Keller @ Large: What's The Core Of Boston's Olympic Skepticism?

BOSTON (CBS) - Too bad skepticism isn't an Olympic event.

If it were, Bostonians would be odds-on favorites to win the gold at the next games.

Some people mistakenly believe Boston's Olympic skeptics have gone too far, but the truth is, skepticism is not cynicism or nihilism, especially when it comes to the sort of grandiose exercise the modern-day Summer Olympics have become.

Wednesday, in the wake of the latest poll showing support for a Boston Games flatlining at about 40 percent, I spoke with Rich Davey, the former state transportation secretary turned CEO of Boston 2024, the Boston Games booster group. He says they are just about ready to roll out their revised plan for where the major venues will go, how much it will cost to build them and who will pick up the tab.

And the make-or-break question for Boston 2024 is - will they convincingly project benefits that outweigh the costs?

If they do, fair-minded observers will say so and it's possible public support for the plan might grow. If they don't, it'll probably be only a matter of weeks before another bad poll prompts the US Olympic Committee to bail on us.

The boosters face an uphill climb, because as Davey candidly concedes, "we're trying to project out the cost of running the Games and our revenues nine years from now," a difficult task at best.

If that sounds familiar, perhaps it's because you recall the fiasco of the Big Dig, a $3 billion project that would up costing well over $20 billion.

Around here, we remember.

And that memory, plus our fully-justified suspicion of costly development schemes, is at the core of Boston's gold-medal Olympic skepticism.

Listen to Jon's commentary:

You can listen to Keller At Large on WBZ News Radio every weekday at 7:55 a.m. You can also watch Jon on WBZ-TV News.