Kiss your Olympic dreams goodbye, people. Yesterday could not have been a good day for the mayor or his deputy. First the IOC released their report, indicating Paris and London as the frontrunners and criticizing New York’s bid for the uncertainty surrounding a stadium. Then the Public Authorities Control Board outright rejected the West Side Stadium, likely killing NYC’s chances of landing the Olympics.

For a long time, I’d been watching the stadium battle with a great deal of indifference. The pros? Economic development is a good thing, the MTA could use the funds, it would be nice to get the Jets out of New Jersey and back in New York, and a West Side Stadium would hurt Cablevision and MSG (who I can’t stand.) The cons? It would remove the focus from lower Manhattan which desperately needs the economic development, it’s too much public money that could be better spent on schools, transportation, mass transit and parks, and I didn’t want the Olympics to come here anyway. Plus, anytime that a public official tells you that a sports arena will "pay for itself", they’re greatly exaggerating. So all in all, I’m pleased that the stadium was rejected but not as ecstatic as some others may be.

The funniest reason to be opposed to the stadium is provided in Daryl’s blog entry. Namely – a dislike of sports. I enjoy sports very much and don’t share this view but I think its an accurate representation over why so many people resist stadium projects. I just wish they’d come out and say so!