So three things I've been mulling as explanations for Chicago's poor showing in today's vote for the 2016 Olympics

1. Everyone else still hates us. Nothing like a sweeping generalization to kick things off, but it may be fair to say that there's still some fence-mending to be done, even with Obama's apparently popularity abroad. Which leads to...

2. Obama's slight to voters. At least one article I read suggested that some voters passed on Chicago because they felt snubbed by the short length of Obama's appearance. Honestly, if the idiots who vote for this thing won't vote for a city because the leader of the free world isn't going to spend a couple of days kowtowing to them, then we really don't need the Olympics.

3. Never underestimate the emotional appeal of the very old. As part of Madrid's presentation, former IOC president (and current lifetime honorary president) Juan Antonio Samaranch more or less said they should win because he's pretty close to dying and he'd like to see Spain named host before that happens. Throw that out to a room full of people who you've worked with for years, and it's not surprising that you get that close to winning. Which also seems like a pretty weak rationale for voting, which just further tells you what you're dealing with as far as the IOC is concerned.

Anyway, congrats to Rio. Hope you get your rat and monkey problem cleared up in time for the Games.