Chicago Loses Olympic Bid

Chicago did not even make it to the medal round in its bid to win the 2016 Summer Olympic games.

Much has been said and written over Chicago's failure to win the bid. Here in Chicago we were caught flat footed when tossed in the first round of voting. Rio de Janiero, Brazil had a more impassioned and better bid. They took the gold home.

Could Chicago have won the bid? Yes. With a much more impassioned and targeted plea to the International Olympic Committee (IOC) meeting in Copenhagen, Denmark. Was it President Obama's fault as many of the talking heads blame? No. He gave a nice talk pitching Chicago on behalf of the United States. I disagree with the boneheads that argue he should not have made the trip, citing he had more important things to do. Hey folks, the President doesn't sit in coach twiddling his thumbs waiting to touch down. No, he is working the phones, meeting with key staff, and conducting the business of the USA.

First Lady, Michelle Obama, gave the most impassioned plea and knocked the ball out of the park. In the process, saving Chicago's overall bid presentation. If it weren't for her, Chicago would not have even got the 18 votes in the first round. Mayor Daley gave a boring Chicago-centric speech. The type of parochial effort you would hear by a Chicago ward boss.

Did they play a great game? NO.

If the Chicago 2016 committee wanted to give 110% effort (a type of effort required to win the gold in the games) they would have targeted their appeal to the IOC members. You see, 42 voting members of the IOC have participated in the games, many of which have won medals. The Chicago presentation should have made with these members in mind. A little less feeding of political egos and a lot more Olympic athletes making presentations. The athlete presentations should have included US and non-US members of past Olympic teams. The ultimate goal being how Chicago would best benefit the Olympic movement. Having more focus on the International sporting events that the Chicago Metropolitan area has successfully hosted would have greatly aided the overall presentation. All of this would have sealed the deal.

I am not sure Rio is ready. It has far more problems to solve before 2016. Hopefully they can get them resolved before the games begin. In the end, it was Rio that played a much better game.