Decisions, Decisions

There's a pretty monster weekend coming up in the Olympics world, guys. On Saturday, the IOC will decide on the host city for the 2020 Olympics. And on Sunday, the IOC will decide which sport to add to the Olympic program for 2020.

Basically, this is the weekend we can start getting excited about the 2020 Olympics.

("But wait!" you say. "Shouldn't we be getting excited about 2014 and 2016 and 2018 first?" To which I respond, "Hush.")

So who do we think will come out victorious?

 First of all, this pool of candidate cities is the smallest for a summer Olympics since I've been alive. This is probably what the '70s and '80s felt like... I can only imagine this is because every games since Sydney 2000 has left massive debt and decaying venues behind as its legacy (though London still remains to be seen). If cities don't start managing their hosting duties better, we could very well return to an '80s-like state, where the IOC is scrambling to find potential hosts. (For 1980 and 1984, Lake Placid and Los Angeles won their bids against a grand total of zero other cities. 'Murrica.) It's also probably not helping that Rio is rioting in the streets, Sochi is embroiled in LGBT controversy, Beijing came under fire for all sorts of human rights violations...

Yeah, hosting the Olympics is lookin' real attractive right now.

But nonetheless, we do have three cities whose hats remain in the ring for Saturday: Tokyo, Madrid and Istanbul. And this quote pretty much sums everything up:

"There's no obvious choice," senior Canadian IOC member Dick Pound told The Associated Press. "Where do you go? None of the three is risk free. Probably somebody ends up backing into it this time." [x]

Initially I was hoping that Istanbul would win, just because the Olympics have never been held in the Middle East and we should probably consider spreading the love a little bit. But that's exactly what happened with Rio, and the citizens are not happy about it. Istanbul also had a host of its own issues recently, which got me thinking: the Olympics probably haven't been held in the Middle East yet for a reason. Like, uh, the constant wars. So maybe this is a bad idea right now, but Middle Eastern cities have my vote in future bids.

That leaves us with Madrid (which is broke) and Tokyo (which is marginally radioactive). Sweet, right? Madrid has apparently proposed a budget of only $1.9 billion (read: only [good lord]), but that basically means nothing, because every single Olympics in recent memory (potentially ever) has come in at far, far over budget. Tokyo, on the other hand, is already renovating its Olympic stadium for the 2019 Rugby World Cup. Tokyo also hosted the Games in 1964, which is a fairly decent indicator that it could do it again.

So I think Tokyo has to be my pick. But then again, Asia already has the 2018 Winter Olympics (PyeongChang), and just had 2008, which might hurt its bid... So who the heck even knows at this point?

Now, moving on to a decision I know far more about but also have literally no idea which way it will swing...

 I don't want to say I'm excited to see how this will turn out. I don't think "excited" is the right word. Fascinated, maybe? Anxiously awaiting it? Whatever the semantics, I'll be glad to see this saga finally come to an end. Sort of. Maybe. Hopefully.

I was as shocked as anybody when wrestling was removed from the Olympic program earlier this year. Like, literally stunned. To the point where I remember where I was when I found out. Personally, I think the IOC made an absolutely awful decision for more reasons than I care to take the time to list (this article lays out everything pretty well), and am hoping beyond hope that wrestling gets re-added. #WrestlingOrBust

But here's the rub: if the IOC does decide to re-add wrestling, it's admitting that it made a horribly bad decision. Of course, it could be spun that all the changes wrestling has made in the last few months got it re-added, but let's be real. I can't see the IOC taking back a decision like that so fast. To save face, it has to stand by it.

At the same time, though... I can't see squash being added to the program. Does it have a big following? I literally have no idea. I can't imagine squash drawing huge viewership. And as much as I love baseball/softball, it was eliminated from the Olympics for a reason. Actually, probably a good number of reasons. The one I'm having trouble getting past is the need for facilities: stadiums are gigantic, they're expensive, and a city would need a ton of them to be able to accommodate an Olympic-style tournament within three weeks. It could be fine in countries where baseball is already big business, like America or Japan; games could happen scattered around the country, like soccer (er, football) was for London 2012. But, for argument's sake, let's say Istanbul wins the bid for 2020. What happens then?

So, basically, I have absolutely no idea what's going to happen. But my fingers are crossed for wrestling!

The new IOC president is also getting elected imminently, on Tuesday. I know nothing about any of the six candidates except that they're all men. Laaaaaame. Get with the times, IOC.

Which city/sport do you think is going to prevail?

Olympic Things To Look Forward To In 2013

Like I said at the end of my previous post, 2013 is not an Olympic year, and that makes me sad. But then I decided that just wouldn't do! I mean, being sad for an entire year? NOPE! And besides, there are plenty of Olympics things happening in 2013 to get excited about. Here's my list!

1. One year until Sochi 2014: February 7th, 2013.

While, on one hand, Sochi feels like a lifetime away, putting things into perspective is the fact that this countdown was once in quadruple digits. That, my friends, was truly disgusting. So suddenly 365 days sounds like nothing! With the way time is just speeding by, just blink and it'll be here! YAY!

2. 33rd anniversary of the miracle on ice: February 22nd, 2013.

Because we should absolutely be celebrating random anniversaries of this country's greatest Olympic moment ever. If nothing else, it's a great excuse to watch Miracle (psh, as if you need an excuse!).

3. 2020 host city announcement: September 7th, 2013.

Jeez, can you believe we're already thinking ahead to the games in 2020?! Man. I remember when London was selected to host the 2012 games, back in 2005. I went to a NYC 2012 host city support rally on my birthday that year, when I turned FOURTEEN, and I went to London 2012 at age 21. That's literally a third of my lifetime. OH MY GOD! And now we're getting ready to start another one of these massive journeys. Are you ready? I remember where I was when I found out that Rio had won back in 2009, and I watched the announcement of PyeongChang won in 2011. So the battle between Madrid, Tokyo and Istanbul should be another one to file away in the memory bank.

4. Opening and Closing Ceremony rumors: summer 2013?

Are you as excited about this as I am? I mean, I don't want to be completely spoiled so I'll be steering clear of leaks. But for London 2012, those didn't start until rehearsals began in earnest out at Dagenham, and that wasn't until June-ish. There were times while I was a volunteer where my friends would be saying, "OMG so-and-so is apparently definitely performing at closing! Has anyone at Ceremonies told you?!" And I'd go into work and find out that claim was completely unsubstantiated. So in the early stages, rumors are, more often than not, just rumors. Watch out for REAL spoilers starting around November, but rumors should start trickling in during the spring or summer!

5. Official team selections: all year.

While all sports and athletes come together for the Olympics into one team, for the rest of the time they're separate entities with all sorts of World Cup events and team tryouts to pick the best of the best to represent America in Sochi. Some sports like biathlon (the more individual events) don't pick their Olympians until the 2013/2014 competition season, but sports with teams that need to practice together before the Olympics are chosen far earlier. Fun fact: the final hockey teams are named in August.

6. Apolo Ohno's Olympic decision: hopefully sometime before I die.

Okay, guys. This decision has to happen eventually. Apolo has been completely mum on whether or not he's going to compete in Sochi or not since he stepped off the ice in Vancouver. In August he said he's 50/50 about a comeback, and in November he said he'd need three months to just train and a year on the ice if he wanted to return for the Olympics. He regularly Instagrams photos of himself in the gym, but it also sounds like he's indulging in lots of R&R, which ain't his M.O. when he's seriously training. Either way, USA short track Olympic team trials are in September, and then the world cup season begins. We'll definitely know then!

And then, when 2013 ends, Sochi is right around the corner in February. See? 2013 won't be such a drought at all!