This weekend's USOC semiannual board meetings in
Philadelphia will be the first set of meetings since William
Hybl was elected president in the "only contested -- and
extremely contentious -- election in the 103-year history of
the USOC," according to Bob Ford in the PHILADELPHIA
INQUIRER. One item to be voted on this weekend is an $8M
grant to qualifying NCAA conferences to support Olympic
sports "endangered by budget cuts at the collegiate level."
Also "on the agenda" is discussion of a new series of
"Olympic Cup" events that would showcase various sports and
"take the place of the defunct Olympic Festival." The USOC
is holding "preliminary negotiations" with TBS about
televising the events (PHILADELPHIA INQUIRER, 2/14).
CHICAGO SAYS NO: Chicago Mayor Richard Daley "all but
shelved" Chicago's hopes to bid for the 2008 Summer Games,
but said he would like Chicago to host the 2007 Pan Am Games
(CHICAGO TRIBUNE, 2/14).
SURVEY SAYS: According to a new Harris Poll, of the 20
firms that paid $40M each to be official Olympic sponsors,
only Coca-Cola was "widely recognized" as such. Beyond
that, only McDonald's and AT&T earned a "double-digit
recognition factor" (WALL STREET JOURNAL, 2/14).