Bob Ryan: Boston 2024 Has Bungled Bid 'From Start To Finish'
BOSTON (CBS) -- Bob Ryan would love to see the Olympics come to Boston, but he doesn't blame people for not backing the Boston 2024 bid.
Ryan has covered 11 Olympics over his long and storied career at The Boston Globe, and thinks Boston would be a wonderful host city. But given all the gaffes and controversy surrounding the city's bid to host the summer games in 2024 , Ryan says opponents to the games have nothing to worry about.
"I am pro-Olympics, but anti-Boston 2024. They have bungled the job beyond repair and have made it impossible for Boston to get the bid," Ryan told 98.5 The Sports Hub's Toucher & Rich on Wednesday. "People who are staunch opponents have nothing to worry about; they have messed this project up from the beginning. They are not going to get the bid."
Read: Boston 2024 Organizers Trying To Revive Struggling Bid
Ryan said many of the issues the public has, most notably the traffic that would plague the area during the games, are greatly exaggerated and if public transportation is running the way it should be, traffic shouldn't be a problem. Money is also a scary issue for the public, but Ryan said in normal instances, this too is heavily exaggerated.
But he doesn't trust anything coming from the Boston 2024 Committee.
"These people have messed this thing up from start to finish. They keep changing things because their original proposals were either faulty or they misled or lied to people," he said. "How about Harvard not being consulted about the use of their own facilities? That's just one example."
Ryan said Los Angeles is ready to pounce if Boston loses their bid, but Paris is the most likely host for the 2024 Summer Games.
Rich also asked the long-time Celtics/NBA scribe about a recent social media bout between Shaquille O'Neal and Scottie Pippen, with Shaq saying the Top 5 Lakers team would beat the Top 5 Bulls team by 50 points. It's a concept Ryan laughed at, saying Shaq isn't even on the Lakers' Top 5 roster.
"The two All-Time Top 5s would be Boston and LA, no question about that," Ryan said. "Let's start with Shaq's lack of historical perspective for the sport he played. He wouldn't even start on his own team. He has himself as a starting power forward when he couldn't play more than two feet away from the basket. He would be the third center behind Kareem [Abdul Jabbar] and Wilt [Chamberlain].
"No team would beat any team with Michael Jordan on it by 50," Ryan added.
As for his Top 5 teams, Ryan put Kareem, Kobe Bryant, Magic Johnson, Jerry West and Elgin Baylor on the Lakers squad, with Bill Russell, Larry Bird, Kevin McHale, John Havlicek, and Bob Cousy making up the Celtics team, with Sam Jones subbing in if Cousy's game is too "retro" for you.