Turin...Inside and Out. A unique look at the Games

End of Transmission

2006-02-27T22:12:00.000+01:00

I am very disappointed. Apparently Bobby G got caught up with one more party and was not able to post. I guess that leaves it to me to wrap this whole experience up. It is a huge task, but I am up to the challenge. Actually the challenge may be where to begin....

How about with some housekeeping. Aunt Sharon - get baking, I have what you have asked for, so we are set.

I received a couple of questions on email. I was asked to let all of you know about the strangest thing I have seen in the Village, and the funniest. Now that is tough. For funniest, I have many candidates - the snowplow drivers, the maintenance men, the athletes and some of the things that they say and do, this staff here in the office, the driving in Italy, the fact that at every Chef de Mission meeting the countries were told to stop bringing lighters into the village - yet the Italian workers, and police, were all in here smoking cigarettes, lit with lighters (probably ones they claimed at security)...stuff like that. The winner though happened on the 26th.

At the Olympic Games, the hockey teams are provided with two team hosts. These people are charged with getting things arranged for the teams and helping with local logistics. So one of the team hosts for the men's hockey team was from Finland and the other from the US (and Italy). Anyway, Risto (Finnish guy) came to our offices to watch closing ceremonies with us. We had a couple of our NOC Assistants on duty and one is from Italy and she speaks good English (she, like the other assistants, was a stud for us - by the way she made the 2004 Italian Olympic Team in softball).

Anyway, they were watching the ceremonies with us. By the way, there may have been some red wine at the gathering - the men's hockey team leader (aka the man who flooded the Sahara) was in the house. So Eva (NOC) and Risto were talking about the Ceremonies and they were attempting to figure out what something meant - but they were doing it in English. It was great because here you have a Finn and an Italian speaking English trying to figure out what an Italian production in the Closing Ceremonies meant.

The strangest - again, many candidates. I will go with this. One of the meals they were serving was a bit of a favorite of many people. One day Keith walked into the office and showed me the village newpaper which detailed what was in a new cafeteria favorite. One of the items was testicles (I don't remember what animal). Nice. Now something may have been lost in translation - at least that is what I am going with - but I am thinking that is not the case.

Speaking of Closing Ceremonies - what did you all think? We watched it in the Village (obviously). It was interesting. We had seen some of the details of the show through some briefings we attended, and frankly had no idea how it would come off. It had some flair, and Ricky showed up (Michelle was geeked - just kidding Michelle), so it rocked a bit. The flag bearer was Joey Cheek, he is the one who donated the money he had earned for his medals to a group called Right to Play. Joey earned $40,000 - all of which he donated, and when he made the donation he called on others to follow. So far, another $400,000 in donations has come in from others - now that is good stuff.

While Closing was good, it was the party in the Village afterwards that rocked. TOROC brought in a deejay, dancers (for a point of reference think Cowboy Cheerleaders and dress them down - remember, we are in Europe), food (some of the best of the entire Games) and BEER (they ran out fast). Yes, our little "dry" village was flowing, there was a monsoon in the Sahara. The party started at 11:00pm and lasted until after 4:00am (at least that is what I am told). A few of us from the office went down. Wow. I think the entire Village - meaning all 82 delegations - was there. Dancing, singing, and enjoying each other. Talk about a celebration. It was amazing. They played everything from the Village People (yep, YMCA) to the Doors, to Bruce Springsteen. Listening to an audience of people that had to be in the high hundreds if not a thousand - sing along with Bruce as he talked about being Born in the USA - was amazing. The ones singing the loudest were the ones from any country besides the USA. They loved it. It was a good way to end.

Those are the things that make the Village the Village. I love the Village - I would work in an Village everytime if I could. Being in here is a privilege and I am thankful that International Games has offered me this incredible opportunity. Outside of the stories - or insights - that have been shared in this space, the reason a Village is special is because the team that works the Village makes it what it is. Remember, we walked in to a bunch of cold apartments that were bare. In time we dressed the buildings out, we added some things to make it better, athletes and coaches arrived. Friendships were made. Upon departure tears were shed about leaving people who only 30 days before you were just meeting. All of the Village services and the thousands of people who work them came to life. We essentially went from nothing, to a functioning - yet secure - city - and back to nothing, in three weeks. In fact, this place is so shut down now that Keith, Robert and I helped the last couple of big USA groups out of the village this morning (2/28), then we wanted some breakfast. No luck. This place is closed. It is strange.

Speaking of team, I have not done a very good of talking about the team - except when I discussed our transgressions in breaking the public transportation laws...the people who were in here are amazing. There have been a couple of times when I have mentioned how proud I am of them and the way they perform. A case in point was late last week. An athlete who had several family in town was on her way down to the Bank of America Hometown Hopefuls area. This is something set up by BofA and it is a place where families can gather, get some free food, get tickets to events, etc. It is a great service from BofA.

Anyway, the athlete is heading down to see her family and her grandfather who was at BofA and having a great time, dropped to the ground and passed away from a fatal heart attack. One of those moments where real life creeps into the Games. The team in the Village, working with our Coordination Center group, responded incredibly well, handled the situation like true professionals, took care of the needs of the athlete and her family and got people where they needed to go. That was a tough situation that does not go that well without the quality of individuals that we have here in the Village and here in Torino. Class all the way.

This team dealt with a variety of issues here in Torino and everytime they stepped up and handled it. Athletes in this Village won 14 medals. While we don't compete, we try very hard to help those that do. Maybe we had an impact, maybe not. If nothing else, we tried. So here is the team...

Eric Parthen - Transportation. It all begins and end with transportation, so I will begin with him. He did one hell of a job with transportation. There is little English here and he got stuff done anyway. I think it was because he mastered the phrase P4 zino zini (a parking area) and "si, si, si, capito" (yes, yes, yes, I understand - and then proceed to do exactky what they did not want you to do). The transportation group loved him so much they brought over some beers to have with him a couple of nights ago. At the party here in the Village that I talked about, he loaded a backpack up with beer and danced his way up to us and offered us one. Nice job on everything Eric. Get some sleep, you deserve it.

