The final income tax returns on Chicago's failed Olympic bid are in, and what an expensive adventure it was! According to the Tribune, the effort raised $75.9 million while spending $59.4 million, leaving $16.5 million left over. This contradicts other media reports which claim the city spent either $70.6 million (Crain's) or $72.8 million (Sun-Times) on the bid with a leftover chunk of change around $6.8 million. But either way, that's a hefty chunk of cash. more ›

An exciting two weeks of Winter Olympic Games in Vancouver came to a close on Sunday, and as the athletes head home from Canada, the United States delegation will return having won more Olympic medals than any nation in a winter games ever has -- 37 total, (9 gold, 15 silver and 13 bronze). A number of those medals now hang around the necks of some of our local Chicago Olympians: more ›

We're all in the throes of Olympic fever right now, particularly in relation to figure skating. That's been aided by the golden success of Naperville native Evan Lysacek who won gold in the men's figure skating competition, playing Rocky to Plushenko's Drago. But it's a long, tough road to get there and most won't make it. WBEZ takes a local look at some of Chicago's hopefuls to one day make it to the top of the podium and the long road they face. more ›

All six Olympic Blackhawks advanced to tomorrow's semifinal round of the men's ice hockey tournament. First up, Patrick Kane and Team USA topped Switzerland 2-0 to advance to tomorrow's semifinals where they'll take on Finland (2 p.m., NBC 5). Next up, a still-ticked off Team Canada crushed Russia 7-3. Both Jonathan Toews and Duncan Keith were credited with two assists each while Brent Seabrook made the box score thanks to two minutes in the penalty box. That trio of 'Hawks advance to the semis to take on Tomas Kopecky, Marian Hossa and the rest of Team Slovokia after they upset Sweden 4-3. Kopecky netted what would be the winning goal and Hossa contributed three assists in the big win. It'll be the Battle of the Blackhawks (8:30 p.m., CNBC) for a shot at the gold medal. more ›

The Washington Wizards derailed the Bulls' four-game win streak last night with a 101-95 victory over Chicago. The Bulls led by as many as 12 points late in the first half and by 10 at the half, but the Wizards rode a 14-2 run to start the second half to take the lead back early in the third. The Bulls managed to trim a large late Wizards lead down to just one point with 1:55 to go but couldn't take the lead back. Derrick Rose led the Bulls with 22 points. Next up for the Bulls are the Pacers tomorrow night (7 p.m., CSN). more ›

The USA men's hockey team made all the headlines with their big 5-3 victory over home-ice favorites Team Canada last night in the final preliminary game for both teams. While Patrick Kane had a quiet night for Team USA, all three Canadian Blackhawks got in on the action. Jonathan Toews was credited with two assists while Duncan Keith and Brent Seabrook were each credited with one. The victory means Team USA gets a bye into Wednesday's quarterfinals while Team Canada has to take part in tomorrow's playoff qualifier round. And later today, Team USA's women's hockey team, including Plainfield native Lisa Chesson, takes on Sweden in the semifinals. more ›

The fallout from Chicago 2016's first-round failure continues as the USOC announced this weekend that they won't be making another run at the Summer Olympics in 2020. New USOC head Scott Blackmun has been shaking hands and kissing IOC babies in Vancouver during the Winter Olympics in an effort to repair the tarnished image of the USOC that many say cost Chicago any shot at the 2016 Games, which included an attempt to launch their own TV network and fights with the IOC over revenue sharing. Blackmun said over the weekend: more ›

Chicago's Shani Davis wasn't able to skate away with another gold medal but he did earn the silver in the men's 1500m speed skating race to go along with his earlier gold medal. Daivs finished with a time of 1:46.10, just .53 behind Mark Tuitert of the Netherlands. more ›

