April 16, 2008
USOC Says Chicago Not The Favorite for 2016
United States Olympic Committee Chairman Peter Ueberroth said yesterday that Chicago is nowhere near being the front-runner for the 2016 Olympics. The IOC will narrow down the list of seven applicant cities—us, Rio de Janeiro, Tokyo, Madrid, Doha, Prague, and Baku—in June and a final decision will be announced in October 2009.
Ueberroth said Tuesday Chicago residents should be "proud" of the ongoing efforts to bring the Olympics here, but added that the city still has to work on a "handful" of issues, which he would not disclose.Chicago's greatest strength is its ethnic diversity, and the city must keep pressing that asset to the International Olympic Committee to stay in the game, he said. "Chicago is a rookie in this [Olympic] arena," Ueberroth said.
Patrick Ryan, chairman and CEO of the Chicago 2016 bid committee, says he doesn't mind Chicago not being the favorite, and Mayor Daley says we should focus on making the first round of cuts.
According to the poll results released yesterday, 84 percent of Chicago-area residents are behind the plan, with 54 percent saying they "strongly support" and 30 percent saying they "somewhat support" support hosting the 2016 Olympics. Only 6 percent say they "somewhat oppose," and another six say they "strongly oppose" the games. [S-T, AP, Chicago 2016 press release]
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Ueberroth is already hated by Cubs fans, I guess he's looking to now be hated by all Chicagoans?
On logo alone Chicago is on top
I like Tokyo's. And our original logo, while rule-bending, was certainly better than the current version.
Madrid: Nice, why don't you make a hand turkey while you're at it?
Baku: Dudes, cave drawings were soooo 12,000 years ago.
Rio: Is this a heart of some kind? As in, "We (heart) mugging tourists in our massive sprawling ghettos?"
Prauge: Is this a plant of some kind? An ivy branch? Sage? I have no idea what the hell that is.
Doha: The 1980's called, they want their design choices back.
Tokyo: As my future home, I strongly suggest you rectify your weekly Mothra and Gamera attacks before you bid for the Olympics.
true dat, mike thoms....i love madrid and wouldn't mind if it won, but their logo is something you'd see on a daycare sign.
i'm glad they broke down the exact level of enthusiasm/dissent in those statistics, too.
Baku is clearly #1.
I think it will be in India.
Oh and THANK GOD.
I think I'm with you on this one, Mike...I like Chicago's logo best.
Here's what the other logos say to me:
Tokyo: It's either, "Let's tie one on" or "we have multi-colored nooses for our lynchings."
Doha: (I'm not sure where this is...I should Google it) Looks like someone's stoned fantasy of a flower, or the splat in a comic where something landed on what appears to be a green stick-man.
Madrid: "Stop here", or subliminally (with the red middle finger that stands out), "Fuck you".
Praha: (Again, without Googling, I have no idea here this is) "We have wheat" (a very important criteria to hosting an Olympic games)
Baku: (see Doha and Praha above) "All of our people have the exact same length to their left legs and love to dance in a circle"
Rio: Not sure what this symbolizes -- it's a heart shape with some stylized something something in the middle....dunno.
Chicago should be showcased on an international level. I know it'll mean an influx of Eurotrash tourists after the games but still, it'll ultimately be good.
How is this a world event when the US lands it about half the time?
How does the USOC even gage whether Chicago is the favorite? I remember reading an article in the trib 6 months ago that quoted an anonymous IOC member as saying the Olympics was ours to lose. Are they just trying to drum up support by saying we are the underdog, or has something really changed?
I think the Bejing Olympics is what skunked it for Chicago. You know, all the protests wherever the torch landed. It's not as if our human rights record is any better than China's.
Well the Olympics aren't really a global event. It's an event for cities that can afford it or cities that are up-and-coming.
and it is weird that suddenly Chicago is bringing up the rear on this one. I also remember that Trib article from last year.
I just think they should give other places a chance if they want to host it.
@ A2
The U.S. lands the Olympics frequently because many of our cities have an infrastructure in place (large convention centers and stadiums) that can accommodate the event.
For similar reasons, the U.S. may be considered for the 2018 World Cup (and possibly the 2014 World Cup if Brazil fails to impress FIFA) even though the U.S. hosted the event as recently as 1994.
This is great news!
I hope to God we don't get the Olympics.
I don't disagree with you but I also don't believe the city administrations in say, Rio or Madrid, are so stupid that they would be asking for it if they couldn't handle it. OK, so we have 10 times more money than anyone else and we are going to do them bigger and better...after a while, that's not the point any more.