Michelle Farrell - Housing. Once they arrive they have to sleep. Housing is the most thankless job of all. Everyone wants just a "little bit" more space, or some other request. Managing that process takes someone with the skills and attitude of a person like Michelle. She is professional all of the way. On top of the characters she dealt with here, she has to deal with me everyday as we are on the same team back in the Springs. In fact, we did her 2005 performance review, from her real job, here in the dining hall. She did well enough to get to stay for the entire Games! (just kidding, there was never a doubt). Thanks for hanging with me at dinner. You are a stud Michelle, thanks for all that you do.

Robert Nesbitt - Logistics. If it had to get somewhere Robert was the guy. If you needed something built, Robert was the guy. If you needed a good laugh, or someone with the perfect attitude, Robert was the guy. This was my first experience working with him, I pray it is not my last. No matter what has to be done, or at what time it needs to happen, he is there. Plus he is pretty good at poker! Robert is one of those special people who just makes things happen. Thanks Robert for everything - especially that great brew of coffee that kept me going everyday. Get back to that son of yours.

Tammie Forster - NGB Services. Everything that the sports, or the USOC needed, Tammie went and got it for us. From day passes so that the families of the athletes could get in here and see the Village, to tickets for the events that were passed on to the athletes, to managing the rate card process (rentals), to just about anything else you can think of, Tammie was the name that we would call. This was her first Olympic Village experience and she did very well. She also was one who brought a lot of reality to office with stories about her life. Tammie - thanks for all that you did. It was great to work with you. Enjoy the trip home.

Chris Vadala - NGB Services. He worked with Tammie and had added responsibilities of working with the sport of Curling on their logistical needs here in Torino. After the men's team won a bronze medal it seemed as though he turned into their agent. Chris is one of those people that no matter what you ask him, he will get it done. He also became the candy man as he had shipped over Almonds, Blow Pops, Tootsie Roll Pops, Mike and Ike's and other treats. He is class all of the way in how he handles himself and how he deals with things. He and I sahred an office here in Torino. Thanks for the talks, the advice, and for keeping me sane. You are the bishop - no doubt.

Keith Bryant - Media. This was Keith's first Village experience and he was great. his primary responsibility was to handle all of the media that wanted to talk with athletes living in our Village. He did that and more. He helped us in every facet of Village Operations. Keith, like the others, did whatever had to be done for us to be successful. Plus he was the one who brought in newspapers everyday. I am just happy we got him access to the dining area because for the first few days we were bringing him whatever we could from McDonalds and I was worried Super Size Me Part 2 was going to be filmed in the office. KB - now you know what a Village is like. Based on our conversations, I am guessing you will do it again. Enjoy your time in travelling with Amanda.

I am proud of all of them. Like I said, I have no idea what my job here was. I am just lucky that I was able to work with all of them. They made life here great. I would not have wanted to share this experience with any other group of people. The reality is that this team will probably never work together again the way we did here - thanks for maximizing this opportunity. I think that the men's hockey team leader summed it up best when he left me this email last night before going home..."always a pleasure and you guys are all the best, wouldn't want to do this with anyone else involved...thanks for the laughs, hard work and all that is the games..."

I have no idea if any of you even look at the guestbook - thank to all of those who have left comments! A recent comment was from Bill Baum re: the Team Pursuit. Bill nailed it (given). Part of the reason certain athletes did not skate in the pursuit (otherwise known as the opening volley in Chad vs. Shani) was because of the number of races they would have to skate in the day leading up to a speciality event. Not skating the pursuit is a matter of preparation for the races that an athletes has qualified to skate. There is not a system that is used to pick your pursuit team, the country gets a spot and then it is up to each team to decide who skates. So there should not have been a controversy as it is not an issue about who skates. Bill is also 100% on the money when he mentions the fact that the time for the team is based on when the third skater crosses the line. So having two "fast" guys does not win anything - it takes three. Oh by the way, the time the US skated was the second fastest of the Olympics - and it was in the quarterfinals. Unfortunately, they skated against the Italians who posted the fastest time of the Olympics - again in the quarterfinals. That is why you have to love sport, you never know what will happen. Great comment Bill and thanks!

One more thing on Chad and Shani. At 5:30am on February 27, two of us walked these two out of the Village. They were going to pick up A cab (yes, one) that would take both of them to the airport where they were to catch the same private plane (being provided by a company that sponsors both them) and flying to the Netherlands. While we walked out with them they talked and the comment was even made that "we need to finalize when and where we are going to start to train together." Now, for the sake of accuracy, we ended up needing two taxi's because of the amount of luggage the two of them had, but that was an adjustment that had to be made based on the size of car that they sent (just a bit bigger than a smart car). So just one more time I ask you all to take what the media has written with a grain of salt. They want to beat each other, no question, but they can, and do, get along.

Word was just passed to me that there has been some movement in the BCS rankings of our team leaders. In a late surge - sparked by the delivery of three Cuban cigars - the women's hockey team leader has moved rapidly up the board. His strong performance coupled with the men's hockey team leaders bad choice in a life partner has made this a race after all. I guess that the final ranking will only be known once all evaluations are turned in...stay tuned.

Oh yea, only 891 days until Opening Ceremonies of the Beijing Olympics. In fact, in about six weeks, a group of us go to Beijing to get a feel for the setup and how things will work. The Olympic machine keeps moving. Hopefully Bobby and I are in Beijing for the Games. If we are, we will be happy to share some insights again. Thanks again for reading - we hope that our effort to give you a unique look at the Games was in fact unique. So many things happen that we can't capture them all - we just hope that you have enjoyed.

Thanks to those of you have read this blog over the Games. Thanks for not sending me emails giving me the business for typo's, or about sentences that don't make sense. Please remember that when I type the words, they make sense and are spelled correctly, but I am looking through blurry eyes. In fact, I usually just sit here, with the Mp3 on and type. Usually I am typing on very few hours of sleep, so mistakes happen - thanks for cutting me some slack.

I will end on this note. I have mentioned in the past that we watch the live international feed of the Games here in the office. When an event ends for the day, a message goes up about when the next broadcast will be. When an event ends for the Games, the words "End of Transmission" appear on the screen. Those words provide complete closure for that event. After waiting four years for these Games to start, and after all of the time and planning that went into this event, those are hard words to read, because of what they mean. It is over.

So, in the words of the IBC, here from the Village, we say End of Transmission.

