Oprah Ticket Update: Lawn vs. Pavilion

Hi Everyone,

How did it go? Did you make it over to Millennium Park today to get a reservation to the Oprah taping on Wednesday, September 3? Keep in mind, these reservations were for Pavilion seats.  This means that the public is still welcome to attend the Wednesday taping and sit on the lawn (which accommodates 7,000 people).  Taping begins at 10 a.m.

We’d love to hear how your experiences are! Yours truly is going to be out west on a mini vacation and is going to miss all the festivities, so keep me posted!

You, Oprah and Hundreds of Olympians!
Live, Millennium Park, September 3!

This just in!  

Oprah and the city of Chicago are inviting hundreds of Olympians to Chicago for a special show and YOU are invited.

That’s right! Come visit Oprah and some of the most amazing athletes live in Chicago.

Here are the details:

Place: Millennium Park

Time: The park opens at 6 am.  Admission to the lawn will be first come first served basis.

Date: Wednesday, September 3

Stay tuned to Chicago 2016 Channel for further updates! We have more surprises in store, too. 

See? I told you Chicago is FULL of surprises!

UPDATE:

To get tickets,go to Millennium Park on Saturday, August 30 at 12 pm for reservation information. Oprah’s team will be stationed on the East side of the Jay Pritzker Pavilion along Columbus Drive just behind the McDonald’s Cycle Center.

Hard Line Stance Favoring Softball

by: Paul Banks

In a powerfully symbolic gesture, the softball Olympiads left their spikes at home plate once the Beijing contests were over. As of now, so is the sport’s inclusion in the Olympic summer games. Softball was inaugurated in 1996 in Atlanta and team USA posted a cumulative 32-4 record until its 3-1 defeat against Japan in the Beijing gold-medal game. The Americans may have ironically helped their sport by losing that game. One of the reasons softball was dropped from the London schedule in 2012 is because the game was entirely dominated by America. With Japan winning the Gold this time, parity of competition within the sport may now be here and with it perhaps, a renewed interest in the sport. There is still a chance to redeem it for the 2016 games.

Should Chicago win the games in 2016, it is the PERFECT time and place to revive the sport. Here are three reasons why:

1.) The international icon of the sport, exceedingly photogenic pitcher Jennie Finch plays her professional home games here for the Chicago Bandits franchise. She is overwhelmingly the most famous softball player in history due to her dominant play (36-2 win-loss record, 0.41 ERA, 397 strikeouts and just 36 walks in 239 innings pitched during international competition) and her vastly marketable sex appeal. (she once earned more votes than part-time swimsuit model Anna Kournikova in an ESPN.com “most attractive female athlete” poll.)
2.) The game was invented here. According to historical legend, softball originated in Chicago on Thanksgiving Day, 1887. A group of about twenty young men had gathered in the gymnasium of the Farragut Boat Club to hear the outcome of the Harvard-Yale football game. After Yale’s victory was announced and bets were paid off, a man picked up a stray boxing glove and threw it at someone, who hit it with a pole. George Hancock, typically considered the inventor of softball, shouted, “Let’s play ball!” He tied the boxing glove so that it resembled a ball, chalked out a diamond on the floor (smaller dimensions than those of a baseball field in order to fit the gym) and broke off a broom handle to serve as a bat.
3.) Softball is more than a game, but a way of life here. The game is to our people what cricket is to India. “Chicago-style” is played gloveless and with a bigger, softer 16” ball. However, the hardball 12” with gloves format is exceedingly popular in the Chicago area as well. Leagues all over the metro area fill with people from all socioeconomic, racial, educational, lifestyle and gender classifications. It’s the only sport where a petite post-sorority girl cutie bats ahead of an obese middle-aged man in the lineup. It’s a game where you can see the most finely tuned and sculpted athlete in the field standing right next to another person that clearly looks like they need to exercise more regularly. And any of them could easily be the hero of any given game; proving how softball is an equal opportunity sport that deserves much more Olympic opportunity!

If you want to do your part towards saving the sport, you can sign a petition here. 

