There's a lot of he said/she said in regards to the aftermath of the 2016 vote. A lot of the venom seems to be directed at the USOC. Sure, I will agree they have a part in this but I am not so sure it is all their fault. Blame must be shared here-for the US taking a bid to Copenhagen they had no chance of winning by all accounts. You've heard of wrongful hiring? I am coining a new term-wrongful bidding.
First off I blame Charlie Battle. He was the consultant to Chicago's people. This is the second bid (besides NYC's) that he's sent down the tubes. Sure he had a success with ACOG-but (and this is a huge but), that was in 1996. A lot has changed on the Olympic scene since then. From all accounts, Chicago 2016 management hired him directly, and not upon recomendation of the USOC.
Faulted info that sending the Obama's to Copenhagen would seal the deal. Who exactly told Chicago this? Whomever it was, they need to be fired. Going to war with faulty info is a sure way to lose.
Potential conflicts of interest between members of Chicago 2016 and possible venue sites that were not disclosed to the IOC.
You have to wonder what the other US cities that were competing with Chicago to be the official US bid have to be thinking now. Would the result have been different if it was any other city but them? We'll never know-but I will bet that we would have walked away with a lot more than 18 votes and not knocked out in the first round.
I am not entirely convinced that the USOC is the bad guy here. Sure, they hold some responsibility for the debacle but it is not entirely their fault. I would have to see more evidence than just vague accusations of "they didn't develop relationships with the IOC" or "they are more focused on Vancouver." Yadda Yadda Yadda.
Everybody calm the heck down. Come back when you can be rational and give me a better reason than what has been written out there about why Chicago didn't make it.
Then and only then we can build on the future-which might include a winning Winter or Summer bid.