If only it was easy

2006-02-25T15:43:00.000+01:00

Germany is going to win these Olympic Games. Up until today we thought we had a chance, but it did not happen. That said, based on the number of injuries, disqualifications and other things that happened with this team, they performed very well. Our medal total is not yet final, but it looks like the mid 20's. Now you will all read about all of the things that your team went through. There will be chatter about Shani and Chad, Bode, behavior, etc. I guess what no one will decide to write about is the fact that the Olympic Games are incredibly challenging. There is a reason that these medals contain actual gold in them. They do not come easy. Unfortunately somewhere in all of the analysis writers have decided to focus on the easy targets and use them as reasons for a lack of perceived success. Heaven forbid that competition is just that - competition.

I want to talk about two things you all have probably heard about, the men's hockey team and Chad versus Shani. Let's start with hockey. Mike Modano does not get it. Plain and simple. He is a tremendous player, has done great things for USA Hockey, but he missed the boat on this one. Did the team miss expectations? Of course. Did USA Hockey do everything in their power to help this team succeed? YES! USA Hockey did whatever was needed to be done to get the team ready to play. Apparently some players believe that USA Hockey needs to find housing for families (while they did not give families a room, they did provide assistance with hooking families up with hotels, etc) and do other things. The question would be why? Also, remember that one or two guys chirping about things that bother them does not mean that the team is in agreement.

Shani and Chad. My oh my did the media love this one. Let's consider the facts. You have two athletes who are incredibly successful. In the last two years they have each won the world all-around championships. Let's add in that these two guys have entirely different approaches to life and competition. They came up in radically different environments. Then lets add in the little fact that they both want Olympic Gold. Any one of those things is enough for a writer to have field day and try to cause a riff. All of them combined are a gold mine. These are two tremendous athletes, who are very driven, and thankfully they both compete for the United States. By the way, they won a combined total of 5 medals, somewhere in the teens of total medal production.

They have the same practice times, basically the same routine...and oh yea - they share an apartment here in the Village. It is an apartment with four bedrooms and two bathrooms. Have you ever heard that before from any of these intensive, in-depth reports about these two athletes? Exactly.

It is awesome being in the Village.

The goodbye's have begun. It is actually very strange. We have been saying goodbye to people over the last few days - athletes and coaches, volunteers, our NOC Assistants. Some of these folks we just met, others we have known for a while. Everything changes when you live in the Village - either you become closer, or.... Thankfully we did not have any of the or's on this trip. It has been a great 30 plus days of making friends and having fun.

Our first mass group of goodbye's was the men's hockey team. Most of them left early on Friday morning. It was weird to see them go - it really felt like they had just arrived. I asked all of you to have faith in them. Were they a bad team - not even close. Of their six games, five were decided by a goal. Finland - who eliminated them, went out and blanked Russia last night 4-0. We had a good team, just could not get a break or a lucky bounce. That happens. It is sport, right?

That is it for today from the Village. It is hard to believe this journey is coming to an end. Just so you are aware, Bobby will be posting tomorrow and then I will wrap it all up sometime after closing ceremonies. The good news is that I have one Dew and 1 day left. Sometimes a plan works perfectly.

On the outside - Friday February 24, 2006

2006-02-24T13:24:00.000+01:00

Friday February 24, 2006 Torino, ITA- The photo is of the Stazione Porta Nuova (train station) in downtown Torino.

It has been a busy couple of days, but I had the opportunity to go to the USA- Russia Hockey game and to the women's 1500 Speedskating this week.

Yesterday we met with members of the Italian Olympic Committee (CONI) for possible future exchanges between our countries. As I was leaving the meeting I met Mike Eruzione (1980 Olympic Hockey Team). Mike Eruzione was the captain that led the 1980 United States Olympic Hockey Team to its Gold Medal victory in Lake Placid, NY.

Tonight the White House delegation arrives into Torino. Leading the presidential delegation is Mayos Rudy Giuliani (and wife), former Mayor of New York City. Other members of the Delegation include Ronald P. Spogli, U.S. Ambassador to Italy, Race car driver Mario Andretti, Dr. Kenneth Ciongoli, chairman of the National Italian American Foundation and Lawrence Auriana, Chairman of Mediware Information Systems, President of the Columbus Citizens Foundation, President of The Boys’ Towns of Italy. A full day of activities is scheduled for the Delegation, ending with the closing ceremonies.

This weekend, two time Olympian Logan Tom (Volleyball) will visit Torino. Logan plays professional volleyball in Switzerland and will visit the USA House as part of her visit to Torino.
It has been a good month in Italy, as of this writing our team has won 22 medals and want to commend our athletes and staff for a job well done...

Ciao!

Down the stretch they come.....

2006-02-22T01:19:00.000+01:00

So here he is - the Fin that my dad had a bonding experience with. You can see that my description was fairly accurate - I just missed on the Viking helmet piece - but remember, I was across the rink from this guy. Great photo dad and thanks for sending it my way.

I want to get this straight, did Bobby, the guy on the outside, really give me a hard time in his post, and then wrap it up with a statement about going to the opera? I have a rebuttal, but sometimes you just have to know when to let a guy bury himself....

It has been an interesting couple of days in the Willage. There have been the typical highs and lows that go along with life. Apparently no matter where you go - you can't ever really get away from "real" life. When you are here - in an Olympic Village - you become so focused on each day and what you have to do, that it becomes easy to forget the reality of life. Unfortunately (or fortunately - depending on your perspective) reality has a way of coming up and biting you on the nose. Yesterday we faced three situations that you don't want to think about when you are at a Games. How the staff in this village worked together and reacted to each situation only reaffirmed what a great team we have here. Professionals all the way. I have said it before, but I am blessed because of what I get to do each day, and because of the people I work with.

A couple of days ago I posted something Tammie had written about pins and their power. The power of the pin was confirmed the other day. I was walking through the international zone of the Village and right behind me was Chris Chelios. I talked with him for a minute and as we were entering the last building we have to walk through to get to our housing area Chelly peeled off. The reason he stopped...he wanted to do some pin trading with a guy who spoke limited English. Of course there were a few people who had to have their picture taken with him as well. It was great. A Stanley Cup winning, probably Hall of Fame player, trading pins. Perfect.