The Bulls won their third straight game last night - and their fifth in six games - beating the Minnesota Timberwolves 100-94. It was a close game throughout with the Bulls trailing by three at the half. But the team broke it open with an 11-2 run to start the fourth quarter to pull ahead for good. Kirk Hinrich led the team with 20 points and Derrick Rose followed with 19. Luol Deng also contributed with 18. Now 2 games over .500 at 28-26, the Bulls remain in second place in the division and sixth place overall in the Eastern Conference. If the playoffs started today, they'd find themselves in a first-round playoff rematch with the Boston Celtics. They hope to keep the winning streak rolling when they play host to the Philadelphia 76ers tonight (7 p.m., WGN). more ›

Shani Davis successfully defended his Olympic 1,000-meter title yesterday, joining Lindsay Vonn's downhill win and Shaun white's golden performance on the snowboard halfpipe as part of a banner day for the U.S. Olympic team in Vancouver. In the process Davis, who first started speedskating in Evanston, also made history by becoming the first speedskater to win 1,000-meter speed skating golds in consecutive Olympics. more ›

We know you're all super excited about the Olympics, so let's combine one of the flashiest acts to appear in Vancouver with one of the flashiest acts to (potentially) appear at this year's Lollapalooza. more ›

The Winter Olympics kicked off on Friday night with Opening Ceremonies a prelude to two weeks of sporting events on ice and snow. Given our own chilly climate, it's no surprise that a number of local athletes will be representing Illinois as well as the United States. And given the flat lands of the Midwest, it's also no surprise that nearly every single one of them will be donning skates during their competitions -- the local delegation includes seven hockey players, six speed skaters, three figure skaters/ice dancers, and a bobsledder. more ›

This week, we're counting down the top 9 stories of 2009 according to the Chicagoist staff. more ›

Today through Wednesday, we're counting down the top 9 stories of 2009 according to the Chicagoist staff. more ›

You didn't think we were gonna make it through a whole day without mentioning Oprah again, did you? Well, we'll be brief. We've already revisited the controversy over this year's season premiere which was filmed downtown in early September. But readers who've been this site for a bit might remember that Stoplman and my predecessor, Margaret, attended the 2008 season premiere, filmed in Millennium Park and featuring a slew of Olympic athletes from the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing. Be sure to check out the entire story and even more photos here. more ›

Despite a failed attempt at securing the 2016 Games in Chicago, Patrick Ryan still has work to do on the Olympics front. Ryan, who was the head of the Chicago Olympics bid, was named chairman of the board of World Sport Chicago on Thursday, an organization whose focus is to get Chicago youth to participate in the wide range of Olympic sports. Ryan had promised that the city's work for the Olympics wouldn't end with the failed bid and this new position will test that promise. more ›

Sure, we're over a month removed from the vote that sent shockwaves through the city (no matter what you thought of the bid), but we're just now starting to hear more information on what exactly went on in Copenhagen. The latest comes from Jack Kelly, of Lexington Kentucky and member of the 2016 bid. more ›

Comedy Central star and former Second City player Stephen Colbert continues to reach new, er, tights of fame. Colbert and his show are now the lead sponsor of the U.S. Speedskating team and "Colbert Nation" will be printed on the team's uniforms.The team was left without financial support a short time before the 2010 Vancouver Olympics when primary sponsor DSB Bank NV declared bankruptcy last month. In stepped Colbert, who won't be sending money directly to the team but has asked viewers and supporters to make donations which can be done via his show's website or the team's website. more ›

It's been three weeks since the Big Letdown but Mayor Daley hasn't been quick to move on from the disappointment of finishing last of the Final Four in 2016 Olympic voting. Speaking last week to the editorial board at Crain's, Daley pointed out the disparity between government support for U.S. candidate cities and support other governments give their candidates. more ›

Speaking at a DNC fundraiser last night in New York City, President Obama addressed criticism of his proposed health care reform but also took a moment to address criticism of his trip to Copenhagen on behalf of Chicago's 2016 Olympic bid. Said Obama of his whirlwind, transatlantic adventure: more ›

