Oh, no no no no no. The original estimate of the “economic benefits” (whatever the Hell that amorphous amorphism means) of the 34th America’s Cup was $9.9 B-as-in-boy billion.
“America’s Cup organizers are falling short in their efforts to raise private donations to help pay for the cost of bringing the America’s Cup sailing competition to San Francisco — and that could leave the city on the hook for about $20 million. The Board of Supervisors holds hearings Wednesday to discuss the shortfall. Supporters say even without all of the promised private funds, the city still benefits financially from hosting the America’s Cup.
Host: Michael Krasny
Guests:
Jane Sullivan, city spokesperson for the America’s Cup
John Avalos, San Francisco supervisor representing District 11″
I understand that Mayor Ed Lee has a cheerleading function as a part of his job. Fine.
But what’s this? What the Hell?
“We expect to have some 500,000 people on a daily basis…”
Just take a look on the YouTube, at around 9:30 and, mind you, this is AFTER everything blew up and people started realizing that the 2013 America’s Cup won’t be anywhere near as popular as advertised:
So, does Ed Lee actually believe that there’s a chance that the America’s Cup will attract anything close to a half million people “on a daily basis?”
No he does not.
So why does he say it?
Mmmm…
Now, speaking of cheerleading, @olivaglobal is the dude who was hired by the San Francisco Chronicle to promote the America’s Cup over the next 1.5 years. Here he goes:
“The America’s Cup is the world’s third-largest sporting competition, after the Olympics and soccer’s World Cup.”
Here it is in the flesh:
So, let’s think about this here. I guess the bullshit Bay Area Council Economic Institute (BACEI) organization is allowing that the Summer Olympics and the World Cup just might possibly be bigger than an America’s Cup. But what about the Winter Olympics? Oh, and what about the Super Bowl?
Who actually believes that the America’s Cup, that thing where half the staff just got laid off and NBC needs to be paid in order to broadcast, is actually going to be bigger than a Super Bowl?
Nobody.
Not even the cheerleaders.
So why do they say these kinds of things?
All right here’s one more from the messed-up study what’s going to cost the taxpayers of San Francisco tens of millions of dollars. It discusses, and I’m srlsy, the “fleet of super yachts” what are going to be attracted to the bay area due to the America’s Cup, and then it talks about how much money we’re going to make by gassing them up and Windexing the shiny parts and stuff like that.
I’m srsly.
These cheerleaders are members of a modern day Cargo Cult and we’re all along for the ride.
And oh, we’re going to get the Golden State Warriors without funding the stadium at Piers 30-32? All right, so why then are we funding Larry Ellison’s ego trip of a boat race? Why are we allowing Him to get away with this?
I know not.
Screw the America’s Cup.
“The world’s most popular sport may be soccer, but in cold, hard dollars, nobody throws a party like the National Football League.
I understand that Mayor Ed Lee has a cheerleading function as a part of his job. Fine.
But what’s this? What the Hell?
“We expect to have some 500,000 people on a daily basis…”
Take a look on the YouTube, at around 9:30 and, mind you, this is AFTER everything blew up and people started realizing that the 2013 America’s Cup won’t be anywhere near as popular as advertised:
So, does Ed Lee actually believe that there’s a chance that the America’s Cup will attract anything close to a half million people “on a daily basis?”
No he does not.
So why does he say it?
Mmmm…
Now, speaking of cheerleading, @olivaglobal is the dude who was hired by the San Francisco Chronicle to promote the America’s Cup over the next 1.5 years. Here he goes:
“The America’s Cup is the world’s third-largest sporting competition, after the Olympics and soccer’s World Cup.”
Here it is in the flesh:
So, let’s think about this here. I guess the bullshit Bay Area Council Economic Institute (BACEI) organization is allowing that the Summer Olympics and the World Cup just might possibly be bigger than an America’s Cup. But what about the Winter Olympics? Oh, and what about the Super Bowl?
Who actually believes that the America’s Cup, that thing where half the staff just got laid off and NBC needs to be paid in order to broadcast, is actually going to be bigger than a Super Bowl?