There is no question that we are here to win medals. We want to win medals, and we want to win gold medals. Me writing that statement may make some of you cringe, but remember, we are a sporting organization. We are made up of athletes who are among the world's best in their particular sport. They all possess a very competitive spirit. As staff members we have to share that fire, or we will not be as effective in serving these athletes. So if you have any feel for drama and competition - you were probably watching the men's 1500 in long track speedskating yesterday. Hedrick vs. Davis was the billing. They both performed well, but the Italian stole the show. So while the Italian took the gold we so desperately wanted, you had to feel great for him. To pull off that upset, in his home country, amazing. Tonight he gets to hear his national anthem at Medals Plaza. It does not get much better than that.

Speaking of Medals Plaza, tonight the entertainment is Ricky Martin. That should be interesting. We will be there as we have Shani and Chad travelling from the Village to go down there and collect their medals. As Michelle put it, there could be some bon bon shaking going on.

One note before I move on - I am reading the same stuff you are about Chad and Shani. Let me just remind all of you that the press does not always get it right. Especially in an environment like this where expectations are so high, pressure is immense, and 10000 writers need something to do...or drum up.

Let's talk hockey. Today the US plays the first game of this tournament that matters. They face off with Finland. It is the quarterfinals and we are now in a sitaution where the boys have to win to stay alive. I know our record is 1-3-1, but I am asking all of you to have faith. We need all of you to send the fellas some love and give them some extra support.

The weird thing about the Olympics is that our housing - in particular where we have the men's hockey team housed - is 100 feet from the door of where Finland lives here in the Village. Countries seperated by thousands of miles are about to get it on in the Olympics, and they are housed that close to each other. Just over a couple of hundred feet in the other direction are the Italians - the ones who "took" that gold from us yesterday. In fact, within our V illage here in Torino, 82 countries are housed. Think about that for a second. Those types of things make this experience even that much more incredible.

Last night Eric and I went over the US vs. Russia game. Well, let me clarify - we got their for the last 10 minutes (some things in the village held up our departure). Walking wise, we can be in the Palasport and Olympic Stadium within 15 minutes from the Village. Our location here is fantastic. The game was awesome. We saw three goals and a flurry of activity. The place was packed and the flag wavers for both countries were in full effect. It was an electric atmosphere and one of those times when you just have to stop and look around and truly appreciate where you are and what you are seeing. Bobby G was there - but he was up in the stand of honor - where he should be.

After the game ended, JJ, the men's team leader gave me a call and asked me to help him out. In yet another example that being at the Games is all glamour, he asked me to go to one of the rooms, get a DVD, and walk it out to a nearby bar. The DVD was of a yet to be released movie that Chelios appears in. An actor - DB Sweeney - had given it to JJ so that the video editor here with the men's team could put Chelly's lines from the movie in a scout tape he was creating. JJ needed me to go get the DVD and take it DB Sweeney, which I did. So for those of you wondering what I do - add in DVD delivery boy to actors. Hey, whatever it takes.

We are in the stretch run here. In looking at what is yet to be competed, we see 10 or so solid medal opportunities. We will see how we end up these Games. We need all of you to send all the positive vibes you can to YOUR athletes.

As you can see, things in the Village continue to move on. Those of us who work in here just come in every day, put on our fire fighting hats, and wait for the bell. We have no idea what each day will bring. We do know that it will be unique. We are some dang lucky fire fighters.

Until next time....

On the outside - Monday February 20, 2006

2006-02-20T15:47:00.000+01:00

The days of the “Budweiser” cooler as described by my colleague "on the inside" are behind me since I moved to a different hotel on February 10th. The Jolly Ligure (present home) hotel did not make the “A” list on the “Bud tour”; therefore when in Rome (or in Turin), do as the Romans do... we have been having red wine (“vino rosso”) with our dinner meals. The wine from the Piedmont Region is very good.

We continue to schedule meetings with other NOC Leaders. Yesterday we met with the President and Secretary General of the Israeli Olympic Committee. They are seeking our help in the area of coaching development and athlete exchanges.

The next few days we will meet with the Italian Olympic Committee (http://www.coni.it/) and attend a reception hosted by the Ukrainian Olympic Committee (http://www.noc-ukr.org/english/news/) are on the schedule. The President of the Ukraine NOC is the famous pole vault champion, Sergey BUBKA, a four time Olympian and world record holder.
(http://www.olympic.org/uk/organisation/ioc/members/bio_uk.asp?id=103).

Tonight I will attend an Opera at the Teatro Regio. The event is hosted by TOROC as a way of saying thanks to the Olympic Family. Works from Rossini, Verdi and Puccini are on tonight’s program.

We have another White House delegation visit this weekend. More to follow.

The Power of Dew

2006-02-19T22:50:00.000+01:00

I had a nice conversation with Bobby G today. Based on what we talked about, I can provide you with his update. Here goes...things are good. The beer cooler remains stocked, the cars are reaching their destinations and he is still rubbing elbows with the heavy hitters....there is other stuff, but I will leave it to him to update all of you on when he gets a chance.

As for those of us in the Village, life has been good. Before I give any updates, just wanted to provide the answer to a couple of questions I recently received on email.

Best pasta dish and pizza I have had since being here...believe it or not, good old salami (i.e. pepperoni). There is a place near the Village that has awesome pizza. The strangest pizza I have had was ham, cheese and it had an egg cooked and put in the middle of it. Egg yolk and pizza - nice. Best pasta...all of it - serioulsy (even in the Village). The lasagna is different from what we think, but is awesome. Anything with pesto - great and today they even broke out some ravioli. It has all been good.

Athletes to watch who you have not heard of - probably I would go with Tanith Belbin an ice dancer. Mainly because she is a new US citizen (just happened before the Games) and she is from Michigan. Come on, it is all about the mitten.

Two days ago was horrible. That was the day that the snowboard athlete decided to finish with flair and instead wiped out and grabbed silver. Then the US women lost in hockey. What is hard for many to understand is the absolute "life and death" approach we take when watching these events. We huddle around our few tvs in the office in the Village and watch. During the snowboard race Eric was yelling at the tv and saying "just don't fall" and sure enough she did. Brutal. Then we had the Sweden versus US hockey game. When the Swedish player made that shootout goal, everyone went silent. No one really knew what to say.

