Five-Ring Monte: Boston Dailies on Olympic Cronies

March 8, 2015

Both Boston dailies take on the machers piling up at Boston 2024, the bulldozing bunch trying to bring the Olympic Games to town nine years hence. But the papers have different bigwigs to target.

The Boston Sunday Globe gives the cudgel to Metro columnist Yvonne Abraham, who drops the hammer on Mistah Mayah.

Too close for comfort

You can’t be both cheerleader and watchdog.

Mayor Marty Walsh was initially skeptical about a Boston Olympics, promising to protect the city’s interests as assorted bigs pursued a 2024 Games. Now he’s the Games’ booster in chief.

“Make no mistake, we are in this to win it: to bring the Olympic Games to Boston, along with the immense global investment and community benefits that come with it,” he said at Wednesday’s annual meeting of the Boston Municipal Research Bureau.

Walsh and Boston 2024 are now one. He has fully melded his operation with the one run by John Fish and other titans pushing the Games.

 

Abraham’s conclusion: “[Marty Walsh] now owns the bid, and all that comes with it, good or bad . . . The mayor has leapt from the Olympic high board. No turning back now.”

Of course, there’s no water in the pool – just a bunch of double-talk – so that doesn’t bode well for anyone.

Crosstown at the Boston Herald, it’s former Gov. Patrick who’s Devalued.

Page One:

 

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Inside, Patrick gets the expensive two-page spread (with special bonus Inexplicable Little Green Numbers!).

 

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This Olympic bid has all the earmarks of classic crony capitalism: The high-priced array of usual suspects, the sleight-of-hand secrecy, the see-no-evil stonewalling – the whole megillah.

The biggest Olympic event of all would be if any of these characters dealt straight with the people of Boston for two minutes at a time.

So far, the prospects don’t look good.


It’s Good to Live in a Two-Guinness Town

January 30, 2014

From our Late to the Drinking Party desk

The local dailies were on rare equal footing in the ad department yesterday, as both ran the same full-page Guinness advertisement.

Boston Globe, page 9:

 

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Boston Herald, page 3:

 

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There’s also a companion TV spot that’s a total knockout.

 

 

Except it will no longer appear on TV because “U.S. Olympic Committee rules generally ban marketers who are not official sponsors from featuring Olympic competitors . . .  This year’s ad blackout runs from Jan. 30 to Feb. 26,” according to The Drum.

Our loss.

Whose gain?

The Five-Ring Circus.