I am finding the American reaction to Chicago's loss of the Olympics very surprising. In fact, the attitude seems in keeping with the current state of American politics. In other words, the reaction is at a very low emotional level...levels normally reserved for kids.
First, Chicago's getting bounced in the first round is met with derision......how dare they treat the US in that fashion. Then we hear the rest of the world doesn't like us and that's why we are getting 'punished'. And now I read the US IOC is playing the blame game among themselves. And then there are the Rs doing the happy dance because Obama's efforts failed. UGH!
HELLO!!! The US has hosted the Olympics twice in the past ten years. Forget Rio.....South America, the continent, has never had an Olympics.....never ever in the history of the Olympiad. This oversight needed to be corrected sooner rather than later. And what a way to honor the incredible growth and changes going on in Brazil. Its a way of heralding that country's ascension to the world stage.
What has happened to American generosity.....its magnanimous spirit? Is the way we treat each other spilling out to the rest of the world?
Another moment of not feeling a lot of pride in being an American.
After Chicago’s Loss, Critics Assail the U.S.O.C.
By KATIE THOMAS
Published: October 3, 2009
For weeks, the United States Olympic Committee and the national sports governing bodies it oversees had settled into an uncomfortable truce. Despite a year of upheaval and conflict, the parties had agreed to set aside their differences in solidarity for Chicago’s bid to win the 2016 Summer Games.
But as quickly as Chicago was dispatched from the race won by Rio de Janeiro, the truce ended. In surprisingly frank terms, a number of influential figures in American Olympic sports questioned the performance of the U.S.O.C.’s new management team and said its two top executives were ill-equipped to navigate the insular world of international sports.
Chicago’s last-place finish in the I.O.C. voting on Friday in Copenhagen was the latest blow in a year marked by the departure of major sponsors, layoffs at U.S.O.C. headquarters, controversy over the salary of the acting chief executive, and the failed plan for an Olympic television network.
“Before we think about putting forth another Olympic city for a Games possibility, we’ve got to deal with some outstanding issues that are not going to go away,” said Mike Plant, who serves on the U.S.O.C.’s 10-member board and traveled to Copenhagen as part of the Chicago delegation. “I think that certainly there will be some dialogue that’s going to take place in the next couple of weeks — or certainly in short order.”
Asked what should happen next to return the U.S.O.C. to prominence in international circles, James Ravannack, the president of USA Wrestling, said: “Resignations. It’s an absolute embarrassment. I don’t know what else to tell you. Where is the leadership?”
Patrick G. Ryan, the bid leader for Chicago, said that his staff’s relationship with the U.S.O.C. could not have been better. He said that it was regional bloc voting, not the U.S.O.C., that caused the bid’s downfall.
“I think people look for an excuse when something happens,” he said. “They look to finger-point, and now the finger-pointing is at the U.S.O.C. It’s a simple thing to do the day after. You go find someone to blame.”
Since the close of the Beijing Olympics 13 months ago, most of the top positions at the U.S.O.C. have changed hands. Last October, Larry Probst, the chairman of the video-game publisher Electronic Arts, replaced Peter Ueberroth as president. In March, Probst and the board removed the chief executive, Jim Scherr, and appointed a board member, Stephanie A. Streeter, in his place. The executives in charge of sport performance, marketing and human resources were also replaced.
The turnover angered many leaders of the national governing bodies of Olympic sports, who chafed at the corporate backgrounds of Probst and Streeter and their lack of Olympic experience. The relationship further soured when it was revealed that the board had approved an annual salary of $560,000 for Streeter — a 30 percent increase over Scherr’s — months after 54 employees were laid off.
Probst has said the board will begin a search this month to replace Streeter, whose term as acting chief executive runs through next year’s Paralympics. She has not said whether she will apply for the permanent position.
Probst and Streeter, who were in Copenhagen, were contacted through their representatives and did not return calls.
Skip Gilbert, the chairman of the Association of Chief Executives for Sport, which includes 45 Olympic sport bodies, said his members had been waiting for the vote on Chicago before voicing concern over the U.S.O.C.’s management and structure.
“Now’s the time that we’re going to build some consensus as to what do we think is the next move in order to right the ship,” Gilbert said. One item high on the agenda, he said, is whether to recommend a change in leadership.
Several leaders in Olympic sports praised the Chicago bid as the best that an American city had put forward in decades. But Chicago’s elimination in the first round exposed the U.S.O.C.’s lack of influence. Steve Penny, the president of USA Gymnastics, likened the Games to a crown jewel.
“You’ve got to know that the people you’re going to be giving your crown jewels to are the most trustworthy partners that you could ever ask for,” he said. “And unfortunately, when you don’t have stability in your leadership, how can you build trust?”
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