The good news is that in the Olympics there are medal possibilities everyday...and the "day after" we had some success. Thank goodness - we needed it. The entire US delegation needed to have something positive happen and it did. Shani and Joey in the 1000 started it off. Two of our staffers (Eric and Keith) wandered over to see the event. The rest of us stayed in the office and watched it on TV. Talk about exciting, that event was amazing. We had probably 6 of us in this office and there were at least that many in the medical offices. The yelling and encouraging that was happening was awesome. The two medals those guys won lifted everyone's spirits. That night Apolo took bronze and we ended up with a three medal day...one of each color.

You have no idea what something like that does to the entire delegation. It changes the atmosphere - especially in the Torino Village where those sports are housed. We needed those medals.

To top it off, those three medal winners all traveled to Medals Plaza from this village - which meant that we went with them. Michelle was in Joey's car with him, Keith rode in with Apolo, and I was with Shani. What that means is we each had about 20 minutes or so of time to talk with each of these Olympic champions. I know that talking with Shani was tremendous. Hearing what he wants to do with his life was great - he talked about becoming a school teacher and coaching. That should make many of you who are teachers proud.

Once we got them all to Medals Plaza we hooked them up with their agents, or in Apolo's case with his dad, and we went on our way. The snow last night was awesome and made the ceremony look great. But, it was wet and heavy. Those of us who walked through a lot of it can attest to how wet it was. It has been very warm here, so that snow was doomed. The good news is that our favorite snow plow guy had three others helping him. So last night we got to see four snow plows, with the plows on backwards, dragging snow around. It could have been a new event - synchronized plowing. They would have scored a 2.3 had it been judged.

A quick thing about the men's hockey team. Do not give up on them. This is a long tournament.

I had one of those random village moments a couple of days ago. Two Croatian figure skating women were eating lunch. In walked two Japanese guys (no idea what sport). There was some english spoken (it was funny to listen to) and then a pin exchange. It was great. As I have said before, pins are like gold here.

Okay, so we have entered the stretch run of these Olympic Games. At times it seems like we just got here, there are other times when it seems like we have been forever. A lot has happened. This opportunity to be here - to work with these athletes, coaches, administrators and fellow USOC staff - is tremendous. I would not change a thing. There is a great amount of pride we all have just to be associated with the Games.

For those of you who have asked - the Dew supply is holding tight. I even sent two Dew's to the mountains for a couple of the fellas. They were very happy. Sometimes it is the little things that make a difference.

Talk with you soon. Keep cheering for the USA.

What the ...

2006-02-17T23:48:00.000+01:00

So let me get this straight, my brother (Bobby) with the GPS led car, and cooler stocked every day with Bud, is asking me if I am out there...holy hannah. Yes, I am out here, and I can say it has been an interesting last few days in the Village and in Torino. Where to begin....

On Tuesday (Feb. 14) my dad and a friend of his - John Pearson - showed up in Torino. It was great to have them here, except I got word he shared a few too many of the family secrets with some of my co-workers who were staying at the same hotel he was. So in order to get him back for his "indisgressions" I gave them a pair of tickets to the women's hockey game versus Finland and made sure that he was seated behind perhaps the largest Fin I have ever seen (think Chris Farley with a viking cap on). And, to make things better, this was one very partiotic Fin who opted to wave a 5 foot flag the entire game. It was perfect because until the 3rd period the Fin's were in the game, so it meant a lot of flag waving. Keith, Michelle, and I did not sit with John and Dad, but my proudest moment as his son had to be when I looked up at the big screen monitor at the game and there is my dad's booty - front and center - because he had run down the steps to take a picture his new found Scandinavian buddy.

The other things that Dad and John did while they were here was to take in some Alpine Skiing, Short Track Speedskating, Medals Plaza, a men's hockey game, and we had them in the village for a visit. That is a busy three days.

I had mentioned that I had been to Medals Plaza with Chad Hedrick. Keith, Michelle and I also took a trip with Joey Cheek for his gold medal in the men's 500 in long track. That was a different trip because they put us in a vehicle that was escorted by the police. That would leave a person to believe that traffic would not be much of an issue. Here is the problem, I think the guy in the lead police car was one of the bus drivers from TOROC - and he was probably the one who could not find the speedskating rink from the Village - remember, the rink is a few hundred yards from the village. Granted, I have not been in many escorted trips - but I think that we saw the entire city on our journey. Wow.

Now I must admit something - I went down to Medals Plaza again on the 15th, but this time as a specator. The reason - Duran Duran in concert. They were no, no, notorious. Here is this band, from the 80's, and the place is going crazy. They are playing on a stage in the middle of this square that on three sides has incredible buildings - the history is amazing. The stage they ocupy had only moments earlier had some of the world's greatest athletes on it, and there is Simon Lebon telling me he is hungry like a wolf and her name was rio. People were dancing everywhere, it was crazy, but it was fun.

Update - let me just say that the Sahara recently had some rain. The men's hockey team leader - hearing of our plight...well desperation for some beers...brought some in for us. Let's just say that our post Games evaluations of him will be very high.

Yesterday our Village welcomed Katie Couric (you will see the piece on Monday). Nope, none of us made our way on camera. They spent three hours with the athletes. They may have 4 minutes worth of stuff. No matter, if you would like to get Katie's opinion of our humble world tune in on Monday. Keith was with her the entire time, he returned to the office looking like he had been run over by a truck. Then to top off Keith's evening Johnny finished in 7th in the men's event. Bad day all the way around.

No mom, I am serious, I did not get on camera. I also did not even go and see Katie.

So as we wrap up day 7 of the Olympic Games, we sit here saying what the...is going on. Don't know if you all are keeping track, but we have had an incredible series of events happen - and all ofthem bad - and they have gone against us. As I have mentioned before, we do not have a medal goal for these Games, but let me say that if by some odd chance we did, we would very possibly be behind on where we thought we would be at this time. So we need all of you to give some extra love to Team USA...please!

We continue to plug away here in the Torino Village. As we get more and more settled, the characters will begin to come out. There are still 9 days of events to go, the clock is ticking.

Bobby, you are up....

The new Euro?

