U.S. Senator John McCain (R-AZ) "plans to invite" IOC
President Juan Antonio Samaranch to Congressional hearings
next month that "will review the tax-exempt status" of the
IOC in the U.S., according to Amy Shipley of the WASHINGTON
POST. McCain will also invite former U.S. Senator George
Mitchell and "an unnamed" USOC official to attend. IOC VP
Anita DeFrantz said this week that she expected to testify
on behalf of the IOC. She said she didn't expect Samaranch
or other non-American IOC officials to attend the DC
hearings (WASHINGTON POST, 3/20). Samaranch, on attending
the hearings: "I am always very pleased to go to the United
States, no? But I have received no letter. If I received
the official invitation, I will think about it" (BOSTON
GLOBE, 3/21). Meanwhile, U.S. IOC delegate Jim Easton
criticized U.S. politicians for attacking the IOC: "You talk
about people in glass houses. Here we have our politicians,
who live daily with conflicts of interest, criticizing us on
the way we run our business. ... They just get on a soap box
and preach their righteousness. ... They don't understand
what's going on with the Olympic movement (Mult., 3/21).
HYBL ON BOARD: USOC President Bill Hybl was named the
third member of a reform commission that will advise an IOC
"overhaul." Hybl joins Samaranch and Italian auto exec
Giovanni Agnelli. In CO, Kamon Simpson wrote that Hybl's
appointment "could signal a swing in the relationship
between the IOC and the USOC ... [which] has been tested by
the current bribery crisis" (CO Springs GAZETTE, 3/21).
REAX: An AKRON BEACON JOURNAL editorial stated that the
IOC "offers new evidence that self-regulation can be a most
difficult concept for organizations and people who believe
regulations don't apply to them" (BEACON JOURNAL, 3/21).
The Montreal GAZETTE stated that Samaranch's "performance"
in Lausanne last week was "the most brazen denial of reality
on public view" (Montreal GAZETTE, 3/20)....On ESPN's "The
Sports Reporters," Mitch Albom said, "Samaranch is guilty of
fraud and hypocrisy, but the biggest crime is lack of shame.
If he truly cared about the Olympics, he'd step down before
nobody believes in them anymore" (ESPN, 3/21).
DID HE BITOVE MORE THAN HE CAN CHEW? In Toronto, Joel
Baglole wrote that former Raptors President John Bitove,
Jr., will be officially appointed President & CEO of
Toronto's 2008 bid committee this week (TORONTO STAR, 3/20).
BRAND AWARENESS: In S.F., C.W. Nevius examined possible
erosion in the Olympic brand and cited data from an IOC
study conducted by S.F.-based Edgar, Dunn and Co. which
found that consumers "feel the Olympics exist on a level far
above mere sporting events like the Super Bowl or the World
Cup." The "only organizations that had favorable responses
that matched the Olympics were such squeaky-clean charities
as the Red Cross and UNICEF." The Olympics were the "most
highly regarded brand/event" among 8.2%, ahead of Nike at
5.9% and Disney at 6.1% (S.F. CHRONICLE, 3/20).
