Chapter 154 Los Angeles Olympics
The Los Angeles Olympics is a rather special one, because before this one, all the Olympic Games lost money. By 1978, except for Los Angeles, no other city applied, so we really couldn’t afford the compensation!
Los Angeles did not apply in the name of the country, but formed a preparatory committee among the private sector. Ueberroth, chairman of the organizing committee, is a capable person. Under his planning and a budget investment of US$500 million, the Olympics can be held.
He has neither government subsidies nor increased taxpayer burdens. In addition, US law prohibits the issuance of lottery tickets, so he has to raise all funds by himself. It has taken steps to enter into funding agreements with corporate groups; sell television broadcast rights and game tickets; reduce expenditures, make full use of existing facilities, and try not to build stadiums; do not build a new Olympic Village and rent two university dormitories in California for athletes and officials. Accommodation; recruiting volunteers to work voluntarily for the conference and other measures.
His approach has also been criticized by some, who criticized the current Olympic Games as having a strong commercial flavor, especially in the torch relay in the United States, where participants were charged US$3,000 for each mile they ran, which caused a stir in sports. People in the industry are dissatisfied and believe that it seriously violates Olympic principles.
With the efforts of Ueberroth and the Olympic Committee, only 19 countries among the 159 Olympic Committee members boycotted or did not participate in the Olympic Games. There are still 140 countries and regions participating, far more than in previous years. . There were 6,829 participating athletes, 9,190 media members, and 28,742 volunteers. There were 21 major events and 221 minor events in the competition.
We have 225 athletes participating in this Olympic Games, participating in the remaining 16 major events except football, hockey, boxing, equestrian, and modern pentathlon.
July 29, Prado Arena. Liu Hongmin sat in the audience early, accompanied by a representative from Random House.
"Detective Conan" continuously harvests the wealth of the Japanese for Random House, at least millions of dollars every month. Now that Liu Hongmin has arrived in the United States, as the host, Random House naturally has to do a good job of hosting her.
"Liu, there are many Japanese animation companies who want to adapt "Detective Conan" and have paid a lot of royalties."
Liu Hongmin shook his head, "Don't pay attention to them. I have already asked people to start production of the animation of "Detective Conan". When the time comes, we will sign a sharing contract and leave it to you Random House to put it on the Japanese market."
The Random House representative laughed, "Liu, it's so easy to work with you. You can think of everything in front of us."
Liu Hongmin laughed, "Randolph, you too Have you learned to be humble? Random House’s methods of operating books are very mature. I don’t believe you haven’t thought of making “Detective Conan” into an animated film.”
Randolph laughed, “This is also the case. You Chinese learned it.”
Who says foreigners can’t be humble and complimentary? When they ask for something from you, they can still put down their attitude.
Liu Hongmin said: "Not only cartoons, we are also preparing for major animated movies. We will produce one every year and then show it in East and Southeast Asia. It should be able to get a lot of box office."
Randolph was stunned for a moment, Random House really didn't expect this. Adaptations of manga into animation were commonplace at this time, but adaptations into major animated films were rare. It's not that people at this time couldn't think of it, but the benefits are not big. Animated movies are fan-oriented works, which are equivalent to selling peripherals. Often such big movies are made poorly to gain fans.
"Liu, this may not be very long-term. If it affects the reputation of "Detective Conan", it will affect our long-term interests."
Liu Hongmin: "As long as the production of major animated films It will not only not affect the reputation, but also create a brand effect. By then, fans of "Detective Conan" will be proud to watch the animated movie, which will bring us huge benefits."
Randolph's eyes flashed with light. If the quality could really be guaranteed, "Detective Conan" would become a cash cow for Random House in the next ten or even decades.
"Liu, the quality of animated movies must be guaranteed." "This is natural!"
While the two were talking, the competition began.
Liu Hongmin’s eyes were fixed on the Chinese shooter on the field. He was Xu Haifeng.
The sound of gunshots echoed in the Prado arena. After several rounds of shooting, Xu Haifeng won the first gold medal of the Chinese delegation. Liu Hongmin stood up excitedly. He witnessed history today.
Randolph smiled, he could understand Liu Hongmin's excitement. He would also be excited if the United States won its first gold medal in history.
But then, Randolph became a little confused. During the award presentation, the Chinese national anthem was played during the flag raising. Liu Hongmin actually sang along loudly, with a serious expression and red eyes. It was obvious that Liu Hongmin was a staunch patriot.
At this time, he didn't feel anything was wrong. It was not until many years later that Liu Hongmin made a decision that he could never make that he recalled what happened today.
Next, Liu Hongmin began to focus on the women's volleyball team.
Last year, because of the "Lies" incident, the Japanese threatened to defeat China in all aspects, and the women's volleyball team became one of the victims. During the Asian Championships, the women's volleyball team was defeated by the Japanese in the final and only won the silver medal.
After the game, the Devils made rude remarks, leaving everyone in the women's volleyball team baffled. After learning what happened, the women's volleyball team was very angry.
Liu Hongmin’s character has been verified by both parties. His three proposals have struck him with a knife, which is obvious to all the people across the country. The Japanese were angry at the women's volleyball team because of Liu Hongmin's novel, which made everyone in the women's volleyball team furious. However, the game was over, and they could only keep it in their stomachs.
When they were divided into groups, the women's volleyball team regretted not being assigned to the same group as the Japs, so they vented their anger on the teams in the same group. On July 30, the women's volleyball team defeated Brazil 3:0; on August 1, the women's volleyball team defeated Liande 3:0.
Just when they wanted to win the US team in one go, they suddenly discovered that the Devils team in another group had won all three games and advanced to the semi-finals with the first place in the group.
So, if the women's volleyball team wants to face the Devils in the semi-finals, it can only advance by ranking second in the group. If they top the group, the Little Devils will play against the American team. The American team is also a strong team. If it defeats the Devils, the women's volleyball team will have no chance to play against the Devils.
With such a burden, the women's volleyball team was demoralized a lot. As a result, they lost to the United States 1:3 and got their wish against the Japanese team.
Liu Hongmin didn't know the process of the women's volleyball team winning the championship in 1984. Seeing that the women's volleyball team couldn't beat the US team, he began to worry about the women's volleyball team's prospects of winning the championship.
(End of this chapter)