Nobody.
Not even the cheerleaders.
So why do they say these kinds of things?
All right here’s one more from the messed-up study what’s going to cost the taxpayers of San Francisco tens of millions of dollars. It discusses, and I’m srlsy, the “fleet of super yachts” what are going to be attracted to the bay area due to the America’s Cup, and then it talks about how much money we’re going to make by gassing them up and Windexing the shiny parts and stuff like that.
I’m srsly.
These cheerleaders are members of a modern day Cargo Cult and we’re all along for the ride.
And oh, we’re going to get the Golden State Warriors without funding the stadium at Piers 30-32? All right, so why then are we funding Larry Ellison’s ego trip of a boat race? Why are we allowing Him to get away with this?
I know not.
Screw the America’s Cup.
“The world’s most popular sport may be soccer, but in cold, hard dollars, nobody throws a party like the National Football League.
All that fuss about the America’s Cup started with a grossly-distorted report from the Bay Area Council Economic Institute. Here’s the start of it:
“Executive Summary: The America’s Cup is the world’s third-largest sporting competition, after the Olympics and soccer’s World Cup.”
UH, WHO MADE THIS UP? WHO BELIEVES THIS? FIRST OF ALL, “THE OLYMPICS” IS ACTUALLY THE SUMMER OLYMPICS AND THE WINTER OLYMPICS, SO THE AMERICA’S CUP WOULD HAVE TO BE NUMBER FOUR AT BEST. SECOND OF ALL, NOBODY REALLY CARES ABOUT THE AMERICA’S CUP.* SO, THE “INDEPENDENT STUDY” FROM THE CHAMBER OF COMMERCE OF WHATEVER THE HELL CHEERLEADING ORGANIZATION STARTS OFF WITH A LIE. PAR FOR THE COURSE.
Securing hosting rights to the Cup is therefore a prestigious and economically significant prize for any community.
NO, SEE, NO, YOU CAN’T DO THAT, YOU CAN’T START BUILDING YOUR CASE WITHOUT A FOUNDATION, CAN YOU? I SUPPOSE THAT IF ENOUGH PEOPLE BELIEVE THAT THE AMERICA’S CUP IS “PRESTIGIOUS” THEN IT WILL SOMEDAY BECOME SO, BUT WE’RE NOT AT THAT POINT YET. AC IS NO “PRIZE.”
The economic benefits of bringing the America’s Cup to San Francisco would come primarily through expenditures by racing syndicates, and through spending on hotels, restaurants, and retail and other services by both domestic and overseas visitors and Bay Area residents.
ALL RIGHT, THOSE TWO THINGS. BUT WHERE WILL THE DEFICITS COME FROM? WOULD YOU CARE TO DETAIL THOSE?
If the competition were to run for three months, this could lead to an additional 2.6 million spectators.
AND IF YOU START FLAPPING YOUR ARMS HARD ENOUGH, THIS COULD LEAD TO SUSTAINED FLIGHT.
While these impacts would be primarily concentrated in San Francisco, nearby counties such as Alameda, Marin, Napa, Sonoma, and San Mateo would also benefit from increased visitor and maritime activity. This report endeavours to provide estimates of the economic impact of an America’s Cup match on the San Francisco Bay. Other economists have paved the way by providing estimates of the economic impacts of previous America’s Cups, including an analysis of the economic impacts of the 32nd America’s Cup of 2007 in Valencia, Spain. Starting with that study as a rough guide, this analysis makes a number of assumptions: that infrastructure cost and spending will be several billion dollars less; that spectator attendance will be considerably larger; that the media’s presence will be larger; and that the presence of super yachts will likely be smaller.
UH, BUT NOBODY REALLY CARES ABOUT THE AMERICA’S CUP THOUGH, RIGHT? THIS THING IS A CRUSHING DISAPPOINTMENT ALREADY, RIGHT? WEREN’T THERE SUPPOSED TO BE 18 TEAMS? AND THEN THE ORGANIZERS LOWERED THE ENTRY FEE TO A TOKEN AMOUNT BUT THERE’S STILL VERY LITTLE INTEREST?