Top Then Things I Learned in the Last Few Weeks

 

10. It’s possible to rework your life for 17 days to watch the Olympics

9.   It’s never too late to pursue your athletic dream. Thank you. Dara Torres!

8.  The Chicago 2016 committee is working to secure hotel rooms from neighboring cities. If we run out of rooms, we could always try my traveling dinner party idea!

7.  Venues for Chicago 2016 would be no more than 15 minutes apart

6. Columbia College houses the amazing Chicago Jazz Ensemble. I have a copy of their CD and can’t stop listening to it.

5. When you ask a Chicagoan to help you with a Chicago 2016 project, they line up in droves.

4.  The idea of a South Side organizer with a unique first  name becoming President, coupled with the idea of Chicago 2016 results in yours truly breaking out in goosebumps.

3. There are 108 people on the Chicago 2016 Bid Committee

2. The Beijing Olympics were the highest watched televised event in U.S. History

1. Michael Phelps is the new Rocky.

Four Seasons of Sports in Chicago

This montage is from my personal collection of what I call, ‘Chicago goodies’. Enjoy hockey, cycling, baseball and running highlights!

Chicago Sportsmanship Through the Eyes of a Lens

Jim submitted this eloquent montage, set to music, that highlights Olympians and Varsity athletes at their best.

Chicago 2016 and the City Chase Urban Adventure

The team at Chicago 2016 participated in last weekend’s City Chase Urban Adventure by stimulating some competitions held at the Olympic and Paralympic Games.

Close Proximity of Olympic Venues Could Mean
The Return of the Traveling Dinner Party!

I had vision of a multi-national traveling dinner party today. 

Should Chicago host the 2016 Olympics, the venues will be within 15 minutes of each other.  Since so many folks visit Chicago on a daily basis, I can see many family friends, college buddies or cousins piling in someone’s apartment or condo during the Olympic Games.

Oh sure, we have thousands of hotel rooms in Chicago, in addition to new hotels currently under construction.  Should our global friends opt for a hotel stay versus sharing an apartment, there are price ranges to accommodate anyone’s budget.

For those Olympic watchers that want to try something a  little different, I propose staying with family or friends. Heck, I’d offer up my condo and the gorgeous balcony that overlooks the South Loop - especially for you nature lovers.

With everyone having a place to stay, we could organize a massive database. How fun would it be for each apartment building suburb or neighborhood to organize various traveling dinner parties?  Taking a break from watching the 100 Meter Semi-Finals? No problem, a building within 5 minutes is having an Open House lunch.

Ok, I’ll admit it. I’m trying to bring back the whole idea of the dinner party.  I love our restaurants and the numerous options we have at our fingertips, but I can’t shake the image of the world descending on various communities and enjoying some home cooked food!

Come on, who’s with me? I make a mean lasagna!

Anyone?

Benefiting the Human Race: Nike & Fall Out Boy Come to Chicago

by: Paul Banks

 

The “Runner’s High” is a widely known effect which occurs when exercising activates endorphin production. Endorphins are released during long, continuous workouts when the runner is exerting a moderate to high effort.  I’m a swimmer, not a runner, so I don’t know what that feels like, but I imagine it involves the “Chariots of Fire” theme playing in your head. Then again, I did an hour and 45 minutes of lap swimming today at a South Suburban “Water Cube,” (and swimming is another sport that releases a high level of endorphins), so maybe I can understand the millions of runners participating in the Nike+ Human Race, the largest 10K run in history on Sunday, August 31^st. Chicago is one of 25 cities in 22 countries on five continents hosting the world’s most unique race.  Cities were choosen based on optimal geographic location and the ability to showcase famous landmarks along the race course. Runners in Istanbul will cross the bridge connecting Europe to Asia. UK participants will race through central London. Taipei’s course passes by the Taipei 101- one of the world’s tallest buildings. Chicago’s race runs past Lake Michigan, through the museum campus and starts/finishes near Solider Field. For a map of the Chicago race route click here.