2006-02-17T08:37:00.000+01:00

As you are all aware, we don't get the NBC "show", so we have no idea what they are showing you about things besides the actual Games themselves. What I mean by that are what fluff pieces are they showing? So, assuming you have seen, or read, something about pins and their value - I offer you the following. This was written by Tammie - a member of the Village team. Her job (at least I know what some people do) is NGB Services. What that means is that she is involved in just about everything that the sports need and she is doing a great job. Here is her perspective on pins and their value....

"I can't believe it has taken me this long to share this phenomenon with you. I remember from my athlete days how much fun it was to trade pins with competitors from other countries. Heck, I have pins from countries that no longer exist. ...But this Games had taken pin trading, if you can call it that, to a whole new level. It's a mob scene akin to having cartons of Marlboros in Pre-Perestroika Soviet Union. You can get massive favors for any pin, old or new, cool or not cool.

The bad thing about this pin craze, however, is that everyone asks for them regardless. We have NOC assistants who aren't even associated with us asking for them; if the police/security see pins in the x-ray, they will make us open our bags and then ask for them; and even the McDonalds employees want pins. Of course, I didn't bring any pins although I have hundreds back home. "

Day 7 ...on the outside in Turin(o)

2006-02-16T17:22:00.000+01:00

Hello family and friends....In the next 24 hours I will attempt to recount the past couple of days on the outside.....but first some web sites that I came across...

OLYMPIC DISCIPLINES
Discover all about the sports on the program of the Olympic Winter Games, with detailed explanations of each event, the equipment required and the techniques used. You will need the Flash 5 plug-in for the animated features.
Go to: http://www.olympic.org/uk/sports/flash/index_uk.asp

BEHIND THE SCENES AT THE GAMES
Experience the Games as if you were there! Learn more about media operations discover the Olympic fans and visit Torino in its Olympic colors.

Go to: http://www.olympic.org/uk/games/torino2006/backstage/index_uk.asp

ALL THE RESULTS
Find out the results of the Olympic events, and consult the medals table of the Torino Games.
Go to http://www.torino2006.org/ENG/IDF/MDL/MDL_Big.html

The photo is from a meeting with the Chinese Olympic Committee President Liu and Secretary General Gu with USOC Chair Peter Ueberroth and CEO/Secretary General Jim Scherr.

Day 7 is coming to a close, the Medals Plaza is a great way to end a day at the Olympics....Team USA is 6-2-1=9

Kelly are you out there?

Bob

Reality...Euphoria...Reality...Euphoria

2006-02-13T09:38:00.000+01:00

It is good to see that Bob could use his GPS and find his way back to the site to provide us with some updates on the outside. Thanks for the update on all of the Budweiser available at the VIP hotel. Here in the Village we are living in the Sahara. Rumor has it the Canadians just brought in two pallets of Bud. We will see.

One of our NOC Assistants brought in some wine for us to drink on the evening of Opening Ceremonies. Of course being the well behaved group that we are, we didn't. Or....

There has been a great deal that has happened in the Torino Village since the last time I was able to write. There have also been a lot of pictures taken. The Snapfish album is being updated as often as possible. I can't promise everyday, but we will do our best.

As I mentioned, a lot has happened since I last wrote. Our team has participated in the official team wlecome ceremony for the Village. The pomp and circumstance was at a high enough level that we even had Bobby G grace us with his presence. It was good to see him. The only "interesting" thing that happened with the ceremony was that we were with Iran. There is more to that story, but that will have to be for another day.

One of the greatest things about the Village is getting to know the athletes. Long Track speedskater Catherine Raney has been a frequent visitor to the offices and always has something funny to talk about. Chad Hedrick is one of the most low key people you will meet (more about him later), Apolo is a fierce competitor, but very laid back. Actually all of the athletes in the village have been fantastic. Those of us who get to work in here are very, very fortunate.

As you have all seen, or read, we have had a couple of harsh realities in the last few days. Two of our high profile athletes are no longer here. Getting a phone call informing of us that one of the athletes will be leaving the village because of an adverse situation is never easy. To have it happen twice in a three day period is downright brutal. The pagentry and news that is associated with these athletes making the team is so huge. Then you watch them leave, silently, out a side gate, so they can avoid the media. On the way out they get hugs from fellow athletes and hearty goodbye's. To watch someone's Olympic journey end so silently can't be adequately described. It is surreal.

So those are the two doses of reality, thankfully, for all of us who are so vested in these athletes, we get some euphoria.

On Feb. 11, Michelle and I went over to long track event and watched Chad Hedrick win America's first medal - gold - in the men's 5000m. We have credential access to the event, but we took a couple of tickets so that we would have a seat. Little did we know what an interesting decision that would turn out to be.

We get into the venue and go find our seats. Our tickets have us sitting right in the middle of the Netherlands. Yes, I mean the country. Holy sea of orange. It was incredible. They are some serious speedskating fans. They stand almost the whole competition and cheer, they are awesome. So anyway, we sit down and the first two athletes up are from the Netherlands and they skate very well and are 1st and 2nd. The next pair is Chad vs. another athlete from the Netherlands. On the third lap, when Chad took the overall lead, you could hear this crowd groan. It was a great win for Chad and the USA. We needed that.

Then last night I was one of a group of staff that had the opportunity to go to Medals Plaza and help the athletes behind the scenes with the process. What an incredible setting it was. I did not have my camera, but there are some pictures others will be giving me that will end up on Snapfish in a couple of days. It was incredible. I can say that watching the flag raise and hearing the national anthem was incredible. The post medals entertainment was Kelly Clarkston. Needless to say, I was gone. Tuesday is Duran Duran. That could be fun.

Okay, I received a few questions in email and wanted to provide some answers:

Where did we watch Opening Ceremonies? Those of us in the Village watched ceremonies from our offices. We assisted with the process of getting the athletes out of the village. It is great to be involved behind the scenes and see them as they get ready. The Village was showing the event on a big screen TV, but we had a few people stay behind so we watched it in our offices. Have to admit, we were cracking up at the dancing cows, the dude with spiked hair and Yoko. What was that all about?

Are TV's on all day? Do we get live coverage? Yes, we have TV's on all day and we get live, no commentary coverage. We have access to the international live feed, so everything that is happening we can watch live - and we do. If we want commentary we switchto the BBC. It is great to have this setup.

