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OUTSIDE THE RINGS
Chinese Love Of Collecting Creates Pin-Trading Fever
Not long after the security guards arrive every morning, Molly Baker sets up a small seat near a security entrance at the Olympic Green. She lays out three squares of velvety black fabric covering. Then she sits down for the day.
Baker is an Olympic pin trader. Her wares are thumb-sized pins featuring Olympic logos and sponsors collected everywhere from Los Angeles in 1984 to Lillehammer in 1992 and Sydney in 2000 to Beijing in 2008. Read More >1 Comment -
Dream For Darfur Finds Alternative Ways To Protest
Dream for Darfur and Team Darfur have been having their problems with the Olympics.
Dream for Darfur, Mia Farrow’s organization, has been conducting alternative TV shows to NBC’s airing of the Beijing Games. Dream for Darfur is the advocacy group that’s been highly critical of International Olympic Committee TOP sponsors for what Farrow sees as their silence on China’s policy toward Sudan and Darfur. Read More > -
OUTSIDE THE RINGS
Some Thoughts As Week One Comes To A Close
Believe it or not, Week One has come to a close. So here are seven random thoughts, one for each day of Week One:
Most Laughable Moment:
The claim from BOCOG that all the tickets are sold. I went to field hockey today right on the Olympic Green. Two popular teams, U.S. and Germany, were playing. Half the seats were empty. There is something wrong with this picture. Read More > -
Team USA Gear Is Hot In Beijing
In just two days, total sales from the U.S. Olympic Committee’s store on the ground in Beijing eclipsed the number of sales during the entire Athens Olympics. And that’s just the beginning.
The USOC expects to generate eight times the sales it did in 2004 before the Beijing Games end on Aug. 24. Read More > -
Team USA House Offers A Taste Of Americana
Looking for a slice of Americana in Beijing? Try the USA House.
Just 100 feet south of Workers' Stadium, the U.S. Olympic Committee’s hospitality center in Beijing is open daily to business partners, national governing body officials, invited guests, and athletes and their families.The facility is 42,000 square feet and three stories tall. It offers flat-screen TVs for Olympic viewing, food and drinks, wireless Internet powered by AT&T and concierge and massage service from Hilton Hotels. Read More >
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On The Ground: Ithaca College's Annemarie Farrell
Dr. Annemarie Farrell is an assistant professor at Ithaca College in the Department of Sport Management & Media. Farrell will be in Beijing from Aug. 8-27, assisting student volunteers as well as working for the Olympic News Service (ONS) gathering quotes from Modern Pentathlon athletes. The Beijing Games are Farrell’s first Olympics and first visit to China. Farrell spoke via e-mail earlier this week with SBJ/SBD about her Olympic experiences thus far. Read More >
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OUTSIDE THE RINGS
It’s Apparently Security With A Smile In Beijing
Moments after Nigeria clinched its 2-1 win over the United States in today’s Olympic soccer match, Yisa Basorun slapped a trumpeter on the back and started moving his hands like a conductor.
As the trumpeter played, a crowd of more than 100 Nigerian fans clad in green and white began to shake, sing and celebrate. The Nigerian team had secured its advancement to the next round of the Olympic Games, so the music played on.
If only getting through the gate had been so easy. Read More > -
OUTSIDE THE RINGS
Fighting To Find The Spirit Of The Olympic Truce
In Olympics past I’ve written and reported on the notion of an Olympic Truce. I consider myself a peaceful guy. Some organizing committees have taken the ancient concept seriously.
BOCOG and its backers in the Chinese government don’t seem to. Nor, apparently, has Russia. With its recent assault on neighbor Georgia, the Russians shattered the traditional, dreamed-for Olympic peace. Read More > -
Medal Stand
Gold
Visa
The credit card company was ready with a "Go World" congratulatory ad for Michael Phelps following the first commercial break after he won a record 10th career Olympic gold medal. Pretty standard stuff in our industry, but still a nice touch to what so far has been the story of the Games.
Silver
NBC Digital
The network's online offering continues to smash records, generating nearly 300 million page views and 17 million unique users in the Games' first four days. The network is up against an astute audience here, trying to please tech-savvy surfers who are up to speed on the latest. So far, they've passed the test and the numbers prove it.
Bronze
Cris Collinsworth
We easily could give this to Bela Karolyi, and wonder why he's even on NBC's broadcasts with the clear conflict of interest. But we'll save that for another day. Today, it's Cris Collinsworth. We like Cris, we find him smart, engaging and talented. But his assignments in Beijing have been baffling. Watching Dara Torres doing her workout and then trying some of her routines? Then sitting with Michael Phelps' mother and high-fiving and cheering during her son's race? It's enough to make one squirm. And the "Golly gee, Bob, I'm having a gosh-darn good time here!!" act just doesn't fit someone of his caliber.
Tin
Olympic Green
Despite the Beijing Olympic Organizing Committee's pledge to "encourage" visitors to the Olympic Green, crowds remain sparse because of the need to have event tickets to enter the area. Sponsors have to be pulling their hair out as they wait in their largely empty multimillion-dollar Olympic showcases. -
Olympic Green Restrictions Still In Place
BOCOG has not moved to relax restrictions limiting access to the Olympic Green, but today the organization said that it is continuing to organize people and travel agencies to visit the area. During its daily press briefing today, BOCOG Executive Vice President Wang Wei said that the organization had witnessed about “250,000 people inside the Olympic Green.” Read More >
