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Chicago Chokes Again
At least we already know how to lose.
The Cubs haven't won for 101 years. The White Sox didn't win for 87 years. It's 48 years and counting for the Blackhawks. The Bears have won once since 1963. All Chicago teams did my entire childhood, even though they were loaded with god-like stars, was lose and choke and stink.
Don't get me wrong, losing the vote to host the Olympics hurts, and it's even worse that we were thrown out on the first ballot. The ultimate embarrassment may be that Chicago was outmaneuvered by some back-door dealing meant to get Rio the 2016 Summer Games.
We can't wash away this loss with "wait 'til next year." It's a rejection, a rebuke. Chicago sent a lineup of heavy-hitters to Copenhagen and we didn't even get to take the bat off our shoulders. The President, The First Lady and Oprah went 0-fer.
Depending on what and who you want to listen to, Chicago's 11th-hour reliance on President Obama backfired and is indicative of some new international backlash, or there was anti-American sentiment, or Chicago's presentation was just so-so while Rio's presentation blew people out of the water. It's a natural kind of where-did-they-go-wrong analysis that drives virtually all of our conversations these days. It ultimately enables us to do what we do in the culture now, which is to say pin the specific blame on somebody.
But it's entirely unnecessary. I've covered enough International Olympic stuff to know that sometimes a city or a person builds some momentum and that's that. South America has never had an Olympics of any kind, summer or winter, and plenty of IOC members wanted to put one there. Same thing happened with Beijing in 2008, same thing happened with the 2010 World Cup -- which will be in South Africa -- and the 2014 World Cup -- which will be in Brazil.
A whole lot of voters must have said to themselves, "Let's spread this thing around." And it's not like Rio isn't deserving because it is, as was Madrid, as was Chicago. Tokyo had the Summer Games in 1964 and nearby Nagano had the Winter Games in 1998, so you'll excuse me if I don't cry for greater Tokyo.
And hopefully, I'll stop crying for Chicago within the next few days ... okay, weeks. The thing is, as grand as an international a city as Chicago is, we still have a Second City complex. As liberating as it was to see the Michael Jordan and the Chicago Bulls win those six NBA championships, which led to much of the city's swagger in the 1990s, the true highlight was trashing the New York Knicks repeatedly during the process.
Chicago has and still wants to show the world its cityscapes and universities and hospitals and neighborhoods and public gathering places and party hosting skills are every bit as impressive as those in New York and Los Angeles -- if not better.
And now, we'll have no such chance to prove it on the grandest stage in the world. The disappointment in Chicago is overwhelming now, but this is where the practice losing comes in.
People who compared Red Sox and Cubs fans (pre-2004 World Series, back when the Sawx were losers) usually missed the difference between Midwestern folk and people in the Northeast. Chicagoans don't do angst. We don't have hand-wringing and extended self examination. We leave Wrigley Field after yet another playoff loss and we find a party that'll last until the Bears or Bulls begin play.
A Midwestern sensibility really exists when it comes to dealing with disappointment, and we'll be challenged to be true to those sensibilities after this disappointment. Fortunately, the lakefront will still be there, as will Wrigley Field, as will Michigan Ave. and Rush Street and the most beautiful summertime city in the world will be beautiful and not-so-crowded in the summer of 2016.
And by then, the Cubs will be in a pennant race and take our minds off things anyway -- until they crush our hopes and we move, as we always do, to the next thing.
Michael Wilbon
| October 3, 2009; 8:12 PM ET | Category: Chicago , Olympics Save & Share:
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Posted by: DCDave11 | October 8, 2009 12:10 PM
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Mike, you didn't spend much time on the North Side of Chicago after the Cubs lost to the Dodgers last year did you. I have never seen so many angst ridden angry and demoralized people. Trust me Wrigleyville didn't just shake off that loss, they really turned against the team.
Posted by: DCDave11 | October 8, 2009 12:07 PM
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The same thing didn't happen with Brazil in 2014. They've hosted the WC before (1950) and the WC was in South America in 1978.
Posted by: FrancoNiell | October 7, 2009 9:49 AM
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Mike,
When will the 2016 "summer games" be played in Rio? December - January when it is actually summer in the southern hemisphere? Does that mean they should schedule the winter games south of the equator as well so they don't overlap?
Posted by: CubanPete | October 6, 2009 12:30 PM
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Boo-freaking-hoo-hoo, Wilbon. What a LAME story.
Chicago didn't get the Olympics because it's a city with corruption that runs down to the janitors at City Hall and crime that has sky-rocketed in the last few years. Not to mention all the fat ugly people in the world.
Is that what we want to show everyone? Our corrupt dumb fat uglies shooting each other?
Posted by: newspeak3000 | October 5, 2009 9:23 AM
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According to a report in The Post and/or the NYTimes, polls showed that a majority of Chicagoans opposed the idea of hosting the Olympics. Would you care to comment?
Posted by: donnolo | October 5, 2009 2:57 AM
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Michael,
Cry me a river...as you pointed out..Chicago had the Bulls, and Jordan.....Chicago is way up on the positive karma. And the Bears managed to beat the Lions today (at home). As far as the Cubs and World Series, then think about the giant black hole at the center of the galaxy.
Posted by: rhall2 | October 4, 2009 8:47 PM
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Also one more thing, the people in Chicago think that people in the world think of them as an important American city, but the truth is that Chicago might as well be Minneapolis or St. Louis in the eyes of most non-Americans. When they think of the US they think of 4 cities, DC, NY, LA and SF and thats it. Maybe a little higher international profile would have helped Chicago. Take out some ads in Le Monde or El Pais and get some tourists coming there.