Ueberroth Gushes About Chicago 2016

Ok...don't get too excited (or too upset depending on you feel about the Olympics), but Chicago 2016 got some good news today as it is now ranked #1 in the race to host the 2016 Summer Olympic games according to the website Around the Rings. The rankings aren't official, so don't put to much stock into them, but it's still better then being in last place.

Even better news is Peter Ueberroth's recent interview with WBBM 780 in Chicago. Ueberroth, who was an influential USOC president in the past, obviously knows things about the Olympics and wow was is he loving Chicago's chances. There is a length interview at this link as well as a summary of his comments. Some of the highlights from his statements:

“Chicago is a sports fan’s town and embraces sports, Chicago has tradition. You’ve got the best mayor, the most recognizable mayor other than maybe New York, who is respected around the world. You can find enclaves of every possible nationality you can possibly list and so I think Chicago can introduce the Midwest to the world through the Olympic movement.”

"There's no question that if you take any of the four bid cities, economically the worldwide Olympic movement will do much better with the influence of Chicago and all the corporate communities around Chicago," said Ueberroth who noted the pool of potential Olympic Corporate Sponsors headquartered in Chicago and its suburbs, including 29 Fortune 500 companies. "You have more companies that are headquartered in the Midwest than any place else."

"Chicago is the best city in our country but in the rest of the world they would probably be more familiar with cities like Miami and certainly San Francisco with its skyline, Well, the Chicago skyline is every bit as good but it just hasn't been promoted in the same way in the past 20 or 30 years."

Best city in the country? Wow...