Uberroth comes from a world of non-Euclidian nightmares that sear the skin and tear at the soul. At least, that's what H.P. Lovecraft said about the matter.
".....It's not as if our human rights record is any better than China's....."
Unfortunately, Chicagoist seems to attract this type of US-bashing liberal.
FYI, Praha is Prague.
I had to Google the rest:
Doha is in Qatar which is a peninsula off Saudi Arabia.
Baku is in Azerbaijan, a former Soviet state, which Google Maps has no data for, which says it all.
whoo-hoo!!!! and the other logos pretty much suck, but toyko's is pretty good. it looks like a bow, and the biggest present they could give to me would be to get the olympics!
".....It's not as if our human rights record is any better than China's....."
@Ward Up
While the above statement is certainly an exercise in hyperbole, it's not completely off base either...
In pursuit of their own personal agenda, Bush & Co. have inflicted irreparable harm to our world standing, wiped their feet on the U.S. Constitution, eroded our own civil liberties, elevated the U.S. presidency above the law and ceded the moral high road in abandoning basic tenets of the Geneva Convention...
Given the choice of the U.S.-bashing liberal who dares to question his government or the U.S.-cheerleading jingoist who looks the other way, I'll take the former every time. They're the real patriots as far as I'm concerned...
"Baku is in Azerbaijan, a former Soviet state, which Google Maps has no data for, which says it all."
Baku's a big city (as big as the Chi I reckon) and its got a pretty dramatic setting on the Caspian Sea. Geographically it's in a very interesting location especially when considering politics: Smack dab in between Eastern Europe, Asia, and close to Iran. Who knows what motivates the IOC though.
Money motivates the IOC...I'm sure they're just as shady as Cook County...or Chicago...or the Bush presidency...in terms of patronage, shady no-bid deals and maximizing benefit of the people on their board. It seems like Chicago is the perfect fit.
Re: Rio's Olympic Bid Logo....
The logo was revealed in December 2007 and was selected by a jury from among four finalists. The logo suggests the natural landscapes of Rio de Janeiro, with a yellow sun rising behind the green hills and valleys of Rio (including the Sugar Loaf), and blue sea.
If Rio's logo "suggests the natural landscape of Rio", they should've used a pic of a thong-clad (an oxymoron of sorts) set of buttocks.
What?
@ Ward Up and Pinko: Don't forget about the CPD's great reputation for upholding human rights, as well.
Great points, Pinko, here: "In pursuit of their own personal agenda, Bush & Co. have inflicted irreparable harm to our world standing, wiped their feet on the U.S. Constitution, eroded our own civil liberties, elevated the U.S. presidency above the law and ceded the moral high road in abandoning basic tenets of the Geneva Convention..."
But let us not forget that Chinese still have slave labor tolerated by authorities; repressive social policies that dictate, for instance, who can live where (these are more than a bad co-op board); largescale official censorship (that is, real censorship at the hands of the government); a relatively weak labor union system and a relatively weak envirnoment movement, both thanks to goverment action.
The USA is far from perfect, and has gotten worse, but we are still a universe away from the crap in China. Let's all keep perspective on this.
RIO 2016!!!
GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO RIO!!!!!!!!!
@Matilda
I would whole-heartedly agree with you, hence my inclusion of 'hyperbole' in referring to Not another username's original statement...
My response was directed at Ward Up's:
Unfortunately, Chicagoist seems to attract this type of US-bashing liberal.
Ultimately, the point I was trying to make was that I believed the statement in question to be more of an indictment of our current administration (and rightfully so) rather than of the nation as a whole.
After all, it's still "we the people," right?
Pinko: Nice Megadeth reference, made my day.
I wasn't really replying to you, only to annoying people who insist the USA is the worst when it comes to human rights, or that we are really as bad as China, or other such crap.
Gradients in logos are a huge pain in the ass.
"We're not any better than anywhere else."
BARF!
You have to have your head absolutely buried in the sand to think that. It's as if common sense and the power of observation themselves are an affront to political correctness these days.
"We wouldn't want to be rude and make any country feel bad. We're no better than you."
Except the last people to protest en masse for civil liberties in China were summarily run over by tanks. They censor their Internet. You are literally not allowed to write or read about Tibetan independence or Tianemen Square. They have exactly one political party.
Grow up.
Questioning the actions of the goverment is how this country was founded.And I could be wrong but Chicago has only one political party. That being said with all the problems our country currently has we are much better off than about 95% of the world.
OK, idiot, then move to China. What do I care. Did I say anything about questioning the government?
No, see the difference is in China, THERE IS LEGALLY ONLY ONE PARTY ALLOWED.
SEE THE DIFFERENCE?