2004 olympics
 

I was watching the news the other day and they reported that it is going to take about 1 billion dollars to have enough security for the 2004 olympics in Greece(yes, just for security). Are the olympic games worth this? There are so many other things that this money could be used for.
What is your opinion?

I am also appalled at the greek govt.-unfortunately there is a large stray dog population in Greece and b/c the olympics are going to be held there this fall they have decided to do a "quick" clean up. So instead of trying to control this problem over the last several years like they should have been doing they are are going to have a mass poisoning to take care of the strays. This in itself disgusts me but then again ya'll know how much I love animals and despise people. I definitely will boycott the olympics as far as television goes.

Personally, I think Greece is in way over it's head and does not have the finances for the olympics but then again I haven't seen their bottom line.

I think (and have thought for a long time) that the Olympics in general are an appalling waste of money, time and resources. If they got rid of them tomorrow I would be a happy camper.

I am from the mindset that, eys the Olympics are a lot of money, but at the same time, they can help they economy. They bring tourists (meaning they spend, spend, spend) and they can create jobs.
When Toronto was bidding for the 1996 Olympics. The president of an Toronto orgaization called Bread Not Ciruses said that instead of spending money on the Olympics, we should be feeding the homeless. Now my feeling is, why not provide jobs to these homeless people so they can feed themselves, and at the same time learn a new skill so that they can continue to support themselves?

The last good Olympics, IMO, was Barcelona 92. Yeah, it was great seeing us kick the world's ass in Atlanta, but by then they should have renamed it the Preparation H Olympic Games as commerical as it got that year.

I believe it was dubbed The Coca-Cola Games.

Then International Olympic Committee (IOC) president Juan Antonio Samaranch made his displeasure known to the organizers of the Atlanta Olympics during the closing ceremonies. He usually handed out glowing praises to the organizers, but this time, his praise was muted - and people noticed. Between Atlanta in 1996 and Sydney in 2000, the IOC tightened up the rules on marketing, licensing and organizer promotion.

Actually no, they don't help the economy really.

And 33girl, they're important for diplomatic reasons.

-Rudey

Several thoughts and comments:

I now live in the only city/state to ever turn down the Olympics after having been awarded them.

Security is going to be expensive and scary.

Don't know for absolute sure that Rudey is right, but I have never understood how they figure out how much financial benefit something like this is going to bring to a community. My suspicion is that they take a SWAG (Swingin' Wild A$$ Guess). Methinks Rudey may speak the truth.

He is definitely right about one thing -- there are important political reasons to have them. Plus, there's a huge amount of TV prestiege and money involved.

A huge part of the expense is building new infrastructure, which may or may not be of benefit to the community afterwards. Things like the LA Coliseum have certainly paid for themselves, but I don't know about other things. Maybe the games should be played in the same place every time. Build the stadiums, etc. once and move on.

The reason for the games being in Athens this year is that it is some big anniversary (I forget which) of the beginning of the "Olympic Games of the Modern Era." Nice idea, but it appears that the Greek Government is WAY behind on construction, etc. They may well be in over their heads.

Finally, I've worked (televised) some Olympics, and the atmosphere is unlike anything else I've been to. I'd hate to see them go. But, they need to be streamlined somehow so that the expenditure isn't so out of hand.