[NU Sports] Chicago, Obama and the Olympics

Tue Jan 20 20:15:58 CST 2009

A long, long way to go until there are Olympic tickets for sale in the
Windy City ... :>

________________________________

From: MHRJGScott at aol.com [mailto:MHRJGScott at aol.com] 
Sent: Tuesday, January 20, 2009 2:40 PM
To: Abrahamson, Alan (NBC Universal); nwu-sports at tssi.com
Subject: Re: [NU Sports] Chicago, Obama and the Olympics

Well written, and a great day for America indeed. Let me be the first to
put the arm on you for Olympic tickets, Pat Ryan, even though I have met
him does not know me from Cornelius Ryan, my great Grandfather.

In a message dated 1/20/2009 5:05:10 P.M. Eastern Standard Time,
Alan.Abrahamson at nbcsports.com writes:

	The IOC vote is some nine months away, for those interested. The
	chairman of the Chicago 2016 bid is, of course, Pat Ryan, whose
name you
	might find on football facility at Northwestern.

	At any rate, with list guru Mr. Nolan's permission, I share my
blog
	today at universalsports.com, and include the link:

	--

	http://wcsnblogs.com/olympics/alanabrahamson

	The 44th president

<http://wcsnblogs.com/olympics/alanabrahamson/alanabrahamson/2009/01/20/
	the-44th-president/> 
	January 20th, 2009 

	The world turned Tuesday. Everything changed.

	There was Barack Obama, declaring in his inaugural address of
the United
	States of America, "We are ready to lead once more,"

	And there, just a few minutes later, in a Marine helicopter
heading off
	into the distance, was George W. Bush, president no more.

	The promise - and, yes, the hope - that is America rang out
Tuesday over
	a sea of people crowded into the National Mall and, of course,
via
	television to the far corners of the country and the world. Here
was
	Obama, "a man whose father less than 60 years ago might not have
been
	served at a local restaurant," standing before the world "to
take a most
	sacred oath."

	The new president proclaimed, "Now, there are some who question
the
	scale of our ambitions - who suggest that our system can not
tolerate
	too many big plans. Their memories are short. For they have
forgotten
	what this country has already done; what free men and women can
achieve
	when imagination is joined to common purpose, and necessity to
courage."

	He also said, "What is required of us now is a new era of
responsibility
	- a recognition, on the part of every American, that we have
duties to
	ourselves, our nation and the world, duties that we do not
grudgingly
	accept but rather seize gladly, firm in the knowledge that there
is
	nothing so satisfying to the spirit, so defining of our
character, than
	giving our all to a difficult task."

	The new president now must confront an extraordinary array of
	challenges. An extraordinary array of constituencies awaits,
too, to see
	the direction these United States move under his leadership.

	Among those constituencies will be the delegates of the
International
	Olympic Committee, who on Oct. 2 will pick the site of the 2016
Summer
	Games, choosing Chicago, Tokyo, Madrid or Rio de Janeiro.

	It is far too much on this Inauguration Day to proclaim that the
pick of
	the 2016 Games marks one of the new president's immediate
priorities. It
	does not, and should not; he surely will be occupied with
matters of
	different gravity. Soon enough, however, the IOC vote will
approach, and
	one of the fascinating things to watch will be the role that the
	president, from Chicago, opts to play in the IOC decision.

	The past two IOC votes have proven unequivocally that the
appearance of
	a head of state can make the deciding difference in an IOC
election.
	Tony Blair, then the prime minister of Britain, appeared in
Singapore at
	the 2005 IOC vote for the 2012 Summer Games; London won.
Vladimir Putin,
	then the president and now the prime minister of Russia,
appeared in
	Guatemala City at the 2007 IOC vote for the 2014 Winter Games;
Sochi
	won.

	No American president has made such an appearance before the
IOC. Will
	Obama?

	No one knows. Just last week, Chicago Mayor Richard M. Daley
called
	Obama the "quarterback" of the city's 2016 bid team. Still, will
Obama
	appear in Copenhagen, site of the 2016 decision, in October? No
one
	knows.

	Already, however, the world knows things not only will be
different than
	they were yesterday; they are different. Obama, in the first
sentence of
	his address, underscored that he already understands what so
many want
	from the United States - to take its rightful role among the
leaders of
	the nations of the world but to assume such leadership with
humility.

	He said,  "I stand here today humbled by the task before us,
grateful
	for the trust you have bestowed, mindful of the sacrifices borne
by our
	ancestors."

	Godspeed, Mr. President. 

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