In This Case, Carrying Baggage Could Help L.A.

John Argue, the man most responsible for bringing the 1984 Summer Olympics to Los Angeles, passed the torch Thursday to David Simon, revealing he will be formally announced today as president of the city’s bid committee for the 2012 Games.

Simon’s counterparts in eight other cities vying between now and 2002 to become the U.S. Olympic Committee’s official candidate no doubt are also eminently qualified, although it’s safe to say none has his vast experience. For instance, have any of them seen Juan Antonio Samaranch’s underwear?

Actually, Simon hasn’t, either. But as the L.A. Olympic Organizing Committee’s director of government relations and protocol, it was his duty to escort Samaranch to his hotel on his first visit to Los Angeles four years before the ’84 Games. Upon arriving in his room, the IOC president opened a suitcase to find it filled with ladies’ lingerie.

“Obviously, this isn’t my luggage,” Samaranch said.

Simon spent the rest of the night tracing the lost luggage, retrieving it in time for Samaranch to wear one of his own tailored suits to the next morning’s meetings.

Simon, 48, since has conquered numerous other challenges as president of the L.A. Sports Council, which has generated almost $1 billion in local economic impact by luring events such as the Super Bowl, the World Cup and the Breeders’ Cup to Southern California.

Most recently, the Sports Council teamed with Culver City’s All Year Figure Skating Club in a successful bid for the 2002 U.S. Figure Skating championships at the Staples Center.

“He knows the territory better than anybody,” said Argue, who will serve as the bid committee’s chairman of the board. “He was integrally involved in our previous bid for 1984, and nobody in this town has been more successful at bringing events here.”

Simon also is well-acquainted with the USOC as a member since 1985 of its international relations committee, now serving as co-chairman.

The USOC is expected to designate its official bid city after the 2002 Winter Games in Salt Lake City. Other candidates include New York, San Francisco, Seattle, Washington-Baltimore, Houston, Dallas, Tampa Bay and Cincinnati. The winner will conduct an international campaign before the IOC selects a host city in 2005.

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Anyone who thinks Saturday’s Goodwood Breeders’ Cup Handicap at Santa Anita is a match race between Silver Charm and Free House hasn’t been paying attention. . . .

Skip Away and Gentlemen, the superstars in last Saturday’s feature at Belmont, burned each other out before the stretch, allowing 34-1 shot Wagon Limit to win. . . .

“Even if it looks like a two-horse race, you have to ride your horse with enough conservation to make sure he’ll be able to fire at the head of the lane,” says Chris McCarron, who will ride Free House. . . .

According to the Daily Racing Form, Lori Petty, the “Go Baby Go” actress in the National Thoroughbred Racing Assn.’s ad campaign, is gone. . . .

She reportedly was too enthusiastic for many within the conservative racing industry. Yes, it’s a dangerous thing when your paying customers start having a good time. . . .

Is it any wonder the sport is in trouble? . . .

Tonight’s MLS playoff game in Chicago is crucial not only for the Galaxy. . . .

The league desperately needs the Galaxy to advance to the championship game to guarantee a large crowd and local media coverage for the Oct. 25 MLS Cup at the Rose Bowl. . . .

Not even Lori Petty could work up much enthusiasm here for D.C. United versus the Chicago Fire. . . .

I wouldn’t want a car from that plant in Wisconsin where televisions were installed so workers could see the Packer game Thursday night. Imagine thinking you can earn a paycheck while watching sports. . . .

With the Kings playing their home opener tonight against Boston, I’m reminded that it’s possible the only pro sport active here in the sunny Southland this winter might be ice hockey. . . .

If Davey Johnson becomes the Dodger manager, look for this quote from last Sunday’s Times to come back to haunt him: “With all the resources and talent they have there, they could hire the ‘village idiot’ and win.” . . .

This just in: The village idiot says the Dodgers contacted him, but he’s not interested.

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While wondering about the social life of the person who came up with the idea for Midnight Madness, I was thinking: Kerry Collins doesn’t strike me as a Mike Ditka kind of guy, the NHL shouldn’t add a second referee because there aren’t enough good ones now for one at each game, a World Series game is always a little more special when it’s at Yankee Stadium.