Chicago: "I Don't Get No Respect, I Tell Ya."

Well the 2016 Olympics decision is over, and for whatever reason the games are going to Rio. Being a longtime Chicagoan, it is a little disappointing that Chicago lost out in the first round of voting. However, I, personally, and a lot of other Chicagoans are well prepared for such disappointments. We are Cubs fans. It's been over a hundred years since the Cubs played in the World Series and we have had our hearts broken over a hundred times. The Olympics? We'll get over it.

Indeed there is a lot to get over when you live in the City of Chicago. For over a hundred years we have been known as the Second City, as if there is a surprise inherent in being American that there is really more than one city in America. Ask any New Yorker what other real cities there are in America and you're likely to get a response that goes something like, "Well, there is Los Angeles, but that's really more like one big suburb, not a real city." While Chicago is indeed a "real city," to many East Coasters it's just one more of those towns firmly ensconced in fly-over territory.

To hear many people tell it, New York City is the home of sketch comedy. By now we are all familiar with, "Live from New York, it's Saturday Night." Where do you suppose all of those people learned their comedy chops? Hmmm. By far the largest number of them rose through the ranks at Second City, the live improv theater company based in , you guessed it, Chicago.

For that matter, New York is usually thought of as the center of the theater universe in America. These days, however, when Broadway theaters aren't resurrecting some tired musical 20-30 years old, they are busy importing plays that were written and first produced in Chicago at Steppenwolf Theater. Ever hear of August Osage County? Superior Donuts? Steppenwolf as well. Steppenwolf trained actors include people from John Malkovich to Gary Sinise. The list is too long to go into the non-Steppenwolf actors who populate the big and small screen, though one of my faves has always been Jeri Ryan. She was great as the Borg Babe on Star Trek, The Next Generation. Hot! Hot! Hot! And her ex-husband, the aspiring Illinois politician, had his political dreams shattered because he was Kinky! Kinky! Kinky! Oh she got rid of him in big print in the papers. But that's a story for another day.

A few years back, Babs and I considered a move to Manhattan. Hey, it's the big stage. She was being considered for a job as the communications director of a think tank. I got certified to teach and to be an administrator in the New York Schools, and I interviewed for a couple of jobs. I was offered one of those jobs. Turns out though, the cost of living is outrageous and the pay scale is no more than it is here in Chicago. We stayed in Chicago and parlayed our stay into a view from the 14th floor of a place on Lake Shore Drive. Same money? Less cost? I'll take Chicago.

For that matter, there are a lot of other pluses in Chicago. We have 26 miles of uninterrupted lake front that is dedicated park land for the use of the public. We have alleys where the garbage is picked up, unlike New York where all the garbage is left out at the curb to stink and serve as an eyesore. We invented the skyscraper right here. We have more famous architecture than any other city in North America. We invented deep dish pizza. We are the honest to God home of the electric blues. Picasso gave us a 50 foot high sculpture because he loved the city. Can New York say that?

All in all, Chicago is a world-class city with more than its share of industry, art, and yes, urban grit. We love our city. We think the world should come and learn to appreciate it as well. A great many already do. Take a stroll down Michigan Ave. and the Magnificent Mile some summer day and listen to all the languages being spoken. Take a look out in front of the Mies Van der Rohe building where I live some Saturday morning and check out all the Japanese architecture geeks with their cameras. And yet the Olympics are going to Rio de Janeiro. We'll get over it. It's their loss.