Quick thoughts on the IOC's decision
It would be easy to look at the IOC's first-round knockout of Chicago in 2016 Olympic Games voting as a blow to Chicago as a city. A former co-worker of mine humorously blamed it on mercurial Cubs outfielder Milton Bradley.
This isn't so much Chicago's fault, though, as the fault of recent history.
Atlanta hosted the 1996 Summer Games. Salt Lake City hosted the 2002 Winter Games. Vancouver gets the upcoming 2010 Winter Games. That's three Olympics for North America in the last 13 years. The U.S. has hosted two of them. South America has never hosted an Olympic Games.
If New York City couldn't land the Olympics, Chicago wasn't going to, either.
I also believe that, while politics play a large role in the IOC's ultimate decision, there was little that American politics (or politicians) could do to help the Second City. The President showed up in Copenhagen with the First Lady - and Oprah - to help pitch a possible Chicago Games. None of it mattered. Michael Jordan, Scottie Pippen and the rest of the 1995-96 Bulls could have been there, and a win wasn't going to happen for Chicago.
In the end, I think it was a case of bad timing for the Windy City.
What a victory (and a challenge) for Rio de Janeiro and the country of Brazil, though. Talk about an extended view on the world stage - Brazil had already landed the 2014 World Cup. Now it gets the Summer Games in 2016.
For Americans, the question is this: Is there a city vying for the 2018 Winter Games? (Denver/Colorado Springs, perhaps?) How about the 2020 Summer Games? (How would the Olympics look in Dallas/Fort Worth?)
- Matthew Sprague, Eagle sports editor