# Stop Giving Major Sporting Events to AWful or Incapable Countries **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [February 4, 2014, 5:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stop-giving-major-sporting-events-to-awful-or-incapable-countries/680497 "2014-02-04T17:35:54Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2014, 11:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stop-giving-major-sporting-events-to-awful-or-incapable-countries/680497/21 "2014-02-04T23:00:35Z")
> [@Princhester](#): > > There is fear and jibbering about how every Olympic Games held is going to be a farce, and then it all turns out OK. Partly (and at this point in the cycle) it’s because a huge media army turns up a few days before the games and they have to file stories, and there are no stories yet. So they find things to whine about. This. I guess everyone already forgot the year of “OMG London Olympics are going to be a mess” stories. ---
**Author:** ![mhendo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mhendo/32/3159_2.png) [@mhendo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mhendo)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2014, 11:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stop-giving-major-sporting-events-to-awful-or-incapable-countries/680497/22 "2014-02-04T23:27:14Z")
> [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](#): > > Hosting the Olympics benefits nobody but the politicians of the host countries/cities. It’s a massive subsidized ego trip. It’s definitely a subsidized ego trip, but it’s more than politicians who benefit. Construction companies, advertising agencies, television netwroks, and other corporations who can suck at the teat can make a killing, as can people who own tourism- and travel-related businesses in and around the host city. It’s public subsidies for private profit. As for the issue of safety, the last Olympics i recall connected with a terrorist incident was in the United States. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2014, 11:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stop-giving-major-sporting-events-to-awful-or-incapable-countries/680497/23 "2014-02-04T23:31:00Z")
> [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](#): > > This. I guess everyone already forgot the year of “OMG London Olympics are going to be a mess” stories. Except usually things aren’t so much of a mess this close to the opening ceremonies. ---
**Author:** ![Gangster\_Octopus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a8b319/32.png) [@Gangster\_Octopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gangster_Octopus)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2014, 11:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stop-giving-major-sporting-events-to-awful-or-incapable-countries/680497/24 "2014-02-04T23:32:28Z")
> [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](#): > > This. I guess everyone already forgot the year of “OMG London Olympics are going to be a mess” stories. Except we are literally days away and they are not done with the hotels, the cultural center, the bathrooms literally have two commodes right next to each other (no wall), the plumbing cannot handle flushing toilet paper down it and the player accommodations are similar to a prison cell. ---
**Author:** ![DeptfordX](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e68b1a/32.png) [@DeptfordX](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DeptfordX)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2014, 11:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stop-giving-major-sporting-events-to-awful-or-incapable-countries/680497/25 "2014-02-04T23:54:18Z")
> [@Claverhouse](#): > > Well, I didn’t say I _liked_ Greeks. > > Nah, they’re fine. Still, considering how badly they are doing, I think the richer countries could do more stuff to help them. If only to stop them blaming the Germans, which is _so_ 1940s. > I am more than aware than those people who bankrolled it wasted government money at the same time as they cut welfare and infrastructure. It’s just that the latest bidders I recently heard promised to do the next one for about $4 billion, whereas our lot being smug boastful blowhards insisted on splurging £11 billion for pride. > > . Remember the original bid quoted for London was 2.5 Billion. Bids are always massively lowballed to get the bid accepted, after that it’s massive cost overruns all the way. ---
**Author:** ![DeptfordX](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e68b1a/32.png) [@DeptfordX](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DeptfordX)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2014, 12:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stop-giving-major-sporting-events-to-awful-or-incapable-countries/680497/26 "2014-02-05T00:03:31Z")
Oh and Sochi, costing $50 billion apparently due to massive corruption. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2014, 12:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stop-giving-major-sporting-events-to-awful-or-incapable-countries/680497/27 "2014-02-05T00:11:54Z")
