On Wednesday, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) named Chicago as one of the five possible host cities for the 2016 Olympic Games. But, following the announcement of the short list, critics began cutting down the legitimacy of Chicago’s inclusion in that list because the IOC has always named a U.S.city on all previous host possibility lists. While Mayor Daley acknowledged that adjustments need to be made to public transit and that Chicago is up against iconic international cities, he rejected any slighting by critics. Since Chicago cannot be romanticized due to its lack of international status, there are still good reasons why the IOC should pick Chicago over Tokyo,Madrid, Daho and Rio de Janeiro. To help the IOC along, here is a short list of obscure reasons why Chicago should host the Olympics:

1)Deep Dish Pizza- Ever heard the phrase, “Always imitated, rarely duplicated?” Well,Chicago is known for its signature deep dish pizza and even though other cities have tried to copy us, they have failed miserably. With hotspots around the city like Gino’s East, Pizzeria Uno and Giordano’s offering this authentic pie, Olympians can stop by any of these places the night before competition and carb load by grabbing a slice!

2)The Bean-Our city is home to a giant bean…..enough said.

3)Celebrity Central­- It may not be Hollywood, but don’t put away that red carpet just yet!Chicago plays crib to several well-known celebrities like: Jeremy Piven, John Cusack, Joan Cusack, Oprah, Harrison Ford, the Belushi brothers, Denise Richards, Vince Vuaghn, etc. With a city that has so much talent, the skilled Olympians would feel right at home.

4)Competitive-Chicago is no stranger to competition, seeing that it is brewing in our own backyard. Just think, we have the cross-town rivalry of the Cubs v. Sox, our two newspapers, the Tribune and Sun-Times are always in a dead heat and the two Democratic Presidential hopefuls hail from Oak Park (Obama…who has now clinched the nomination) and Park Ridge (Clinton… she is expected to concede Friday)! We are pretty sure that our city is a hotspot that could handle the competitiveness of the Olympic Games.

5)The River-Olympians who used our river for kayaking events would find it interesting that in 1900, the direction the Chicago River flows was reversed as a result of a massive engineering project. A series of locks were constructed to help reverse the flow to improve the water and sewage problem the city faced. Top that Tokyo!

6)Hot dog- No, not the kind you eat! Many people are stunned to find that Chicago is the birthplace of the Oscar Mayer Weiner mobile. Ok, stop your applause, we know we are top dog! Surely, the Weiner mobile would stop by the Olympic Games to show Olympians how a hot dog looks on wheels. Hey, maybe the Olympic judges could swap ordinary whistles for Weiner whistles…………..it is just a thought.

7)We Got the Blues­-Olympic hopefuls who fall short of that medal need not worry. They can wallow in their woes at one of Chicago’s infamous blues bars like Kingston Mines or Buddy Guy’s. Since Chicago is home of the blues, we would know how to tend to the down and out crowd.

To see Jacqueline Ingles' Olympic video, click the following link:

http://think.mtv.com/044FDFFFF00989E1E00170099016A/