My Kind of of Town

This past week I have been in Chicago helping put on the 2010 Olympic Team Media Summit, which is the first chance to start hyping up the winter athletes heading into the Winter Games in Vancouver. It was my first business trip. I worked a few 12 hour days but it was a lot of fun. I got to know my bosses and co-workers better. At the end of each day I was very tired but we still went out and saw some of the Windy City.

I was in charge of the photo sessions, which meant that I herded athletes around between 10 photo stations. I had to make sure the athletes and photographers were happy. I got to manage volunteers and hotel staff. Everything went smoothly. The trip included sangria and a big dinner with my bosses and co-workers at a spanish tapas restaurant. There were three different receptions and media happy hour. One reception included a Beatles cover band and the happy hour took place at a rooftop bar on the 27th floor of a hotel in downtown Chicago.

The event and my room was in the historic Palmer House Hilton, right by Millenium Park, the Prudential Tower and the famous Chicago theatre. The park was the only thing between the hotel and the lake. In the park was a structure that has become somewhat of a Chicago icon, the Bean (see photos). Twice I went to a nearby sleazy sports bar to watch some soccer/football. One night we went to Giordano's for some deep dish pizza then the House of Blues. Our last night we went to a really cool college bar area where we saw a U2 cover band on the same night that the real thing was performing in Soldier Field.

Switching gears, in her second week as a sports reporter, my girlfriend interviewed Shaquille O'Neal. He was in Port Arthur for a charity with East Texas-native Stephen Jackson. She has photos and video to prove it. The story ran on the front-page but has not yet been posted online.

Click here for photos of the Palmer House Hilton, Millenium Park and the Bean.

Click here for my latest press release for the USOC August Athletes and Team of the Month.

Days until my weekend trip to Texas for the UT-Central Florida football game: 53