Minneapolis Olympics

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FreakyDeke

FreakyDeke

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I've read that Minneapolis is considering putting in a bid for the 2020 Summer Olympics. There is a facebook group supporting it that has a picture showing a conversion of TCF Bank Stadium to be used as the Olympic Stadium. Here it is:

http://www.facebook.com/#!/photo.ph...al&view=global&subj=20982893271&id=1114476872

I don't know how legit that plan is, but it seems crazy. They'd have to get rid of the jumbotron and block off 4th St in addition to expanding the seating. Wouldn't it be much more likely that they would use this an excuse to build a stadium for the Vikings? As much as I don't want to see state money spent on the Vikings, if it meant bringing the Olympics here, that would be pretty fricken sweet.
 

BS. I don't want a track in our stadium.
 

I wouldn't consider a Facebook group to be a serious group looking to put together an Olympic bid. Still, it might be pretty sweet to have the Olympics here. I wouldn't mind a temporary track, so long as they take the track out when they are done, and the stadium is put back the way it was or better.
 

RodentRampage said:
I wouldn't consider a Facebook group to be a serious group looking to put together an Olympic bid. Still, it might be pretty sweet to have the Olympics here. I wouldn't mind a temporary track, so long as they take the track out when they are done, and the stadium is put back the way it was or better.
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It wasn't just a facebook page, that's just where I found that picture. Legislators have been talking about putting together a committee. Here's an older article:

http://wcco.com/local/2020.Summer.Olympics.2.356584.html
 

If memory serves me, we were not far behind Atlanta for the 96 games.
 


It would be good to shake off the "aw, shucks" Minnesota attitude and show off for a change.
 

A new stadium for the Vikings? We are talking about 2020 here.. The Vikings lease is up in 2011. Even if we did get a bid there is still a gap there.

Anyway, I like to see us trying to get an olympic, but honestly don't see it happening in Minneapolis.
 

gopherguy06 said:
A new stadium for the Vikings? We are talking about 2020 here.. The Vikings lease is up in 2011. Even if we did get a bid there is still a gap there.

Anyway, I like to see us trying to get an olympic, but honestly don't see it happening in Minneapolis.
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No chance without a new Vikings stadium imo. There will be a new Vikings stadium before too long though-so who knows about 2020?
 

There was talk of TCF being used for soccer if Chicago would have won the games for 2016. I would think TCF would be used the same way if Minneapolis would get them in 2020. I'd assume they would build a different stadium somewhere in the Twin Cities for track and field/opening ceremony.
 



Nothing "formally" known here, but.....

....little birdie were saying that we were in the lead for the 1996 games
before "something" happened behind the scenes to give the ATL the games.

Minneapolis would have been much better, IMHO.
 

metrolax said:
....little birdie were saying that we were in the lead for the 1996 games
before "something" happened behind the scenes to give the ATL the games.

Minneapolis would have been much better, IMHO.
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No inside sources, but the way I heard it Coca Cola happened.
 


I have always felt the Twin Cities would be an awesome host to the summer games. The weather in August is perfect, there is a decent existing layer of sports facilities, and a good history of hosting big events (but nothing this large, of course). I would love to see it in my lifetime.
 



Facilities

Just did some quick drafting. Needs would be in aquatics for the most part and a new Stadium with retractable roof in place of dome or at another site. Most venues can be used for more than one event. For example some may start and run the first week and another the second week. Not sure on the attendance at many events. Many events use portable seating. I have heard of the group looking to make a bid as late as last fall. They were discussing potential sites for another olympic size pool.


