Re:How the Olympics rotted Greece
by notatoad on Sunday July 12, 2015 @08:01PM
(#9875555)
The Olympics wrecked Greece like Gordon Ramsay wrecks the restaurants he visits on kitchen nightmares.
If you're struggling and you plan a big flashy show to save your economy, and it doesn't work, all your problems don't suddenly become the fault of the big flashy show you planned to fix them.
Re:How the Olympics rotted Greece
by notatoad on Wednesday July 15, 2015 @12:08AM
(#9889658)
Every couple months it seems like I see another Facebook or Reddit post with the stat that 90% of the restaurants featured on kitchen nightmares go under within a year of their episode airing. As if a show that focuses on failing restaurants is somehow to blame when those restaurants fail.
It seemed like a good comparison for Greece and what they tried to do with the Olympics.
Re:How the Olympics rotted Greece
by loumf on Sunday July 12, 2015 @09:05PM
(#9875786)
The OP is saying that Gordon Ramsay isn't to blame for whatever happens to restaurants after he leaves. The big show might not save Greece or the restaurant, but the original issue is not the big show's fault.
Re:How the Olympics rotted Greece
by caminante on Sunday July 12, 2015 @08:09PM
(#9875596)
Agreed.
Also, the author's sub-headline asks whether to blame the IOC then points how the olympics costing doesn't include incremental infrastructure projects -- which likely would've happened without the olympics, just not as fast, as is the case with most olympics[1].
From what I remember, Athens was one of the best executed, efficient olympics ever. Unfortunately, attendance was low as the timing of the Iraq War made travel undesirable.
Re:How the Olympics rotted Greece
by xchaotic on Sunday July 12, 2015 @07:58PM
(#9875545)
Totally agree with this. The Greek culture goes way back and perhaps the original Olympic games in 776 BC is a better starting point to understand the context.
Greece should have never been allowed in Euro zone - it was forced in part through politics, part through accounting cheating and now is the aftermath.
Re:How the Olympics rotted Greece
by chmaynard on Monday July 13, 2015 @01:24AM
(#9876572)
> The IOC could solve the problem of where to stage its increasingly costly Games (and provide a helping hand to Greece) by putting the Games permanently in Athens.
Not a great article, but I totally agree with the conclusion. The Summer Olympic Games should be held every four years in Athens. Why move it around the world? Greece is the perfect location.
Re:How the Olympics rotted Greece
by mistermann on Sunday July 12, 2015 @08:02PM
(#9875558)
I honestly don't understand why any country would want to hold the olympics, unless they already have the vast majority of the infrastructure in place, it's just such a mind-bogglingly expensive proposition.
If you're struggling and you plan a big flashy show to save your economy, and it doesn't work, all your problems don't suddenly become the fault of the big flashy show you planned to fix them.
What's the evidence for this?
It seemed like a good comparison for Greece and what they tried to do with the Olympics.
Also, the author's sub-headline asks whether to blame the IOC then points how the olympics costing doesn't include incremental infrastructure projects -- which likely would've happened without the olympics, just not as fast, as is the case with most olympics[1].
From what I remember, Athens was one of the best executed, efficient olympics ever. Unfortunately, attendance was low as the timing of the Iraq War made travel undesirable.
[1]https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2004_Summer_Olympics#Costs
Not a great article, but I totally agree with the conclusion. The Summer Olympic Games should be held every four years in Athens. Why move it around the world? Greece is the perfect location.