Chicago, IL - A number of IOC International Olympic Committee members are in Chicago for the International Boxing Championships this week and they are being squired about the city in limos and housed in regal splendor at the Ritz Carleton's Four Seasons Hotel on North Michigan Avenue.
On Sunday evening, Glossy News gained entrance to the Hospitality suite set up for the IOC members and discovered that there is a big problem with the Chicago 2016 bid. It has been revealed that the committee will vote against Chicago in 2009 and award 2016 to another city because Chicago's tall skyscrapers in the loop and Michigan Avenue areas are not wide enough to show the word "OLYMPICS" in their lighted windows. The widest building is only able to show a 6-letter word, not the 8 that are in the word Olympics.
When asked by RTUSA why this would matter, Bob Ctvrtlik, the USOC vice president for international relations said, "Well, window ads are the most noticeable and quickly get picked up by TV camera crews for showing on the news. We have to have the full word "Olympics" on one line, or it's a deal-breaker. Remember that the games are a multi-billion dollar industry", he continued, "and the buildings in cities should keep this in mind
When asked for his comments, Patrick Ryan, chairman of Chicago's 2016 Olympic Games bid said, "I said that all the tall building windows needed to be broad—and that's one of the fun parts of it. It is, in fact, a very complex and very large-scale undertaking—just building the buildings and then all these other ramifications you have to be aware of.
"I've talked to enough Olympians who have said they need a tall building window environment where you can achieve your best, and they really need this kind of advertising support," Ryan said.
IOC President Jacques Rogge plans to arrive in Chicago on Nov. 1, give a speech to the Chicago Council of Global Affairs and the Economic Club of Chicago and attend at least the final day of the World Boxing Championships on Nov. 3.
Ryan has planned what he calls "a demonstration to the world, and to the International Olympic Committee, of Chicago's ability to organize and run a very large international sporting event." He is lighting up the south-facing windows of the Aon Center across from Millennium Park with "We Love Rogge". Because of Olympic bylaws, "Chicago 2016 officials cannot lobby the powerful visitors directly," said Ryan. "Instead, these windows will be our silent lobby."
About 20 members of the IOC, including president Rogge, are expected to be in Chicago, giving the local Olympic organizers invaluable access -- within limits.
A bus tour of Chicago will be available to them. "We can show them our city, and we can entertain them while they're in town," Ryan said. Ryan has asked Sears Tower, AT&T Center, the Merchandise Mart, the Wrigley Building, Water Tower Place – all to be on the tour – to put his "We Love Rogge" window plan in effect.
Vice President Dick Cheney weighed in from his undisclosed location in Trump's Chicago Wabash Street basement: "The IOC regime needs to know that if it stays on its present course, the Bush Administration is prepared to impose serious consequences. The United States joins in sending a clear message: We expect that Chicago will have the 2016 Games. They have plenty of time to get the extra windows installed for Christ's sake."
