Sheila Jackson Lee: 'We want the Olympics' It's a lofty goal, but is it worth pursuing?

PHOTOS: What do you think of a 'HOUlympics'?

Congresswoman Sheila Jackson Lee, center, recently said that Houston should be in the running for a future Olympic games in the next decades. Right now the city is on a Super Bowl high and feeling confident.

Click through to see the pros and cons of Houston hosting the Summer Olympics... less PHOTOS: What do you think of a 'HOUlympics'?

Congresswoman Sheila Jackson Lee, center, recently said that Houston should be in the running for a future Olympic games in the next decades. Right now the city is on ... more Photo: Gary Fountain, Gary Fountain/For The Chronicle Photo: Gary Fountain, Gary Fountain/For The Chronicle Image 1 of / 26 Caption Close Sheila Jackson Lee: 'We want the Olympics' 1 / 26 Back to Gallery

Would the Houston area be able to handle the Summer Olympics? At least one Houston politician seems to think that it could.

That politician is Democratic congresswoman Sheila Jackson Lee.

With Houston just a few days into Super Bowl week, it's easy to get excited about taking on a much bigger challenge like hosting the Olympics. Right now we're drowning in stories about how far the city has come since the last time we hosted the NFL's season finale in 2004.

WEIGHING THE OPTIONS: The pros and cons of Houston hosting the Summer Olympics

“We want the Olympics,” the congresswoman said Sunday. “We think we’re ready. We will be able to be ready.”

She made the statement at Bush Intercontinental Airport during comments on President Donald Trump’s recent executive orders on immigration from seven Muslim-majority countries.

According to Yahoo! Sports, Trump’s recent orders have likely put Los Angeles’ bid for the 2024 event in jeopardy. Columnist Eric Adelson notes that Houston’s next bid would be an Olympics in 2032 or later.

“We gotta get in the queue, we know that,” Lee added on Sunday.

Tokyo is the next city to host the summer games, in 2020. The U.S. last hosted a summer Olympics in Atlanta in 1996.

A few national media stories about Houston being the new gold standard in Super Bowl cities is enough to get anyone's confidence up.

Anyone currently on a Super Bowl high should know that it is a much smaller undertaking than an Olympics, which would require much more infrastructure and construction to be pulled off.

Every four years when the summer Olympics kicks off, thoughts turn to why Texas hasn't hosted one of the most storied, captivating events in sports.

Talk should cease after about 30 seconds of looking at summer temperatures, but you would be wrong.

Houston tried in vain to land the 2012 Olympic games. We ended up losing out to San Francisco and New York for the United States bid. In the end London, England got the games.

Could the city even sustain the three weeks of bustling activity and the glut of visitors that the Olympics brings?

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Houston can handle music festivals, all-star games, the Super Bowl and any number of specialized conventions. The Olympics we're not sure about, but that's not a knock on the city itself.

At least a Houston Olympics would likely have no other choice but to encompass the entire area, spreading the probable economic wealth. Galveston, Katy, The Woodlands and even Lake Jackson could probably be used. We could even find something to do in Baytown. Rowing of some sort?

It would take a heck of a lot more than some more hotels, a renovated convention center, and new restaurants to get the Olympics, though. It would be a massive undertaking.

Maybe if we waited to make a run at the 2036 summer games we could have a statewide Olympics with Houston, Dallas, Austin, San Antonio and college towns in between all hosting bits and pieces of the event.

That would lighten the load for everyone and put the whole state on display. It would also fall during the 200th anniversary of Texas independence, letting world celebrate the Lone Star State.

Maybe by then mass transit (we hope) will have presumably gotten much better. Fans could watch swimming in Dallas and head south to Austin for skateboarding within an hour.

Just a thought.