Thursday, November 6, 2008
They stood in that park by the lake and they roared.
They watched the next president of the United States speak and they couldn’t stop cheering. Couldn’t stop cheering for the man, couldn’t stop cheering for themselves, couldn’t stop cheering for the moment. More than anything, they cheered for America.
They stood in that park in Chicago and they cheered the most unlikely political story of our time.
All the while, Chicago watched.
The great American writer, Norman Mailer, once wrote this about Chicago: “Chicago is a great American city. Perhaps it is the last of the great American cities.”
There’s something lovable about Chicago. The old Windy City on the edge of Lake of Michigan. The city of pizza and Michigan Avenue and Wrigley Field and the Sears Tower. The city of Michael Jordan and Al Capone and Soldier Field and the Blues Brothers.
Sure, Chicago has its flaws. Chicago has its warts. Chicago is real. Chicago is America. Chicago is us.
Now our future president calls Chicago home — at least until he moves into the White House.
And our future president knows Chicago.
We don’t know how he will govern. We don’t know how he will deal with Iraq and the energy crisis and our failing economy.
But we know this: We know Mark Twain called Chicago “a city where they are always rubbing a lamp, and fetching up the genii, and contriving and achieving new impossibilities.”
We know Tuesday night was a victory for the last great American city.
The Olympic Games might be coming to Chicago. In 2016, the world will find out what we already know.
As it stands today, Chicago is just one city in the running for the 2016 Olympics. Chicago is competing against Tokyo, Madrid, and Rio de Janeiro.
The host will be chosen by the International Olympic Committee in Denmark on Oct. 2, 2009.
That should be a mere formality.
In 2005, Paris was considered the favorite for the 2012 Olympic Games. But then-British Prime Minister Tony Blair flew to Singapore — the site of the decision — and campaigned for London, and the International Olympic Committee passed over the Eiffel Tower for Buckingham Palace. The Olympics will be in London in four years.
Barack Obama can do the same thing. And he will.
Yes, the Olympics are coming to America.
Thursday You-Tube Sesh
Chicago might just be the great American sports town, too. New York has the Yankees and Madison Square Garden and the Giants and the Jets. And Boston is the trendy sports city right now, with the Red Sox and Tom Brady and the Celtics’ resurgence.
But my friend Aubrey says it’s not even close. Chicago wins the crown.
If nothing else, Chicagoans had the pleasure of watching the greatest basketball player of all time win six NBA Championships.
It’s hard to believe it’s been 10 years since Michael Jordan retired from the Chicago Bulls.
To satisfy your YouTube — and Michael Jordan — fix, go to YouTube and type “Michael Jordan Top 10 Plays” into the search. Enjoy.
— - Edited by Brenna Hawley
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Comments
Brew: Chicago is the last great American city
Chicago is not the last great American city. It has myriad unique beauties while also as many flaws as any other city. A glaring one is that its murder rate is the country's highest...exceeding NYC - a city three times the size of Chicago.
No one city can define America. Chicago has produced the first black U.S. President. It can bring the Olympics back to the U.S. But it also has the potential to set a more important example by significantly decreasing its rate of homocide.
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