Olympic Round-Up

A lot of news going on in the world of the Olympic 2016 race and probably the biggest news today is word that the Chicago Police Union might picket during the IOC's visit to Chicago next week. The popular blog Second City Cop thinks that they shouldn't just picket one day but during the entire IOC visit:

Why one day of pickets? Why not a few days worth? Why not a bus on standby for the "grand tour" and drive ahead of the IOC entourage to conduct "informational pickets" at each and every whistle-stop the convoy makes?

This is just one of many groups that is using the Olympic stage to force the city and bid leaders to insure that their interests are being considered. The Sun-Times also has a story today about an agreement with the city that will guarantee that 30% of Olympic construction projects go to women or minority owned businesses.

Two other stories that are of slightly more favorable for the Chicago 2016 bid is an 'Olympic insider' who told the Denver Post that Chicago has the edge on its competitors and an interview with NBC's Dick Ebersol at this weeks international Sportaccord in Denver.

Ebersol tackled a lot of different issues, but one that's seen as an advantage for Chicago is the fact that it's in the US and would bring the most revenue for the Olympic movement:

Ebersol said that of course U.S. broadcasters want Chicago to win, but each of the cities bidding for the 2016 Games has value.

Sounds like a diplomatic thing to say, but the underlying statement is that they want Chicago to win.