Tuesday, September 29, 2009

Gamesmanship

As the countdown to Friday’s announcement of the winning city for the 2016 Summer Olympics ticks away, the inside word—for whatever it’s worth—is that Chicago and Rio are in close competition for the final prize.

Right off, both cities have serious cons, Rio's being crushing poverty, gang violence, and internal corruption, with Chicago’s downsides being major issues with fiscal management and a central infrastructure that is in dismal shape.

Still, as a hometown boy, I’m hoping Chicago will win the games (and with Barack Obama making a personal pitch in Denmark this Friday, the city’s odds can only benefit), but if it turns out that Rio does it will be the first time an Olympiad has been staged in South America.

So that’s good too.

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