I'd have to dig back through the first, maybe second thread to get the name of the National Team's new fitness coach.
Stupid Luck and Happenstance, Thread III
- Thread starter Peabody-Martini
- Start date
There are so many different scenarios and storylines floating around the Montreal Olympics ITTL.
For Marie her talents and connections make her a "Prestige Get" and will be in high demand from the following people and organizations:
The Montreal Olympic Organizing Committee.
The IOC.
Queen Elizabeth II and other Royals.
I can see Kat getting Marie a job with the German Olympic Team and staying in the Olympic Village "to keep an eye on her younger relatives".
The various international broadcasting networks including ABC, ARD, BBC, and the CBC, I can see viewers wanting to know "Who is that cute Red Head doing the translating?" and becoming a hit with them.
There will be many international corporations there either in official sponsorships or sports equipment, sportswear, or other reasons.
They include Addias, Puma, this new company out of Portland OR, Nike, McDonald's, Coca-Cola, and IBM.
She will either be in front of the public or behind the scenes with the top executives and their VIP guests.
For Sophie, someone at her level of competition would have more than one bike for backups and they also could be painted red
I could see Doug shooting a poster of the Women's Cycling Team for fundraising purposes and since the main sponsor ifs the Luftwaffe, Manfred von Richthoffen being named as the Honorary Coach of the team.
For Marie her talents and connections make her a "Prestige Get" and will be in high demand from the following people and organizations:
The Montreal Olympic Organizing Committee.
The IOC.
Queen Elizabeth II and other Royals.
I can see Kat getting Marie a job with the German Olympic Team and staying in the Olympic Village "to keep an eye on her younger relatives".
The various international broadcasting networks including ABC, ARD, BBC, and the CBC, I can see viewers wanting to know "Who is that cute Red Head doing the translating?" and becoming a hit with them.
There will be many international corporations there either in official sponsorships or sports equipment, sportswear, or other reasons.
They include Addias, Puma, this new company out of Portland OR, Nike, McDonald's, Coca-Cola, and IBM.
She will either be in front of the public or behind the scenes with the top executives and their VIP guests.
For Sophie, someone at her level of competition would have more than one bike for backups and they also could be painted red
I could see Doug shooting a poster of the Women's Cycling Team for fundraising purposes and since the main sponsor ifs the Luftwaffe, Manfred von Richthoffen being named as the Honorary Coach of the team.
You left off Volkswagen, Focke Wolfe, Junkers, BMW, Some Russian companies owned by Fyodor and Her Saintliness Gia, Irish ( represented by Kennedy et al.) Lufthansa, and Deautches Reich Bahn.
My point was that Marie is going to have dump trucks full of money show up on her grandparent's front yard and that she is going to have a lot of options to considered.
The main problem for Marie is that she doesn't like it when people impose their own expectations on her, and many people are doing that to her by making demands on her, especially her social climbing grandmother.
On the other hand, the Montreal Olympics present an opportunity and a challenge for Marie to test her skills at biggest stage there is, and it is in the same city where her grandparent's live and where she goes to university, and she also has a safe space if she gets overwhelmed.
If Marie doesn't make solid plans of her own soon, plans will be made for her that she won't like.
I have been expecting her to continue to say she's leaving the country to avoid the Olympics but then as a challenge to herself, knowing her mother might have issues with her skipping out on it, she uses her skills at changing her appearance to hide in plain sight throughout the entire thing.
Olympic delegates arguing over whose translator is best. No one realises it's just Marie in disguise working for all of them part time...
I think that the ITTL Montreal Olympics will have a potential to be an unprecedented disaster as the ITTL success of the Munich Olympics masked several areas of concern that were exposed IOTL Munich Olympics.
IOTL there were massive budget overruns that should be the same ITTL'
Before Munich, the main security concerns were to provide visitors with a safe experience with protection from protesters, pickpockets, and prostitutes, IOTL there were a lot of visitors to Expo '67 who were scammed by taxi drivers taking them non-existent hotels and other accommodations that were basically "Roach Motels" where the customers were grossly overcharged, and I could see Montreal focusing on that instead of possible terrorists' actions.
As an example of the potential budget savings would be instead of the triple fencing of the Olympic Village with overlapping video surveillance cameras and limited entrance and exit points with rigorous checking of IDs and credentials, there is a single fence with limited number of security personnel who are barely trained.