From this, we estimate that the increase in overall economic activity in San Francisco due to hosting an America’s Cup could be on the order of $1.37 billion.
AND IF YOU START FLAPPING YOUR ARMS HARD ENOUGH, THIS COULD LEAD TO SUSTAINED FLIGHT.
This is three times the estimated impact of hosting the Super Bowl ($300-$500 million).
NOW HOLD ON, PEOPLE ACTUALLY _LIKE_ THE SUPER BOWL, ARE WE CONFLATING THE TWO EVENTS HERE? AND ACTUALLY, NBC _PAYS_ THE NFL FOR THE RIGHTS TO AIR THE SUPERBOWL (SOME YEARS, ANYWAY) BUT THE AMERICA’S CUP PEOPLE ARE _PAYING NBC_ TO AIR THE AMERICA’S CUP, RIGHT? SO ISN’T THE AMERICA’S CUP KIND OF THE OPPOSITE OF THE SUPER BOWL?
The potential increase in employment surrounding the event could be on the order of 8,840 jobs.
AND NEXT MONTH, I’LL INCREASE THE NET WORTH OF ALL MY READERS, ALL 14 OF THEM, BY $8,840, YOU KNOW, I’LL JUST GIVE THEM ALL MONEY, POTENTIALLY.
This increase in output and employment would likely yield a benefit to state and local government coffers of nearly $85 million.
NOOOPE!
Additional taxes alone to the City’s General Fund are expected to net more than $13 million, based on more than $24 million in revenue, and an estimated $11 million in tourism related costs.
NICE USE OF PASSIVE VOICE THERE. EXPECTED BY WHOM?
Looking beyond the Bay Area, California’s economy would see increased economic activity of $1.43 billion. The U.S. economy as a whole would see increased economic activity of $1.85 billion.
AND WHAT ABOUT THE WORLD AS A WHOLE? IT’S A WIN-WIN, RIGHT? EVERYBODY WINS! HURRAY?
This increase would support the creation of 11,978 jobs.
UH, I THINK YOU MEAN GIGS, YOU KNOW, TEMPORARY EMPLOYMENT?
The figures produced here are likely to be compared to previous estimates indicating that hosting the Cup on the Bay would result in economic benefits to the region on the order of $9.9 billion.
UH, DO YOU HAVE A CITE FOR THIS PIE IN THE SKY? DOES SOMEBODY OUT THERE THINK THAT HOSTING LARRY’S LITTLE BOAT RACE IS AS GOOD AS BILL GATES GIVING US $10 BILLION? REALLY?
We have consciously made an effort to be conservative in our analysis and to evaluate economic impacts for which there is a factual basis and which would be unique to the venue of the San Francisco Bay, and by focusing on readily quantifiable benefits as opposed to those that are more speculative.
WOW, CONSCIOUSLY? LET’S HOPE YOU DIDN’T STRAIN YOURSELVES.
WHOEVER WROTE THIS REPORT IS DELUSIONAL.
SIMPLY.
*NOW, WHAT ABOUT EVENTS BIGGER THAN THE POORLY-NAMED AMERICA’S CUP? HEY HOW ABOUT SOMETHING CALLED UEFA? I THINK THAT’S GOING ON RIGHT NOW IN EUROPE. PUT THAT ON YOUR LIST OF SPORTS BIGGER THAN LIL LARRY’S BACKYARD BOAT RACE.
“The world’s most popular sport may be soccer, but in cold, hard dollars, nobody throws a party like the National Football League.
“The British Consul General, Ms Priya Guha, requests the pleasure of your company at a reception prior to a screening of “Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy” November 16, 6:00-7:15pm”
O.K. then. And that’s not at all a typical kind of thing for San Francisco’s consular community, really, but our BritishConsulate-General is out there in the Bay Area promoting the heck out of Britain. (Cool Britanniathey used to call it.) And actually that’s not a hard job when you have Kate Middleton’s Royal Wedding this year (and her recent California visit, dropping by just to say “hi”) and the upcoming 2012 Summer Olympics and whathaveyou.
