The International Olympic Committee, which is meeting in Singapore this week, will vote tomorrow (Wednesday) on the location for the 2012 Summer Olympic Games.
Currently, the odds-on favorite, according to U.K. bookmaker William Hill (as reported by Bloomberg News) is Paris at 4-9. London is the 7-4 second-favorite, followed by Madrid at 10-1, New York at 50-1 and Moscow at 50-1.
There's been a lot of talk in the American media about the stadium woes causing trouble for New York's bid. While this certainly hasn't helped, I think the greater problem is the international unpopularity of the Bush administratio nand the War in Iraq.
Still, there can be endless amount of horsetrading, and the results can still be surprising, even if the outcome isn't a shock. In 2003, Vancouver won the 2010 Winter Games as expected, but instead of a walk, it won in a squeaker over a town in South Korea that gave a hugely sentimental pitch saying the games would aid national reunification.
Gotta say that I have mixed feelings about the games. On one hand it's a pageant of a kind of nationalism I feel the world can't afford any more. On the other hand its a two-week carnival of sports on TV, including some activities that are fun to watch and rarely get televised otherwise.