IOTL there were massive budget overruns that should be the same ITTL'
Before Munich, the main security concerns were to provide visitors with a safe experience with protection from protesters, pickpockets, and prostitutes, IOTL there were a lot of visitors to Expo '67 who were scammed by taxi drivers taking them non-existent hotels and other accommodations that were basically "Roach Motels" where the customers were grossly overcharged, and I could see Montreal focusing on that instead of possible terrorists' actions.
As an example of the potential budget savings would be instead of the triple fencing of the Olympic Village with overlapping video surveillance cameras and limited entrance and exit points with rigorous checking of IDs and credentials, there is a single fence with limited number of security personnel who are barely trained.
There shouldn't be many potentials around at this point in the TL?
ITL and location the "best" bet would be quebecois, sponsored by the french state (Which seems to not have taken the stupid luck and happenstances well from what we have seen)?
Not saying the likely, but there doesn't seem to a international band around this TL so it would have to be something more local. But Canada seems to be peaceful from what we have read so whatever "local" would probaly need to be stirred into action by a third party who could gain something from it.
That leaves the French and their ex-colony or the Americans but while the US has issues ITL they're not the kind that would think that is a good idea. France otoh seems to be in a grip of nationalist revanchism atm so there might some potential being seen there.
A third option would be a indigious movement but I am not aware that OTL had anything of the sort going on.
ITL and location the "best" bet would be quebecois, sponsored by the french state (Which seems to not have taken the stupid luck and happenstances well from what we have seen)?
Not saying the likely, but there doesn't seem to a international band around this TL so it would have to be something more local. But Canada seems to be peaceful from what we have read so whatever "local" would probaly need to be stirred into action by a third party who could gain something from it.
That leaves the French and their ex-colony or the Americans but while the US has issues ITL they're not the kind that would think that is a good idea. France otoh seems to be in a grip of nationalist revanchism atm so there might some potential being seen there.
A third option would be a indigious movement but I am not aware that OTL had anything of the sort going on.
I mean there are probably a bunch of post colonial messes all around the world, even if the Israel one in particular doesn't exist. We know Arabia and parts of Africa at least are a mess. We don't know what's going on in India, but there's a lot of potential for conflict there. Have the Netherlands pulled out of the East Indies? Algeria? The Poles have also reasons to be pissed at Germany.
I mean, there doesn't need to be a relationship with Canada. It's just the gathering of people with all the world watching that matters. The 1972 attacks had little to do with Germany itself.
Murdering Jews on German soil?
Yeah, nothing at all.
Though it's been quite a long time since I looked into Munich - so my memory might be wrong. International audience certainly played a big part. A lax security planning - deliberately trying to make a contrast to the 1936 Olympics - another. Certainly also that the PLO had contacts with both right and left wing extremists in Germany too. Unless I misremember there were some Neo-Nazis pretty directly involved in executing the initial kidnapping, though details elude me right now.
The symbolism did however certain play it's part too.
Reasons why some terrorists TTL might pick a Canadian venue?
Might be locals - not necessarily Quebecois French, might be some indigenous groups trying to get attention.
Or it might be some Russians - with Canada symbolically tied to Gia's survival, if at the other end of the continent. Might be some communists, or might be anti-monarchists, who knows.
Or as mentioned, might be various colonial conflicts spilling out - who knows what kind of shady operations Canada might be rumoured (or proven) to have been involved with their buddies from London and Berlin in the (former) colonies of the European powers? Or for the matter directly aiming for the crowned head of state as a symbolic figure.
Or we might be picking up a thread that we've seen again recently - there are apparently some German terrorists hiding out just over the Canadian border in the US.
That's fair. "Little to do" was definitely an exaggeration. However, my overall point stands: the cause of the terrorists had no direct relation to Germany, and it's plausible they might have carried it out in another unrelated country.
I think Russia has been fairly stable the last few decades, so there might not be that many groups.
Certainly a possiblity.
One wonders if the FLQ crisis hit Quebec in this timeline? IOTL it was 1970 but if it didn’t happen the same radicals would still be around.
At least the African Nations boycott of the Games due to New Zealand continuing to play rugby with apartheid South Africa won't be happening ITTL.
As I posted before, I don't see the lineup of cities hosting the games changing, but the way the games are held do change.
As an example, Moscow is hosting the games in 1980 IOTL, and I don't see that changing ITTL, but their won't be the United States led boycott.
IOTL Los Angeles was the only city to bid for the 1984 games after the Munich '72 Massacre and the massive budget overruns for Montreal caused other cities to drop out, ITTL I can see Montreal to still having the same costs overrun problems and the added Munich style terrorism causing cities to drop out of bidding to host the games in '84.
