Daley Drinks IOC Haterade
By Marcus Gilmer in News on Sep 30, 2010 6:20PM
Now that Daley is leaving City Hall, it seems he's finally venting pent-up frustration over the city's failed 2016 Olympic bid and he's aiming his vitriol at the International Olympic Committee. Daley already warned the future mayor - whoever the hell that turns out to be - against going after the 2020 Olympics after rumors of nefarious origins surfaced over the weekend claiming Chicago would be the odds-on favorite to be the USOC's bid city should they pursue a bid (which they previously said they wouldn't). And now Daley is lashing out directly at the IOC itself.
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.