Chicago is out.

[Grace]

From the NY Times -


COPENHAGEN — Chicago was stunningly eliminated in the first round of voting for the 2016 Olympics on Friday, with Rio de Janeiro and Madrid still in contention in the final round of voting by the International Olympic Committee. Tokyo was eliminated in the second round.

[Edwina's Secretary]

Mostly I am not disappointed. Olympics are expensive and disruptive for the host city (and I certainly hope to be back living there by then :D)

On the other hand I would love to go to an Olympics sometime. But I would prefer Winter Olympics!

I was visiting family in the area last weekend and they will be thrilled. They were terribly worried about the expense of it.

[lvpets2002]

:) Gosh I cant decide which one I want it to be Rio de or Madrid.. I guess my vote dont count..:p

[Grace]

Mostly I am not disappointed. Olympics are expensive and disruptive for the host city (and I certainly hope to be back living there by then :D)

On the other hand I would love to go to an Olympics sometime. But I would prefer Winter Olympics!

I was visiting family in the area last weekend and they will be thrilled. They were terribly worried about the expense of it.

I much prefer the Winter Games, also. And my favorite of all times was Lillehammer in 1994. I still watch clips from those games on You Tube.

[Edwina's Secretary]

I much prefer the Winter Games, also. And my favorite of all times was Lillehammer in 1994. I still watch clips from those games on You Tube.

With David Letterman's mom! Those were great!

I have family in Salt Lake City. One of my cousins was a volunteer on the ski slopes during the games(the Air Force ski team was his "job" after graduating the AirForce Academy...:rolleyes:) I wish I had gone to that Olympic.

[Grace]

Well, Rio is the winner. I think this is the first time the summer games have been held in South America. I'm glad for them - let them deal with the expense and headaches :)

[RICHARD]

Well, Rio is the winner. I think this is the first time the summer games have been held in South America. I'm glad for them - let them deal with the expense and headaches :)

No Olympic spirit or sour grapes?;)



There is nothing more thrilling, fun and amazing when it all comes together and you can party for 17 days in a row.

Was 'there', did it and had a effing blast too.

The lead in and the Games are something that changes you town forever, it's a great deal of money and hassle? But, you get to say, "I am a ---------, this is MY town" or you can sit in front of the tube and see your little corner of the world is on display for the planet.

------------

Go to any international match/sport where a Brazilian team plays. Those fans are crazy, they never shut up, sit down or stop moving.

They put any 'fanantic' to shame.:D

[Randi]

Here's a link with video clips from B. Obama's visit in Copenhagen:
http://nyhederne.tv2.dk/article.php/id-25482141.html

[lvpets2002]

:) Thank you & I will agree.. However I am happy for them..
Well, Rio is the winner. I think this is the first time the summer games have been held in South America. I'm glad for them - let them deal with the expense and headaches :)

[Edwina's Secretary]

The lead in and the Games are something that changes you town forever, it's a great deal of money and hassle? But, you get to say, "I am a ---------, this is MY town" or you can sit in front of the tube and see your little corner of the world is on display for the planet.



Perhaps that is how Obama felt.

[catland]

I'm also a big Winter Games fan (Tonya Harding hails from here:rolleyes:) - especially the "little" sports.

Give me curling or short-track speed skating anyday!

[RICHARD]

I'm also a big Winter Games fan (Tonya Harding hails from here:rolleyes:) - especially the "little" sports.


Give me curling or short-track speed skating anyday!

DUDE,

I was watching Short Track last night on the US channel.

They next event is Nov. 5-8 .

http://www.universalsports.com/ViewArticle.dbml?DB_OEM_ID=23000&ATCLID=204797555

[Grace]

No Olympic spirit or sour grapes?;)


No sour grapes at all. Olympic spirit - not so much. Like many other things today, I think the Olympic spirit has been compromised. Once they allowed professional athletes to participate, it lost the luster. For me, anyway.