During one of the Olympic Games, I heard an interesting idea. They docked several large cruise ships at a port near the events. The newest, biggest ships have the equivalent of 2,000-5,000 hotel rooms (along with dining facilities and so forth). So rather than building hotels that aren’t going to be needed after the Games are over, they just use the cruise ships. This seemed a clever thing to do. I wonder if they could also locate some of the venues on a large ship or barge, and then move it as needed. One problem with the Olympics is the wide variety of sporting facilities that are needed but aren’t needed later. (The Brits designed some of the arenas so they could be disassembled and moved after, and others were disassembled and recycled. That’s better than letting the venues rot, which is, I gather, what’s happened in some of these cities.) ---
**Author:** ![JohnT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnt/32/15048_2.png) [@JohnT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnT)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2014, 1:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stop-giving-major-sporting-events-to-awful-or-incapable-countries/680497/28 "2014-02-05T01:21:36Z")
People always bitch about the Atlanta games, but fuck y’all, we made a profit. A small one, but still a profit. 😛 ---
**Author:** ![Princhester](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/3e96dc/32.png) [@Princhester](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Princhester)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2014, 1:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stop-giving-major-sporting-events-to-awful-or-incapable-countries/680497/29 "2014-02-05T01:24:13Z")
> [@Gangster\_Octopus](#): > > Except we are literally days away and they are not done with the hotels, the cultural center, the bathrooms literally have two commodes right next to each other (no wall), the plumbing cannot handle flushing toilet paper down it and the player accommodations are similar to a prison cell. Maybe. Or there are a few isolated instances of this which the media scrum are screeching about because it’s the only story they can think of to file, and it is a story which - with appropriate massaging and exaggeration - they can turn it into something their editors won’t turn up their noses at. ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_Whisperer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cat_whisperer/32/4839_2.png) [@Cat\_Whisperer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Whisperer)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2014, 2:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stop-giving-major-sporting-events-to-awful-or-incapable-countries/680497/30 "2014-02-05T02:18:36Z")
> [@kambuckta](#): > > I\ > I think the Olympics in their current form are just a money-grabbing waste of everybody’s time and energy and money. The whole notion of **bidding for the rights** to host them, right through to the funneling of taxpayer’s dollars into building essentially wasteful and superfluous arenas and accommodations. It lines the pockets of politicians, Olympic committee members and major construction companies, and does little for the average resident Joe of that city except cause a huge headache getting around. \ Agreed. If Canada never hosts the Olympics again, I’d be fine with that. Let some other country have the cost and the hassle. > [@madmonk28](#): > > Any time a city is announced to host the Olympics I think “so they paid the most bribes and had the best drugs for the evaluation committee, good for them.” Yup. Isn’t the IOC the most corrupt institution in the world (giving Russian politics a run for its money)? And, in closing, my favourite quote from the Deadspin article: > [@](#): > > Have fun at the terrorist games Sochi, and make sure you round up all the fags. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2014, 2:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stop-giving-major-sporting-events-to-awful-or-incapable-countries/680497/31 "2014-02-05T02:55:48Z")
Interesting story on NBC News this evening about the Russian hackers having a field day with people showing up with their iPhones and laptops. The correspondent had someone create a fake identity for him with fake contacts and the whole works. They took two brand new iPads to Sochi, took them out of the boxes, turned them on and entered the personal information. Within minutes, they had both been hacked and the computers hijacked. Nice place. ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2014, 6:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stop-giving-major-sporting-events-to-awful-or-incapable-countries/680497/32 "2014-02-05T06:51:24Z")
> [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](#): > > World Cups are even worse because the only real infrastructure developments are to the stadiums themselves. At least Olympic cities get expanded public transport and such. That’s not true. The South African 2010 WC also led to [improved public transport](http://www.capetown.gov.za/EN/GREENGOAL/Pages/TransportmobilityandaccessNew.aspx)and some [nice parks and such](http://www.planetizen.com/node/44124). Although in pure economics terms it’s not profitable, _nobody_ I’ve personally encountered here regrets us hosting it. ---
