The WALL STREET JOURNAL's Thurow & McKee write that
while USOC CEO Norm Blake is at the Games, his "bottom line
is softening to make room for the foibles of athletic
competition and the frailties of human endeavor." Blake:
"We're dealing with tremendous emotion and passion here.
What does a business executive know about what it takes to
be an Olympic athlete? They're so focused. I'm getting to
understand them better." Blake said he is "willing to be a
source of patient capital" for the "lower-profile, less-
successful" NGBs (WALL STREET JOURNAL, 9/21). Blake: "This
is not a case of you have to do it this year in Sydney. But
there are milestones that I would expect you to meet over
several years. We're not here to cut anybody off at the
knees" (HOUSTON CHRONICLE, 9/21).
PUSH 'EM BACK, SHOVE 'EM BACK, WAY BACK: USA Basketball
Exec Dir & NBA Deputy Commissioner Russ Granik, on sending
pros to the Olympics: "No one tells the Chinese to leave
their table tennis players [home] because they win too many
medals. No one says this is a terrible thing. ... But we
[in the U.S.] make something about this. I don't know why"
(S.F. CHRONICLE, 9/20)....NBA Asia Managing Dir Michael
Denzel said that the NBA Asia office in Hong Kong "recently
doubled in size," and the NBA plans to open its first office
in China later this year. The league has 15 shops selling
licensed NBA goods in China (WALL ST JOURNAL, 9/21).
SPEEDO COMES THROUGH: NBC's Tom Brokaw noted that
Speedo had given Equitorial Guinean swimmer Eric
Moussambani, who swam with an old, out-of-date suit in his
100 freestyle race Tuesday, a new swimsuit (NBC, 9/20).
