Just a few observations...

The United States has played host to the Olympics four times since 1896, when the Games were revived after some 1,200 years. In fact, Atlanta, Georgia landed the most important and celebrated Olympic Games since their re-establishment, the centennial Olympics in 1996. I remember them well, because I was there. So, keeping all that in mind, why is the Associated Press analyzing Chicago's first-round loss in the IOC voting for the 2016 Games as if it was actually something so damn important? I am not understanding the gravity of such a loss, especially with the fact that Rio de Janeiro was long-overdue for the Games considering the fact that South America has yet to host them. In a way, it's rather ironic; the press has been trying to spread this America-isn't-so-overbearing-anymore narrative, yet the President of the United States jets into Copenhagen as if he's some sort of celebrity, Chicago's bid gets shot down and the press treats it as the worst thing since Watergate, it seems. One wonders what they'd have been writing had George and Laura Bush hopped a jet for Copenhagen to lobby for Houston votes for 2012 back when hosts were being considered for that year's Games...