It is only in 1996 when Atlanta hosted the games IOTL that I can see the different cities hosting ITTL.
As an example, Moscow is hosting the games in 1980 IOTL, and I don't see that changing ITTL, but their won't be the United States led boycott.
IOTL Los Angeles was the only city to bid for the 1984 games after the Munich '72 Massacre and the massive budget overruns for Montreal caused other cities to drop out, ITTL I can see Montreal to still having the same costs overrun problems and the added Munich style terrorism causing cities to drop out of bidding to host the games in '84.
It is only in 1996 when Atlanta hosted the games IOTL that I can see the different cities hosting ITTL.
Part 141, Chapter 2448
Chapter Two Thousand Four Hundred Forty-Eight
1st April 1976
Charlottenburg, Berlin
Nora Berg, the retired Obstetrician who had taken Zella’s case because she wanted to, had told her that the baby could come at any minute. That was telling her something which she already knew. The real question that Zella had was what exactly the hold up was? Berg had just smiled and said that babies come at their own time and not a moment sooner if they were lucky.
Angelica had been sent to help Zella today and clearly to learn a thing or three in the process. Yes, this too could be you in 8 or 9 months if you fail to take certain things seriously, Zella thought to herself cynically. Dear Tante Kat had sent all of the girls to help out in the same manner. Nice to know that when all else failed, Zella could still serve as an object lesson.
At least Angelica was a quiet girl, which made her far easier to deal with than the others. Sophie and Gabbi didn’t seem to know the meaning of quiet. Mercifully, Marie was away at University in Canada. Zella wasn’t so lucky with Tatiana though. Something about a restaurant she had been planning on working at over the summer being closed because of health code violations, meaning that she had been unable to get a work permit in whatever country it was. Zella had known that Tatiana could a complete bitch at times, but at the moment she was completely insufferable even by Zella’s standards.
Zella suspected that the real reason she was never alone was that everyone assumed that she would try to go about doing things normally. They didn’t want her to exert herself. As if she didn’t know that she could hardly make the walk from the couch to the bathroom at the moment. All she wanted was to have this whole thing to be over with already.
Perhaps she should have remembered the date. Not just because of April Fool’s Day, but what was happening the next day. The Moondogs were playing the Olympic Stadium in front of a sellout crowd, an event that was going to be Internationally broadcast. Normally Zella would have been backstage as a guest of the band and enjoying the show from the mixing booth, but because of her present state that was simply not going to happen. She had written a letter thanking the them for the invitation and expressed her regret about how she was indisposed without elaborating. That was extremely disappointing, and Zella had done her best to forget about the show. Unfortunately for her, that didn’t mean that she had been forgotten…
There was a knock on the door and Angelica went to answer it as Zella was still trying to get off the couch. As soon as Angelica opened the door, Zella heard a voice that was one of the ones she least wanted to hear at the moment.
“A word with the Marchioness” John Lennon said is his usual drawl, which Angelica could barely understand.
“Excuse me?” Angelica asked, “Marchioness?”
“That means Markgräfin” Zella said, “As in looking for me.”
“Oh” Angelica replied. Whatever else they were teaching her in school, English seemed not to have taken, or at least not the kind which John spoke. To Zella’s mounting horror, it wasn’t just John here to visit as people piled into her apartment. It was all four of the Moondogs and their entourage. Ringo was already looking at the unfinished canvases that lined one of the walls. Zella knew that he was going to have an opinion because Ringo always did.
“This is what you mean by indisposed?” Paul asked awkwardly, his voice full of concern. It was painfully obvious what was going on despite the bulky bathrobe that Zella was wearing in the middle of the day. “We were worried that you were sick.”
This drew Zella a lot of curious looks. Everyone with the band had probably heard a great deal about who she was. Now it was clear that there wasn’t going to be a party, not at her place anyway.
“Paul did, I figured that you were off takin’ the piss somewhere” John said, “I wasn’t entirely wrong.”
That earned John a dirty look from Paul and George. They had led somewhat settled lives these days as the band had finally enjoyed commercial success. Which meant that they had families back home. John had remained untethered, hardly a surprise really. As a result of his attitude alone, few women stuck around for long once the glamor of being a Rockstar’s girlfriend wore thin and they discovered how difficult he could be most of the time.
“You have seen how I am doing, now you can all leave” Zella said flatly as she saw people discussing her artwork. This wasn’t a gallery. To his credit, George was shooing them towards the door. This was as Zella noticed that John was watching Angelica closely as she talked to some of their uninvited guests.
