Our very own Sports Editor Kyle Leach wrote in his "Local Yokel" column this week about Congressman-elect Chris Gibson's election night declaration that he would make a bid to bring the Olympics back to New York.
Here it is reprinted in full:

Congressman-elect Chris Gibson's Olympic dream can come true
By KYLE C. LEACH, The Saratogian

The character of Saratoga County is built on the frigid winter days, and not on the sweaty summer nights. Congressman-elect Chris Gibson can see this. And now he wants the world to see it, closing his speech at the Downtown Holiday Inn in Saratoga Springs on Nov. 2 with some regional hope:

“We love New York. We want the rest of the country to love New York. Let’s make a bid to bring the Olympics back here to New York!”

I’m with you, Gibson. In fact, I’m ahead of you.

I put together a list of locations, within the county, for the different winter sports:

Figure Skating

Using single-sport venues to host multiple events is trendy these days. Fenway Park, Wrigley Park, even the New York State Fairgrounds Grandstand; all hosted mid-winter events with ease. It’s time the grand old Saratoga Race Course had its clubhouse fans circling warm air in an effort to heat patrons up, not cool them down.

We can serve brunch with pairs figure skating, and at night take bets on pond hockey, international-style. The judges and rink officials could even sit in the canoe.

Downhill skiing

The alpine skiers strap on their equipment at Dick & Jerry’s Mini Mart, at the intersection of Routes 29 and 147, and move out to the starting line underneath the traffic light. From there, the racers slide down Rt. 147 into the village of Galway to the finish line and massive crowd of onlookers outside the Galway Market.

Speed skating

Olympic champion Bonnie Blair and four fellow winter champions will appear at Cantina on Broadway tonight, in an effort to raise money for the Saratoga Winter Club and the upcoming Junior Speedskating Championship at the Saratoga Springs Ice Rink in January. This is a no-brainer: if the young gliders are coming here for their formative races, get them back for the Olympics.

Let’s just ask Bonnie.

Opening Ceremonies

The spectacle that kicks off the entire Games can take place at Plot 18 over at Luther Forest Technology Campus. That $4.6 billion can quickly be re-directed into the chest-expanding mega- shimmering super-stadium gathering-center Americans yearn for. The Chinese have theirs, we need ours.

You got me excited, Gibson. Let me know how I can help deliver your dream.

The village of Lake Placid (which is in NY-20) hosted the international games in 1932 and 1980, when the U.S. hockey team beat the Soviets in the semi-finals in the famed "miracle on ice" game. The game inspired the Disney film "Miracle" starring world class badass Kurt Russell, who retained that title even in a Disney production, as is clear in the following scene:



In 1981, a year after the actual "miracle" game, Russell stared as Snake Plissken in John Carpenter's "Escape from New York", which is exactly what Chris Gibson has said businesses are being forced to do because of the state's "hostile and uncertain" economic climate.

Politically, Russell is a Libertarian, with a pretty strong opinion on preserving Constitutional freedoms, another pillar of Gibson's campaign.

Disregarding any partisan issues, I smell a celebrity endorsement for both the Olympic nomination and Gibson's reelection campaign. What do you local yokels think?