Where I Stand — Mike O’Callaghan: Games losers are weepers

Sunday, Jan. 31, 1999 | 9:58 a.m.

THE WEEPING and gnashing of teeth has begun in the cities that have failed to provide big enough bribes to host the Olympic Games. They tried, oh my how they tried, to entice the International Olympic Committee to pick their cities, but some other city offered more free medical care, tuition grants, jobs for relatives, expensive hotel rooms with meals and plain cold cash than they did. Now they want to have another shot at it in hopes the winners will be too embarrassed to again out-bribe them.

Judith Demba, a German politician, has gone as far as sending a letter to the IOC telling that body how much Berlin's committee spent when trying to buy the 2000 Summer Games. Poor Berlin whines that its committee spent $1.5 million on lodging, travel and other goodies for only 56 IOC visitors. Demba, according to the Los Angeles Times, claims the committee also:

* "Paid 'horrendous' medical bills for visiting IOC members.

* "Organized a Berlin Philharmonic concert with the daughter of South Korean IOC Vice President Kim Un-Yong, one of three IOC members under investigation for possible improprieties during the 2002 campaign.

* "Was sent a bill for $3,724 by (IOC President Juan Antonio) Samaranch for a plane ticket between Stuttgart and Berlin, a domestic fare that normally costs less than $400."

And those poor suckers still lost the 2000 Summer Games to Sydney. I don't know how much of this Demba can prove because a 1995 investigation by the government only learned that most of the bid committee records had disappeared.

Maybe the Germans taught the Japanese the art of disappearing records because all of the Nagano 1998 Winter Games records have also been shredded, burned, eaten or something. Nagano won the Winter Games and didn't even have a facility to accommodate them when bidding.

Andrew Jennings, in his book "The New Lords Of The Rings," gives readers a taste of what happened in Berlin. Lutz Gruttke, the former German spin doctor for IBM, was given the job of securing the 2000 Summer Games. Jennings notes that "Gruttke didn't last long -- and neither did his budget. He took lessons from Lausanne: bills for first class flights, top class hotels and sumptuous meals fluttered in his wake as he squandered generous handouts from public funds. Within six months the budget was overspent by DM 1.6 million. Auditors couldn't find receipts and political scandal loomed. Quietly, the mayor's office chipped in more taxes, Daimler provided the rest. The bills were paid."

Also shedding tears is Rome Mayor Francesco Rutelli, who now wants another grab at the Olympic rings for the 2004 Summer Games. Somehow or another, Samaranch and his buddies sold the games to Athens. At least for historical purposes that Greek city has a claim to host the games. Actually the people of Athens thought they should have had the 1996 Summer Games to celebrate 100 years of modern Olympic Games. Despite history, I have to believe Atlanta provided more goodies for the IOC because that city hosted the games.

Now Rutelli is telling everybody that will listen that he's angry because all the experts had given Rome the thumbs up for the 2004 Games. He and all of Rome were unpleasantly surprised when Samaranch announced that Athens had been selected. Big deal, Mr. Mayor. Join the dozens of other cities that have spent millions only to find out some other city had spent even more and beat them out.

After being beaten out for the Winter Games four times by less prepared and less attractive areas, Salt Lake City knows how Rutelli feels. The difference between that Utah city and the record keepers of Nagano and Berlin is they haven't destroyed records. All the excessive gifts and expenditure records are public and this isn't the first time for Salt Lake City. Ten years ago a legislative audit of a previous failed SLOC costly bid was made public. The Utah legislative auditors saw enough excessive spending and double billing of city and state governments to recommend action by the state attorney general. The auditor's material was made public and openly discussed, but no legal action was taken. The SLOC bid committee was just learning the game and used this knowledge to later capture the prize.

Even our neighbors to the north have brought out their crying towels. A Reno Gazette-Journal editorial suggests that maybe Reno-Tahoe might have been cheated out of the 2002 Winter Games scheduled for Salt Lake City. The editorial quotes Brad Littlefield, who worked on the Reno-Tahoe bid, as saying "absolutely" he believes there were irregularities in the bidding procedure. No kidding.

Author Jennings was sued by Samaranch for his earlier exposure of IOC wrongdoing. Actually what Jennings was guilty of doing was writing about the continual highway robbery conducted in the name of good sportsmanship by IOC members. What he wrote was the truth and now people are admitting that he was right. He doesn't believe the IOC will change until Samaranch and all of his buddies are sent home and faraway from the Olympic Games.

In the meantime, I don't want to hear any more whining from the losers. They played the game of bribery and lost to those who paid more money. Shame on all of them.