i would like to thank greg hartman, martha cohen, the port of san francisco, rec and park, and the planning department. i would also like to think the mayor for his efforts to get the america's cup to san francisco. this is a citywide effort because it is exciting and vibrant and new and intrinsically san francisco. we had a conversation a couple of years ago about bringing the olympics to san francisco. there was a lot of disappointment when that did not happen. now we are looking at a city whose history is based on the bay. we brought people from all over the country that came through the san francisco bay to go and dig the gold mines of the forty- niners. here we sit with the third largest sporting event in the world. it is on the bay, which is intrinsically us. it could not be more perfect. it could not be more beautiful. thank god we did not get the olympics, because the america's cup fits the character, the history, and the framework of san francisco and of our port. i think that is something we should all be embracing. i would like to thank my the people at the port as well. before i