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The team of a dozen people is the eyes and ears of the 100-member International Olympic Committee.
The fact of the matter is the majority of IOC members will vote on a host city having never visited all of the candidates. It's why everyone is listening very carefully to what Evaluation Commission members had to say.
"We are leaving with a strong impression. This bid is a strong one," said Nawal El Moutawakel, Evaluation Commission chairwoman.
Strong. Fantastic. Beautiful. Excellent. Those are just some of the words two influential members of the IOC used to describe their impressions of Chicago and its Olympic bid.
What really matters to the Evaluation Commission is whether Chicago can deliver on its promise to build, host and run an Olympic Games - all without a dime of government money.
"All the guarantees have been thoroughly studied. They will be studied further in the technical report and we cannot give further details regarding this," said El Moutawakel.
The IOC team had high praise for plans for the athletes' village on the site of the old Michael Reese Hospital. They also took note of the decision to build a less expensive, 'temporary' Olympic Stadium.
"We are against host cities leaving behind big huge elephants. What you call it? White elephants," said El Moutawakel.
"We're very pleased with their reaction but we're not deluding ourselves. They're going on to three great cities and three great cities will show well I'm sure," said Patrick Ryan, Chicago 2016 Chairman.
As an IOC member, Bob Ctvrtlik has voted on six previous Olympic host cities and says he's concerned Chicago has only been visited by a quarter of the people who will eventually vote.
"I'm very confident about the city of Chicago. What I'm not confident about is we have to get those other 80 members somewhere around the world and have the time to convince them and sell them on our city," said Bob Ctvrtlik, US Olympic Committee vice president.
While baseball's not an Olympic sport, Chicago's mayor wasn't about to miss the Sox home opener where he talked about, what else?
"I was walking in and guess what? Fans were saying, did we win? Not the game. Did we win the bid," said Mayor Daley.
We won't know that until October but long time Olympics reporters say it's rare for an IOC inspection team to offer a city so many kind words.
"Does it mean anything? No. There's a long way to go. Does it mean a little something today? Yes," said Alan Abrahamson, Olympics reporter.
One down; three to go. This IOC team gets a few days off. Then they head to Tokyo and Rio. Madrid is their last stop. They'll visit those cities in the next month. They will then publish a report in September.
IOC talks to reporters
Before they leave Chicago to visit other candidate cities who want to host the 2016 Summer Olympics, members of the IOC evaluation team spoke with reporters.
But they didn't say much. At least not in specifics. But they did say they Chicago had a good vibe.
"We felt the whole community was behind the bid, backing the bid. Every single moment we went through- all the boulevards in this vibrant city, we felt there was a very strong backing for this bid," said Madam Chairwoman El Moutawakel. "I don't think four days can be enough to see the entire population of Chicago, but the one we have seen so far, in every site visit, has shown there is a strong desire and profound love of the Olympic sport."
El Moutawakel said the team understands Chicago 2016's vision, and it will be carefully studied and described in the final reports.
"We have been all around the city for more than 10 hours on Sunday...we have seen during those 10 hours all kinds of boulevards and we visited the site where, eventually, if you get the games, the venues. We have seen strong support from younger generation, from older people from sports people from Olympians, paralympians. We are leaving with a very strong impression that the bid is a strong one."
"But at the end there is only one winner, and this is what I would like to emphasize. There are four very strong candidates and at the end there is only one winner," said El Moutawakel.
IOC talks to critics
Before talking to the media, the IOC members met with some of their most vocal critics.
On Tuesday, the head of one anti-Olympics group said he was surprised the International Olympic Committee evaluation team asked to meet with him. He said they asked no questions, but listened as he and others expressed concerns about everything from cost to corruption in the city of Chicago.
One of the issues- housing. Mr. Gilber Felli called plans for the Olympic Village beautiful.
"It's true you can not always please 100-percent of the citizens in any project," said Mr. Felli, who said he believes the city should hear the concerns of its citizens and work with them.
Other groups are using the Olympic visit as a golden opportunity to advance causes for which they have fought for a long time.
"We have said if you're going to come to Bronzeville, you need to leave something in Bronzeville, more than just a stadium, more than just the Olympic housing. What we need you to leave is affordable housing for moderate income people. So if the International Olympic Committee will commit to that, then the city will jump on board, naturally," said Pastor Jeffrey Campbell, Housing Bronzeville.
Bronzeville affordable housing activists knew an opportunity when they saw it. They say on the eve of the IOC visit the city agreed to sell them 500 vacant parcels of land for a buck a pop. The city says that number is much smaller.
"This has been going on for a number of years and the city's been a little bit hesitant although they begun to work with us since they want the Olympics," said Jeffery Campbell, Housing Bronzeville organizer.
Also asked to address concerns over Chicago's bid was No Games Chicago. "We talked about the fact the city is broke and the city has a history of construction boondoggles," said Bob Quellos, No Games Chicago organizer.
No Games has been one of the more vocal opponents of the Olympic Games, though their protests have been small in number of participants.
During the IOC visit, Daley touted Chicago's support for the games.
"We really believe the sprit of Chicago is here for the 2016 Olympic and Paralolympics," said Mayor Daley.
Before meeting with the critics, IOC members spoke security with officials. Chicago's top cop traded his civilian suit for dress blues when he and the local FBI boss briefed IOC members on Chicago's security plan. The goal-they say is to not have a Chicago Games feel as though they're taking place in a police-state
"The integration of federal, state and local resources to make it a safe venue, a good public venue for visitors as well as athletes," said Richard Grant, FBI special agent in charge- Chicago.
Regardless of whether Chicago gets the 2016 Games, bid organizers say people through-out the city are already benefiting. Chicago 2016, through a sister organization, has spent a little more than one million dollars on programs to introduce inner-city kids to Olympic sports like handball and archery.
"Everybody's not a basketball player, everybody's not a football or baseball player but here's an opportunity for some of our kids to be involved in non-traditional sports," said Alonzo Williams, Chicago Park District.
Since arriving in town last week, the evaluation team has toured the city, including proposed Olympic venues and met with Chicago 2016 to discuss the city's bid. The tour has been tightly choreographed and those who support the bid include a list of Who's Who Chicago, including U.S. President Barack Obama, Oprah Winfrey and Michael Jordan. Winfrey attended the cultural event, City Night, on Monday.