What is the mood in the village? Right now the mode is interesting. We - staff - are a bit tense as our current medal total is behind our projections...wait, did I say that...we don't have a medal goal for these games! Seriously, the athletes seem laid back, but the mood has changed. Focus is high. We need to win some more medals because it energizes everyone. When an athlete comes back with a medal on their neck - like Chad did last night - it adds to the excitement. They all want them. People are excited.

Do the athletes follow each other? Yes, they care about how the other athletes are doing. Athletes come into the offices to watch the other sports compete. Lat night at Medals Plaza one of Chad's first questions to me was "How did Bode do today?" They are interested and they follow each other. There is definitely a team atmosphere. Athletes love to get out and watch other athletes compete as well. Each day athletes can sign up for free tickets to go see other events.

What is your actual job in the Village? I am not sure. What I am sure about is that there is an incredible team of people who work here in this village. Keith, Chris, Tammie, Michelle, Eric and Robert are amazing at what they do and they make it easy for me to do my job.

In the Village we are thankful to our friends in the media. Today was the beginning of the newspaper deliveries. We received the USA Today, Boston Globe and New York Times. It is great that these groups send these paper in for our delegation. It is nice to be able to pick up a newspaper and understand more than just the pictures.

The good news is that with 14 days of the Olympics to go, I still have 12 Mountain Dews left. Thank goodness. Until next time...

Bobby G .... on the outside

2006-02-12T22:56:00.000+01:00

Today I spent most of my day at the Royal Hunting Lodge of Stupingi which is 20 minutes south for Torino.
As I mentioned in a previous post, The Truce Foundation of the USA honored three individuals for the Truce award.

Peter Ueberroth, Chair of the United States Olympic Committee was one of today's honorees which was presented by Mitt Romney, Governor of Massachusetts. Juan Antionio Samaranch, Honorary IOC President was in attandence (Above Photo with Peter Ueberroth and Jim Scherr, CEO)
Tomorrow (Monday) we will host Sebastian Coe, Chair of London 2012 Olympic Games at the USA House. (http://www.olympic.org/uk/athletes/profiles/bio_uk.asp?PAR_I_ID=43395). Seb is the only the only man to win the Olympic 1,500m twice.

Saturday.....On the Outside

2006-02-11T20:10:00.000+01:00

Saturday was filled with activity....

This morning at the USA House we (USOC) had a meeting with the Chinese Olympic Committee, President Mr. Liu Peng and Secretary General Gu Yaoming.

Also today Mrs. George W. Bush visited the USA House twice. In addition to Mrs. Bush and her daughter (Barbara), the USA House was filled with notables....Herschel Walker, Bonnie Blair, Joe Pack, Kerri Shrug, Robin Roberts and Dorothy Hammil.

Tomorrow Chairman Peter Ueberroth will receive the Truce Ideal Award (logo above) along with Ellen Jophnson-Sirleaf, President of Liberia and Olusegun Obasanjo, President of Nigeria...the Truce awards will be presented by Mitt Romney, Governor of Massachusetts...

More later......

BG

Great Kodak Site

2006-02-10T10:11:00.000+01:00

CITIUS-ALTIUS-FORTIUS

Faster - Higher - Stronger.

View this visual embodiment of the Olympic motto and spirit.

Go to http://www.kodak.com/eknec/PageQuerier.jhtml;jsessionid=X3AQ0RPC3VRJZFW4FBEHWEEW1YUBI4L4?pq-path=7907&CID=go&idhbx=olympic&pq-locale=en_US&_requestid=1071

On the outside with BG

2006-02-09T20:10:00.000+01:00

Dead Computer

I have been unable to post the past couple of days due to that my computer died again. Long live the Blackberry (hopefully)....

Accommodations
For the past nine days I been staying at the Lancaster Hotel (http://www.lancaster.it/). The Lancaster is playing host to the USOC Marketing staff and USOC sponsors. The Lancaster with the help of Budweiser installed a "Budweiser refrigerator" in the common area of the hotel and keep it filled with Bud products. Not a bad deal.

Juventus Soccer Club
Yesterday I was at the Concord Hotel and the Soccer Team Juventus was staying there for there match with Parma (1-1 tie). Presently Juventus (

http://soccernet.espn.go.com/team?id=111&cc=5901) is in first place in the 2006 Italian Serie “A” Soccer League. One of our TOROC drivers told me that Juventus is considered to be the NY Yankees of Soccer in Italy.

Accommodations - Part "Due"

Tomorrow I move to the Jolly Ligure Hotel (http://www.jollyhotels.it/ITA/ALBERGHI_scheda_classic.asp?Obj=1302) in the center city. This is where all the NOCs member countries will be staying during the Olympic Games. Starting today you need an accreditation to get in and out of the hotel. The past couple of days I have seen many friends and colleagues from around the world.

118th IOC General Session - Softball and Baseball

Today at the 118th IOC General Session, Softball and Baseball lost a second chance to remain on the Olympic program in the 2012 Games. Today Peter Ueberroth issued a statement Regarding the Status of Softball and Baseball on the 2012 Olympic Program.

"The dreams of young people from around the world who aspire to compete in the Olympic Games in softball and baseball were dealt a setback today.
We are disappointed the IOC chose to not reconsider its decision to eliminate these sports from the 2012 Olympic Games program.
However, we will continue working with the international federations for these two sports, along with other countries, to see that they are reinstated to the Olympic program at the earliest opportunity."

2006 USA Flag Bearer
On another note it was announced that The 2006 U.S. Olympic Team elected five-time Olympian Chris Witty (West Allis, Wis.) as the flag bearer to lead the USA delegation into Friday’s Opening Ceremony of the XX Olympic Winter Games in Torino, Italy.

Ciao..Ciao

Photo:BBC Sport

One Canadian for One Heineken

2006-02-07T00:07:00.000+01:00

What a day it was in the Village. Actually, today we had a "TV" executive type of day. What does that mean? Well it means we woke up with not much to do and basically sat around all day planning. Then when we got done planning, we told some people what we expected and hit the links. Just kidding, of course, that message was written for Keith Allo who recently checked in to the site. We miss you in the Springs.

