Word: chicago
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Other sports stars have re-emerged to save a struggling franchise, like Michael Jordan, who proclaimed his 1995 return to the Chicago Bulls after a failed bid at pro baseball with a two-word press release: "I'm back." The deathless Rocky franchise aside, the "sweet science" seems to specialize in sequels: Muhammad Ali re-entered the ring three years after the New York State Boxing Commission revoked his license for his refusal to fight in Vietnam, while George Foreman, who quit boxing in 1974, became the oldest fighter to win a major heavyweight title 20 years later...
Whether you're one of those Windy City residents who favor Chicago's bid for the 2016 Summer Olympics or you believe the whole project is just ripe for Capone-style corruption, know this: when you're standing on the shores of Lake Michigan, it's easy to imagine an idyllic Olympic experience. With Grant Park and the tip of the Willis (né Sears) Tower at your back, gaze out at the site of the planned rowing venue. Instead of the geese you hear honking, imagine coxswains barking at their boat mates. A comfortable breeze blows in your face...
...Chicago learns its Olympic fate on Oct. 2, when members of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) meet in Copenhagen to award the 2016 Games. Madrid, Rio de Janeiro and Tokyo are the other contenders, and boosters say the Second City has a fighting chance. First, it offers a compact proposal: about 90% of the athletes would compete within a 15-minute drive of the proposed Olympic Village site, not far from Chicago's downtown. Many events would take place in city parks, and most new facilities - including the 80,000-seat Olympic Stadium, scheduled for the South Side's Washington...
...residents. Critics of the bid say that while the Olympics might provide construction jobs and an influx of revenue, any boost would be short-lived. "To make a city prosperous, it's about brainpower, not block parties," says Tom Tresser, an organizer for the opposition group No Games Chicago. Though Mayor Richard Daley has promised that local taxpayers wouldn't pay a dime of the Games' estimated $4.8 billion cost, he's also signed an agreement with the IOC that puts the city on the hook for any excessive cost overruns - an Olympic tradition as common as crying. London...
...decision day approaches, Chicago is covered in Olympic hype. Banners are draped around downtown, and Olympic athletes are even delivering prerecorded pro-bid messages on Chicago's buses. But overall, support for the effort has slipped: just 47% of residents favor hosting the Games, according to a poll taken in late August, compared with 61% in February. (See highs and lows from the 2008 Beijing Games...