That's why the Miracle on Ice from 1980 was so special. Those were college kids beating Russian pros.

[Edwina's Secretary]

I grew up with Janet Lynn. She was an Olympic figure skater in, I think, 1972.

[Grace]

I grew up with Janet Lynn. She was an Olympic figure skater in, I think, 1972.

I remember her!! Cute blonde - I think she also had asthma.

She won the Bronze in the 1972 Olympics. Back then the 'school figures' counted for a large portion of the total score. There was a gal from Austria who was absolute perfection in the compulsories - more like a wooden toy in the free skate. But she built up such an early lead that no one could get by her.

It wasn't long after that, the skating federation changed the rules so there was less emphasis on those compulsory figures.

[Edwina's Secretary]

Yes, she was the "little blonde pixie." She was wonderful in the free style but not so good at the figure eights. She also fell early on in the free style and as she said..."a fall begets a fall."

She went pro and struggled with what was thought to be asthma. She retired and after that was finally diagnosed with a food allergy. I cannot remember - either wheat or dairy.

She married and had a bunch of sons - four or five. I would see her sometimes at reunions of our high school class.

[lizbud]

With Chicago losing their bid, means a economic loss for Indiana too.
The swimming facilities in Indy had been used for the last Olympic Games.

This was a classmate of mine in High School. She was a very nice person
who always had a lot going on in her life, even in HS.


http://www.usghof.org/files/bio/m_grossfeld/m_grossfeld.html

[blue]

http://files.myopera.com/akpostal/albums/857054/TheEgoHasLanded.jpg

http://files.myopera.com/akpostal/albums/857054/oly_u_livereaction_576.jpg

[RICHARD]

I felt badly for the woman who was crying at the rally.

If you ever get the chance to go to the Games, go.....You will never regret it-it's one of the best sports event on the planet.

[Grace]

I found this - What becomes of Olympic Stadiums (http://www.time.com/time/photogallery/0,29307,1927333,00.html) - on the TIME site.

I was surprised at how many are in good use today.

[Grace]

I just started a new book - Something in the Air - about the 1968 Olympics in Mexico City.

Anyone remember Dick Fosbury, Bob Beamon, George Foreman . . . . .

[RICHARD]

I just started a new book - Something in the Air - about the 1968 Olympics in Mexico City.

Anyone remember Dick Fosbury, Bob Beamon, George Foreman . . . . .

The flopper, the farthest and the Griller.


What about the pair that shared a pair of gloves?:confused::rolleyes:

[Grace]

What about the pair that shared a pair of gloves?:confused::rolleyes:

Results of the men's 200 meter dash:

Tommie Smith - Gold

Peter Norman - Silver

John Carlos - Bronze

Don't leave out Norman, from Australia. He was ostracized by his country for participating in the protest. Wasn't even invited to take part in the Sydney games. When he died, in 2006, the US Track and Field Federation proclaimed October 9, 2006, the date of his funeral, as Peter Norman Day. Both Smith and Carlos gave eulogies and were pallbearers at his funeral.

[RICHARD]

Results of the men's 200 meter dash:

Tommie Smith - Gold

Peter Norman - Silver

John Carlos - Bronze

Don't leave out Norman, from Australia. He was ostracized by his country for participating in the protest. Wasn't even invited to take part in the Sydney games. When he died, in 2006, the US Track and Field Federation proclaimed October 9, 2006, the date of his funeral, as Peter Norman Day. Both Smith and Carlos gave eulogies and were pallbearers at his funeral.

The 68 games were a huge deal in my house. That is where I got 'the fever'.

Ever since then? Any athlete who brings politics onto the playing fields takes his chance with his own future.

Off the top of my head I can think of three medal ceremonies where people didn't show up for a medal-only one was due to politics.

How did the BP/fist thing improve race relations?

Why didn't they invite Norman to raise his fist with them? Would not that have been a sign of solidarity and white folks getting with the movement?

