Daley Drinks IOC Haterade
Mayor Daley at Chicago 2016's final bid presentation to the IOC in October 2009; AP Photo/Matt Dunham
At ceremonies for the Beyond Sports summit at the United Center last night, Daley unloaded on the IOC and, in essence, called them money-grubbing asshats. In reality, here's what the mayor said: "Money is the game of the Olympics. It's not about the Olympian. It's all about money, money. Money. That's all they want. I firmly believe it should be more about the Olympians and Para Olympians. It should be about them."
Which is kind of funny when you consider the role money played in the city's 2016 bid:
- Daley and fellow 2016 supporters touted the potential economic windfall and dismissed those who said it'd make much less money than projected.
- Daley (and the City Council) had absolutely no qualms about putting taxpayers on the hook for the cost of the games.
- The insurance policy put in place to cover the cost of the games should something go awry wasn't nearly as big as had been suggested.
- The city - in a time when any money could help close the budget gap - spent close to an estimated $100 million (all in private donations, though) on the Olympic bid.
So, yes, we don't exactly consider Mayor Daley a paragon of Olympic virtue. But what do we know? Besides, we figure this is just the start of the lame duck fireworks sure to come from both Daley and his detractors which should be, if nothing else, highly entertaining.
