Rio awarded 2016 Olympic games

Even with the President of the United States overseas to support its cause, Chicago never had a chance at landing the 2016 Olympics.

Chicago was the first to be eliminated in International Olympic Committee voting to determine the host of the 2016 Games this morning ijn Copenhagen. The consensus going in was that Chicago and Rio de Janeiro were the favorites, and Tokyo and Madrid had slim hopes of being named hosts. The consensus was right about Rio's chances, as it became the first South American city to be awarded the Games. Riod defeated Madrid 66 votes to 32 in the final voting. It was dead wrong about Chicago, which was bounced as quickly as it could be.

I'm not going to get too far into the political ramifications of the loss for President Barack Obama and Chicago mayor Richard Daley, because I honestly have no idea about them. Some people seem convinced that it's a devastating blow for Daley, who faces re-election in 2011. Some even feel it will cost him the mayor's chair, which he's held since about 1831. Obama will survive his involvement and the subsequent failure, though it doesn't reflect well on him that he devoted time and energy towards something like this with all of the nation's problems, and doing so produced absolutely no results.

For the most part, I'm happy about the decision. It's overdue that a South America gets an Olympics for the first time, considering the way other continents have gotten them repeatedly. A romantic part of me did want Chicago to get the Games, because I love the city and wanted to see it shine on a grand international stage. But for the obvious reasons - the traffic problems it would create, the fact that the Cubs would have to be on the road for about three weeks and, oh yeah, the millions and millions of dollars it would cost - I think the prospect of hosting the Games was ultimately more negative than it was positive for Chicago.