Games of Some Olympiad

[x10003q]

No thank you.
ORDA has already proved to be a gigantic money sucking boondoggle. Besides, ORDA, NYC, NYS do not have the spare funds needed to payoff the decision makers on the International Olympic Committee.

After a handful of people get richer, this is what happens:

"Pyeongchang Still Awaits Its Olympic Payoff"​

"One of South Korea’s poorest regions hoped that hosting the 2018 Games would bring tourists and prosperity. It hasn’t really happened."
https://www.nytimes.com/2022/02/27/world/asia/south-korea-pyeongchang-olympics.html

or the Governments are left holding the bag of huge debt:

What’s the payoff to hosting the Olympics? - Marketplace

The Tokyo Olympics is likely to lose money for Japan — potentially in the billions. But they’re not the only host city to do so.

www.marketplace.org

 

[Brownski]

You’re not wrong.

Now that I think of it, considering that all it takes is a bunch of bribes and a willingness to break the bank building facilities that might never provide any real ROI, it’s kind of amazing that NYS hasn’t hosted since 1980

 

[x10003q]

You’re not wrong.

Now that I think of it, considering that all it takes is a bunch of bribes and a willingness to break the bank building facilities that might never provide any real ROI, it’s kind of amazing that NYS hasn’t hosted since 1980

The Olympics have morphed into insanity. The access to Lake Placid was bad in 1980 and has not changed. There needs to be a city and state (province in CA) and county attached to funding and producing the Olympics in the free world or a dictator in the authoritarian world - Russia and China.

The stories about the payoffs to the Olympic Committee are numerous and the ORDA region just could not participate.

 

[trackbiker]

New York just gave a billionaire $850 million to build a stadium in Buffalo so he can pay players hundreds of millions to play football. Every study ever done shows that stadium money does not come back in the form of taxes or jobs and is just a big giveaway.
They can't afford to pay billions for the Olympics that have no ROI.
NY gives Bill's $850 million

 

[tirolski]

Note the ORDA spokesperson's non-answer.

They have the facilities for sure, but I don't see how LP can handle the influx of people you'd have for the Olympics. Plus, the IOC seems to prefer a bright lights, big city kind of vibe for the host venue these days.

The new old head honcho was interviewed more recently.

New ORDA Board Chair Joe Martens talks about the feasibility of a regional Winter Olympics

Joe Martens continues a conversation that began Wednesday elaborating on the potential of the region hosting a third Olympics.

www.wamc.org

Gonna need to practice Skimo somewhere sometime soon.

 

[x10003q]

How about this quote from Joe Martens - current ORDA Board Chair (also served as ORDA Board Chair from 2007 until 2011):
"I'm proud to report that last year I was a season's pass holder at Whiteface for the first time in my life because I finally had the time to ski enough to justify a pass. And I hope to do the same this season and get around to more of the facilities to enjoy them personally and to learn as much as I can about their operations and, again, help guide them into the future."

New ORDA Board Chair Joe Martens talks about the feasibility of a regional Winter Olympics

Joe Martens continues a conversation that began Wednesday elaborating on the potential of the region hosting a third Olympics.

www.wamc.org

Why has Mr. Martens, a skier, been too busy to actually ski at the facilities his organization (ORDA) is responsible for? Wouldn't you want to have a first hand look at the operations from a customer point of view? He was also the DEC commissioner (2011-2015) when DEC ran Belleayre and transfered Belleayre to ORDA. I guess that there only a limited number of qualified individuals in NYS for these positions, since Mr. Martens is back for a second time as ORDA Chair.

Joe Martens

Ballotpedia: The Encyclopedia of American Politics

ballotpedia.org

 

[tirolski]

How about this quote from Joe Martens - current ORDA Board Chair (also served as ORDA Board Chair from 2007 until 2011):
"I'm proud to report that last year I was a season's pass holder at Whiteface for the first time in my life because I finally had the time to ski enough to justify a pass. And I hope to do the same this season and get around to more of the facilities to enjoy them personally and to learn as much as I can about their operations and, again, help guide them into the future."

New ORDA Board Chair Joe Martens talks about the feasibility of a regional Winter Olympics

Joe Martens continues a conversation that began Wednesday elaborating on the potential of the region hosting a third Olympics.

www.wamc.org

Why has Mr. Martens, a skier, been too busy to actually ski at the facilities his organization (ORDA) is responsible for? Wouldn't you want to have a first hand look at the operations from a customer point of view? He was also the DEC commissioner (2011-2015) when DEC ran Belleayre and transfered Belleayre to ORDA. I guess that there only a limited number of qualified individuals in NYS for these positions, since Mr. Martens is back for a second time as ORDA Chair.

Joe Martens

Ballotpedia: The Encyclopedia of American Politics

ballotpedia.org

Folks had an ORDA board meeting he chaired Friday.
There’s some good quotes from Mike Pratt regarding how much work is entailed with getting the WUG done successfully with more athletes than the last Olympics.

It was a better listen than Vail Resorts Inc. last corporate 1/4ly meeting with Wall Street’s folks.
The word “snow" was used several times in ORDA’s unlike Vail’s.

 

[Milo Maltbie]

The Olympics are all about, money and nationalism, and the athletic competition is second rate. All the sports governing bodies have special rules for the Olympics the exclude some of the best athletes from the US and Europe in favor of guys from third world countries that couldn't qualify for a Swiss national championship. Meanwhile someone is making big money while everyone ignores how heinous China and Suadi Arabia and others are.

I'm over the Olympics.

mm

 

[Peter Minde]

Folks had an ORDA board meeting he chaired Friday.
There’s some good quotes from Mike Pratt regarding how much work is entailed with getting the WUG done successfully with more athletes than the last Olympics.

It was a better listen than Vail Resorts Inc. last corporate 1/4ly meeting with Wall Street’s folks.
The word “snow" was used several times in ORDA’s unlike Vail’s.

I'm pretty sure this is Joe Martens's second go-round on the ORDA board. Good to have some institutional memory.

 

[tirolski]

The Olympics are all about, money and nationalism, and the athletic competition is second rate. All the sports governing bodies have special rules for the Olympics the exclude some of the best athletes from the US and Europe in favor of guys from third world countries that couldn't qualify for a Swiss national championship. Meanwhile someone is making big money while everyone ignores how heinous China and Suadi Arabia and others are.

I'm over the Olympics.

mm

Pratt said Friday the Russian athletes aren’t participating in the WUG.