American sports culture clings to the belief that early competition builds champions—that competition produces toughness, and that lowering the stakes makes kids soft. Norway offers the most compelling counterexample imaginable.
Olympics
Posted inOpinion
A tale of two Bakers: Charlie, don’t forget Hobey
Hobey Baker remains the beau-idéal of the amateur sportsman, a species endangered by the NCAA’s budding plans for play for pay. What does Hobey Baker have to say to Charlie Baker in these days of change?
Posted inOlympics
20-20 hindsight on Boston 2024
Asked this week to reflect on the long-gone possibility of Boston hosting the 2024 Olympics, Senate President Karen Spilka didn’t hesitate. “I’m glad it’s in Paris,” she said. “That’s my quote.”
Posted inOlympics
Decarbonizing economy requires lot more electricity
THE LAST SEVERAL WEEKS have brought into sharp focus the urgency of climate action. From 16-year-old Greta Thunberg sailing across the Atlantic to deliver a dramatic plea at the UN, […]
Posted inOlympics
Don’t ‘fly-over’ Mayor Pete
IF YOU THOUGHT you could get through the 2020 election cycle without needing to learn the proper pronunciation of “Buttigieg,” guess again. On Friday, March 8, the three of us […]
Posted inOlympics
Fact-checking Walsh’s Olympics claim
BOSTON MAYOR MARTY WALSH said during Tuesday night’s mayoral debate that he pulled the plug on the city’s Olympics bid. “I was the person who actually pulled out of the […]
Posted inOlympics, Opinion
The gay marriage-Boston 2024 connection
I CLOSELY FOLLOWED the debate around the Boston 2024 Olympics bid, and it seemed odd to me at first, but I just kept connecting it to the gay marriage fight, […]
Posted inOlympics, The Download
An Olympic accounting
Thank God it’s over.That was the overwhelming sentiment among the area’s columnists and editorial pages. Boston Globe columnists Joan Vennochi, Dan Shaughnessy, Dante Ramos, John Powers, and Kevin Cullen all welcomed […]
Posted inOlympics, Opinion
Finish line for Boston 2024
BOSTON’S DREAMS OF Olympic glory are over. Did we snatch defeat from the jaws of victory? Did we blow a transformational opportunity, with all that talk that the US entry […]
Posted inOlympics
What does Boston’s withdrawal say about the city?
Statement of No Boston Olympics Boston is a world-class city. We are a city with an important past and a bright future. We got that way by thinking big, but […]
Posted inOlympics, Politics
Olympic end signals bright future for Boston
THE END OF the Boston 2024 Olympic bid says a lot about Boston 2015, and what it says bodes well for our future. Perhaps the most important take-away is that […]
Posted inOlympics
Boston drops out of running for Olympics
THE PRIVATE GROUP seeking to host a Boston Olympics in 2024 dropped its bid on Monday, shortly after Boston Mayor Marty Walsh and Gov. Charlie Baker told the US Olympic […]
Posted inOlympics, The Download
A Herald blackout and Olympic assurance that ‘people adjust’
If a debate falls on a Thursday night in a semi-forested office park but no one from the Boston Herald is there to hear it, did it really happen? Last night’s […]
Posted inOlympics, Opinion
Five takeaways from the Olympics debate
THIS BOSTON OLYMPICS DEBATE was a train wreck. There were occasional flashes of insight, but overall the two reporters asking the questions and the four debaters answering them did little […]
Posted inOlympics, Opinion
4 things to watch in Olympics debate
THURSDAY NIGHT, Boston 2024 and No Boston Olympics will meet in a debate hosted by Fox25 and the Boston Globe. Boston 2024’s representatives will be chairman Steve Pagliuca and Daniel […]
Posted inEconomy, Olympics, Opinion
Olympics jobs shouldn’t be union only
BOSTON 2024’s second plan to host the Summer Olympics in Massachusetts attempts to convince taxpayers it’s financially feasible and responsible. However, the inclusion of a discriminatory and costly hiring policy […]
Posted inOlympics, Opinion
Americans really want to host Olympics
AMERICANS REALLY WANT to host the 2024 Olympics. They want it more than they have in the past. They want it more than other countries do. They want it more […]
Posted inOlympics, The Download
When it comes to the Olympics, vote early, vote often
The ancient Greeks liked their games. And they liked their democracy, opening up the rule of law to the people in the way of votes. Here in the Athens of […]
Posted inOlympics
State leaders react cautiously to Bid 2.0
THIS WAS NOT a slam dunk drawing wild cheers. Or a back two-and-a-half somersault with a splashless pool entry. In Summer Olympics sport terms, Boston 2024’s presentation to state leaders […]
Posted inBallot Questions, Olympics
Unlikely alliance on Olympic ballot question
The leader of the newly minted United Independent Party, who ran for governor on a fairly progressive platform on education, energy, and health care, has teamed up with the Republican-led […]
Posted inOlympics, Opinion
Support for Boston 2024 is not too low to win Olympic bid
IT’S NO SECRET THAT BOSTON 2024 has a perception problem. The public is skeptical and the polling on Boston’s Olympic bid has been consistently ugly for the last several months. […]
Posted inEconomy, Olympics, Politics
New Bedford proposed as site of Olympic sailing
THE GROUP ATTEMPTING to bring the 2024 Summer Olympics to Boston said Thursday that New Bedford will serve as the venue for Olympic and Paralympic sailing if their bid is […]
Posted inOlympics, The Download
How Boston 2024 documents went public
The secret Boston 2024 bid documents that surfaced this week in Boston Magazine and the Boston Business Journal found their way into the public domain via a circuitous route. Boston 2024 […]
Posted inOlympics, The Download
What is “is” in Olympicspeak?
Well, now, this is a fine kettle of fish, as Laurel and Hardy would say. And it’s beginning to smell. The Boston 2024 people have said repeatedly and publicly that […]