Swami:
Now that the Beijing Olympics are over, what do you really think of Chicago's chances to host the summer games in 2016? Should I start lining up for tickets now, or should I plan on flying down to Rio? Or Tokyo? Or Madrid? Local minds want to know.
Mike L. Fellps
Dear Michael:
Yes, it will be but a short year from October when we shall learn who will host the Games of the XXXI Olympiad ... unless one has a crystal ball, in which case we can knock that out right now and either put the champagne on ice or start the grieving process.
But maybe we don't even need to peer into the future. Let's just look at the facts -- removed from the running for various reasons in the recent past were some fairly big wheels: Buenos Aires; Delhi, India; Dubai (that would be in the United Arab Emirates); and Rome (the one in Italy, not Illinois or Indiana).
More recently eliminated by the almighty International Olympic Committee were Baku (in Azerbaijan, which was always very hard for Tom Brokaw to pronounce); Doha (in Qatar, whatever that is); and Prague (in the Czech Republic, known by your parents as Czechoslovakia and your great-grandparents as the Austro-Hungarian Empire).
That leaves us with, as you mentioned, Madrid, Tokyo, Rio de Janeiro and our very own Chicago. Many millions will be spent and arms twisted in the coming year by the finalists, making the U.S. presidential campaigns look like a township election by comparison. But these things are elemental:
Madrid is only 300 miles from Barcelona, which hosted the Summer Games in 1992, Tokyo already played host in 1964, and Rio ... well, it is true that the games have never been in South America, but come on -- it's Rio.
Chicago, no doubt, has an inch-thick file of incriminating photographs just itching to see the light of day. When push comes to shove, that will make all the difference.
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