Italy?
AS San Francisco struggles with how to handle the huge costs of upgrading its crumbling waterfront infrastructure in order to be a viable contender to host the 34th America's Cup, news out of New Zealand is that BMW/Oracle are about to announce that they will shun the US altogether and move AC34 to La Maddalena in Italy.
Italy?
Say it ain't so Joe.
I love Italy. The wine. The salami. The cheese. My wife's relatives. But please. Let's keep it at home, in SF, RI, or, wait for it, NJ. And multihulls? Is nothing sacred?
ReplyDeleteItaly is fine with me... the salami, the good looking guys and the €€€ euros!
ReplyDeleteAw, man, Pat and I were already making plans for SF. We have several friends who have boats in that part of the world, and we might even have one of our own there someday.
ReplyDeleteIf San Francisco's Board of Stupidvisors is too clueless to put something together, I'd really like to see BMWO/GGYC give another US venue such as RI or San Diego a chance before they take their show on the road. Italy is fine as far as it goes, but there seems to be something wrong with not doing their best to keep the competition within the country of the winning team.
ReplyDeleteLet the Bormann Organization's BMW and CIA's Oracle take their Plastic Frankenboat and run away. Last to pay the taxes and first to bitch about the resulting infrastructure. Good riddance.
ReplyDeleteMaybe they could sail a couple of Lasers in Rhode Island?
ReplyDeleteAw man, the guys at Red's Java House are gonna be really bummed. They've already invested heavily in a box of new paper napkins.
ReplyDeletePat says "there seems to be something wrong with not doing their best to keep the competition within the country of the winning team."
ReplyDeleteIf you go to the BMW/Oracle website the list of sailing team members shows a truly international crew. As far as I can see the nation with the most crew members on the winning team was... Italy.
You were saying Pat?
The only source for this "story" is Peter Montgomery. What does Pete say?
ReplyDeleteHe is predicting the next America's Cup will be held in Europe. Where is my crystal ball?
Until I hear it from the Horse's Mouth, Larry Ellison, it's just a rumor.
The Examiner story is from July. If there is a chance for San Francisco to loose the next AC it will come from the environmentalists.
I'm sure I read this story on The Horse's Mouth too. It must be true.
ReplyDeleteNot that I wouldn't like to have a reason to go to Italy, but that would be really sad.
ReplyDeleteIt would be sad if the Californicators can't get their act together and produce a viable plan to host the Cup that will meet Larry's approval. But the way things are looking they might just manage to blow it.
ReplyDeleteWhere have you gone, Bus Mosbacher?
ReplyDeleteOur nation turns it's lonely eyes to you. Woo woo woo.....
What's that you say Mr. Ted Turner, Dennis Conner's left and gone away. Hey hey hey, hey hey hey
WTF?
I'm gonna go out on a limb. And I'm a big heavy guy. I don't like Larry. He offends me. Defend the cup in home waters.
ReplyDeleteIs that too much to ask? It's just not a national pride thing anymore. What's with BMW Oral anyway? What ever happened to plain old US 55? Where all the crewmembers were homegrown, I think? From amber waves? And all pledged allegiance to the same flag. Forgive me if I seem crusty; I must be getting old, but goddamn, it's called the Americas Cup!
Sorry
18% of Americans think Larry Ellison is a Muslim.
ReplyDeleteMr. Baydog, please update your records. The America's Cup is not named for our country, but for the yacht which originally wrested it from the hands of those bothersome British.
ReplyDelete"Originally named the Royal Yacht Squadron Cup, it became known as the "America's Cup" after the first yacht to win the trophy, the schooner America." - Wikipedia (which is never wrong)
Actually the cup was originally known as the "R.Y.S. £100 Cup", standing for a cup of a hundred GB Pounds in value. The Cup was subsequently mistakenly engraved as the "100 Guinea Cup" by the America syndicate, but was also referred to as the "Queen's Cup" and the "America's Cup" (according to Wikipedia which is never wrong.)
ReplyDeleteTitty-Sphincter: (I've been dying to say that) Shut your pie-hole. I don't care if it was originally called the 100 stark-raving-mad-red-skinned-savage-cup. Pounds, shillings, pence.. what is this nonsense? Let's get on with this F'in race. And why do we need to wait years for the next one? Why?
ReplyDeleteWe are having to wait because this is not about yacht racing, it is about money. It is about spending hundreds of millions of dollars on a site to host the Cup and on yachts to challenge for the cup so that billionaires like Ellison and Bertarelli and the Aga Khan can indulge in their hobby of suing each other and occasionally watching yacht races.
ReplyDelete18% of Americans think the Aga Khan is a Muslim.
ReplyDelete18% of Americans think Bertarelli is 100% Extra Virgin Olive Oil.
ReplyDeleteAnd 100% of Americans love Chaka Khan's "Tell me something good" because it was just a kick ass song.
What now, crickets?
ReplyDeleteI'm afraid Mr. Tillerman is right.
ReplyDeleteThere is no site in San Francisco even close to being ready to host the race (well, except maybe for Red's Java House). The only thing that might work is developing some old rotting piers that were abandoned years ago when most commercial port activity moved across the bay to Oakland.
But those piers are so old that their pilings would probably have to be rebuilt - projects that would take forever, cost a fortune, and need the consent of a dozen government agencies that usually can't agree to call the fire department when they smell smoke.
With the governor and legislature having told us for the past year that the state is nearly bankrupt, no politician in his right mind would vote funding for a freakin' yot race, especially two months before elections. And Ellison needs a firm plan within 90 days.
How do you say 'Starboard' in Italian?
Sacramento!!!!!
ReplyDeleteStellabordo?
ReplyDelete18% of Californians think Arnold Schwarzenegger was born in Austria.
ReplyDeleteWasn't the Guinea worth somewhat more than the pound sterling then?
ReplyDeleteThe guinea was always worth more than the pound. A guinea was 21 shillings. A pound was 20 shillings.
ReplyDelete18% of Americans think Rudy Guiliani is a Guinea.
ReplyDeleteWait, I thought Arnold was born in Escondido. And you guys thought that we Califorinacators could get our act together. We had Ronnie, a moonbeam, 3 really boring guys who made paint drying look like an extreme sport and an Austrian bodybuilder as our governors. Should I be looking at real estate in Rhode Island? My good friend owns a couple of restaurants there.
ReplyDeleteJoe, if he were born in Escondido, he might be following in Ronnie's footsteps.
ReplyDeleteCount your blessings.
18% of Americans think Escondido is in Mexico.
ReplyDelete10% of Mexicans live in the U.S.
ReplyDelete