Was that a good idea at the time? If you remember, the Black Panthers were running about and getting headlines-and not the complimentary type- which really hurt their cause.
And instead of coming around with solution to their plight, they turned up, guns a' blazing-not the best idea when you want to be taken seriously.

And the controversy still is a topic today.

Instead of a summer night in Mexico, you get a noon press conference with Al Sharptongue.

-------------

The Olympics are games and hopefully 'politics' is a serious struggle.

If you have a beef? Make sandwiches with it and don't interfere with my viewing pleasure, I put up with the real life BS all year long.

I want 17 days of fun.

[Grace]

Instead of a summer night in Mexico, we will next get a winter evening in Vancouver.

What is/are your favorite winter Olympic event(s)?

I love the figure skating, the bobsled, cross country skiing and can't leave out ski jumping.


http://images.hellobc.com/mgen/tbccw/TBCCWDisplay.ms?img=%2fTBCCW%2fimages%2flogo_2010. gif&tl=1&sID=1&c=public%2Cmax-age%3D172802%2Cpost-check%3D7200%2Cpre-check%3D43200&bid=4_1

[cassiesmom]

I guess I'm disappointed, although I'm not surprised, that Chicago was not chosen. I am surprised that we were the first city eliminated because I thought we had a stronger bid than that.

Looking at the Chicago 2016 Web site I can't imagine the logistics of moving people between the proposed venue sites, which were pretty much all along the lakefront between Evanston and Hyde Park. Our current rapid transit would have been stressed to the max. I like the winter Olympics better anyway - just give me ice hockey and ski jumping and I'm good to go.

[RICHARD]

Where is Eddie the Eagle when you need him?

No matter what happens in the Games- as political as things get-there is always the one story that makes you feel really good about sports.

It's a plaster that knocked down some walls and maybe gave a Brit the idea that they could ski-jump too?

Or a group of guys that decided that Jamaica needed a bob sled team?

I love the people who come the Middle East who do X-country sking.

There is only one Olympic Sport that I can not handle.

[Edwina's Secretary]

My favorite winter sports - figure skating, ski jumping and almost all the downhill skiing.

I will even watch some of the sledding events!!

[Grace]

My favorite winter sports - figure skating, ski jumping and almost all the downhill skiing.

I will even watch some of the sledding events!!

Bobsleds are fine, but can you even imagine doing the luge or skeleton :eek: And the skeleton is done face first!!

[Edwina's Secretary]

Bobsleds are fine, but can you even imagine doing the luge or skeleton :eek: And the skeleton is done face first!!

Isn't that part of what makes them so fun to watch? Who would be so insane as to try that? Ski jumping is sort of the same. I love to watch it because I know I never, ever could have or will try such a thing!

[blue]

I dont get into the summer games.

Winter games, I love the downhill skiing events except the jumping. Slalom, and Super G are where its at.

Ild love to see monoskiing get popular enough to become an event but I dont see that ever happening.

[Grace]

Then there is Curling. I even enjoy watching this sport.

The best rock for the stones comes from Ailsa Craig, an island off Turnberry on the west coast of Scotland. My grandfather never curled, but he designed and built a boat he named Ailsa Craig.

The first Olympic curling Gold went to the Canadian women, in 1998.

[Grace]

Winter games, I love the downhill skiing events except the jumping. Slalom, and Super G are where its at.


Did you ever see this? (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sYj9kIxAL_o)

Arguably the single best downhill ever.

[blue]

Very impresive yard sales followed by the jaw dropping run and stats! No I hadnt seen that before, thank you.

I had the chace to run a super g course once, but my big board gets really unstable at those speeds and my all mountain board isnt fast enough for the course.

ETA: I saw he was riding Blizzards. Ild love, heck maybe kill, to get my hands on a Blizzard monoski.

[RICHARD]

Did you ever see this? (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sYj9kIxAL_o)

Arguably the single best downhill ever.

Meh,

Bill Johnson.;)

[blue]

Is speed skiing still an Olympic event? Those guys and gals are nuts.