“She’s half your age John” Zella said, “And even if Tante Kat doesn’t scare you, the sort of men who owe her father favors should.”
“It isn’t like that” John replied, “I could swear I’ve seen that girl somewhere before today.”
“How could you tell?” Zella asked, “You must thousands of girls at your shows.”
“I don’t know” John said, clearly disliking that detail.
1st April 1976
Charlottenburg, Berlin
Nora Berg, the retired Obstetrician who had taken Zella’s case because she wanted to, had told her that the baby could come at any minute. That was telling her something which she already knew. The real question that Zella had was what exactly the hold up was? Berg had just smiled and said that babies come at their own time and not a moment sooner if they were lucky.
Angelica had been sent to help Zella today and clearly to learn a thing or three in the process. Yes, this too could be you in 8 or 9 months if you fail to take certain things seriously, Zella thought to herself cynically. Dear Tante Kat had sent all of the girls to help out in the same manner. Nice to know that when all else failed, Zella could still serve as an object lesson.
At least Angelica was a quiet girl, which made her far easier to deal with than the others. Sophie and Gabbi didn’t seem to know the meaning of quiet. Mercifully, Marie was away at University in Canada. Zella wasn’t so lucky with Tatiana though. Something about a restaurant she had been planning on working at over the summer being closed because of health code violations, meaning that she had been unable to get a work permit in whatever country it was. Zella had known that Tatiana could a complete bitch at times, but at the moment she was completely insufferable even by Zella’s standards.
Zella suspected that the real reason she was never alone was that everyone assumed that she would try to go about doing things normally. They didn’t want her to exert herself. As if she didn’t know that she could hardly make the walk from the couch to the bathroom at the moment. All she wanted was to have this whole thing to be over with already.
Perhaps she should have remembered the date. Not just because of April Fool’s Day, but what was happening the next day. The Moondogs were playing the Olympic Stadium in front of a sellout crowd, an event that was going to be Internationally broadcast. Normally Zella would have been backstage as a guest of the band and enjoying the show from the mixing booth, but because of her present state that was simply not going to happen. She had written a letter thanking the them for the invitation and expressed her regret about how she was indisposed without elaborating. That was extremely disappointing, and Zella had done her best to forget about the show. Unfortunately for her, that didn’t mean that she had been forgotten…
There was a knock on the door and Angelica went to answer it as Zella was still trying to get off the couch. As soon as Angelica opened the door, Zella heard a voice that was one of the ones she least wanted to hear at the moment.
“A word with the Marchioness” John Lennon said is his usual drawl, which Angelica could barely understand.
“Excuse me?” Angelica asked, “Marchioness?”
“That means Markgräfin” Zella said, “As in looking for me.”
“Oh” Angelica replied. Whatever else they were teaching her in school, English seemed not to have taken, or at least not the kind which John spoke. To Zella’s mounting horror, it wasn’t just John here to visit as people piled into her apartment. It was all four of the Moondogs and their entourage. Ringo was already looking at the unfinished canvases that lined one of the walls. Zella knew that he was going to have an opinion because Ringo always did.
“This is what you mean by indisposed?” Paul asked awkwardly, his voice full of concern. It was painfully obvious what was going on despite the bulky bathrobe that Zella was wearing in the middle of the day. “We were worried that you were sick.”
This drew Zella a lot of curious looks. Everyone with the band had probably heard a great deal about who she was. Now it was clear that there wasn’t going to be a party, not at her place anyway.
“Paul did, I figured that you were off takin’ the piss somewhere” John said, “I wasn’t entirely wrong.”
That earned John a dirty look from Paul and George. They had led somewhat settled lives these days as the band had finally enjoyed commercial success. Which meant that they had families back home. John had remained untethered, hardly a surprise really. As a result of his attitude alone, few women stuck around for long once the glamor of being a Rockstar’s girlfriend wore thin and they discovered how difficult he could be most of the time.
“You have seen how I am doing, now you can all leave” Zella said flatly as she saw people discussing her artwork. This wasn’t a gallery. To his credit, George was shooing them towards the door. This was as Zella noticed that John was watching Angelica closely as she talked to some of their uninvited guests.
“She’s half your age John” Zella said, “And even if Tante Kat doesn’t scare you, the sort of men who owe her father favors should.”
“It isn’t like that” John replied, “I could swear I’ve seen that girl somewhere before today.”
“How could you tell?” Zella asked, “You must thousands of girls at your shows.”
“I don’t know” John said, clearly disliking that detail.
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