Chicago Is USOC’s Pick
The U. S. Olympic Committee has picked the city of Chicago as its candidate to bid for hosting the 2016 Olympic Games:
WASHINGTON — An effort that came as something of a surprise when it was initiated a year ago produced another surprise Saturday, when Olympic ingénue Chicago beat Games veteran Los Angeles to become the U.S. bid city for the 2016 Summer Olympics.
“We are very grateful the United States Olympic Committee has given us this opportunity,” Chicago 2016 chairman Patrick Ryan said after the USOC board of directors voted for what could become the first Midwest Olympics since the St. Louis Summer Games of 1904.
Chicago now moves into the international phase of the competition, which begins officially Sept. 15, when candidates must submit their bids to the International Olympic Committee. The IOC will select the 2016 host in October 2009.
USOC Chairman Peter Ueberroth said before making the announcement that it was “a very tough decision.”
It’s not a shoo-in, of course. Chicago is up against some very stiff international competition including Rio, Madrid, and Tokyo. If the Olympic Games are held in Chicago in 2016 it means two things:
- Daley will be running for re-election.
- It’s a good thing we’re putting in that addition. A lot of people will be wanting to stay with us that summer.
I had mixed feelings because I wanted Pat Ryan to buy the Cubs!
Are you the same Dave Shuler that is or used to be on the Score? If you are I enjoy or enjoyed your work (sorry I don’t listen as much as I used to so I don’t know if you’re still on)
Different guy.
As a resident of Los Angeles, I was praying for Chicago to win this headache. Yes, I remember 1984 Olympic, but in retrospect, that was a fluke, never to be repeated. Let Mayor for Life handle the events.
Chicago would be a great city to host the Olympics. As a Midwestern I might be somewhat bias, but there is no city that is more fun to be in than Chicago in the summer. The City with Big Shoulders would show the rest of the world what middle America really looks and acts like. It has all the necessary facilities and has a tradition of sports excellence.
Chicago is a great city, with great people, and would be a great place to hold the Olympics!
Danny L. McDaniel
Lafayette, Indiana
Dave also the Score guy is David Schuster not Shuler. My brain is fried.
There are no mayoral elections in Chicago.
Actually I tend to believe the rumor that Daley told Jesse Jr that he is not going to run again and that’s the real reason Jesse Jr. didn’t run this last time.
You may be right, Steph. However, I suspect that Mayor Daley, like most politicians is as Alice Roosevelt described her father, Theodore: “He wanted to be the corpse at every funeral, the baby at every baptism, and the bride at every wedding”. Could such turn over the opportunity to occupy the world stage, even for a brief moment, to a rival?
There is a famous–but probably apocryphal–story that someone asked Richard J. Daley if he ever had aspirations for a higher office, such as the Presidency.
Apparently hizzoner replied, “No, President would be a step down from Mayor of Chicago.”
I suspect that little Richie has the same attitude.