"Things are getting tense here," said Dieter Esch this evening from Copenhagen.  The chairman of the board of USA Team Handball was dining with Polish Federation president Andrzej Krasnicki, who is also a leader in the Polish Olympic Committee.  The pair was waiting for the arrival of IHF president Hassan Moustafa.

"Here" of course is Copenhagen, where the world's sport leaders are gathered to elect the city to host the 2016 Summer Olympic and Paralympic Games.

Back here in Utah, some of us awoke to a dusting of snow on our vehicles and snow-capped mountains surrounding this picturesque valley.  The office is buzzing - coach Marko has been in different SLC-area schools every day since the start of the school year.  Dan is updating our 2009-10 registrations as our new platform with with www.signmeup.com appears to be working flawlessly.  Lauren is preparing our media announcements for tomorrow, and the next edition of the newsletter.  Kelly is preparing a video to present at the National convention for Recreation & Parks Associations in two weeks.  Angie's working on the gathering of Futures' site directors scheduled for next weekend in Colorado Springs.

But, honestly, as important as it all is, it feels like busy work.  We're all waiting for tomorrow.  We're waiting with bated breath.  

A little over a year ago, we moved into this office space.  We cobbled together some desks, hit some discount stores for some supplies - found other stuff at scratch-and-dent sales.  It's not much.  Trust me.

We also set out a little countdown clock provided by Chicago 2016.  There were nearly 400 days left back then - now it's under 24 hours.

The minutes can't go by quick enough.  Go USA!

24 hours remaining.