People love competitions athletic.
(Those who don't are considered ascetic)
  For games international,
  This unbridled passion'll
Make folks do things quite pathetic.

The Olympics have gained world-wide fame
As the ultimate athletic games.
  And it only appears
  One time every four years
So countries all rush to lay claim.

For any of our fifty states,
The chance to host it would be great.
  So they go to great lengths
  To display all their strengths
In the hopes that someone takes the bait.

For a long time, Utah had a plan.
In Nineteen Sixty-Six they began
  To drop a small hint, or
  Clue that they sought Winter
Olympics to those in command.

International Olympic Committee
Would not choose their hosts out of pity.
  And weren't too impressed
  When rudely addressed
By a salesman from Salt Lake City.

So the question at hand came to be
How does one impress the IOC?
  The answer that arose
  Is that one must brown-nose
In addition to paying a fee.

David Johnson and Thomas Welch learned
That member votes have to be "earned".
  And at the first few meetings,
  They received lukewarm greetings.
Because they brought no gifts, they felt spurned.

So for next time, they came more prepared
Carrying as much cash as they dared.
  They didn't have any qualms
  About greasing some palms
If it helped the way their home state fared.

They gave out big favors by the ton,
Hoping IOC members had fun.
  Handing out lots of gifts
  Including scholarships
To many committee members' sons.

Though it seems like an act to appall,
Bribes like this aren't uncommon at all.
  People measure respect
  By the size of your check
And choose where the Olympics will fall.

Though votes had been sold to Nagano,
Some folks still think that bribes are a no-no.
  And now there's a chance
  That Anita DeFrantz
Might have been one of those in the know

Are all of these allegations true?
Is there anything people won't do?
  For those in Utah,
  It's worth skirting the law
To host in Two Thousand and Two.