Memo to Mayor: You're blowing the Olympics
Mayor Daley & Co. aren't doing enough to woo IOC in bid process
May I submit that the world is a fairly chaotic place in 2008? And that only an idealist or presidential candidate would foresee less turbulence and vulnerability eight years from now? And that it isn't in Chicago's best interests to host the 2016 Olympics, not unless we want to spend several years worrying about terrorism, political disruptions, doping and, recalling the Atlanta debacle, how our legacy could be harmed?
But, then, maybe Chicago won't even have the chance to be marred by societal complications. To hear Peter Ueberroth, chairman of the U.S. Olympic Committee, we remain an afterthought in a bidding process that is beginning to take shape. This startling view comes six months after Ueberroth said Chicago rated no better than third or fourth on the list of 2016 favorites and urged the city's ringhead leadership, led by Mayor Daley and Patrick Ryan, to do a better job of schmoozing the International Olympic Committee's 100-plus voting members.
(AP)
Hmmm. The first time he said it, I considered it a pep talk. This time, I'll call it a swift kick in the rump. And if Ueberroth repeats it, with the cutdown to the IOC's short list coming in June and the final decision set for October of next year in Copenhagen, well, we won't have to concern ourselves with bombs, boycotts and broadsides. Because the IOC will be taking its party to Rio de Janeiro, Madrid or Tokyo, cities that wouldn't be subjected to anti-American grudges.
``I can't give it a number -- certainly not first,'' Ueberroth said Tuesday at the Palmer House Hilton, where U.S. Olympic athletes and officials are convening for three days of sessions with journalists. ``Regularly, Chicago has not bid on the Games in the past and has not been in the Olympic movement. I think they're improving but still not anywhere near first.''
When asked why, Ueberroth talked about ``a learning process'' and referred to the Chicago 2016 group as ``a rookie in this arena.'' He also mentioned the ``international business community'' and said the local neophytes must continue to market the town's charms, particularly its diversity. Trying to decipher this mumbo-jumbo, I assume Ueberroth is suggesting that our leaders, stuck in their parochial cocoon and hardly global bon vivants, haven't shown the necessary sophistication to make a successful sales push to a demanding, snooty IOC audience. The rookies are acting like rookies, aren't making vital connections with big shooters and probably haven't provided all the right answers about finances, an archaic `L' system and, perhaps, why the Olympic Stadium is located by its lonesome about nine miles from the Loop in Washington Park.
When it comes to international politicking, even when he hails from a city known for backroom b.s., I'm figuring Daley is out of his league. A fresh example: Reading robotically from a script he obviously hadn't looked over, he said Chicago no longer is the city chronicled in the early 1900s by ``Carl Sandburg and Uptown Sinclair.'' I shot an alarmed look at a media collegue, who shot a look at me.
``Did he just refer to Upton Sinclair as Uptown Sinclair?'' I said.
``That's what I heard,'' he said.
If Daley pulls a similar bungle or malaprop in an IOC setting, Jacques Rogge and the boys will laugh him down quicker than Marion Jones at a ``Just Say No'' rally. I'd feel a whole lot better if Barack Obama, who lives across the street from the proposed stadium, was involved in the process now instead of waiting until Copenhagen. Or Oprah Winfrey, who might wow the IOC crowd. Or even Michael Jordan, as long as he leaves Cuba Gooding Jr. and his underwear at home. I'm guessing Daley is hurting the bid more than helping, though, when pressed, Ueberroth wouldn't specify what's bothering him
``Sure, probably a number of things -- but I'm not telling that to you; I'll tell the leadership in the room,'' Ueberroth said.
A follow-up question brought this response from the chairman: ``You asked for my opinion -- you got it straight.''
As home to a ballclub that hasn't won in 100 years, a second ballclub that fixed a World Series before winning one almost 90 years later and all sorts of curses, goats, black holes and quarterbacking conundrums, Chicago is familiar with underdog-itis. But this is an especially daunting hole because, when you think about it, the U.S. is due to be awarded its first Summer Games since Atlanta in 1996. Ryan, chairman of the Chicago bid, tried to put on a positive face about Ueberroth's analysis. ``It made me feel good. It made us feel good because we don't want to be the favorite. Favorites haven't done well,'' he rationalized. ``I really believe that it's early, early, early. Our greatest challenge is to make more IOC leaders much more aware with a major communications initiative.''
``There are strong cities. We don't take anything for granted,'' Daley said. ``Once you're on the short list, that is the key.''
Just then, a TV reporter asked the mayor about Robert Sorich, his former patronage chief, and the decision by a federal appeals court Tuesday to uphold his mail-fraud conviction. Daley waved his arms, as if asking for mercy from such a question.
``No comment,'' he said.
Welcome to Chicago, international journalists.
The short list arrives in two months. From there, Chicago 2016 will have little more than a year to present the city's best face. The layout of the Olympic infrastucture, compact and designed around the lakefront, is breathtaking. But the public transportation system could be a deal-killer and hinges on who becomes the next president. Not that other candidates don't have issues -- Rio wants to be the first South American host of an Olympiad, but it is racked with crime and safety issues and is hosting soccer's World Cup two years before, which could be a negative; Tokyo and Madrid are savvy rivals with established infrastructures, yet Asia has this year's Summer Games in troubled Beijing and Europe is hosting the 2012 Games in London.
It makes perfect sense for Chicago to be the favorite, until you remember Chicago is the favorite only when Jordan is wearing the name across his jersey. Daley ran through his list of reasons why we deserve the Games, mentioning diversity, beauty and, somehow, public transportation. Ryan then delivered a rally cry of key points.
1. ``Work, work, work.''
2. ``Don't assume anything.''
3. ``Stay humble.''
4. ``Keep the enthusiasm high.''
But doesn't the spirit wane when Ueberroth, the magic man behind the wildly successful 1984 Games in Los Angeles, keeps dumping on Chicago? Isn't his statement bittersweet on a day when a poll, commissioned by the Chicago 2016 folks, claimed that 84 percent of respondents in a 16-county cross-section support the Chicago Games? You could call Ueberroth a Californian who's trying to sabotage the bid, except he's originally from Evanston and pushed hard for Chicago in the U.S. bid process. You could say he's trying to motivate, like Knute Rockne in a boardroom, except he's done it twice now in media settings. You can say he's out of his mind, hearing him declare that our Olympians in China ``will be a clean team'' when it comes to doping.
I'm thinking the man simply is telling the truth as he sees it, that he has no reason to play a game with so much at stake. And I'm thinking the mayor and Ryan better start jet-setting and schmoozing.
Or we'll be losers. Again.
