Category: Chicago 2016

Perhaps the Chicago Tribune and the Chicago Sun-Times can learn a lesson from the U.K.’s Daily Telegraph in its coverage of the London 2012 Olympics.

According the the Telegraph article, a new study done at the University of East London cites lost money and lost jobs – 70,000 of them – for Athens after the 2004 Olympics. (To be honest, I haven’t read this study yet.)

To be balanced, here’s a report by an economist at the University of Nottingham that came out in 2005. The author, Adam Blake concluded that the 2012 Olympics would be good for London and the rest of Britain.

Of course, that study was funded by London’s Department of Culture, Media and Sport, Greater London Authority Economics and the London Development Agency. And it was written before the costs quadrupled to £9.3 billion (about $19.5 billion).

I’ll link you folks to the new study once I can get my hands on it.

According to a Wall Street Journalreport today, the McDonald’s Corp. isn’t supporting Chicago’s bid for the 2016 Olympic Games.

Why not? They can’t. Because of the company’s ties to the International Olympic Committee as an official sponsor of the Games.

As a result, McDonald’s can’t make any contribution to the Chicago 2016 bid.

How about giving up that special sauce formula…?

It’s been a busy day for international sports in Chicago.

In what may be another trial run for the Chicago 2016 Olympics, World Sport Chicago, along with U.S.A. Volleyball and the Internation Federation of Volleyball, announced that they will host an international volleyball match here on June 15-16 at the Jones Convocation Center at Chicago State University. The match will pit Team U.S.A. against Team Italy on the both days, with France and Japan facing off elsewhere.

This announcement came soon after the Amateur International Boxing Association announced that they were holding their World Amateur Boxing Championship events here in Chicago in late October-early November.

What’s next, cricket?

It seems that some of the city’s Southwest side constituents aren’t too pleased about Chicago 2016 Olympic plans.

Ray Hanania, pretty much the lead columnist for the Southwest News-Herald, wrote in a column today that while Southwest side taxpayers will be asked to shoulder its share of the burden, the area probably wouldn’t play a role in any Chicago 2016 plans, to everyone’s detriment.

He writes:

A lot will be forgotten during that time, and that’s good for Southwest politicians who are scrambling to explain why they were AWOL when the Olympic proposal was crafted.

Oh. And they’ll improve Archer Heights streets. So, is Zalewski saying Archer Heights will have to wait 10 years before it sees any street work? Or, street improvements happen all the time, Olympics or not?

Geez. Hanania doesn’t pull any punches. He continues:

Mayor Daley insists there’s no need for taxes to pay for the $5 billion cost of the event. That’s $5 billion in today’s money. You know that price tag will skyrocket on the basis of the “Chicago Political Principle.”

Millennium Park. It was budgeted at $150 million, but it took four more years to build and it ran $350 million over budget. Oh, Daley had an excuse for every dollar, of course.

Ouch. It’d be nice if the Tribune and Sun-Times gave these guys equal voice in their coverage of a potential Chicago 2016 Olympics.

Chicago Mayor Richard M. Daley appointed his nephew to the Illinois Sports Facilities Authority yesterday, reports Fran Spielman of the Sun-Times. The Authority could play a pivotal role in the Chicago 2016 campaign.

His nephew, Peter Thompson, served as a former campaign finance chief for Daley. And the man’s not unqualified – he earned his MBA at the University of Chicago.

Thompson’s seat on the board is unpaid, but Spielman’s article contained some rather telling quotes. Perhaps it’s just what Spielman used, but Thompson seemed more concerned with improving U.S. Cellular Field and the surrounding Bridgeport neighborhood.

Let’s see if he has anything in store for decrepit Wrigley Field. He sure has an idea of what the ISFA can do about the Olympics. He says the Authority can’t own or operate any of the stadiums.

It’s looking more and more like the city will have to foot the bill…

A Sun-Times report places estimates for Chicago 2016 tickets as high as $950 for the opening ceremonies.

I find it strange that Chicago 2016 brass aren’t publicizing ticket costs. Then again, I’d be surprised if they actually want people from Chicago attending Olympic events.

If it ends up that Chicagoans (and Illinoisians) have to foot the bill, they should at least get some sort of hometown discount for tickets to the Games. Even if it were 10 percent or so, we’d know that the Chicago 2016 committee actually cares about us.

Who’s with me?

According to a Chicago Tribune report, an 11-member delegation from the U.S. Olympic Committee is in town to meet with Chicago 2016 for an informal dinner tonight.

On deck for tomorrow: eight hours of meetings.

Sounds like fun, eh?

(On a side note, Tribune reporter Phil Hersh has done a good job covering the Chicago 2016 happenings. Kudos to him, although I don’t agree with him sometimes.)

In this month’s issue of Budget and Tax News, Dennis Byrne reports the inadequacies of Mayor Richard M. Daley’s Chicago 2016 plans.

According to University of Chicago sports economist Allen Sanderson, not all of the costs of hosting the Games have been considered. He cites the CTA upgrades required to handle a rider surge during the Olympics, nor a backup plan if – or when – it goes over budget.

(To date, London 2012 costs have tripled to $18 billion and Beijing is pouring $40 billion into the 2008 Olympics.)

I don’t think the CTA can get any worse than it already is, to be honest…

In a Chicago Sun-Times column today, Neil Steinberg reported that Chicago Police Supt. Phil Cline may be tapped to be head planner in charge of drawing up the Chicago 2016 security plans.

Steinberg writes:

I’m all for that. Cline is only 57, with plenty of good years left in him. Why bring in some perfumed security analyst from France who’ll have us all prisoners in our own city, squatting in the sun, our fingers laced behind our necks? A Chicago Olympics should be protected by a Chicago cop, and Phil Cline, for good and ill, is exactly that.

Isn’t this the same guy who just resigned as superintendent? (Cline is serving in the post only until a replacement is found.) In a department where corruption and brutality are almost a welcome part of the work environment (cough, Anthony Abbate) Cline was the great enabler, turning a deaf ear to what went on.

While Chicago Mayor Richard M. Daley doesn’t believe the video hurt the city’s chances of getting the Olympics, bringing him on the Chicago 2016 campaign would. Phil Cline doesn’t belong in the mix.