The Chicago Tribune's Phil Hersh has been doing yeoman's reportage regarding the Los Angeles-Chicago showdown for the right to bid for the 2016 Olympics. In today's paper, Hersh writes that "the United States Olympic Committee intends to keep from the media and public two key parts of the decision on its 2016 bid city. The USOC will not allow media to watch the final presentations that Chicago and Los Angeles make to its 11-member board Saturday in Washington, D.C., and the announcement of the winner will not include the vote tally."

Hersh notes that, of the eleven USOC board members who will cast votes on Saturday, four live or work in Southern California: "[Peter] Ueberroth, who was CEO of the 1984 Los Angeles Games; and IOC members Bob Ctvrtlik (chair of the bid city evaluation commission), Anita DeFrantz and Jim Easton."