I Love Minneapolis

OK This is cool... So 1996- Athens is awarded without any bidding because of the centennial. 1998- Salt Lake City easily wins over bids from Nagano and Ostersund. 2000- Although black horse Istanbul makes it to fourth place, Paris, Beijing and Sydney are still in the running, after Chicago pulling out at the last minute. Beijing would open China to the world in a new millenium and Paris would celebrate 100 years since 1900 games. Surprisingly Beijing pulls a stunner and beats out both. 2002- Since China got 2000, Japan decided not to vote, but S. Korea is not discouraged and they send in PyongChang. However, PC does not make it far and the games go to Ostersund. 2004- Although Europe got 2002, 2004 was practically earmarked for Europe. Bids come from London, Rome, Paris, Madrid, St. Petersburg and Berlin, not to mention Cape Town, Rio, Buenos Aires and Sydney, once again. Rome and Paris make it along with Rio, Cape Town and Sydney. Cape Town is knocked out, folowed by Rio. Sydney has to battle Paris, the favorite and Rome the sentimental underdog. Rome goes down and then Sydney looses by two votes, which means Paris hosts. 2006- After Rome loosing in 2004, the Italian OC decideds to postbone a Winter bid until later, leaving 2006 open for N. America and Asia. Bids from Nagano and Vancouver are the favorites, although Muju and Denver are considered dark horses. Neither make it far and the games are awarded to Nagano after the COC puts pressure on Vancouver to pull out to make room for Toronto. 2008- Since it has been 10 years since SLC and the USOC puts New York up to the block. Joining them are Toronto, Sydney, Rome, Rio, Buenos Aires, Istanbul and Cape Town, with Cairo dropping out before ballots. As expected NYC joins Toronto, Sydney, Rio and Istanbul on the short-list, but surpisingly so does the Dubai bid. Rome, Cape Town and Buenos Aires are left in the dust. Dubai's shock doesn't last long and the go out, followed by Istanbul. Another twist comes when New York fails to make it another round. Toronto leads Sydney, but Rio is a close third. When Rio falters Sydney and Toronto are left to battle it out. Not suprisingly, having the better bid, Toronto wins over Sydney. 2010- After Toronto 2008, Vancouver is left to ponder when they can bid again, but the Germans are ready for an Olympic Games, even if it is a Winter one. So Berne, Munich, Harbin and Muju are our main contenders. Harbin and Berne are left out and then Muju easily beats out Munich. 2012- Europe gets ready to conquer, but Rio, Cape Town, Buenos Aires and NYC are ready to spoil. Sydney could do damage as well. The European cities this bid race includes are Rome, Berlin, Madrid, Istanbul, Moscow, Prague, and London. The shortlist includes NYC, Istanbul, Rome, Prague, London, Rio and the now dark horse, Sydney. Prague drops, then Istanbul and then Rome. Rio leads with Sydney, NYC and London still in the mix. NYC falls, with London not far behind. Sydney pulls of the impossible and beats out Rio for the games. 2014- The Italian OC decides that since Rome is getting no where, they put up Torino, however, the GOC has the same thinking and nominates Munich. The USOC is determined to have a SOG and stays out of the race. Berne, Salzburg, Trondheim and Harbin also bid. Swiftly the race is narrowed down to Torino and Munich, but Germany did have Munich '72 and look what happened, Torino wins by a slight margin. 2016- With Rio furious and NYC going full steam, this race looks as fierce as ever. Even Europe is coming after 2014, London, Istanbul and Madrid bid. Cape Town and Cairo represent Africa and Buenos Aires has one last go. Unfortunatly, Madrid and Buenos Aires are cut. Cairo is the first off after ballots and Istanbul looks shaky. Cape Town falls, then London does the same. Istanbul misses the cut by two votes and its back down to NYC and Rio. Rio has hopes again, but they are dashed when they learn New York City wins. 2018- The IOC has said the Harbin is a large favorite, but Vancouver thinks they can win. Vancouver feels what its like to win after Harbin falls short. 2020- With two back to back N. American hosts, the western hemisphere seems empty. Rio nearly looses to Sao Paulo in the BOC bids, but is back and with a vengence. It must first get through Cape Town, Istanbul, London, Madrid, Frankfurt, Prague, Kuala Lumpur. Osaka and Moscow decide against bidding, as does Cairo. Rio, Cape Town and London quickly come out as the top three. Cape Town falls and London can taste the glory, but so can Rio. The wait is over for Rio after they win and London vows to be back. More will come later, maybe ::

Hello, moderator! I am wondering if you know how to put an image from like a "paint" program or "word" onto the net without opening a webpage. Mr. X suggested imageshack.us, but I couldn't figure our how to get that to work. I made an image on Microsoft Paint, but it is a bitmap (bmp) and imageshack.us wont accept it. Please help, if possible. Thanks, I Love Minneapolis

I am an idiot, I figure it out, but how do you put links to websites on your signature?

WHenever I try to change my signature or anything under my personal info the little "Amend Your Profile" button does not showup, therefor not letting me change the quite large and stupid signature I have on at the moment, anything you could do to help would be appreciated.