personal monetary gain! I am still proud to live in Massachusetts!!
Boycott
By Anon
Mon, 07/27/2015 - 5:38pm
I'm still not going to patronize all the restaurants, bars and businesses who were foolish enough to post the Boston 2024 Olympic signs in their windows.
Now that is just silly.
By nm_not signed in
Mon, 07/27/2015 - 8:26pm
n/t
Not A Witch Hunt, but
By John Costello
Mon, 07/27/2015 - 9:34pm
I only saw Amrehin's and Mul's with signs for B24. Where else? I like those places but I was a wee jaded when I saw the signs.
reminds me if another failed campaign...or two
By anon
Mon, 07/27/2015 - 8:06pm
I was thinking about it and realized the whole Boston 2024 campaign had an air similar to both of Coakley's failed campaigns - a perceived attitude of entitlement, that they could tell the public what to think/believe and we would just accept it because of the clout of those who were telling us these things. It's certainly not the same but I can see parallels, for sure.
Bloated meat pie with hair chimes in, if only briefly
By adamg
Mon, 07/27/2015 - 8:07pm
Before deleting the tweet (but not before the savvy saved it):
Waisted...
By Michael Kerpan
Mon, 07/27/2015 - 8:28pm
... for real?
WAISTED A LOT OF TIME!!!!!!!
By Malcolm Tucker
Mon, 07/27/2015 - 8:30pm
Oh my god, Trump. Oh my GOD. On the one hand: literally the funniest thing ever to happen to the Republican party. On the other hand: if he ever shows up in Boston, I will personally re-enact a variation on the tea party, and dump (lukewarm) tea on his awful, awful hair.
Except it isn't funny
By Brian Riccio
Mon, 07/27/2015 - 9:38pm
The mere fact that this egotistical blowhard is taken seriously by a great many of the American people is not only sad and pathetic, but it's a sign the idiocracy is now.
The GOP has literally become the clown car of the political process.
As opposed to...
By Stevil
Mon, 07/27/2015 - 10:54pm
The paddywagon of the political process where Hillary may end up?
(don't get me wrong - Trump is a blowhard and he will disappear from the scene after he gets embarrassed in a debate or two).
Just saying - The dems have a (potential) felon and a communist leading their pack (and sadly nobody has even heard about the two moderate mid-Atlantic Dems that many would like to learn more about).
A wha??
By Sally
Tue, 07/28/2015 - 12:28am
Communist? Socialist, please. I mean, if you're going to grease the slope like that why not just Stalinofascist-crypto-Nazi?
Stevil had to change the subject
By Anonymous
Tue, 07/28/2015 - 4:35am
Stevil had to change the subject because Trump is the most popular candidate in the Republican primary in a field of 16? candidates including Governors, Senators, neurosurgeons and CEOS. So Stevil called Democratic candidates-- Hillary and Bernie-- names.
What does Donald Trump's popularity among the Republican base say about the Republican base?
What does Stevil's deflection says about Stevil?
Says I'm a moderate that hates partisans
By Stevil
Tue, 07/28/2015 - 7:32am
Listen - Trump is a laughing stock - but don't get carried away - the "most popular candidate" is polling at 18% last I read. That means 82% don't support him. And that's less than half the population - so he has the "support" of about 7-9% of the people (and the analysis points to it being more of a protest vote than actual support - at a time when it is still irrelevant). There are an equal number of numnutzes on the left - for example the Bernie supporters. It takes two sides to have a lunatic fringe on each end of a bell curve. Neither Trump nor Bernie will be more than a footnote come next November.
As for me - you don't have to speculate - I hate it when one party controls everything. We need a Democrat in the White House to keep the partisans in check. I won't vote for Bernie. I was planning to vote for Hillary (reluctantly because I don't want a Bush or a Clinton). She's VERY competent - but this email thing seems to indicate she's above the law - and while I doubt it because the Clintons are Teflon, the paddywagon may still come for her - and she may deserve it - we'll see. I like what I see from Jim Webb. And Martin O'Malley deserves a look. If you are a true Democrat - I'd look too - because both of them seem to be quite electable - without the baggage.
The comment wasn't pro-anything - the point was that there's a circus to be had on both sides. (and Sally - sorry - left my snark button on off). Back to our regularly scheduled programming.
Hold on...
By Brian Riccio
Tue, 07/28/2015 - 7:50am
You really think they'll be able to nail Hillary over a few e-mails? Benghazi has been a non starter for the GOP, yet they keep hanging on to it like abortion and gay marriage. Why? They like to fund raise off of the hate and fear.
I'm not 100% thrilled with Hillary either, but she's the best of a very bad lot. I like Sanders' populist message, but he'll never get the nom.
Could be more than a few
By Stevil
Tue, 07/28/2015 - 8:28am
Without question she broke policy. We'll have to wait and see if she broke the law.
Best of a bad lot? Perhaps - my concern is O'Malley and Webb have excellent resumes - but I never hear their names mentioned so I don't know anything about them. I'll have to go to their websites and do some reading.
I'll probably have to hold my nose and vote for Hillary too because I don't want the Republicans to run amok unchecked. They do a good enough job of that with a Democrat in the White House.
There are checks and balances in the Constitution for a reason. They work. Voters would do well to remember that no matter what office you are voting for.
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