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For Immediate Release
Contact: Sam Husseini, (202) 347-0020; or David Zupan, (541) 484-9167

"Obama's Olympic Error"

WASHINGTON

DAVE ZIRIN
Sportswriter Zirin just wrote the piece "Obama's Olympic Error," which states: "To greater or lesser degrees, the Olympics bring gentrification, graft and police violence wherever they nest. ... It's also difficult for Chicago residents to see how this will help their pocketbooks, given that [Chicago Mayor Richard] Daley pledged to the International Olympic Committee that any cost overruns would be covered by taxpayers.

"This is why a staggering 84 percent of the city opposes bringing the Games to Chicago if it costs residents a solitary dime. Even if the games were to go off without a hitch -- which would happen only if the setting was lovely Shangri-La -- not even half the residents would support hosting the Games."

Zirin is the author of "Welcome to the Terrordome: The Pain, Politics and Promise of Sports" and the newly published "A People's History of Sports in the United States." He is the host of XM Radio's "Edge of Sports Radio."

A nationwide consortium, the Institute for Public Accuracy (IPA) represents an unprecedented effort to bring other voices to the mass-media table often dominated by a few major think tanks. IPA works to broaden public discourse in mainstream media, while building communication with alternative media outlets and grassroots activists.