Blog Entry
you’re not joking?
June 26, 2008 by the.muse, under The Salty Ham.
So, lately the buzz (and snickering) around Birmingham has been about Mayor Larry Langford's proposal to the City Council to present the City of Birmingham as a site for the 2020 Olympic Games. No, seriously… he really did. And this is exactly why we're all still laughing.
Apparently, he believes that since he's pushing for the dome stadium (that we are still unsure will be built… and why, too), and for an olympic-size pool (for what reason, might I ask?), Langford believes that we would be a perfect place. Besides, we held the soccer events for the 1996 Atlanta Games, so that makes us ready, right? I mean, since our air traffic is about to be possibly severely reduced, it makes complete sense… 
What I love is that, according to Musings on Birmingham, Langford prefaced the proposal with: “This is not a game or a joke." Again, seriously??? If you have to say that, shouldn't you reconsider it altogether? If you know they're gonna laugh and giggle, you should know it's a bad idea. I mean, this is SO out in left field, it's not even funny.
Yes, Birmingham needs some good positive PR and something good for the economy, but having to put millions (probably billions) of dollars into building for the Olympic games when the city is already in debt in so many areas is SUCH a bad idea. And, if people are already upset with Beijing's pollution problem, I can't imagine what they will think about Birmingham's smog and ill-consideration for a greener city.
However, maybe I'm skeptical, because there are some like Musings and Andre over at the Terminal who think that a push like this could be good for Birmingham. I suppose it could be a good thing for Birmingham… I've just seen things continually flop that we thought were good ideas. See: Birmingham Fire, Birmingham Stallions, Birmingham Bulls, Alabama Slammers… and that's just the professional sports realm. The only things that work here in the state are college sports and racing. I could go on, but I don't have the time or the desire to be negative. I want to see Birmingham get out of its rut. I'm just not sure that the Olympics are the way to go.