Archery- Anywhere
Badminton- MIAC Venue
Baseball- Target Field, New Saints Field, Miller Park Early Rounds
Basketball- Target Center, Williams Arena
Boxing- Mystic Lake Casino
Canoeing- Plenty of lakes and rivers
Cricket will come back at 2020 Olympic games- Fort Snelling
Cycling- Mpls to Rochester or Duluth/ Blaine
Diving U of M/ Portables
Equestrian Shakopee or Lino Lakes
Fencing- MIAC School
Football/Soccer- TCF Field, Madison, Chicago, Iowa City
Golf -Hazeltine
Gymnastics- Xcel Energy Center
Handball - MIAC School
Hockey (field) - St. Cloud or Duluth
Judo - MIAC or Mankato
Modern pentathlon Olympic Stadium/Vikings new digs
Rowing -Mississippi
Sailing -Lake Minnetonka
Shooting- Anywhere
Swimming- U of M/Portables
Synchronized swimming- Likely need additional permanent aquatic facility
Table tennis- MIAC School
Taekwondo- MIAC or other School
Tennis- Likely need a venue
Triathlon- anywhere
Track- Olympic Stadium
Volleyball- Rochester/Pavillion
Water polo- additional aquatics needed
Weightlifting- College Facility
Wrestling-College Facility
 

Nice list, Maxy, although I am not sure that all of the MIAC venues would be attractive to the IOC. I think the sailing would be on Lake Superior.
 

I wonder if the Metrodome could find any use, assuming it still even exists. Maybe as an indoor practice facility.

As for cycling, the drive down towards LaCrosse might be a very nice route. It would be great to have the Olympics here to really show off the Twin Cities and Minnesota. It would be crazy, but great.
 

Wait. Why are we set on the Summer Olympics, when the Winter games more adequately fits the areas traditions and sensibilities?

I don't think that the Cities would be a bad summer games spot, but I think we could pull off a much better Winter Olympiad. Other than a relatively limited selection of prime skiing locations, this place would be excellent. Think of the Xcel Energy Center for men's hockey. Mariucci for womens hockey. New Vikings stadium for opening/closing ceremonies (without having to accommodate a full size track).
Hockey, skiing/snowboarding, and curling fans galore compared to most cities. After all, Minnesota is home to Herb Brooks and most of the Miracle team...

Plus who are the prime players in the winter games?? Americans... we got 'em. Canadians... not far at all. Norwegians, Germans, Swedes, and Finns.... check, check, check, and check----they have been here for generations.

Twin Cities Winter Olympics 2018!!! :)
 


Obviously the minority opinion in this thread, but I'd appreciate Minneapolis avoiding any Olympic bids. Though we do have many of the venues to host, for most cities hosting an Olympiad is a mixed bag and for several that have hosted over the past 40 years, there's been a major debt to settle afterward - ask Montreal about the 29 years it took to pay off the 1976 Games. I'll concede there are a host of social and certain financial benefits (mostly in tourism and industries closely linked to tourism like hotels and restaurants), but I personally think it's outweighed by the risks involved.
 

There's only one minor problem with a Minnesota Winter Olympics bid: terrain.

Downhill skiing requires a minimum of 800 meters (2,625 feet). For comparison's sake, the highest point in the state of Minnesota is 2,301 feet above sea level, at Eagle Mountain. The tallest vertical drop in the Midwest is 1,088 feet at Lutsen or Mount Bohemia, Michigan (790 feet).

The nearest ski resort with sufficient drop is either Big Sky in Bozeman or many places in Colorado.
 

The Twin Cities are large enough to host the summer games. Traditionally, Summer games are held at large cities and winter games are held at resort towns (although their growth has begun to include bigger cities such as Salt Lake City, Vancouver, and Calgary). Of course, there are no mountains high enough here to host any winter olympics. But, if we did have mountains high enough, I would think Duluth would be a much better site for Winter Olympics. The Twin Cities fit the summer olympics model much better. Far too big for the quaintness of the winter games.

And, in terms of NOT wanting any Olympics games here... debt, etc... Ask any city who has hosted an Olympics... Was it a bad idea? There will always be negative nancys out there. For Chicago's bid on the 2016 games, there was a very well developed website/organization (small, but well organized) locally dedicated to fighting the games coming to town.
 

The lack of mountains here does kill the idea of a winter Olympics here. Too bad, for everything else we'd be fine. But we aren't good skiing country. The hills here are more than adequate for my skiing ability, but I am far, far from an Olympic skier! The bunny hill is about my limit, and it has been years since I have skied.