[RICHARD]

I heard that GWB is the real reason Chicago lost the bid.

Are we really bitter?:eek:

[lizbud]

I heard that GWB is the real reason Chicago lost the bid.

Are we really bitter?:eek:



I read that article too Richard, and that wasn't given as the reason
Chicago lost their bid.:p

[Edwina's Secretary]

I read that article too Richard, and that wasn't given as the reason
Chicago lost their bid.:p

Just curious...where was an article that suggested that?

[lizbud]

Just curious...where was an article that suggested that?


I honestly don't remember, I think Daily Beast or Huff Po.:confused:

I'll find it for you if you want to read it. :) It was just a throw away line at the beginning of the article.

[Grace]

Just curious...where was an article that suggested that?

From Politico (http://www.politico.com/news/stories/1009/27902.html) -


Former Bush Press Secretary Dana Perino, who supported Chicago’s bid, shrugged off such reactions: “I… don’t know anyone who’s high-fiving,” Perino wrote in an e-mail. “Though I’d bet there are some doing that, I’m just as sure there are some who are finding a way to blame President Bush somehow. “

[RICHARD]

I read that article too Richard, and that wasn't given as the reason
Chicago lost their bid.:p

I didn't read anything on it. I just heard it on a Sunday morning talk show and thought it was an astute observation.

Dana Perino is pretty hot. I'd like to see what's in her monring briefings.:eek::o:rolleyes:

[Edwina's Secretary]

GWB's press secretary says maybe that is what people are saying...:D:D

Isn't that what is called a red herring?

[RICHARD]

Some Chicago poltician-Burris- and Jesse Jackson both tossed GVB some blame.

-------------

LOL, what is the deal with sitting on my dad's lap and cheering one Carl Lewis?:eek::o:(

[lizbud]

From Politico (http://www.politico.com/news/stories/1009/27902.html) -


That wasn't the article I was speaking about. The article I saw was
saying that Europe still had a bad taste in their mouths from the Bush
years & was not enclined to favor America's bid.

[Grace]

That wasn't the article I was speaking about. The article I saw was
saying that Europe still had a bad taste in their mouths from the Bush
years & was not enclined to favor America's bid.

That's very interesting.

[RICHARD]

Hahahaha,

MO told the IOC that she sat on her dad's lap cheering on Carl Lewis.

She would have been about 20 years old to have pulled that off.


Where is Shaq O'Neal to get the story straight?

Those danged first ladies are full of poop and tall tales.:D

[Edwina's Secretary]

Hahahaha,

MO told the IOC that she sat on her dad's lap cheering on Carl Lewis.

She would have been about 20 years old to have pulled that off.



Was she in Oslo when she said that?:D:D

[lizbud]

Read this side-note to the Olympic bid.



Acting head of US Olympic Committee to step down
Published - Oct 07 2009 05:12PM EDT

By EDDIE PELLS - AP National Writer



FILE -- This is a July 15, 2009, file photo showing U.S. Olympic Committee acting CEO Stephanie Streeter posing at the Olympic training center in Colorado Springs, Colo. Streeter will leave her post within the next five months. Streeter, who took the job when Jim Scherr was forced to resign in March, announced the decision Wednesday, Oct. 7, 2009, saying she wanted to get back into the corporate world.

Six months of shaky decisions and turmoil came to a head for the U.S. Olympic Committee on Wednesday when its acting CEO said she would step down, bringing more chaos to an organization that was humiliated when Chicago's bid to host the 2016 Games fell flat.

Stephanie Streeter said that she would not seek the USOC's CEO job on a permanent basis, and that she would leave in the next five months.

The decision came just five days after Chicago's humbling, first-round exit in a vote by International Olympic Committee members, who ultimately picked Rio de Janeiro. It also happened on the same day leaders of America's Olympic sports organizations said "No" in a 40-0 vote to this question on a survey they conducted: "Do you believe the acting CEO has the ability to be an effective leader of the Olympic movement?"

