Alexander: LA 2028 Olympics – what the readers suggest

We asked, you answered. And just maybe, those responsible for planning and producing the Los Angeles Olympics of 2028 will pay attention.

Or not.

The readers’ suggestions, in response to our question more than a week ago – if you had organizing committee boss Casey Wasserman’s ear, what would you suggest? – ran the gamut from whimsical to impassioned to … well, kind of politically incorrect. One correspondent sent a second version of his suggestion after acknowledging his family wasn’t terribly wild about his first idea. (It regarded the Opening Ceremony, and I think we’ll just leave it at that.)

And this might be apropos of nothing, but respondents on Threads had ideas quite competitive with those received via email.

This from Rob Ryan for example: “1. Light the Hollywood sign for (the) duration of Games (do it in sustainable way that minimizes impact on local neighbors). 2. Set up some temp competition venue in front of Griffith Park Observatory (or) utilize it in Opening Ceremonies. 3. Build some temp competition venue in Grand Park/front of City Hall. 4. Use Hollywood Reservoir & Mulholland for triathlon or a swim competition or marathon?”

Mike Carlo suggested running the marathon along Pacific Coast Highway “from Malibu to SoFi.” Nicholas Frost advocated for “vert skateboarding,” while Chad Simplicio added: “Simple. Replace Squash or Flag Football with Breakdancing.”

Chad, I’m afraid you might be shouted down by the number of those who would prefer anything but breakdancing in the next games, though maybe it’s a generational thing. The folks who emailed were far less likely to support that activity – I’m afraid I can’t bring myself to call it a sport – as an Olympic endeavor.

In fact, emailer Al Delay of Riverside queried: “Is it the IOC that adds trash activities like break dancing, three-on-three basketball, and flag football? I anticipate cornhole and warehouse games (which I saw on ESPN2) will be added sometime. How demented.”

Delay also suggested the competition should be four weeks instead of two: “I want to see televised more boxing, weight lifting, field (events), cycling, and different types of rowing. Two weeks is not enough time to allow much coverage of these sports.”

The softball question – why the plan is to hold the event in Oklahoma City (along with kayak slalom racing) instead of building adequate facilities in or near the Olympic city – sparked some debate. Correspondent “Kylesbeard” on Threads said it was “Pretty funny that you think it’s better to try to add thousands of seats to a park in Irvine (current capacity <800) where there’s no room for parking all those people than use one of best facilities in the country that already has 13k seats and hosts the NCAA softball world series.”

How far is OKC from Los Angeles, again?

But other respondents suggested a better option than trying to retrofit an existing softball facility: Build one in Great Park in Irvine. That would add to the amenities in that park, and would also give Orange County representation in these games that it’s currently missing.

Stephen Peeler of Laguna Niguel made that point: “So far the biggest omission for the 2028 Olympics is the lack of ANY Orange County venues. Seems the Honda Center or Angel Stadium could be used for SOMETHING. How about building a world class softball stadium at Irvine’s Great Park. The cycling road race was held in Mission Viejo in 1984. There are a ton of great locations for cycling events in the OC. But perhaps LA won’t like the contrast of crime, cleanliness, and homelessness in LA vs the OC.

“And surfing HAS to be held at surf city, Huntington Beach.”

Ah, yes. The surfing competition in Paris was halfway around the globe, in Tahiti. We should not have that issue here.

“Infrastructure already built in; hotels, restaurants, able to accommodate thousands of fans,” wrote Facebook correspondent and longtime baseball scribe Joe Haakenson. “Not the best wave in the world but relatively consistent. Alternatives are Lower Trestles (better wave but infrastructure nightmare) and Kelly Slater’s Surf Ranch in Lemoore. (Good and dependable wave, but it’s not the ocean. Kind of like a home run hitting contest instead of playing an actual baseball game).”

Lower Trestles, a famed surf spot located between San Onofre State Beach and San Clemente, is at least more geographically desirable than Lemoore, located in the San Joaquin Valley south of Fresno. But I don’t believe either has ever had the alternative title of Surf City. If we’re doing the planning, Huntington Beach it is.

