Why are some Chicago community groups skeptical of the City’s claims that minority inner-city neighborhoods will benefit from the 2016 Olympics? Perhaps they’ve looked to Vancouver 2010 as a cautionary tale:
As part of Vancouver’s winning Olympic bid, the city, the province, the federal government and the bid corporation signed an Inner-city Inclusive Commitment Statement.
The ICI [...]
Entries from March 2009
March 31, 2009
Vancouver Lessons
March 31, 2009
Morning Money Quotes
The Times‘ Richard Sandomir on Randy Levine, the man mostly responsible for pushing through the heaping helping of Yankee Stadium corporate welfare:
Months earlier, before the start of a Congressional subcommittee hearing investigating the Yankees’ stadium financing, he was eager to undermine the credibility of the panel’s chairman, Representative Dennis J. Kucinich. Levine’s prepared remarks were [...]
March 31, 2009
More Blago and the Cubs
As a Chicago resident, I of course condemn our the actions of our defrocked governor, but at the same time I’ll miss his almost comedic levels of corruption. It made for good reading. For example …
“This could measurably complicate Project Elwood,” wrote William Brandt, chairman of the Illinois Finance Authority.
Project Elwood—an apparent reference to a [...]
March 31, 2009
Soccer Diplomacy – Brazil
As Brazil angles for a seat on the UN Security Council, the nation’s footballers are being drawn into the fray. Brazil recently played a friendly in downtrodden Haiti, a gesture to curry favor with UN decision-makers. However, a number of notable Brazilian soccer stars weren’t able to attend because AC Milan and Bayern Munich refused [...]
March 31, 2009
The Meaning of Lahore
Recently, the attack on the Sri Lankan cricket team by Pakistani militants was followed up by an attack on a police academy, again by Pakistani militants. All of it happened in the city of Lahore. A Pakistani security official points out the significance:
“Lahore is the only city in Pakistan which has remained relatively peaceful since [...]
March 31, 2009
The Ellie Schafer Story
OutSports.com has the interesting backstory of Obama’s Director of the White House visitors office.
March 31, 2009
The Sporting Economy, Part II
Some examples of how the global downturn is affecting the sports world …
London 2012 organizers are having trouble rounding up corporate sponsors.
Professional Kenyan runners are scrambling to make ends meet.
The New York Mets are having trouble selling out their new ballpark for Opening Day.
The Hong Kong Sevens rugby tournament is seeing a drop in concessions [...]
March 30, 2009
Ivory Coast Fallout
Following the deaths of 19 soccer fans at an Ivory Coast stadium (originally reported as 22 dead), people are asking: what happened? What’s known is that there was a stampede to get inside the stadium before the start of a World Cup qualifying match against Malawi. What’s less certain is who’s to blame.
Some say spectators [...]
March 30, 2009
Morning Money Quotes
An Israeli military-affairs reporter on what Col. Ilan Malka will say to Israel’s soccer team in a pep talk before their match against Greece:
Malka intends to speak with the players about the significance of the crucial game and about how the eyes of the nation of Israel are upon them. He will demand of the [...]
March 30, 2009
More Presidential Predictions
He’s now forecasting the NBA Finals: it’ll be Cavs-Lakers.
Obama’s NCAA bracket revealed his risk-aversion when it comes to making hoops predictions, so it’s not surprising that he’s going with the one seeds.