The United States contributes more money to the Olympics than any other nation, yet the USOC is rife with infighting and turnover, perceived internationally as arrogant, and populated with leaders who are having trouble turning things around.

"I'm incredibly saddened by the developments, which I lay largely at the feet of the USOC, which has clearly lost its way," said NBC Universal Sports and Olympics chairman Dick Ebersol. "It's a combination of people who don't have a full-time commitment to it, too many people who really don't have an understanding of international sports and relationships. I don't believe there will be another Olympics in the U.S. until the USOC really gets its act together."

USOC Chairman Larry Probst conceded that turning around the group's international reputation is not a one- or two-year project. "I'm talking 10, 15, 20 years," he said.

Chicago's elimination in the first round was universally viewed as an embarrassment, and one of the biggest surprises ever handed down by IOC voters. One IOC member, Denis Oswald of Switzerland, went so far as to call it "a defeat for the USOC, not for Chicago."

The USOC will hire a national recruiting firm by the end of the month to search for Streeter's replacement. The next CEO will be the third to sit in that chair in the span of about a year. The latest upheaval began in March when Jim Scherr was forced out after six years of relative stability and success.

Ebersol said good candidates would be people with connections to major Olympic sports _ such as swimming, gymnastics, skiing _ with experience in marketing, international relations and the sports world.

Probst, who said he has no plans to step down as chairman, acknowledged some of the USOC's problems.

"We have plenty of good relationships, but the reality is, we don't have the political capital, the leverage, a spot on the IOC executive team," he said. "We need to do work over the long haul to have more of a presence."

In several conversations with The Associated Press in the past few weeks, Streeter made it clear she didn't want to stay on and would announce that after the IOC awarded the 2016 Games. She said she wants to return to the corporate world _ she is a former CEO at Banta Corp. _ though she realizes many people will view her decision as a direct result of the Chicago vote and the increasing calls for change in the USOC leadership.

"I had made this decision prior to the bid and clearly it makes sense to announce it as soon after as possible," she told the AP. "It makes sense to announce it at this time so the USOC has a clean slate when it goes into the search process."

Depending on how the CEO search goes, Streeter could be with the USOC through March 21, which is when the Paralympics end in Vancouver. The Vancouver Olympics are set for Feb. 12-28.

Whether her departure satisfies her critics will almost certainly depend on who the board chooses to replace her. The board also has been criticized as being out of touch with what the majority of the Olympic movement wants.

"This is just a first step," said Steve Penny, president of USA Gymnastics and a key member of the leaders of national governing bodies who answered the questionnaire on Streeter.

Ebersol, whose efforts have helped bankroll the Olympic movement to the tune of billions of dollars over the years, predicted Chicago losing out on the games will diminish the value of American TV rights by at least 15 to 20 percent, "just because it won't be the same level of advertising" a network could get from an American games.

He expects NBC will still bid, though that wouldn't be an indicator that all is well at the USOC.

"It won't just change from Stephanie Streeter not standing for re-election," he said. "The board has to be seriously re-examined for the fact that it lacks real leadership in all these key sports fields."

Streeter was under intense scrutiny immediately after moving into the job from the board of directors. The switch came as a surprise to many in the Olympic movement, in part because the USOC had been functioning relatively smoothly with Scherr at the helm.

She and Probst claimed the USOC needed a different, more businesslike approach to running things, especially considering the bad economy and the reluctance of some sponsors to re-sign with the USOC after the Beijing Olympics.

There were some successes _ a handful of sponsors did come on board, and the USOC was able to increase funding for Winter Games athletes by one-fifth, partly by exceeding projected budget revenues.

Those successes, however, were barely a blip _ overshadowed by the perceived missteps and criticism.

Her arrival never was accepted by key leaders of the country's national sports governing bodies, who felt blindsided and wondered about the transparency of a move that elevated a volunteer board member into a paid position.

