Why Peter Ueberroth has the USOC headed in the right direction

In case you were the only person in the U.S. whom failed to hear the news, Chicago beat out Los Angeles for USOC's bid to host the 2016 Summer Olympic Games. 'So what,' you say, 'it's just the nomination.' I know, I know. But as I've been harping for the past year, whichever American city receives the nomination will be the automatic front-runner. For if the bid has little else, it will have the geographic advantage. Since the Summer Olympic Games were last held in Atlanta, GA of 1996, they will have gone to Oceania (Sydney 2000), Southern Europe (Athens 2004), Asia (Beijing 2004) and Northern Europe (London 2012). So unless strong bids are presented from African or South American nations, all signs point to Chicago.

On a slightly different note, Chicago's selection reaffirms my belief that USOC Chairman Peter Ueberroth has things headed in the right direction.

Back in November, Mr. Ueberroth gave an address at the Domestic Candidate City Seminar. The full text pdf can be found here. In his speech, he discussed how the United States can regain footing in the Olympic movement and the world at large. They key is international relations.

To illustrate the distance we must go in repairing our image among the international sports community, you need only look to July 2005 in Singapore.

That’s when the U.S. Candidate City for the 2012 Olympic Games, New York City, was eliminated in the second round of voting.

After receiving just 16 votes. 16 votes...for which NYC2012 spent almost $60 million, along with untold time, energy and other resources.

Those 16 votes are, in some measure, a reflection of how the United States is viewed in the international sports community.

Which is why International Relations is now a key priority for the USOC. But not just because we want to win a bid. We have examined our relationship with the Olympic Movement. And in the process have recognized the critical importance of the Olympic Movement to our world.

Those wildly spitting Chinese

I hope you caught this gem of an article from the NYT: No Spitting on the Road to Olympic Glory, Beijing Says.

It discusses the city's efforts to improve manners and curb what may be offensive behavior to foreigners. One of the biggest obstacles, spitting in public.

Want to talk about night and day. The attention to detail by the Beijing Organizing Committee puts Athens to shame. I am looking forward to moving there in May, and I promise to post as much as I can during my two month stay.

Fearing Olympic backlash, China pushes Sudan's government

In recent news, China has finally decided to pressure Sudan's government for change in Darfur and help end the continuing genocide. The government had previously been able to resist American and European efforts because of the Chinese blind support. If you happened to miss the news, it is a good example of how the Olympic Games can, and should, be used as a tool for promoting humanity and democracy.

Some insist that the Olympics should completely rid itself of politics. In our interconnected, globalized world this is pure foolhardy and it's good to see efforts being made. The time has come for China to start acting like the global superpower it inspires to be.

Back in December of 2006 the Washington Post was the first major news sources to tie the two issues. The editorial, China and Darfur: the Genocide Olympics? asked, "Doesn't China feel qualms about propping up this ogre?"

The former actress, Mia Farrow, in particular, has taken up the cause of pressing China on this front. In her recent Wall Street Journal editorial, editorial, she writes:

"One World, One Dream" is China's slogan for its 2008 Olympics. But there is one nightmare that China shouldn't be allowed to sweep under the rug. That nightmare is Darfur, where more than 400,000 people have been killed and more than two-and-a-half million driven from flaming villages by the Chinese-backed government of Sudan.

Finally, the New York Times piece, Darfur Collides With Olympics, and China Yields, updates on the political results.

However, if I were a major NGO, I would be hesitant to persistently use the slogan, "Genocide Olympics." I believe China will do what it must, but continually offending something they hold so dear could be problematic.