**Author:** ![the\_diego](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7bcc69/32.png) [@the\_diego](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/the_diego)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2014, 7:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stop-giving-major-sporting-events-to-awful-or-incapable-countries/680497/33 "2014-02-05T07:50:51Z")
Such a relative definition. How many countries can stop planes from entering one’s window, or even just a pressure cooker bomb from going off? ---
**Author:** ![Grumman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/43a26b/32.png) [@Grumman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grumman)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2014, 8:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stop-giving-major-sporting-events-to-awful-or-incapable-countries/680497/34 "2014-02-05T08:07:13Z")
> [@Cat\_Whisperer](#): > > Yup. Isn’t the IOC the most corrupt institution in the world (giving Russian politics a run for its money)? Basically. I despise the politicians who sell their constituents’ rights to these fuckers. ---
**Author:** ![Justin\_Bailey](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/justin_bailey/32/8792_2.png) [@Justin\_Bailey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Justin_Bailey)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2014, 8:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stop-giving-major-sporting-events-to-awful-or-incapable-countries/680497/35 "2014-02-05T08:17:37Z")
> [@mhendo](#): > > As for the issue of safety, the last Olympics i recall connected with a terrorist incident was in the United States. You mean the one with an actual terrorist attack? ---
**Author:** ![Chimera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/8e8cbc/32.png) [@Chimera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chimera)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2014, 2:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stop-giving-major-sporting-events-to-awful-or-incapable-countries/680497/36 "2014-02-05T14:14:54Z")
My feeling is that we should have a single Summer Olympics spot (preferably in Greece, since that’s where the games originated) and a single Winter Olympics spot (I dunno, Finland? Canada?) and be done with it. Either that or we say fuck it and have the next Winter Olympics in Zimbabwe. ---
**Author:** ![madmonk28](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/madmonk28/32/20811_2.png) [@madmonk28](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/madmonk28)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2014, 2:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stop-giving-major-sporting-events-to-awful-or-incapable-countries/680497/37 "2014-02-05T14:39:52Z")
The Olympics is pretty dirty all around. I assume anyone who wins a medal is doping, and I assume any city that wins the rights to host it paid bribes. They’re just a big sleazy mess, the Sochi games are no different. ---
**Author:** ![watchwolf49](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e9c0ed/32.png) [@watchwolf49](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/watchwolf49)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2014, 3:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stop-giving-major-sporting-events-to-awful-or-incapable-countries/680497/38 "2014-02-05T15:14:10Z")
> [@Chimera](#): > > My feeling is that we should have a single Summer Olympics spot (preferably in Greece, since that’s where the games originated) and a single Winter Olympics spot (I dunno, Finland? Canada?) and be done with it. Funny … that’s exactly what my dad said after the Munich Olympics. ---
**Author:** ![Great\_Antibob](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e47c2d/32.png) [@Great\_Antibob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Great_Antibob)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2014, 3:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stop-giving-major-sporting-events-to-awful-or-incapable-countries/680497/39 "2014-02-05T15:21:57Z")
> [@Princhester](#): > > Maybe. Or there are a few isolated instances of this which the media scrum are screeching about A few isolated instances of entire hotels (not just for the media but also for athletes) not being completed? Um…ok. Maybe some things are being blown out of proportion, but to my mind, media sensationalism is hardly necessary when buildings meant for imminent human habitation are not complete. ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2014, 4:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stop-giving-major-sporting-events-to-awful-or-incapable-countries/680497/40 "2014-02-05T16:33:08Z")
I wonder what will be the biggest disaster of these games: the rampant hacking/id theft, the terrorism, or the total lack of facilities? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stop-giving-major-sporting-events-to-awful-or-incapable-countries/680497.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stop-giving-major-sporting-events-to-awful-or-incapable-countries/680497.md?page=3)