They found more to complain about when the board approved a pay package with a base of $560,000 _ about 30 percent more than what Scherr earned. That only grew louder when the USOC botched the introduction of its TV network and drew criticism from the IOC.

"I think we miscalculated on the network," Streeter said when asked if she had any regrets from her seven months on the job. "We miscalculated the reaction from the IOC and our TV partners at NBC. I still think it's a good idea. In retrospect, I would've altered timing on the announcement."

There was also the complicated IOC-USOC revenue-sharing issue that Streeter and Probst managed to table _ but not solve _ about six months before the 2016 vote. Despite efforts on both sides, the lack of a resolution colors almost everything about how international Olympic leaders relate to the United States. Internationally, the Americans are perceived as taking too much of the money generated by the Olympics.

IOC member Willi Kaltschmitt of Guatemala said the USOC needs to "rethink, reorganize and regroup."

"There are a lot of wounds there," Kaltschmitt said. "It's an accumulation of things. We say 'dead corpses in the road.'"

[cassiesmom]

In typical Chicago style, we are not moving forward from this but still discussing and splitting hairs over why we didn't get it (Because Mayor Daley went! Because Pres. Obama went! Because Pres. Obama said he wasn't going to go, and then he did! Because Pres. Obama arrived late! - I don't get that one, uhhhmm, he was THERE and I thought he did a great job as the last speaker for the panel - Because the Chicago presentation was flakey! Because of the U.S. Olympic Committee!). I don't think we will ever really know. Meanwhile, a 2-year-old was killed in a fire in a house without a working smoke detector -- low-income families can get them free from the CFD or their alderman's office, all they have to do is ask. And a father was charged with drowning his 19-month-old son to death. Get over it, people; we have bigger problems to solve!

[Randi]

You will notice that Oslo is quite a distance from Copenhagen.

[RICHARD]

You will notice that Oslo is quite a distance from Copenhagen.

Thanks......

Wait, so you mean Finland has nothing to do with fish?


So what about Cucamonga, Timbuktu and Lake Titicaca?:D;):eek:

[Grace]

From Sports Illustrated -


October 12, 2009
It's Not You, It's Them
Chicago's Olympic bid was brought down by an anti-USOC vibe

Brian Cazeneuve


Chicagoans upset by the city's failure to land the 2016 Olympics may find solace in this: They shouldn't take the IOC's decision personally. Chicago's bid was by all accounts one of the strongest ever by a U.S. city. It was bolstered by an 11th-hour appearance by President Barack Obama before the IOC vote in Copenhagen last Friday, a stirring speech to IOC members by his wife and a star-studded (Oprah!) cast of supporters.

Still, the 2016 Games will be in Rio de Janeiro, and Chicago received just 18 of 94 votes. The shockingly poor showing was more a reflection of how strained IOC-USOC relations are than a knock against the Windy City. International impatience with the USOC has been mounting since March, when the USOC board pushed out CEO Jim Scherr, a well-respected figure in the Olympic community. (Neither his replacement, acting CEO Stephanie Streeter, nor chairman Larry Probst, who took over his post one year ago, proved capable of navigating the IOC's insular political mazes.) This year the USOC and IOC got into a still-unresolved spat over the high percentage of revenues the USOC receives from IOC television contracts and marketing agreements.

In July the USOC angered IOC members further by announcing the formation of a 24-hour Olympic network—even though the IOC had asked the USOC to hold off. Says Denis Oswald, an IOC member from Switzerland, "You can't behave the way [the USOC has] and not foresee some sort of resentment."

A USOC housecleaning is probable. Streeter and Probst are the most likely targets, and some USOC staffers fear that the Chicago debacle may drive the federal government to demand greater oversight of the committee. The failure will also make other U.S. cities think twice about lobbying for the Games in the near future. Bid preparation cost Chicago organizers nearly $50 million. "Why would a city want to become involved," says Jack Kelly, a veteran consultant for U.S. candidate cities, "if it can only get 18 votes?"