President Barack Obama had a message yesterday for the many people—including himself—who put “heart and soul” into Chicago’s losing bid for the 2016 Olympic Games. “You can play a great game and still not win,“ Obama said at the White House shortly after returning from Copenhagen, where his in-person plea did not put Chicago over the top. “Although I wish that we had come back with better news from Copenhagen, I could not be prouder.“

President Barack Obama’s spokesman says Obama is “disappointed” that Chicago lost out on getting the 20016 Olympics but not sorry he went to Copenhagen to personally appeal for the Games.

COPENHAGEN, Denmark - The International Olympic Committee is familiar with tough decisions. It gambled by giving the games to Beijing and even turned down New York after 9/11. But the race to host the 2016 games - pitting Chicago, Rio de Janeiro, Tokyo and Madrid - still is too close to call. Which means committee members will spend the next two days feeling like the most popular people on the planet.

The Olympics are the greatest of the world’s sports events, and the site for the 2016 Summer Games will be Chicago, Madrid, Rio de Janeiro or Tokyo. The International Olympic Committee votes Friday. The vote here is for Chicago. Imagine athletes from every part of the globe riding the ‘L’ in Chicago. Imagine mixing and mingling on Michigan Avenue with high jumpers from Australia and hammer throwers from the Ukraine.

Chicago bid leader Patrick Ryan said bid leaders have lined up nearly $2 billion in insurance coverage to mitigate the risk to Chicago taxpayers. CHICAGO—The concerns might sound familiar to anyone who knows Chicago: transportation bottlenecks, relationships involving city officials and, most important, who’s on the hook for millions of dollars.

DALLAS - Patrick Kane scored his fourth goal against Dallas this season, Cristobal Huet stopped 30 shots and the Chicago Blackhawks completed a season sweep of the Stars with a 3-1 victory yesterday. Defensemen Matt Walker and James Wisniewski also scored for the Blackhawks, who outscored the Stars 20-8 in their four meetings this season.

David Mendell, Barack Obama’s biographer, notes that regarding Chicago’s corrupt political machine, “Obama, to his credit, got through this system with very little mud on his suit.“ Still—and still. Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich now finds himself mired in an unpretty place. From wiretapped telephone conversations it seems Blago tried to auction to the highest bidder the Senate seat Obama relinquished Nov. 16 following his election to the presidency. And so—in re Obama—we come to variations on the question Howard Baker made famous about Richard Nixon in the aftermath of Watergate:

A 90-year-old woman apparently has been living in a house with the bodies of her three siblings, one of whom may have been dead since the early 1980s, police in suburban Chicago said. The bodies were found Friday morning by police who were called by a senior advocate, said Evanston police Cmdr. Tom Guenther. The 90-year-old woman was taken to a hospital for observation. The siblings had died of natural causes.

In two years on the campaign trail, Obama walked a fine line, presenting himself to America
as a fresh face and an outsider—but with the knowledge and mettle needed for the White House. CHICAGO It was just before midnight last November when Barack Obama stepped on stage in a darkened auditorium in Iowa, trailing in the polls, taking on one of the biggest names in Democratic politics—and facing a make-or-break moment.

CHICAGO—There’s a maxim in American politics about young people. Every year, there’s a candidate who counts on them to finally vote in force. And every year, that candidate loses. Until this year. The youth vote came out strong for Barack Obama on Tuesday, perhaps in near-record numbers. Thanks to that—and to the black vote, and the Latino vote and the yuppie vote—the Illinois senator is on his way to the White House.

The day after the election Barack Obama offered Chicago Rep. Rahm Emanuel the job of White House chief of staff. The Nation expressed the left’s knee-jerk dismay, and how sweet it is. The son of Israeli immigrants, Emanuel effectively silences the whispers that Obama is a Trojan horse for interests seeking Islamofascist hegemony. His impressive résumé includes service as a Clinton administration adviser who, among other things, promoted NAFTA. Since his 2002 election to Congress he has earned a reputation as being tough but fair. The Almanac of American Politics says that although even allies consider him “abrasive” he has shown “skill in working across the aisle.“ Both qualities will be assets in his new job.