In the late 1970s, the Olympic Movement was in deep trouble. When the International Olympic Committee called for candidates to host the 1984 Summer Olympics, only two cities expressed interest: Tehran and Los Angeles. And, after Tehran dropped out of the bidding process, L.A. was left to carry the flickering Olympic torch. Naysayers predicted disaster: the traffic would be snarled and the smog suffocating; the Games would bankrupt the city of L.A...