Olympics Los Angeles

Remember those kids from the Cuban U-23 squad that defected during the CONCACAF Olympic Qualifying tournament? It appears three of them found a place to practice -- Los Angeles.

Goalkeeper Jose Manual Miranda, midfielder Yordany Alvarez and defender Yenier Bermundez made the trip from Florida to California to train with the L.A. Galaxy last week. They are not signed to any contracts yet -- there are likely immigration and asylum issues to settle first -- but the three amigos are expected to stay with the club through most of this week as the Galaxy prepare to face the Houston Dynamo.

No word on whether David Beckham bought them dinner at Roscoe's Chicken and Waffles.

Miranda in particular played brilliantly for Cuba against the U.S. U-23 team before he and four other players fled their hotel in Tampa. I'm a little surprised MLS hasn't tried to expedite his naturalization papers. The Galaxy need all the help they can get.

(H/T: The Offside)

At the annual New Year's Day Rose Bowl Parade in Pasadena, some guy stepped in front of a float holding a sign and was promptly arrested. Not too newsworthy, right?

Except for the fact that the float was in celebration of the upcoming Beijing Olympics. And the guy was Andrew Koenig ... better known as Richard "Boner" Stabone on the 1980s sitcom Growing Pains.

Immediately following his arrest and nearly 10-hour detention by Pasadena police on New Year's Day, actor and filmmaker Andrew Koenig told this newspaper his decision to step out in front of a controversial Rose Parade float was, if not the easiest way to express his views, the absolute right thing to do. "I broke a law, but I didn't commit a crime," said Koenig, regarding the few seconds he had spent holding up a political sign before being hustled away by police.

Boner is an activist for victims of military force in Burma, which is ruled by a dictatorship that is funded by China. Boner was holding a sign that simply read "China: Free Burma". He has since been charged with "walking between parade entries" which holds no jail time and a maximum $100 fine.

During Sunday's running of the Los Angeles Marathon, one of the announcers on the KNBC broadcast made a very unfortunate comment that was followed by a very long, awkward, uncomfortable silence:

(Video via Fan IQ)

The announcer, who was part of the KNBC broadcast team, saw that a white man was in the lead and said, "Well, Ed, is it one of these matters where the Kenyans and Ethiopians they see -- let's be honest here -- they see a white guy out front and they don't take him seriously."

I'm not sure whether that comment crosses into Jimmy the Greek territory, but it's odd, to say the least: Does the announcer really believe that Kenyan and Ethiopian runners alter their strategy depending on the skin color of the runner in front of them?

For the record, the white guy in the lead at the time of the comment was Russia's Dmitry Safronov. Kenya's Laban Moiben ultimately passed him to win the men's division in 2:13:50.

The U.S. Olympic Committee announced today that Chicago will apply to host the 2016 Summer Olympics, picking the Windy City over Los Angeles as the American city that will try to persuade the International Olympic Committee to bring the Olympic Games back to the United States.

Bob Ctvrtlik of the U.S. Olympic Committee said either Chicago or Los Angeles was equipped to be "the best-prepared bid city in the history of the United States." Chicago has never hosted the Olympics.

Chicago will compete against cities likely to include Madrid, Prague, Rome, Rio de Janeiro and Tokyo. That competition will take two and a half years: The International Olympic Committee will announce the host of the 2016 Olympics in October 2009.

Could we have Olympic baseball at Wrigley Field? Opening ceremonies at Soldier Field? We'll find out in two and a half years.

UPDATE: Following up on the comment left by Jeff, the International Olympic Committee has voted to eliminate baseball and softball as Olympic sports, starting in 2012. However, that was in large part because 2012 host London doesn't have a good venue. I'm betting that if Chicago were the host in 2016, they'd reinstate both sports.