One of my first assignments in the spring of 2000 upon returning to writing after seven years as an assistant sports editor was to cover the Houston 2012 Olympics bid. It was hardly the worst assignment I’ve had, if for no other reason that I was able to take a couple of trips to the other three cities that were finalists for the U.S. bid designation: San Francisco, Washington, D.C., and the eventual winner, New York.
Now that the statute of limitations has theoretically expired, I can acknowledge that it was not critical to my reporting that I drive to Napa just so I could tour the proposed mountain biking course on the Domaine Chandon winery property. But, boy, that was a pleasant day. Of course, I also took a walk around the abandoned Daily News printing plant in Long Island City, across the river from Manhattan, that was going to be the site of the Olympic Village had New York gotten the Games, so my sightseeing wasn’t completely recreational. I was trying to do my job.
It’s hard to believe that 10 years have passed and that the aforementioned 2012 Olympics are upon us. Sunday’s story on that topic was half reminiscing and half updates on Houston’s future as a location for international events ranging from World Cups to world championships for individual sports, so I didn’t get into the details of why Houston didn’t get the nod. But I presume, as some of the comments note, that transportation and weather and image had a lot to do with it. And, as I did note, the International Olympic Committee wasn’t going to approve a U.S. city under any circumstances because of the nature of Olympic politics.
I am a little surprised at the vituperative nature of some of the comments. Yes, there would have been venue construction costs associated with the Olympics, but far less than those associated with other cities. Yes, the Olympics are expensive. Montreal, as has been documented, is probably still paying off the 1976 Games. The Australian government is still trying to boost commercial and residential development around Homebush Bay, the area that encompassed Sydney Olympic Park. And, yes, I was in Athens in 2004, and I have often pondered the degree to which the billions of dollars that the Greeks poured into infrastructure and stadiums and a new airport and subway lines ended up being the foundation of the country’s ongoing financial problems. Houston would have had to spend money, too, but at least maybe we would have gotten a decent light rail system and a renovated Astrodome out of the deal. And, trust me, the Olympic Games is absolutely the greatest show on earth. I was able to go to six — three summer, three winter — and there were among the greatest times of my life, hot weather and lousy cab drivers in Beijing and figure skating judging scandals in Salt Lake City notwithstanding.
I considered doing a story on what the other three finalists have done in terms of sports development since 2002 but passed. San Francisco is still trying to figure out what to do with Moffett Field, the former naval air station that would have housed SF’s Olympic Village. Washington still has RFK Stadium, whose only current tenant is DC United. New York is actually putting into place part of its expansive real estate redevelopment plan that called for decking over the Hudson Yards train yard on the west side of Manhattan and extending the Number 7 subway line to the Port Authority Bus Terminal and beyond. So even when cities bid for the Olympics and don’t win, sometimes it can lead to improvements in the private and public sectors. A group at NYU, in fact, has written a paper on how New York actually got the benefits of the Olympics without getting the Olympics.
At any rate, the 2012 bid chase was a fun time, even though Houston did not prevail. Can you imagine, though, the stories that would already be flying out of here this week were the Olympics about to start next Friday? We’d be catching Noah’s Ark-style flooding stories from around the world. And when the mosquitoes started moving in once the rain stops — well, I can only imagine the piteous bleats of bitten journalists. So I do not necessarily mourn the absence of the the 2012 Houston Olympics. I am interested to see, however, if the city-county sports authority can attract some more events here of the national or international variety. Given the investment in stadiums and arenas, it would be nice to see them put to full use.