 Running for the Cause

One Chicago participant is training for his first marathon. He’s Jonny Imerman, founder of Imerman Angels, a non-profit foundation that connects cancer fighters with cancer survivors. I’ve met and worked with Imerman, whose organization pairs a cancer fighter with a survivor who’s conquered the exact same form of the illness. From what I know of him personally and professionally, I’m sure he will do his city and organization proud. The Chicago Nike+ Human Race 10K is an opportunity to run for a noble cause. When you register for the race, a portion of the fee goes towards the charity of your choice: the World Wildlife Fund, ninemillion.org, or the Imerman Angels’ passion, the Livestrong Foundation. One of the most appealing and important aspects of the race is that no matter how you place, your effort supports your chosen cause.

 Fall Out Boy Rocks the Human Race

Every race features performances by some of pop music’s biggest acts. The Chicago race will feature a concert by Fall Out Boy, a pop-punk emo band from Wilmette, an exclusive North Shore suburb of Chicago. In 2007, F.O.B. scored a #1 album with “Infinity on High” and a #1 single with “This Ain’t a Scene, It’s an Arms Race.” During that year, I spoke with the band’s front man, Patrick Stump about their development and Chicago’s role in the pop culture landscape. The interview took place at U.S. Cellular Field while I was covering a Chicago White Sox-Kansas City Royals game where his band performed a short pre-game acoustic set. I asked him his thoughts on how pop music and sports can converge.  “I think it’s just like anything else, it’s like culture. We all share the same culture: sports and music.” I also asked him what makes his hometown and mine so unique. “I think it’s one of those things, Chicago has all the perks of a major city but then geographically it’s kind of off by itself. Yeah, definitely, Chicago’s got something absolutely awesome, man.”

 

 

 

What Does Green Look Like in 2016?

by: Andy Angelos

Attaching labels like green or sustainable to building developments inevitably leads to confusion.  Some detractors even argue that no development can be truly eco-friendly (yes, another buzzword) since all construction requires destruction.  For the purposes of the following buzz-word laden article, clean development refers to public utilities featuring solar energy, intelligent water usage, sensitive architecture, walkable neighborhoods, and renewable or recycled building materials (As an added bonus, try to count the number of environment related buzzwords in the article and enter your guess in the comment section). 

The self-proclaimed “eco-friendly” Beijing Olympic Village boasted 42 partially solar-powered apartment buildings for the 16,000 temporary residents.  Other conservation measures included limiting the changing of sheets and planting over 500,000 new trees throughout the Village. 

So what additional conservation tactics could adorn Olympic living quarters in 2016?  For a glimpse into future possibilities of eco-homes, let us textually visit the Smart Home exhibit at the Museum of Science and Industry.  The model-home, located behind the Museum campus, features a computerized central nervous system for real-time monitoring of electricity and water usage.  This module includes the ability to remotely control heating, lighting, and window coverings for maximum energy efficiency.  Imagine a room capable of intuitively controlling electronic appliances when Michael Phelps forgets to turn-off the television prior to leaving for his fiftieth gold medal race.   

Selection of building materials will also be imperative to the overall greenness of the Olympic Village. The Smart Home interior demonstrates the durability of decorative recyclables and renewables.  One shower in the Smart Home is even tiled with recycled wine bottle.  Similarly, the kitchen counters are composed of paper stone.  The substance does require synthetic phenolic resins, but can be manufactured with nearly 100% recycled content.  Using these and similar recycled coverings will provide environmentally conscious interiors without compromising aesthetic appeal.        

Another example of sustainable living present on the Smart Home is rooftop gardens, which are already prevalent in Chicago.  The 500,000 trees planted in Beijing could be enhanced by a mixture of appealing, low maintenance plant life blanketing the Olympic Village canopy.  Adding local foliage to building tops increases natural insulation year round and also improves the collection of storm water runoff for irrigation.   Browse the heavily populated map at Chicago Green Roofs to discover existing garden roofs throughout the city.  

What do you think are the most important green features for the Olympic Village or any new development in Chicago?  

The technologies featured in the Smart Home exhibit are not guaranteed fixtures of future Olympic Villages, but represent a sampling of existing eco-friendly building solutions.  

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