If you read the big post this week, you might have noticed that the Indy police got a little excited about what having a football team might do for the city. We did get a Super Bowl, but an Olympics seems a little far fetched. Chicago is a different story, and I felt it got more than a little jobbed in its bid last year (or two years ago, whenever that happened). But, just for fun, let's take a look at how the city might make this happen Unrelated, I found this Onion article that lampoons the whole idea. I think we can all admit that Indianapolis is not Rome, Tokyo, Madrid, or Istanbul.* But, Indianapolis really does have some world-class sports facilities. And we don't have to look all that far to get some sort of idea how the city might handle it by looking at the Pan Am Games in 1987. *Not Constantinople. The tenth Pan Am Games used 15 venues. That link will take you to the Wikipedia article for the games, but for convenience's sake, here's a list with the sports hosted using their 1987 names.
-Brown Co. State Park (Biking) -Bush Stadium (Baseball) -Eagle Creek Park (Archery) -Circle Theater (Weightlifting) -Hinkle Fieldhouse (Volleyball) -Hoosier Dome (Gymnastics, Handball, Closing Ceremony) -Indiana Convention Center (Boxing) -IU Natatorium (Swimming) -IU Indianapolis Track and Soccer Stadium (Track & Field) -Indianapolis Motor Speedway (Speed Roller Skating, Opening Ceremony) -Indianapolis Tennis Center (Tennis) -Kuntz Stadium (Soccer) -Lake Michigan (Yachting) -Major Taylor Velodrome (Cycling) -Market Square Arena (Basketball) For some comparison, here are the venues London will be using for the 2012 Olympics, which really shows off that English creative brainpower in the names. The Wiki list is broken down into three zones, so we'll do the same here. I've gone ahead and listed capacities as well, as it will be important later. Olympic Zone -Aquatics Center (Swimming; 17,500) -Basketball Arena (Basketball; 12,000) -BMX Circuit (BMX; 6,000) -Copper Box (Fencing, Handball; 7,000) -London Velodrome (Cycling; 6,000) -Riverbank Arena (Field Hockey; 16,000) -Water Polo Arena (Water Polo; 5,000) -Olympic Stadium (Track & Field, Opening and Closing Ceremonies; 80,000) River Zone -ExCeL (Boxing, Fencing, Judo, Table Tennis, Taekwondo, Weightlifting, Wrestling; Up to 10,000) -Greenwich Park (Equestrian; 23,000) -O2 Arena (Gymnastics; 20,000) -Royal Artillery Barracks (Shooting; 7,500) Central Zone -All England Club (Tennis; 30,000) -Earls Court Exhibition Center (Volleyball; 15,000) -Horse Guards Parade (Beach Volleyball; 15,000) -Hyde Park (Triathlon; 3,000) -Lord's Cricket Ground (Archery, 6,000) -Wembly Arena (Badminton, Rhythmic Gymnastics; 12,000) -Wembly Stadium (Soccer; 90,000) There will also be use of different soccer stadiums throughout the UK for that tournament. There are also different water areas outside of London that will be used for those sports that require it. It seems like Indianapolis has many of the standing structures to make this sort of thing happen. Obviously some things would have to be built or improved on, and an Olympic Village would have to be built or at least repurposed. Here's my proposed sites for the sports listed above. -IMS (Opening and Closing Ceremonies; Holds up to 400,000 people, though much of that wouldn't be used for the ceremonies) -Bankers Life Fieldhouse (Basketball, Gymnastics, Possibly Swimming; 18,000) -Indiana Convention Center (Used like ExCeL to host a variety of sports. I know the Indiana Golden Gloves tournament is held there, so there must be at least one space large enough for big events) -Murat Theater (Used in tandem with the Indiana Convention Center) -Lucas Oil Stadium (Soccer, Basketball Finals, Possibly Opening and Closing Ceremonies; 70,000) -IU Natatorium (Swimming, seating would need to be expanded somehow, but it is the largest indoor pool in the US right now) -Hinkle Fieldhouse (Volleyball; 10,000) -Pepsi Coliseum (Badminton, Handball, maybe Water Polo; 8,500) That takes care of quite a few of the sports using standing structures. And you could probably use Lucas Oil Stadium for more sports than I have listed here as well. The bulk of the smaller sports in my plan would be held in the convention center or one of the big theaters in the Murat. I also didn't list Victory Field for anything. Surely somebody could figure out some good events there. I would also say that the basketball tournament should be held throughout the state, using Mackey Arena and Assembly Hall and whatever Notre Dame calls their arena. Go ahead and use the Hulman Center and Ball St.'s arena, too. And Evansville's new place, why not. You could probably hold some events on those college campuses, too. Use the football stadiums for the soccer tournament. I know the Chicago Olympic bid was going to use Notre Dame for the equestrian events, so this bid would do that as well. I don't know how the seating would work, but I would recommend using the dunes up on Lake Michigan for the beach volleyball. Now, is any of this going to happen? Not any time soon. But, the Pan Am Games are still around. You might be hearing about them again soon, as the 2015 edition is slated to be held in Toronto, which will probably get a little more attention than games held in South America. Though that might be a fantasy. I don't think I heard a peep in 1999 when they were held in Winnipeg. Still, the games haven't been held in the US since 1987, maybe it's due. And Indianapolis seems like just the place to do it. Comments are closed.
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