August 11, 2004
What Home Field Advantage?
Looks like the Greeks are less than enthusiastic about the upcoming Athens Games:
Preparations by Athens dragged after the IOC awarded the games to Greece in 1997. IOC officials worried when construction ran behind schedule.
But Rogge was decidedly more optimistic this week, noting that that the IOC "has always expressed its confidence that our Greek friends would complete the preparations in due time."
The delays are being blamed for sluggish ticket sales, with just slightly less than half of the 5.3 million tickets still unsold. Organizers hope to sell 3.4 million before Friday’s opening ceremony, but last week, only 284,000 were purchased.
I'm thinking back to the Atlanta Games in 1996, when the local organizing committee was angling for some statement from the International Olympic Committee that Atlanta had been the best Summer Olympics ever. Back then, all we heard about was how the Atlanta games had been too pro-American and far too commercial.
As I recall, the Atlanta people were disappointed with the IOC's final statement at the closing ceremonies. Then again, the folks in Atlanta have nothing to be ashamed of if things keep up as they are in Athens.
UPDATE: Tom Biro has some news on how members of the press are preparing themselves for possible attacks in Athens.
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If I remember correctly the Atlanta summer games were the first summer games ever to not be called the best ever. the security problems certainly didn't help either.
Posted by:
at August 11, 2004 01:34 AM
I read somewhere yesterday that the currency fluctuations of the euro have also had a huge impact on ticket sales, as the ticket prices now cost three times more than when they were introduced in comparison to income in Greece. Or something like that. But on the larger issue of Athens preparedness, there are many reports coming in from athletes and journalists who arrive in Athens and are outright stunned at how ready everything is. The foreign press is providing a much fuller picture of Athens than our domestic press, much of whom haven't even arrived in Greece yet.
Posted by:
at August 11, 2004 08:47 AM
A friend of mine who worked on a TV crew in Atlanta (and 4 other Games) says it was a logistical horror - traffic, tickets, scheduling. etc. - the worst 2 weeks of his working life.
So I don't think the problem was "the Atlanta games had been too pro-American and far too commercial."
Posted by:
at August 11, 2004 12:30 PM
Perhaps the biggest problem in Atlanta was that traffic, tickets and scheduling was bad for journalists. As a result, things were painted to be much, much worse than they actually were. Someone didn't adequately explain to the planners how events such as these are almost like PR junkets for reporters (i.e., many expect to be carried around on a feather pillow).
Posted by:
at August 12, 2004 11:55 AM
Maybe you could explain to us how traffic could be bad for journalists and okay for everyone else?
Posted by:
at August 12, 2004 05:24 PM
Steve obviously has never covered an Olympics as a journalist. :)
Posted by:
at August 12, 2004 07:52 PM
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