The only thing bigger than the USA logo on the US Olympic Team’s Opening Ceremony outfits is the Polo Ralph Lauren horse that appears on the front of each jacket. I remember when some folks were upset to see the Nike swoosh. They’re going to have a field day with this. At least the hat is relatively logo free.
UPDATE: The “Moose” hat which was worn in the opening ceremony is already a very hot seller. Ebay is sold out, but I’ve got one (L/XL) that I’ll be auctioning off shortly. Check back for the link or goto Ebay to find it. Here is the link to my EBAY sale. 24 hours only. Ends Monday NightThe Polo collection mirrors the 1920s look that the US Olympic teamwore in Beijing. Sort of a throwback to the roaring 20s look, but at a definite 2010 price tag.
The wool hat is a top seller. You can’t find them in stores and the only place I’ve heard that has them in stock is the USA store in Vancouver. You can find them on ebay, but you will spend nearly $400-$500 to get one (yes, seriously).
If you have $400 you might like this sweater a bit more. It’s quite nice and was worn by most of the team during the opening ceremony.
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Unlike Beijing, in which the nations entered in Chinese alphabetical order, the Winter Olympics in Vancouver will have the nations arriving in French alphabetical order, English order according to some published reports. Of course there are two exception–Greece will be first, and Canada will be last (as the host nation). The USA will be the 82nd nation to enter.
The opening ceremony is being dedicated to the memory of Nodar Kumaritashvilvi, the Georgian luge athlete that died earlier today.
This is the best list I can find so far. We’ll see if I can find a better one before the parade starts.
The New York Times is reporting on a ruling that is ending the debate on the ages of China’s gymnasts in the 2008 Beijing games, but opening the debate about the 2000 Sydney team.
”We are satisfied with the information provided by FIG, and we now consider the (2008) matter closed,” said Emmanuelle Moreau, spokeswoman for the International Olympic Committee.
”Clearly they feel that there is more to be looked at for Sydney,” Moreau added. ”We encourage them to pursue their inquiry and shed some light on these cases. We now rely on them to get to the bottom of that and get back to us.”
Unfortunately, the report doesn’t say ‘why’ they believe this to be the case, what killer piece of evidence they’ve obtained or anything to that effect. We’ll have to see what comes out in the next few days.
It only took 8 years to fess up, but after the controversy in Bejing about the lip syncing of two little girls in the opening ceremony the Syndey Olympic Commitee has confessed that the Sydney Symphony did not actually play during the opening ceremony, but instead mimed their parts to a recording by the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra.
Needless to say the Australian press is having fun with this:
The admission has columnists in Melbourne — which has a longstanding rivalry with glitzier Sydney — crowing over the fact that its musicians ghosted a crucial performance by their arch-rivals.
It’s a great honor, voted on by the athletes themselves. She’s been living a bit of the American dream as have many other recent immigrants, and she’s said carrying the flag is as important to her as winning a gold medal.
After saying they would not be releasing the photos of Michael Phelps amazing .01 second win in the 100-m butterfly, official Olympic timekeeper Omega has finally changed their minds and released the close up photos of the finish. And if you look at them, you won’t really know yourself because it looks like a tie. But professionals in this sport can clearly see that Phelps is the winner.
“In the third set of images, with Phelps on the left, it is clear he is really pushing hard, while Cavic, on the right, is just arriving,” Chianese told The Associated Press on Saturday.
Phelps’ time of 50.58 seconds was confirmed after a review down to the 10-thousandth of a second; Cavic’s time was 50.59.
Chianese explained that it requires 3 kilograms (6.6 pounds) of pressure to activate the touchpad. “Any less and waves would set it off,” Chianese said. “You can’t just put your fingertips on the pad, you really have to push it. We explained all this directly after the race to (Cavic) and his coach.”
The Honk Kong Standard is reporting that the little girl who was judged ‘not pretty enough’ to be the face of China will have a role in the closing ceremony in Beijing. Yang Peiyi, the voice behind Lin Miaoke’s lip syncing, has become a sort of symbol to many and demands that she be given a role in the closing ceremony have been growing throughout the Olympics.
Both will be in the closing ceremony.
