Chicago

A week ago we found out Chicago would not be hosting the 2016 Olympics.  I wasn’t mad or sad when I heard the news, even to the surprise of myself, I was content.

About 3 years when I first heard Chicago would make a push to get the 2016 bid I was excited.  Initially I was excited of the possibility of seeing the Olympic games in person without the difficulty of traveling half way around the world.  When I left for college however I developed another desire for Chicago to get the bid.  Shortly after living outside the city for the first time in my life my pride for Chicago grew tremendously.  While I would still love to see the Olympics in my home town, I now wanted Chicago to get the 2016 games to show the rest of the world what a great city we are.

Watching Michael Phelps and the rest of the 2008 Olympics last summer was awesome.  Never before have I realized how fun it is to watch sports when the lines aren’t drawn and everyone is either your friend or enemy.  The Olympics is the sole sporting event in the world where every single person can watch and root for the same team together (I wish this were true for the World Cup, but many people simply do not like soccer).  I couldn’t imagine watching a sporting event of this nature 15 miles from my home.

However, a week before the host of the 2016 Olympics were announced I realized Chicago did not need to get the games.  It would be great to see such a great event in my favorite city, but in the course of my lifetime I am sure I will travel somewhere half way around the world to see the Olympics and it will be a great vacation.

Now my Chicago pride grows exponentially every day and I realized we don’t need the Olympics to show the rest of the world how great a city we are.  In the summer of 2016 I will be living downtown, watching the games in a bar with my friends and family, not sad that we aren’t seeing them live in person, but content knowing we live in the best city in the world.