Pittsburgh just doesn't have olympic-size aspirations. My life in the fast lane here is a puzzle.

The first part of this blog entry was crafted Feb 25, 2005:

Eric H of the Trib Why isn't the IOC stopping in Pittsburgh?

Why aren't Mayor Tom Murphy, Joe DeNardo and Jenna Morasca shmoozing some IOC members at this very moment over an Artery Clogger headwich at Fatheads?

Such heady thoughts seemed possible back in September 2000. That's when the athletic complex housing administrative offices and practices fields for the Steelers and University of Pittsburgh Panthers opened on the South Side.

Murphy was among those who dared to dream that day.

He was among the people who expressed the sentiment that the city had just built magnificent new practice accommodations for a couple of football teams. How much harder could it be to construct several billion dollars of Olympic buildings.

This article is welcomed -- but such a joke.

I've been to and worked at Olympic Training Centers. I was there when the public got its first peek at the dwarf football fields on the UMPC compound.

The unbridled optimism of the past of Tom Murphy and some other out-of-touch wonks had its critics. I was among them. But sadly, all sides of the story were not reported upon.

We have a marathon runner as mayor and Pittsburgh can't even host its marathon any more. The wheels have fallen off of the mayor's agenda. His spin is in the scrap heap. But sadly, he is still in the office.

Eric is wrong about not a single architectural sketch being produced for the new athletic venues, however. But, his point is still valid. As is mine about the lack of real coverage. Drawings have been made. It is hard to talk about the building of a new pool when we were to close 32 outdoro pools.

I wish Pittsburgh had stood pat, complacent and apparently content. Pittsburgh has slid back into the late 1800s. We've been in a deep decline, hardly standing pat.


Of course Pittsburgh never made a serious attempt to land the games. Those who were talking then were clueless and those who were saying no way were not given an interview. Those people who made the unrealistic, overly optimistic utterances should not be forgotten. And those that said, "I told you so," should be held in high esteem. I'm okay with the acts to rekindle memories of what was to be explored by Pittsburgh. We can't re-write history.

A city can't host the Olympics when it can't even host the Keystone State Games. As for the Bassmaster Classic, that's another good example of how some around here fall for their spin; hook, line and sinker. Dont' forget MLB's All-Star Game too! Big deal.

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On March 1, 2005, this story's theme gets some fresh attention.

Visitors Bureau aims to draw additional sporting events - PittsburghLIVE.com Events such as softball and volleyball tournaments are big business today, he said, and can fill hotel rooms during slow periods in the meeting and convention season.

Volleyball is a big business.

There is much to do in this area. Presently, the city and the region does little to nothing.

Street cars are wished for by O'Connor

PennLive.com: NewsFlash - PA Western Pa Briefs : "The streetcars would promote development in the city and encourage people to live downtown, O'Connor said Monday..

Pittsburgh used to be full of street cars. In the old days, one could take a street cars from Pittsburgh to Washington PA. Kennywood Park came into being because it was a destination for a company, a private company, that owned the street car line.

In the old days, we used to have inclines too. Now there are two. In the past, the South Side had a dozen or so.

We have light rail, and that is much like a modern street car line. It goes to Overbrook and the South Hills. The street car goes up and over Arlington Road and makes for a bypass of the Liberty Tunnel.

The key to the success of the city and the region is not to live in a fantasy world.

We could run select street cars on select routes in a successful way. But, we can't be going in the wrongheaded directions with light rail expansion at the same time.

A glass enclosed T-stop at Gateway Center, as is the current plan for an existing stop's re-do, is not a net gain. Let's build a new subway stop where there isn't already a subway stop.

The last new subway stop was built at PNC's Firstside. That wasn't a net gain to the system.