“Based on the classic novel of the same name, the international thriller is set at the height of the Cold War years of the mid-20th Century. George Smiley (Gary Oldman), a disgraced British spy, is rehired in secret by his government – which fears that the British Secret Intelligence Service, a.k.a. MI-6, has been compromised by a double agent working for the Soviets.”
So last night, San Francisco’s first female British Consul General, Ms. Priya Guha, introduced this film at the Century 9 in Westfield’s San Francisco Centre. She pointed out that Britain is quite big in the movie biz, having over 100 film studios and 2500 post-production companies.
And then it was on with the show.
And then, who popped up as the curtain dropped but Gary Oldman and Director Tomas Alfredson. (Or so I’m told.) This very same crew was up in San Rafael two days ago and who knows where they’ll be tonight:
INSERT PHOTO OF MSSRS. OLDMAN AND ALFREDSON WITH CONSUL GENERAL HERE
But I do have shots from last night of people who may or may not have wanted their photos taken, so I’ll leave them caption-free. (I’ll note that CBS Channel 5 was def. in the house with famous Liam Mayclem and Beth Spotswood (she’s earned a page on Wiki now? Wow) on hand.)
Get used to seeing boats coming and going around town over the next year or two.
Like this:
Click to expand
Forgive me for not jumping on the bandwagon, for not joining in with the mindlesscheerleading.
The fact is that our America’s Cup deal was negotiated poorly. Can anybody deny that? O.K. then.
Now, do you want to say that all this rigmarole is a net positive for the 415 anyway? Well, that’s up in the air.
If you personally get a gig for a number of months, you know, setting up and maintaining port-a-potties and whatnot, then somebody could call that an exercise in “creating jobs,” I suppose. So good for you.
But to compare the famously corrupt Salt Lake City Olympics, or any Olympics, with our AC13, well, that’s not a good thing, is it?
Maybe Larry’s Boat Race will be just like an especially small Olympiad?
“Although the accounting methods of Olympic organizing committees are often murky, the evidence further suggests that all of the last six Winter Olympics ended up losing money. The organizers of the Turin Games in 2006 admitted to a $32 million deficit. And while organizers of the 2002 Salt Lake City Winter Olympics boasted an operating profit of $110 million, the U.S. General Accounting Office determined that the federal government contributed $1.3 billion toward the event. Plagued by cost overruns, the 1998 Nagano Olympics also lost huge piles of dough, though no one knows exactly how much because the organizers burned the accounting books, leaving the financial impact a mystery.”
So, do I have an inventory of all the land mines what are hidden in the agreement that was negotiated? Not yet, but brace yourselves for them…
In the meantime, study up on all the Eurotrash what are racing the boats. Which collection of Euros are you going to be rooting for?
And dig up your old NCAA uniform. It still fits!
And then bone up on your two-legs-good, four-legs-bad style chanting:
natural amphitheater
world-class
Go, Eurotrash, go!
Larry Ellison is NOT the biggest fucking douchebag on the entire planet
I think this link has the new stuff in it, since there are references in there to Apple’s astonishing (to the writer, anyway) lack of counterfeit-preparedness back in 2008, and that’s been in the news the past couple of days.
I don’t know how exciting this will be for you but remember when that Olympic torch came to town back in 2008? This bit and others similar touch on that:
“China is \”gravely concerned\” about security for the April 9 San Francisco Torch Relay participants and their charter plane, said MFA Director General Zheng Zeguang, during a March 26 meeting with the Charge. China expects \”anti-China forces\” to step up their efforts to sabotage the event and asked for USG help in ensuring a \”smooth\” relay.”
And oh yeah, Vietnam was pissed about this kind-of-whacko lady who tried to set part of our downtown Marriott on fire leading to a back and forth that reads just the way you’d expect it to. (The Vietnamese really, really wanted the terrorism charges to stick. They didn’t. But she got a five-year sentence for arson so that’s not too bad.
Anyway, I’m done, my five minutes worth of kicking around the browser are over. The problem is that you can’t search the text.