With Chicago's Olympic hopes dashed, the local organization that dared us to Imagine Letting Friendship Shine will begin to close up shop. Chicago 2016 is expected to lay off nearly 60 members of its support staff, retaining a skeleton crew as it winds down operations by year's end. All of the brain power and dreamers, many collecting six-figure salaries from the organization, will go back to their corporate jobs or on to other lucrative jobs. What's left of Chicago 2016 will be dissolved, and its remaining finances will be donated to World Sport Chicago, who's mission is to "uphold and advance the Olympic ideals in every day life through active participation in Olympic and Paralympic sports" by bringing sports opportunities to Chicago youth. more ›

So here we are, three days later, and we're still scratching our heads as to what exactly happened. But, puzzled or not, we move on. We know we came close to becoming "Olympicsist" over the last few weeks, but it was an important event for this city, a city we love. The questions surrounding the failed bid will linger and the biggest consequences of that failure won't shake out for a while, possibly until February 2011. The topic will still come up from time to time here on the site, but, for now, we, like the rest of the city, move on. If you feel like accessing any of our previous coverage of the 2016 bid, this can be done via a search of the tags "Chicago 2016" and "Olympics." more ›

Between health care and the failed Chicago 2016 Olympics bid, we knew the honeymoon was probably over for President Obama. Even SNL has turned on Obama as evidenced by last night's opening skit. Politics aside, we couldn't help but chuckle at the Chicago 2016 t-shirt joke. more ›

• So what happened at the IOC vote? Some say blame the USOC though an Australian IOC rep thinks an Asian alliance may have teamed up to help Tokyo and hurting Chicago's bid as a result.
• Obama had a subdued, respectful reaction to the results - did we expect anything else - but the question as to how much this will impact his legacy looms.
• It took three hours after Chicago's first round bounce for Mayor Daley to surface, but he did and he was straight-forward in his thoughts on the bid: "I'm disappointed but you go on with your life."

The Tribune has the final tallies from the IOC's vote. Madrid was the surprise leader after round one but it seems most of those who voted for Chicago threw their support behind Rio come Round 2 and Tokyo supporters followed suit. more ›

We're still trying to figure out exactly...why? Was it the wooden performance by members of the bid team last night? Was there an anti-American sentiment? Was it something as seemingly small but actually big as the world-wide exposure of the Derrion Albert video, a single, visceral act of horrific violence? Who knows? What we do know is that there will be much speculation over the next few days - including here - and maybe we'll come to an answer. Though many of us here at Chicagoist were wary of the Games being held here, to lose in the first round is still...insulting? Hurtful? Because though we might not have wanted the Olympics here, that doesn't mean we don't have civic pride. We love this city. That's why we're here, writing day-in and day-out on this website about this city of ours. Out of love for a city we marvel at. So call us conflicted this afternoon as we try to figure out what happened. And, for some of us, catching up on sleep. more ›

In an announcement that means heartbreak for many but relief for others, the International Olympic Committee has awarded the 2016 Summer Olympics to Rio de Janeiro over Madrid. Chicago, as we all know by now, was eliminated first in a stunning development. more ›

This just in! Exclusive footage of Mayor Daley just after the announcement! more ›

The news hit Chicago hard today, as the IOC announced that the City by the Lake would not be hosting the 2016 Summer Olympics. Even more shocking, the city did not make it past the first round of voting. Mayor Daley's admonitions that the games are the best economic engine that the city has will be tested in the coming years, and an increasingly frustrated and angry electorate will be looking for leadership out of the financial and political swamp they've been dragged into. more ›

Hello from downtown Chicago. The festivities have been kicking here for not quite a half an hour or so and the cool weather hasn't dampened the spirits of the large crowd gathered here at a sunny Daley Plaza. We're still a little under an hour away from the start of the IOC's voting. Barring a huge upset, Chicago is expected to make it to the final round of voting, most likely against Rio. That means we won't find out who gets the Games until the official IOC announcement at 11:30 a.m. In the meantime, be sure to keep checking back with this post as we add more pics and updates from the festivities and count down to the big reveal. more ›