The Third Flag
September 30, 2009 9:02 AM
Close observers may have noticed that there's a third flag flying below the U.S. and City of Madison flags in front of the Municipal Building.
That's the Chicago Olympics 2016 flag sent to us by our friends in the Windy City to designate us as a place that would share in the Olympics should Chicago be chosen to host the 2016 summer games.
The International Olympic Committee makes its decision around 11:30a.m. our time on Friday. If Chicago gets the nod the Olympic cycling road race, time trials and mountain biking events would all take place in and around Madison.
It would be great. In fact, it'd be awesome. For one thing it would mean a boost to our economy. Madison is already a bike industry leader with about one in five American bicycles produced right here in our region. But with the Olympic brand behind us it would put us on the world bike map. People from all over would come here just to ride the Olympic routes for years both before and after the event.
And it would make our already strong application for high speed rail linking us to Chicago and Milwaukee an absolute lock.
So, say a little prayer, cross your fingers, send positive life force energy, do whatever. But for once in our cheesehead lives, let's cheer for the team from Chicago.
