(Stanford, California)

At a news conference at Stanford University today, details of the "Summer National Senior Games" were announced. The Bay Area (and specifically Palo Alto) will be hosting the games from August 1 through 15, 2009. Yes, opening ceremonies are a year from today.
"Big deal," you say. "We want the real Olympics!" Well, this may be a foreshadowing of things to come. Next year 12,000 athletes from around the nation will be competing in eighteen medal sports and seven demonstration sports around the Bay. That should translate to an economic impact of more than $35 million dollars to the local economy. That ain't bad.
"This will be bigger than Beijing," said Anne Warner Cribbs, president of the local organizing committee. "More athletes will be competing." Cribbs knows a little something about this business; she represented the U.S. in swimming in the 1960 Olympics.

Local elected officials are thrilled about all the business coming here.
The point is, most people are living longer and healthier lives, so why not compete in athletic games for medals. And that means this concept could become big business. After all, as I pointed out at the news conference today, people scoffed as the Seniors' Golf Tour when it was first launched. Many thought it would fail. It's now a multimillion-dollar enterprise, with a TV contract and huge respect and notoriety. Why? Because people like good competitive golf, whether it's Tiger Woods in his 30's or Jack Nicklaus in his 70's.
The same thing could happen to these Senior Games! While it is primarily a U.S. competition for now, the games will be expanding into Europe, with Fall Games in the Netherlands in September of 2009 with upwards of 5,000 athletes. Could further international competition be far behind? "My dream is that one day we will have World Senior Games," said National Senior Games President, Phil Godfrey, "that it will be on par with the Olympics."
Senior swimmer Daniela Barnea echoed those international hopes. "I grew up in Israel, where there were no pools to swim in," Barnea said. "I got here and joined the master's program. I enjoy swimming. I enjoy the workout."
So where do the politics come in? Well, promoting international cooperation and goodwill has always been a goal of the Olympics, even if that has at times fallen short. It's interesting to note that these Senior Games will have an environmental emphasis and goals. For example, at the games last year in Louisville, the athletes were given 50,000 plastic water bottles. Not this time. Each will be given a stainless steel water container, and there will be so-called "hydration stations" all over campus. The idea is to cut down on trash and pollution. "These games will be green," said organizer Anne Warner Cribbs.



I consider the two political conventions as "the Olympics of politics," and they are coming soon. I will be in both Denver and St. Paul, starting August 24. Check in often at www.MarkCurtisMedia.blogspot.com.
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