Officials remain tight-lipped over the plans, but it is understood seven- year-old songbird Yang Peiyi – who was heard but not seen at the opening ceremony – will take a special place in a rousing closing bash in Beijing.
It is believed that a double bill of both Yang Peiyi and Lin Miaoke will be featured in the closing ceremony, but we’ll have to wait to see to be sure.
The Sporting News is also reporting their was quite an outcry from Chinese citizens about this as well.
This is a fascinating story about how the Olympics were tainted in 1980 by Soviet ‘officials’ in track and field (yup, it is possible to cheat in athletics). One of the very few Western reporters who went to Russia for the games wrote this fascinating piece about the scandal that most in the US have never heard of before. How the top two triple jumpers in the world had 9 out of their 12 jumps ‘flagged’ for fouls, and how other events were rigged in favor of Warsaw Pact states:
In previous Olympics, the members of the Council of the International Amateur Athletic Federation, which supervises Olympic track and field, had always stationed a red-coated member of the council on the field, one for each event, to keep an eye on the judging — a good idea since all the officials are from the home country.
But after the first day, the Soviets came to Adriaan Paulen, the IAAF’s president, and complained that their officials were upset and insulted because the IAAF officials were watching them so closely.
The unspoken message was that if Paulen would remove the IAAF council members from the field, the USSR and its allies would support Paulen’s bid for re-election as IAAF president in 1981. Whatever his motives, Paulen ordered the council members off the field.
In case you were wondering how CCTV is paying for their new office building.
NBC is relatively happy with their ratings for the Olympics this year. Approximately 30 million people have watched the games. In contrast, in China, state broadcaster CCTV had about 840 million people watch the Opening Ceremonies and other events.
CCTV paid less than $17 million for exclusive broadcast rights in China but could reap $394 million in Olympic advertising revenue, according to Group M, a media company that tracks television advertising revenue here. By comparison, NBC paid almost $894 million for U.S. broadcast rights and is expected to garner $1 billion in ads.
IOC officials have said this is the end of China paying lowball prices for the rights to the Olympics. Come the next games, it is expected that CCTV will have to pay at least $100 million for the rights. CCTV, with 18 channels and a $2 billion budget can probably afford it.
The Olympic Closing Ceremony this Sunday (tape delayed in the USA until Sunday night 7:00 PM EDT) will only have 7,000 people participating, unlike the opening ceremony which had 15,000, according to Olympic organizers. The ceremony, which is in final rehearsals at a university far outside of Beijing is suppose to be ‘amazing’ and will include an 8 minute segment telecast from London, home of the 2012 games.
“It’s just unlike any other closing ceremony I’ve ever seen,” said Neal, executive vice president of NBC Olympics. Usually a simple vehicle for extinguishing the Olympic flame and setting the stage for the next games, this year’s ceremony will have a great deal of entertainment, he said.
None of the 15,000 performers in the closing participated in the opening ceremonies. Some people have lobbied to have Yang Peiyi perform in the closing ceremony, after her voice was used (but not her face) in the opening ceremony.
The only thing bigger than the USA logo on the US Olympic Team’s Opening Ceremony outfits is the Polo Ralph Lauren horse that appears on the front of each jacket. I remember when some folks were upset to see the Nike swoosh. They’re going to have a field day with this. At least the hat is relatively logo free.
UPDATE: The “Moose” hat which was worn in the opening ceremony is already a very hot seller. Ebay is sold out, but I’ve got one (L/XL) that I’ll be auctioning off shortly. Check back for the link or goto Ebay to find it.
Here is the link to my EBAY sale. 24 hours only. Ends Monday Night
The Polo collection mirrors the 1920s look that the US Olympic team wore in Beijing. Sort of a throwback to the roaring 20s look, but at a definite 2010 price tag.
The wool hat is a top seller. You can’t find them in stores and the only place I’ve heard that has them in stock is the USA store in Vancouver. You can find them on ebay, but you will spend nearly $400-$500 to get one (yes, seriously).
If you have $400 you might like this sweater a bit more. It’s quite nice and was worn by most of the team during the opening ceremony.
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She’s been part of the Unified Team of the former Soviet States.
This is a fascinating story about how the Olympics were tainted in 1980 by Soviet ‘officials’ in track and field (yup, it is possible to cheat in athletics). 