Chicago Sun-Times Sees No Games Light
Now famed Chicago Sun-Times sports columnist Rick Telander joined the ranks of No Games Chicago with this January 1, 2016 column. Six years later. Oh well, better late than never. Just like his colleagues at the Chicago Tribune who also wrote about their relief at not getting the 2016 Olympics, Rick failed to mention the work of No Games Chicago.
What’s up with that?
Here’s what Tom Tresser wrote on his Facebook page:
Rick –
I read with great interest your column “Thank goodness Chicago won’t host the 2016 Olympics.” You write “these days one can only recoil at the thought of the Olympics actually having been awarded to our troubled city.” Well, there was a small group of people who not only recoiled from the thought but worked night and day with no budget, office or support to make SURE that the Olympics did not come to Chicago.
The tireless volunteers of No Games Chicago surely deserve a passing mention in your piece. We did all the due diligence, made all the observations, drew all the same conclusions and that you now make and we did so in 2008 and 2009 – the same research that the Chicago Sun-Times, the Chicago-Tribune (also recently converted to the “Whew, we dodged a cannonball” school of Olympic thought) and Crain’s Chicago Business failed to do when it mattered.
I need to point out that the organizers of No Boston Olympics were coached by us and they used our graphics and strategy. The media picked up on their work and the citizens of Boston wisely turned away from their bid for the 2024 Olympics. And – even more amazingly – the people of Hamburg, influenced by that turn of events, also rejected the 2024 games. Both cities were spared MILLIONS of dollars in costs related to pursuing a bid – let alone the ruinous outcomes of actually delivering a summer Olympics.
So the small but smart No Games Chicago crew can justly take some credit for THREE cities turning away from the Olympic boondoggle.
What do you say? Can you correct the record in your next column? Our web site remains up and stands as a testimony to the work we did: http://www.nogameschicago.com/ You can also comment on his Facebook page.
I speak out now not just to get a well-deserved tip of the hat to a great group of citizen-activists but also to make this New Year’s Wish – that when the next BS clout-heavy tax-dollar funded scam gets pushed down Chicago’s throat I hope you all will do your jobs and call it for what it is.
Failing that – my hope is that when another group of friendless “No-sayers” show up to tell that truth – that your paper and the other parts of Chicago’s sorry civic eco-system will LISTEN to them.
Thanks and Happy New Year!