George Conlisk, a frequent correspondent to this columnist, suggested: “Olympic athletes that are born in (the) USA and go to state-funded colleges and are trained by coaches paid by the college should represent the USA in (the) Olympics. It’s a little hard to take when they all of sudden decide they’re a Norwegian or Tibetan when they’ve been (an) American all of their lives.”

And he also brought up what is sure to be a bone of contention once NBC decides on its plans for L.A. Olympic coverage: “All events should be televised live on the West Coast.”

Among suggestions for the opening ceremony – which, as you might remember, is how this whole reader suggestion idea came about – Kim Knight suggested a biplane with the Olympic banner flying over Malibu “and if a blue whale could time a breach while (the) biplane is flying over (it) would be spectacular,” and also suggested a choir at the Griffith Observatory.

She added this: “Hoping Karen Bass can clean up Los Angeles to make us proud.”

An emailer from Irvine who only identified himself as Chris said that those who were born during the ’84 Games in L.A., like himself, should be part of the torch relay.

And John Wagner of Irvine suggested two scenarios for the opening ceremony: One in Orange County, on yachts through Newport Bay and then on parade floats to Fashion Island where Mickey and Minnie Mouse could carry the torch and light the flame. (This one might be a bit over the top.) The other would be from LAX to SoFi Stadium, where the torch would be lit by either the Rams’ Matthew Stafford and Sean McVay or the Chargers’ Justin Herbert and Jim Harbaugh. (He didn’t offer an alternative plan should neither the Rams nor Chargers win that February’s Super Bowl.)

Doug Burke suggested having “well-known Hollywood actors / actresses sprinkled in with each country during the Parade of Athletes. Up the ante by having the actor/actress be a native from the country they are walking with.”

He also suggested bringing back Lionel Richie for an encore performance of “All Night Long,” this time as the opening number instead of the closing ceremony as in ’84. I can support that.

That brings us to the last item on our list, but far from last in priority: Traffic and transportation.

Emailer Fredi Brown of Northridge, noting the suggestion that buses be imported from elsewhere to help with Olympic transportation, recalled that a similar scenario at the 1996 Olympics in Atlanta did not go well.

“They used our L.A. buses and drivers and on day 4 I got on an L.A. bus to go to a rowing competition,” Brown wrote. “He had no maps to get there! A local had to tell him how to get to the venue. When I disembarked he told me all the L.A. drivers were promised maps, food vouchers, motel vouchers and the same for gas. He said the whole fleet of L.A. bus drivers were leaving. He said they all slept on their buses and paid out of pocket for their food and gas. They were hot, tired and broke and had jobs back in L.A. driving their buses. Just please pass that along to whoever has this idea for LA28. I don’t want to see the same thing happen at our games.”

Andy Paulin of Walnut was an athletic trainer for the judo competition at Cal State L.A. in 1984 and said he commuted from home every day and “never had a traffic problem.” And he noted that the venues were “spread out all over SoCal, with staggered hours of operation,” and that plus staggered work schedules resulted in astoundingly light traffic.

And, he noted, “I remember meeting people who said they were going on vacation or out of town during the Olympics. I believe that helped (and) I wouldn’t be surprised if they loaned or rented their homes to people who wanted to attend the Olympics.”

Could happen again.

Courtney Lamb, on Threads, wrote: “Imagine an L.A. with the robust light rail and tram infrastructure it had 100 years ago. This city was built on public transportation and the Games are an amazing opportunity to put safe and popular rail/subways/bike lanes center stage again.”

I suspect that’s what the mayor has in mind. But just think of what this region would have been like if the Red Cars hadn’t been phased out all those decades ago.

Finally, there’s this from Threads commenter Jennifer Arrow: “Please install freeway quality directional signage on all bike paths in the greater L.A. are. Useful for tourists AND locals.”

Let’s expand that, and make sure all road and street signs are clear and understandable. This should be the first priority of road engineers everywhere: Never assume that people know how to get to where they’re going.

jalexander@scng.com