I just caught them talking about him on the radio and thought maybe he was being used as a consultant on the debate to get them again. Sadly they were talking about his somewhat sudden passing on Wednesday. I hadn't heard a thing.
Tremendous Calgarian whose legacy exists in every part of this city.
We could really use a few Frank Kings right about now in this city/country.
RIP Mr. King
Props to Eric Francis as this is a great piece.
Quote:
“As we studied the requirements more closely, we were shocked to find that Calgary had no world-class winter sports facilities at all,” wrote King in his 1991 book, It’s How You Play the Game – The inside story of the Calgary Olympics.
“Calgary was like a growing boy who had always got by in jeans, had now outgrown them and had nothing better to wear for a big occasion.”
Fourteen other Canadian cities had had larger and more modern arenas than Calgary’s 30-year-old Corral. It had been more than 13 years since Alberta had a major ski area developed.
The country didn’t have a single bobsleigh or luge track or a usable refrigerated speed-skating oval.
It all only served to steel King’s resolve to think bigger and outside the box – to somehow get a small oil town of 505,000 people to think world class.
Ten years later, this city had Olympic infrastructure and a community of volunteers that made Calgary ’88 the “best-organized Games in winter Olympic history,” according to IOC president Juan-Antonio Samaranch.
King chaired it all.
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http://calgaryherald.com/sports/olym...7-dac21837d817