Chicago releases plans for 2016 Olympics
Organizers of the American bid for the 2016 Summer Olympics in Chicago unveiled details of their plan Tuesday, promising a “spectacular” lakefront experience in the heart of the nation’s third-largest city.
Chicago’s plan clusters the majority of venues in four sites near downtown and along the shores of Lake Michigan. Ninety-one percent of athletes would be within 15 minutes or less of their venues, and the Olympic stadium would be a 6-minute drive from the village.
Details of the plan – which includes 16 new permanent and temporary venues and money to make existing venues Olympic caliber at an estimated cost of $900 million – were included in a questionnaire submitted to the International Olympic Committee and released by Chicago bid organizers.
It does not include a $1 billion athlete’s village, a public-private venture officials said will be built regardless of whether Chicago gets the games.
Football
McMackin favored
Hawaii was expected to announce a new football coach to replace June Jones as early as today, with defensive coordinator Greg McMackin considered the front-runner.
•West Virginia is investigating the disappearance of records associated with the school’s football program.
The Charleston Gazette reported that files kept in former coach Rich Rodriguez’s private office disappeared between Dec. 16 and Jan. 3, along with strength and conditioning records from the weight room.
•Tennessee’s leading rusher, Arian Foster, will return to the Vols for his senior season instead of entering the NFL draft.
•Top LSU defenders Darry Beckwith and Tyson Jackson will return for their senior seasons with the national championship squad.
Baseball
Kennedy had condition
Major league pitcher Joe Kennedy was afflicted with a condition that caused his heart to suddenly stop beating at his in-laws’ home in Tampa, Fla., in November, when he collapsed and later died.
An autopsy found he had hypertensive heart disease, a condition that hardens the heart’s walls and can cause it to stop beating.
•First baseman Adam LaRoche bypassed arbitration by agreeing to a $5 million, one-year contract with the Pittsburgh Pirates.
•Online bidding began for Barry Bonds’ 754th home run ball along with the bat the home run king used between Nos. 754 and 755, the latter of which tied him with Hank Aaron.
Miscellany
Kuerten will retire
Three-time French Open champion Gustavo Kuerten will retire from professional tennis after playing at Roland Garros this year.
•Oklahoma freshman standout Blake Griffin could miss up to four weeks of the basketball season after spraining a ligament in his left knee.
•Former world wrestling champion Joe Warren will miss the Olympics after an arbitrator upheld the American’s two-year suspension for a second positive test for marijuana.