After Beijing, I'm Changing Who I'm Rooting For to Win the 2016 Games

One year and one month from now, the IOC will get their suits together to sit down and discuss who they want to host their 2016 Olympic Games. London hosts the 2012 Games ... and we don't know squat after that.

The candidates are very esteemed. Chicago, USA ... Tokyo, Japan ... Madrid, Spain ... Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

I think you know who I'm rooting for: Rio.

I know! I'm a bad, bad American. I do want Chicago to win because it is my country! Also, it will be the second time in 20 years that I lived just five hours away from the Games (I live in Cincinnati now; I lived in Charlotte during the 1996 Atlanta games).

That may be why it just isn't right. Chicago deserves it. Beautiful city that is one of the most underrated in this country. It is centralized to this nation with many mid-major cities fairly close nearby. Plus it looked cool in The Dark Knight.

However, I need some diversity in these games ... and that's where Rio comes in.

Before I get to that ... let me say why I'm not jonesing for the other cities.

Chicago: I just think it is too soon to have another Olympics here. It isn't that I don't want one ... but don't you think the rest of the world wants to check out somewhere else. I mean, we had Los Angeles in 1984 and Atlanta in 1996. Adding Chicago means we hosted three of the last nine Summer Games. That doesn't even factor in the USA hosting the 1980 (Lake Placid) and 2002 (Salt Lake City) Winter Olympics.

Not to mention the Atlanta and Salt Lake City games didn't leave us on the best of terms with the IOC.

Tokyo seems the favorite as it was the highest voted applicant. However, we just had the Olympics in China; do we really need to go back across the earth to have another one?

Tokyo deserves the Olympics, but just wait until at least 2020.

Madrid would be awesome. To me, personally, I think the Barcelona Games in 1992 were my favorite to watch. My only things are (a) does Spain deserve another Olympics 24 years later and (b) do we need another European Games?

Spain is awesome, but cramming three of four Olympics in Europe is waaaay to excessive. Athens in '04, London in '12 and then Madrid in '16? Oh, and the 2006 and 2014 Winter Games were/would be in Italy and Russia, respectively. Too much. The last time one continent held consecutive Olympics was in 1952 when Helsinki followed London.

We need Rio.

One of the things I've enjoyed about the Sydney, Athens and Beijing Games is that I saw a place I hadn't seen before. Those corners of the earth that deserve to have a huge spotlight on them. Not to say that Tokyo, Chicago or Madrid don't deserve that, but Rio would make the Olympics pop!

I mean, there aren't many cities that can throw a party like Rio!!!

South America has never held an Olympics and it is about time. The IOC has expressed interest in moving the games to South America and/or Africa. Rio's time zone is just two hours ahead of us, so we'd pretty much get everything live during our normal viewing slots.

One thing that may hurt them is the fact that the 2014 World Cup will also be in Brazil. I don't see that as being a huge problem. After all, the USA hosted the World Cup in 1994 then the 1996 Olympics ... West Germany held the 1972 Olympics and 1974 World Cup ... and Mexico the 1968 Olympics and 1970 World Cup.

Say what you want about China, but they threw a hell of a party. Just like Sydney and Athens, it was neat to see a different part of the world's take of the big stage. I think Rio de Janeiro deserves the same shot at it.