The Olympic City?

So Chicago is now officially in the running for the 2016 Olympics. While this is pretty exciting for Illinois, I have to agree with Eric Zorn that this might not turn out to be such a wonderful thing.

If Chicago gets the final nod, preparations for the 2016 games will be the biggest public/private works project in the history of a town known for shady government contracts and brazen back-scratching. The “surprise” construction-cost overruns – a local specialty in recent years and a big problem for many Olympic host cities – promise to keep teams of reporters busy for years.

It’s the seeming inevitability of profiteering, sleaze and extra costs passed along to taxpayers that stops me from turning cartwheels at today's “victory” over Los Angeles.

Not only that, but how much is the State of Illinois going to put into this thing? I also suspect there is going to be a lot of “pre-selection” costs involved in trying to convince the international Olympic Committee that Chicago id their kind of town. Then if selected, holy shit.

But I don’t want to be a total downer here. Congratulations Chicago for at least making it this far. And if selected, it’ll be a lot of fun, even if expensive.