Congratulations to Rio; the first South American city to host the Olympic games.

Apparently, Oprah isn't quite as influential as she might think. The IOC is not comprised of a bunch of mindless sycophants. Perhaps she can recommend a good book to us all; you know, to help ease the shock.

How many taxpayer dollars were wasted by the Obamas for their little excursion?

Hilarious!

And this coming from a person that lives in a State that has hosted an olympics. I guess once you have had your olympics it is okay to blast others for trying. And if you have followed the actions of the IOC for many years, you might not come to the same conclusion about their collective wisdom.

That being said, Rio is a great city and it is time for the Olympics to visit South America. Congratulations to Rio.

quote:

Originally posted by PlanoWino:
And this coming from a person that lives in a State that has hosted an olympics. I guess once you have had your olympics it is okay to blast others for trying. And if you have followed the actions of the IOC for many years, you might not come to the same conclusion about their collective wisdom.

Not blasting Chicago, just a few of its prominent citizens.

My apologies. I did not pick up on the nuances embedded in your message. Personally, I would have loved to see Chicago win. I would certainly have a better chance of going to the games in Chicago than I do of going to Rio.

At least there won't be all that crime in Rio like that of Chicago.

quote:

Originally posted by Dom'n'Vin'sDad:
At least there won't be all that crime in Rio like that of Chicago.

It would interesting to see a side-by-side analysis of the crime and politics of the two cities.

As far as Rio is concerned, any events held at beach-front locations will certainly be interesting. I'm thinking it will be must-see TV.

quote:

Originally posted by PlanoWino:
My apologies. I did not pick up on the nuances embedded in your message. Personally, I would have loved to see Chicago win. I would certainly have a better chance of going to the games in Chicago than I do of going to Rio.

No offense taken.

I believe that Chicago is one of the greatest cities in the world. Besides, you have seven years to plan your trip to Rio.

In 2008, the number of homocides in Chicago rose substantially to 508.

The last I checked, Rio de Janiero had about 8000 murders per year. That means you should expect almost 400 people to be killed in Rio during the Olympics.

VM

Chicago for the Olympics? Come on... that's like having them in Atlanta... Oh, wait, they were in Atlanta.


I'm rooting for Orlando in 2020. Or maybe Paramus.

What in the hell does Oprah have to do with the Olympics?

Who thought involving Oprah was a good idea?

Whatever, good for Rio.

quote:

Originally posted by Sticky2:
What in the hell does Oprah have to do with the Olympics?

Who thought involving Oprah was a good idea?

Agreed.

I was hoping Chicago wouldn't get the Olympics anyway. The Air & Water Show totally screws up a weekend in my neighborhood...can't imagine what the Olympics would have done.

I say congrats to Rio as well.

quote:

Originally posted by Sticky2:
What in the hell does Oprah have to do with the Olympics?

Who thought involving Oprah was a good idea?

What?! How dare you question one of our most prized national treasures!

When Oprah says, "Buy", I open my wallet; when Oprah says, "Read", I open a book; when Oprah says, "The Summer Games should go to Chicago in 2016", the IOC says, "Sorry."

The President also met with the military guy who is in charge of the Afghanistan conflict. Some general.
Anyway, I was in Rio last winter (our winter, their summer). It is a shame that the Brazilians can't do something with the money they will blow on the Olympics to clean up some of the absolutely worst slums in the Western Hemisphere. They are going to have to spend a ton of money on this. The only venue they already have is the beach, for beach volleyball.

quote:

Originally posted by irwin:
The only venue they already have is the beach, for women's beach volleyball.

Irwin, all other Summer Olympic events are superfluous.

Brazil will be fine, they'll get stuff built. If I remember correctly, Athens got the same rub when they were picked, and turned in a pretty good effort, especially considering post 9/11 security protocols.

As far as Obama going to rally for Chicago, didn't Spain, Japan and Brazil run out their big guns as well? Hmmmm. . .

It would have been nice to see an Olympics three hours north, but congrats Rio, I hope this helps out your local populace and doesn't put you too far in debt.

Also, it'll be the dead of winter there, avoiding beastly summertime tropical heat.

quote:

Originally posted by wine+art:
It is starting to look like Jimmy Carter all over again.