But you, you’re so clever, I’m sure you can look into this and figure out all sorts of interesting stuff what occurred in the 415…
Now, last year, back in 2010, the rides were free, so people were lining up at 3:00 AM. But this year, the cost will be $29, so that will certainly cut down on the riff-raff, and therefore surely shorten the queue.
(And oh, our friends from up in the Great White North just told me that they will be highly disappointed if Edwin Lee, San Francisco’s once (and future?) Mayor chickens out, if he blows off his obligation. Other Mayors have done it and it all worked out fine. See below for one example…)
Hours: Open daily (7 days a week!) from 11:00 a.m. – 7:00 p.m.*
Price: $29 (all ages)
Age: 6 years+
Weight: 65lbs – 275lbs
First come, first serve
All guests are required to sign an Assumption of Risks and Release of Liability Agreement (coming soon) before zipping. Under 19 requires signature by a parent or guardian.
The ziplines are gravity fed, so guests do not have to worry about controlling their own speed. Guides are stationed at each tower to connect (launch platform) and disconnect (landing platform) each and every guest. Age restrictions apply and guests must weigh more than 65 pounds and no more than a maximum of 275 pounds.
When: Summer 2011 11:00 a.m. – 7:00 p.m. *
Where: Justin Herman Plaza at Embarcadero Square, San Francisco, California
* times may vary on certain days”
Will you have the guts to climb a temporary tower (80 feet tall!) just like this one from 2010 to earn the right to tell your friends you rode the Justin Herman Plaza Zip Line?
But first, you’ll need to wait in line next to the abysmal Vaillancourt Fountain, sign a waiver, and get harnessed up.
Le mise-en-scene.
You’ll ascend the 80 foot tower and encounter a friendly Canadian guide at the top. If you need a pep talk, you’ll get one:
You’ll soon be steadying your nerves by glancing at your jump buddy…
…and then you’ll be off, into the wild bleu.
Sisters doing it for themselves:
Can you see the nervous giggles? There’s your team bonding right there.
And this is what it felt like last year. Everything zooms by with a quickness, and there’s a loud buzzing above your noggin. Some people go upside-down even.
And they’ll totally let you bring a camera to make your own YouTube:
You owe it to yourself to try.
Don’t dissappoint lovely Ashleigh. She brought her Olympic Gold all the way down here last year just so you’d consider Vancouver as the starting point for your next vacation:
I don’t know, I’m the last person who’s going to die from the flu so that’s why I don’t get a shot when the new doses come out every year. I’d be taking a shot from someone who needs it more than I, right?
Yes, this looks like a truck, but it doesn’t carry anything except the message on its side:
Click to expand
Nice black power salute (or actually, blueredmustard-united power salute) motif tho, DPH. Very street, very gritty.*
In closing, I don’t know, is this how you roll, DPH? Really?
No, really, check it out. See how he just loooooved the first AC13 proposal last year, you know, until the second proposal came out? Then he hated the first proposal and somehow forgot how much he loved it just three months before.
Well, since then, we’ve gotten the third proposal, which, I imagine, is somewhere between the first two. (Supervisor Ross Mirkarimi is now looking into how much of the farm former Mayor Gavin Newsom gave away to seal the deal. Bon Courage, R.M.)
Anywho, C.W. Neviuseses’ part-time job of cheering for the powers the are will compel him to break out his pom poms and cheer for, over and over and over, the America’s Cup boat race over the coming months and years.
But make sure to keep in mind this old bit from CW from a half-decade back - it’s about the Olympics, but there’s little difference betwixt an Olympics coming to town and AC13, right? Events like these could be good for a city, of course, but usually they end up being bad, net net. Of course, there’s no way to know for sure ahead of time, right? (Usually, cities “win” a competition like this by not winning, IMO.) Anyway, it’s a nuance thing. It all depends on the deets of any particular deal.
So check it, nuance ‘n stuff from The Nevius:
“San Francisco organizers say much of the cost would be offset by existing facilities, and that’s a fine plan. But costs have a way of spiraling out of control.”
Of course, the Nevius could have reacted to the AC this way, but he didn’t.
