Less than four weeks to go...if you are going, how are your plans coming along? Have you decided on going to the Colorado Avalanche hockey game? Or the Denver sports arenas tour versus the US Olympic Training Center jaunt? I however will pass up the 6:30 AM runs thru downtown Denver-that's too early! There is something going on most every night after 5PM. We're going to be taken care of-nicely.
I am getting the impression some folks (attendees/bid committees) are getting a bit smug. Not everyone is like this, but I can see where people are playing cards that don't matter ("Obama is from Chicago so it looks like they have an advantage") to erasing memories of past tragedies ("that was in the past" is the impression I am getting.) I can tell you this: some will get to Denver and have the verbal equivalent of cold water thrown in their faces. They will be getting a wake up call (and it won't be from the hotel front desk.)
Getting "long in the tooth" is probably the major mistake most people make. I saw it happen to New York City's bid-and when Mayor Bloomberg had that meltdown in the lobby of the Raffles in Singapore, that just about sealed their fate even before the vote went down.
The closer it gets to crunch time, the more mistakes will be seen. The weird thing is that the folks involved think it doesn't matter or that no one will see them. You never know who will be around or who will hear what. I know of one IOC member who some years ago made a time bomb of a comment that could possibly affect one current bid city's chances. Funny thing is, he's on the attendee list. Oh the irony!
We're in for some surprises-count on it.
