With 31 days left until the Olympic Games in Athens starts on , a blackout hit all of Athens yesterday. The blackout was worst one in more than 10 years and naturally stirred some more doubts in the logistical nightmare that has become the Athens Olympics. The outage was blamed on "mismanagement" of the electricity grid. I'm sure that's what athletes and security personnel want to hear - mismanagement.
Naturally, the Olympic Organizing Committee assured everyone that there would be no electric problems when the games started. The committee said, "A similar incident would not affect the competition schedule and the broadcasting of the games." When the games begin, five more electrical substations are supposed to be operating and generators at the individual sites would prevent a blackout from affecting the venues.
Temperatures Monday hit 104 in Athens where July is the hottest month. In August, highs are expected to be around 90. Of course, all this blackout excitement has Gothamist thinking about New York's blackout last summer and turning an Athens blackout into an Olympic event.
Perhaps the cyclists can bike through the congested traffic a la bike messenger; basketball can be played in the dark, with passing, shooting, and staying in bounds a crapshoot; naturally, all events can be timed accurately by using the sun as it attempts to cut through the Athens smog or by using the Mississippi method - 1 Mississippi, 2 Mississippi...9 Missi... "The Men's 100 times - Mo Greene wins with a time of 9 plus missi Mississippies." Of course, since they are in Greece, they would use Thessalonikies. Besides, retro is in, and they didn't have electricity at the inaugural Olympic Games.
