Here is what Lat38 says about Oracle/Team USA dropping SF from the next America's Cup:
We're not sure if it's polite to dump someone by email, but that's
the method that Oracle's Russell Coutts used to inform Mayor Ed Lee that
San Francisco would not be the site of the next America's Cup.
That's a shame, for as was proven in the Finals of the last America's
Cup, San Francisco Bay is the ideal place for the competition. The
sailing conditions were fantastic, the spectating and interaction
between the participants and fans was superb, and San Francisco was
never presented in a more favorable light. Sailing and San Francisco
were both big winners.
That the America's Cup organizers and San Francisco failed to reach
an agreement for the next America's Cup is hardly surprising, as
relations between the two, and between Oracle Team USA and large
segments of the city's whiny residents, were never good. Ellison and
Coutts seemed to think that San Francisco wasn't supportive enough, and
detractors pointed to the fact the last Cup supposedly cost San
Francisco $11 million — a laughably small sum that isn't even equivalent
to the pensions of three or four of the legions of underworked and
overpaid city employees.
Perhaps the biggest problem was that Ellison, worth untold billions,
and the City, on fire with social media and tech money, as well as the
darling of tourists the world over, don't really need each other. Both
are sitting fat and pretty on their own.
The loss of San Francisco as a potential America's Cup site leaves
three less-than-inspiring sites in contention: San Diego, Bermuda and
Chicago. San Diego is a wonderful place, but simply doesn't have the
challenging winds for a proper America's Cup. It would be like holding
the Masters Golf Tournament at a dried-out muni course. Or the Winter
Olympics at Dodge Ridge. Bermuda? While the sailing can be nice, the
tiny little place is the antithesis of cosmopolitan, and is so
overcrowded that residents are only allowed one car per house. That
leaves Chicago, which we think would be the best choice of the three.
The freshwater sailing can actually be quite good, and while there
aren't a lot of sailors in some parts of the Midwest, we think the
America's Cup is the kind of world-class event that even non-sailors
could enthusiastically get behind.
So all we Northern Californians are left with are memories of the
34th America's Cup. But what great memories! While the buildup and Louis
Vuitton Semifinals were a flop, and there was farce and tragedy, the AC
34 Finals were the most unique and earthshaking in sailing. And Oracle
Team USA's victory after being down 1-8 was the greatest comeback in
sports. If there is a silver lining to the dark cloud of San Francisco's
not being selected as the site of the next America's Cup, it's that no
future America's Cup will be able to live up to the drama and excitement
of the Cup competition that was held on San Francisco Bay.
The Grand Poobah has spoken.
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