I think that the Summer Olympics would be a very good thing for the Twin Cities. We have good facilities, and could really use an image boost. The Twin Cities are seriously underrated, and the time in the spotlight would help shake off the Fargo image.
 

There will never be a Summer or Winter Olympics in Minnesota because the people who make those decisions would never vote to spend two weeks of their lives here when they have any other option. After all, we lost the Olympics to Atlanta who put on the worst games ever. You guys need to spend your time on more productive pursuits.
 

UpnorthGo4 said:
There will never be a Summer or Winter Olympics in Minnesota because the people who make those decisions would never vote to spend two weeks of their lives here when they have any other option. After all, we lost the Olympics to Atlanta who put on the worst games ever. You guys need to spend your time on more productive pursuits.
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I don't share your opinion that the Twin Cities are such an awful place to spend a couple weeks in the summer. And what does Atlanta getting the 96 games have to do with anything? If the Atlanta games were bad, what does that have to do with Minnesota? They weren't planning on making the games bad when they awarded the bid after all.
 

UpnorthGo4 said:
There will never be a Summer or Winter Olympics in Minnesota because the people who make those decisions would never vote to spend two weeks of their lives here when they have any other option. After all, we lost the Olympics to Atlanta who put on the worst games ever. You guys need to spend your time on more productive pursuits.
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funny. I'm sure you will get the attention you seek with that one.
 

Now that UpNorth has come to flame Minneapolis a little bit I feel the need to separate my argument against the Olympics being here, which deals with concerns for the after-effects on the community because of my tremendous love for Minneapolis and Minnesota, from UpNorth's argument that no one could possibly want to spend two weeks in Minneapolis, which seems ridiculous to me.
 

Given the trends about where the Olympics have been going, I think it will be some time before the Summer Games go back to a slightly smaller city.

Also, given Chicago's unceremonious dumping in the last Olympic voting, the USOC may be laying low for a while in an attempt to rebuild relations with the IOC. They've got the time to do it, as it's unlikely that the IOC will go for two straight Olympics in the Americas (they're far too Euro-centric).
 

UpnorthGo4 said:
There will never be a Summer or Winter Olympics in Minnesota because the people who make those decisions would never vote to spend two weeks of their lives here when they have any other option. After all, we lost the Olympics to Atlanta who put on the worst games ever. You guys need to spend your time on more productive pursuits.
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I hope you are wearing this shirt right now. Because that would be perfect. :)

i_live_to_stir_the_pot_tshirt-p235758243249441515t5tr_400.jpg
 

There are of course possible downsides to having the Olympics, but I think they would be overshadowed by the upsides. We have good facilities, we wouldn't need to build nearly as many facilities as some cities would. The Twin Cities could really use the PR boost. Minneapolis once had a slogan "The Minneapple", but that wasn't humble enough for Minnesotans. I remember the uber-lame "We like it here". That was beyond lame, but it fit right in with the "let's not brag about ourselves" attitude that we too often have.

There's more to visiting Minnesota than just hunting and fishing. (nothing against hunting and fishing, of course) There is an awful lot to do in the Twin Cities, but people all over the country know little about it. They may know the Mall of America, but that's about it.
 

RodentRampage said:
There are of course possible downsides to having the Olympics, but I think they would be overshadowed by the upsides. We have good facilities, we wouldn't need to build nearly as many facilities as some cities would. The Twin Cities could really use the PR boost. Minneapolis once had a slogan "The Minneapple", but that wasn't humble enough for Minnesotans. I remember the uber-lame "We like it here". That was beyond lame, but it fit right in with the "let's not brag about ourselves" attitude that we too often have.

There's more to visiting Minnesota than just hunting and fishing. (nothing against hunting and fishing, of course) There is an awful lot to do in the Twin Cities, but people all over the country know little about it. They may know the Mall of America, but that's about it.
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I agree, and the nordic inferiority complex that always seems to ooze from us results in a situation where visitors often are amazed at what a secret the Twin Cities have become and they tend to brag about it far more than the locals.
 

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