Congrats to Rio.

I am a huge Olympic fan (not just women's beach volleyball) and had a former roommate compete in the '76 Olympics in Montreal.
My son will hopefully (fingers crossed) compete for Canada in Men's Rugby
(should be an event in 2016). That will certainly give it a very personal flavour for my entire family.

Perhaps this will be an incentive for the city to bolster it's image,economy, security, and world class status.

Go Rio!

quote:

Originally posted by Board-O:
Congratulations to Chicago, seriously. Why anybody would want the world's premier hype and posturing exhibition in their neighborhood is beyond me. I don't watch the Olympics and don't want it in my neighborhood. They ought to abolish it. It takes up too much space in the newspapers. I'd rather read about making papier mache animals and baking gluten-free sponge cake.

I won't go so far as the papier mache route, but the infatuation with Olympics has to stop at some point, right? I will admit that I get excited as anyone and stay up to see Michael Phelps and the Redeem Team do their thing, but the Olympics are way overhyped.

The minute my wife and I were riding the bus into work one day and heard some random athlete come over the PA system talking about how 'great' the Olympics would be in Chicago and how they couldn't wait to see the tennis matches in Lincoln Park, we looked at each other as though our neighborhood had just been destroyed. It would not have been a good thing.

The city is a cluster on a normal day, much less a street fest or Cubs home game weekend. The city has shady politicians stealing money left and right, much less when there are billions of dollars being tossed around from the world...can someone please remind me why this was a good idea?

quote:

Originally posted by DoktaP:
My son will hopefully (fingers crossed) compete for Canada in Men's Rugby
(should be an event in 2016). That will certainly give it a very personal flavour for my entire family.

Great, now I have a reason to root for Canada.

quote:

Originally posted by DoktaP:
My son will hopefully (fingers crossed) compete for Canada in Men's Rugby
(should be an event in 2016). That will certainly give it a very personal flavour for my entire family.

DoktaP, if they do add the event in 2016, and if your son does make the team, I for one, will route for Canada to win the gold in that event.

I actually enjoy watching parts the Olympics. What China did with the opening and closing ceremonies last year was phenomenal (as I expected). Certainly there are events that don't appeal to anyone, but overall I think it is a good vibe. And yes, it is overdone/overhyped and often costs the hosting country money. Being as large as it is there is plenty of corruption to go around as well. And, no one wants it in their neighborhood. I remember when NYC had been trying to host and everyone that would be affected in the city was screaming "we don't want it here!" with the exception of the politicians and others with palms out. Still, I like the Olympics and if I lived in a city that hosted them, I would tolerate the crowds and traffic for a few weeks while partaking in an event or two (as a spectator of course). As far as Brazil goes- congrats to those countrymen and South America as a whole. Unfortunately, Rio has some serious scouring to do in order to reduce the crime off the streets (good luck with that). And their soccer team better win gold or there will be hell to pay.

Sorry Chicago, but ...

About time that the IOC had olympics on South America or Africa. Some of the best atheletes in some sports are from these areas. At least the World Cup will be in Africa.

The politics in getting the games is super bad. All the arm twisting, deals being made etc. just don't fit. Chicago politics struck the US effort. Obama[s], Oprah etc. should have stayed at home.

Only sport Oprah knows is how to eat.

As for the olympics, NBC screws up my TV viewing for 3 weeks. At least for 2016 the events will only be a 1 hour time difference, VS Chinas 12- 13 hour.

quote:

Originally posted by FL Wino Spouse:
Only sport Oprah knows is how to eat.

...and repeat what everyone else says in order to make herself seem intelligent.

I don't know why any city would want the Olympics bid. All the expense for building venues, security, etc. Has any city in recent memory actually made any money off one of these things?

Rugby, and Golf in 2016 .
A nice cash cow. Now, I wonder how they can drag out a Tiger-lead tournament for three weeks?

I'm a big fan of the Olympics. Usain Bolt and Michael Phelps in Beijing were just awesome to watch. I also think the Olympics can do great things for a city if done well (e.g. job creation, improvements in infrastructure/pubic transport). And yes, cities have actually made money off the Olympics (in fact, wasn't LA the first to do so?).

But I definitely don't understand why Oprah and Obama were involved in the Chicago bid...