Outside The Rings: Jay Weiner
Jay Weiner broke the big business story in 1896 when Baron Pierre de Coubertin leaked to him the news that Kodak had decided to advertise in the first Olympics souvenir program. OK, not really, it just seems that way. Jay actually has covered every Summer and Winter Olympics since 1984—from Sarajevo to Torino—and is among the nation’s most experienced Olympic reporters and writers. He performed all of his earlier Olympics duty for the Minneapolis Star Tribune.
You can reach Jay at jay.weiner@comcast.net.
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Basketball Obviously Rules Here, Around The World
As photos from today’s U.S. men’s basketball team news conference prove, the NBA and its stars are as globally branded as any league and any group of athletes. Wherever sports journalists live in the world — and presumably their readers, listeners and viewers — the Kobe and LeBron brands are magnetic.
For a sport that only has 12 men’s teams here, five nations chose basketball players to carry their flags, including Argentina’s Manu Ginobili, Russia’s Andrei Kirilenko, Germany’s Dirk Nowitzki, Lithuania’s Sarunas Jasikevicius and, of course, China’s national sports hero Yao Ming. Four of the five are key NBA assets, and Jasikevicius was a former NBA player before returning to Europe to play. Read More >1 Comment -
No Fireworks, No Doves, Not Many People at Opener
It was foggy. It was humid. The stadium was barely one-third filled. No doves. No trumpets. No government officials. No political demonstrations.
But the Olympics opened in the seaport city of Qinhuangdao on Wednesday night. And the U.S. women’s soccer team kicked off the tournament with a disappointing 2-0 loss to Norway. Read More > -
Let the Games Begin: On the Road to Qinhuangdao
August 6, Wednesday morning, China time
It seems like only yesterday — or was it tomorrow? — that I packed all my things, bundled all my wires, counted all my underwear and headed off for China.
But this morning I had to do it all over again. Read More > -
First Impressions: 'We Do' Ambush Marketing
August 4, Monday morning, Beijing, China
My first impressions in Beijing:
Get off the airplane after 16 hours. Walk off the jetway, and guess what you see?
GE signage. TOP sponsors get first dibs, I guess.
Enter the spanking new Beijing airport. Walk about 500 feet, and guess who you see? Michael Phelps, smiling, on Visa signage. Welcome, guests, to the Olympic City. Read More > -
Beijing: The Web-focused, video-centric, iPhone and BlackBerry Games
There is an Olympic story about the crusty Hall of Fame New York Daily News sportswriter Dick Young. He was known for his insider coverage of balls and bats, but not the five intertwined rings.As the 1976 Summer Olympics in Montreal were about to get under way, Young thought it might be cool to catch a couple days of the event. On the road with a baseball team, he called his sports editor and asked if someone could arrange to leave a press pass for him at the stadium's will-call window. Read More >
