Why didn’t the IOC award the Olympic Games to Chicago after a personal presentation from Barack Obama? They may have gotten the idea that Chicago was a town of hundreds of people, rather than a metropolis of a few million — or perhaps just disinterested in sports. Obama bragged about a remarkably small scale of satisfied spectators:

Chicago is a place where we strive to celebrate what makes us different just as we celebrate what we have in common. It’s a place where our unity is on colorful display at so many festivals and parades, and especially sporting events, where perfect strangers become fast friends just because they’re wearing the same jersey. It’s a city that works — from its first World’s Fair more than a century ago to the World Cup we hosted in the nineties, we know how to put on big events. And scores of visitors and spectators will tell you that we do it well.

Really? Scores, huh? Maybe Obama doesn’t realize that “score” means twenty when counting. If Chicago can only brag that their decades of sports tradition has only impressed “scores of visitors and spectators,” one can hardly blame the IOC for tossing Chicago in the first round.

Of course, Chicago’s sports tradition has impressed millions of spectators and visitors. But I’m wondering if Obama thinks a score outranks a million.

Update: Forgot the hat-tip to Ron Page at The Local Malcontent.  Click over and send him my apologies, please!

Got an Obamateurism of the Day? If you see a foul-up by Barack Obama, e-mail it to me at [email protected] with the quote and the link to the Obamateurism. I’ll post the best Obamateurisms on a daily basis, depending on how many I receive. Include a link to your blog, and I’ll give some link love as well. And unlike Slate, I promise to end the feature when Barack Obama leaves office.

Illustrations by Chris Muir of Day by Day. Be sure to read the adventures of Sam, Zed, Damon, and Jan every day!