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Keith Strudler: Boston 2024

It has been quite a week for Boston sports. Technically, they lost twice. First, as pretty much everyone with a pulse has heard, the NFL upheld Tom Brady’s four-game suspension for his role in Deflate-gate. That process will now head to court in a case that will remind us just how screwed up our country is. Second, Boston also lost their bid proposal for the 2024 Summer Olympic Games, which was disbanded early this week by the USOC. The city was the American nominee to go forward through the IOC bid process against Paris, Rome, and a handful of other hopefuls, using that term both loosely and perhaps ironically. What the majority of the citizens of Boston hoped for, and this week actually got, was to not host the Olympic Games, a reality that had largely been underestimated when this ill-fated plan was put into motion.

The USOC decided, and rightfully, it couldn’t successfully sell a bid with no guarantee of public support, a fate borne out through progressively more dire opinion polls of Boston residents. Where nearly half of Bostonians supported the idea at its genesis some many months ago, the city would be hard pressed to find a third who wanted to press-on. This led Boston mayor Martin Walsh to essentially pull his support from the bid this week, a move that came in remarkable synchronicity with the USOC’s decision. In the true political tradition, Walsh knew when to jump ship and completely disregard his past opinions.  While he may not host the Olympics, Walsh could certainly run for president.

In its stead, the US Olympic movement is considering another courtship with the city of Los Angeles, which seems all too eager to jump into harm’s way, so to speak. Of course, LA has a storied history with the Summer Olympic Games, essentially saving the movement entirely in 1984 when it hosted the world’s first corporate Games, when the movement went from money pit to unique investment opportunity. If history is to repeat itself, LA would like to again change the fiscal health of this global sporting festival, one whose costs have escalated more quickly than Usain Bolt.

This, of course, is one primary reason that Boston returned its hard earned American bid. Its residents grew leery of cost certainty and private financing, even as the organizing committee assured its solvency. No promise could rival the $50 billion price paid by Sochi for the recent Winter Games, and nothing could convince citizens the city could seamlessly handle the massive influx of fans and security, especially since it could barely handle the snowstorms of last winter. Boston has sent a warning shot, both to the USOC and the global sporting community, that the Olympics may no longer be welcome here. Whether Los Angeles can change that narrative is yet to be seen. But it’s clear that the event once seemingly owned and operated by the United States is now more than simply a prodigal son. It seems mom and dad may have actually changed the locks.

So what does this mean for the future of the Olympic Games? And the future of America? Well, for starters, it’s clear that the US is no longer the willing ex always happy to rekindle a steamy romance. In fact, after being spited the past two proms, or Olympic bid cycles, if you will – first New York’s bid for 2012, then Chicago’s loss in the last Olympic go round – we’re more of a jilted lover. Regardless of Los Angeles’ intentions, it might take a lot of counseling to get this relationship back on track. The IOC, perhaps unhappy with the American ethos, bet several years back on a global economy. So far, the grass hasn’t always been greener, especially if green grass comes with completed stadiums and marginal human rights.

Which brings us to the state of the Olympic Games.  What does it mean if the only places that still want this monstrosity are dictatorships? Places where people can’t vote it out. What if it’s only Russia, or China, or places that seem like made up countries from James Bond films? Places where the general public can’t say no to massive debt. What if the Olympic Games become a vanity project – great for TV, but not in my back yard? It sounds ludicrous, but just look at who’s left in bidding for the next Winter Games – China, and some country I’ve barely heard of.

Yes, it’s been quite a run recently for the Olympic movement. And it’s been quite a week, if you will, for the city of Boston.

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