Chicago 2016 Changes Tagline To "Let Friendship Shine"

GOOD REPLACEMENT? In Chicago, Art Golab wrote the tagline "fits with the city's Olympic logo, which is built around one of the stars from the city flag" (CHICAGO SUN-TIMES, 3/14). But the CHICAGO SUN-TIMES' Lewis Lazare writes "on its surface, the tag sounds more like a song title -- or lyric -- than it does a compelling summation of all the reasons Chicago should host" the '16 Games. The tagline also "falls short of the mark because it lacks worldly gravitas," as it "reads too folksy -- and, yes, provincial -- for an international event that is -- at its core -- about the high drama of athletic competition." Meanwhile, Waller said that the tagline will be "highly visible in a number of outdoor and print advertising executions debuting this week in advance of the arrival" of the IOC commission in early April. Waller Friday also suggested that the star logo "could stick around for the long haul if Chicago is named the 2016 Olympic host city in October" (CHICAGO SUN-TIMES, 3/16).

TIME OF THE ESSENCE: AROUND THE RINGS' Ed Hula wrote in the wake of former USOC CEO Jim Scherr's resignation and his replacement by interim CEO Stephanie Streeter, "Just when it looked like the U.S. might have a winner in the race for a Summer Olympics, the USOC may have dropped the baton with a sudden leadership change barely six months before the IOC votes on the host for 2016." Streeter and USOC Chair Larry Probst "both come with top corporate credentials, but next to no demonstrable experience in dealing with the politicking, diplomacy and issues of the Olympic Movement." For Chicago to win the '16 Games, Probst and Streeter "will have to convince both international and domestic stakeholders that the change they represent is a positive," and with time "running out on the Chicago bid, the two will have to move quickly to make those inroads" (AROUNDTHERINGS.com, 3/14). In Chicago, Philip Hersh reports Probst today will meet with members of various U.S. sports NGBs about Streeter replacing Scherr. The NGB members will "express their concern… about their seeming disenfranchisement from the USOC governance process." One issue to be discussed is whether there will be a search for Scherr's permanent replacement after Probst hinted that Streeter, now the interim CEO, "might simply segue into that role" (CHICAGOTRIBUNE.com, 3/15).

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