USOC's 2012 Site Tour Concludes In S.F. With Mays, McCovey

Mays Undergoes New Olympic Effort

The USOC site selection team "was treated to star power during the final day of its evaluation visit of the Bay Area," according to John Crumpacker of the S.F. CHRONICLE, who notes the task force visited Pac Bell Park and were "greeted at home plate by Willie Mays and Willie McCovey." USOC committee member Ann Swissholm: "I can't handle meeting Willie Mays!" USOC task force Chair Charles Moore said that S.F. "clearly improved its standing from last year's visit and indicated the bid would hold up well to the scrutiny" of the IOC. However, Moore "was far less effusive in his praise of the [S.F] bid than he was after visits" to DC, N.Y. and Houston. Crumpacker: "Perhaps he was tired from all the traveling, but his comments were noticeably subdued as he summed up the USOC's 28 hours in the Bay Area" (S.F. CHRONICLE, 7/16). Moore said that 54% of the task force's evaluation "will be tied to IOC guidelines on sports and general infrastructure, accommodations, transportation and other elements. Fifteen percent will relate to financial and budget stability." In Houston, David Barron: "That leaves 31[%] for USOC partnership opportunities, Paralympics planning and the one factor that likely will decide the race — the ability to win" the IOC's vote (HOUSTON CHRONICLE, 7/16). Meanwhile, IOC VP Dick Pound said S.F. "is attractive. It captures the imagination and has a more reliable climate. It is a real international city, and you don't have many of them in America" (SAN JOSE MERCURY NEWS, 7/16). USOC officials said that they "believed the bid could win internationally." Moore: "This is a fine, and it may even be an exceptional, bid" (WASHINGTON POST, 7/16).

SAN FRANCISCO TREAT? In DC, Amy Shipley writes the task force "heard [S.F.'s] plan for an athlete-driven, environmentally conscious, flexible bid that featured a fair dose of the city's natural beauty. ... Site team members seemed struck and daunted by the realization that they are dealing not with four similar bids that will invite quick and easy comparisons, but rather with four cities that have taken drastically different approaches to winning the Olympic Games" (WASHINGTON POST, 7/16). In CA, Ann Tatko writes the Bay Area Sports Organizing Committee (BASOC) "still faced the challenge of selling the task force on its venue plan, which is region-based rather than confined to the host city. Ten of the 57 sports will be held at venues in" S.F. (CONTRA COSTA TIMES, 7/16).