Olympic Notes: Rogge Will Wait For Declaration; Sponsor News
NOT RUSHING TO JUDGMENT: In Toronto, James Christie writes that IOC President Jacques Rogge "will not end the ['02] Games with a public judgment of whether they have been 'the best ever,' as was the custom of predecessor" Juan Antonio Samaranch. Rogge: "I won't do that. I'll give the opinion of the IOC on the Games, but I will not compare to the other Games" (Toronto GLOBE & MAIL, 1/31).
PRODUCT PLACEMENT: FranklinCovey will be a major sponsor for the Utah! Media Center during the '02 Games (Franklin Covey)....SoBe will unveil a limited-edition beverage in honor of U.S. skier Bode Miller in time for the Games. "Bodacious Brew" will only be sold in Salt Lake City, Denver, Grand Junction and CO Springs. The drink will debut early next month (REUTERS, 1/25)....Sportvision will create a series of visual fan enhancements, including tracking and virtual imaging, for long track speedskating and freestyle aerial skiing. For long track speedskating, Sportvision will use custom cameras and computers to optically track the skaters in real time (Sportvision).
MORMON GAMES? NBC Sports Chair Dick Ebersol, on Mormons' activity during the Games: "It's not nearly the day-to-day issue with [NBC] that it seems to be in various other parts of the media. We liken it to if we were doing the Olympics in Rome, would the Vatican occasionally show up as a visual? Of course it would. We're [TV] producers, but we've thought from Day 1 that it would be great to have the Tabernacle Choir involved in these Games. And I'm not hiding it." In UT, Scott Pierce reported that NBC "is planning a piece on the LDS Church that will air" toward the end of the Games (DESERET NEWS, 1/30).
NOTES: Working in cooperation with NBC, MTV announced several Olympic-themed programs that will air throughout the Games. Programs will include "TRL Olympic Week," "Diary of Hannah Hardaway," and "Olympics Undercover With Jeremy Bloom and the Foo Fighters" (NBC)....In UT, Tad Walch reported that during Monday's news briefing at the Olympic Main Media Center (MMC), journalists "grumbled about waiting in line at the single entrance to the MMC where magnetometers and baggage checks are manned by soldiers." SLOC officials "promised easy entry through the magnetometers and baggage checks" (Provo (UT) DAILY HERALD, 1/29).
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