Actually what happened in the Village was this:

In the early afternoon we got a call from our Team Processing group (I will explain team processing in a different blog). Anyway, Nancy - the head of our operation and all around team processing guru - gave me a call and said that she had a Canadian Nordic Combined skier who had showed up at the USA processing site. Jason, the Canadian skier, actually trains in Park City, Utah with all of the US athletes. Well the team had been training here in Italy - in a city about 5 hours outside of Torino. So when they left to come to the Games he jumped in with them and ended up at our processing site.

Nancy called me because Jason essentially had no place to go. We couldn't have him in our processing, and he did not have a way to contact the Canadians and he did not have his Olympic accreditation. Nancy's call to me was to ask if we could go and find the Canadians in the Village and figure out what we should do. So I get Nick (another NOC Assistant of ours - we go everywhere with them) and we head over to get a map of the willage and find the Canadian buildings.

I wish I had a camera with me when I went to their building (they actually have a few buildings in the Village). You see there is a rule in the Village that you can't hang flags, etc. Well, one of Canada's buildings had a flag on it that is the size of four of the six stories. Amazing.

Nick and I go into their building area and I use him to speak Canadian (just kidding). We go in and wander up to the second floor and find a guy named Andre. We tell Andre what is going on - that we have a Canadian athlete, we are holding him captive, but would be willing to negotiate a trade (that is the truth of what we told Andre). He asks who and when I tell him he has no idea who Jason is. So I called Nancy and she put Jason on the phone and I put Andre the phone. The conversation, what I can hear, so all Andre, goes like this:

"Who is this"
"What sport do you compete in"
"Why are you here"
"Where are you and how did you get there"
"Where is your coach"
"Stay there, we will come and get you"

So I am thinking this poor kid is never getting here. Well another member of the Canadian Olympic Committee (Denise) goes and finds Jason's combined card (that is what an Olympic credential is called before it is validated and oficially hangs from your neck). Andre then gets a set of car keys, grabs the NOC Assistant for their team (so get this, the Americans and Canadians are talking, yet both have their English/Italian speaking NOC Assistants with them) and tells this guy to get a car and drive me where I need to go.

Having figured he would do that, I was talking with Denise and innocently commented that the empty can of Heineken I saw in the trash can looked good (by the way, it was like 1:00 in the afternoon). She asked if I wanted one. My first thought was - and this is serious - that Eric would LOVE one - so I said yes. I told her we would trade Jason for a cold Heineken. She proceeded to grab two Tim Horton paper coffee cups and cover the can of beer. She hands it to me and says "enjoy your coffee." You have to love the Canadians.

I called Eric and told him I had an ice cold Heineken for him if he drove me and the NOC Assistant for Canada (remember we need help with the language process) to get Jason. That was an easy call as I knew the answer. Needless to say, Eric got his beer, Jason got hooked up with the Canadians, and for one brief moment of time we actually like Canada. Wait....moment is passed.

I will say this - the Canadian NOC Assistant was a born and bred person from Torino. He spoke Italian, English and French. When Eric and I asked him how he learned French, he said he spent "12 days straight frenching with my girlfriend." What he meant to say that was he spent 12 straight days speaking french with his girlfriend because when he met her, she only spoke French and he knew Italian and English, so he learned by talking with her. His answer had us cracking up. Classic. Just another day in the Village.

The ironic thing about that car trip is that the American was driving while the guy actually from this town was in the back seat. Eric just likes to drive because he drives in the bus lanes.

By the way, we did get to see the Super Bowl. Not in the Village though. We went to our operations hotel and watched it there. That made for a long night.

Get ready, it is almost time for the Opening Ceremonies.

Bobby G will be writing tomorrow.

What Super Bowl?

2006-02-06T00:02:00.000+01:00

So, the Super Bowl is happening in 30 minutes and in my home state. I am in Torino - that hurts. There are several staff members gathering at a local apartment to watch the game and their is a rumor that we will have it broadcast in the Village. Time will tell. In fact, exactly 30 minutes will tell. I don't think that the commercials for Peroni beer will be at all like any of the Bud commercials.

Sorry about the bit of a lapse between posts - as Bob mentioned he had some computer problems. As for me, I have no excuse. Well, I do have some, but not sure you want to hear them. While you all have been making your plans for the Super Bowl - in DETROIT - here is what we have been doing in the city known as the Detroit of Italy (serioulsy).

Several of our teams have now checked into the Village. It is starting to feel like this is really going to happen. Very cool. One of the people that checked in with one of the teams was Eric Heiden, of Speedskating fame. Incredible, without a doubt. Individuals who are like him do not come along very often. Class all of the way, and truly an Olympic icon.

One of the ironic things about Eric being here in a support staff role for the speedskating team is that an athlete who is being compared to Eric is Chad Hedrick. Chad is a name you don't know now, but you probably will. He literally exploded on the scene in 2003 and is poised to win several medals. On his way to the Olympics he lost a pair of Bose headphones and - as you could figure - was very disappointed. Well, one of the staff members here with the Olympic staff, Jim Ruby, happened to have the exact same pair and he loaned them to Chad for the remainder of the Games. Now that is the good stuff you may never hear about.

The picture at the top is of me, Eric, Keith (in Village media) and Alfredo, one of our NOC Assistants. We were over seeing if a newly built bridge had been opened. At this time it hadn't and it had become the running joke - when will the bridge be opened - if ever. Well, later in the day Keith and I went to check it again and there were two security guys walking on it. Keith asked if we could pass and they told him to go for it. Hold on, we thought. NO ONE had been on this bridge. So then the head security guy comes down and rips the tape off the gate and lets me go. I catch up with Keith and we become the first two to walk across the famous Torino bridge! Truly historic.

Here is the problem though. Once we got to the other side, Keith had a meeting, so I decided to go back to the Village. That is after checking out the Main Media Center and International Broadcasting. Anyway, I go to leave and when I get to the entrance to the bridge - my passage home - they tell me that that the mag and bag does not work. They then ask "do you have a ride home, because that is a long walk." I did not see that as a sign the bridge would open soon, so I got a ride back.

The big news in the Village today - the laundry machines were hooked up. Thank goodness. There are only so many ways you can wear a pair of socks.

My last story, from the "it is all glamour baby" file. Today we had to go in and change over (i.e. strip beds, gather towels, etc) 19 beds so that the women's hockey team could move in. You see last night we had the Luge team here, but they have since moved to another Village. Today the women's hockey team came in, and we needed to turn the rooms. I was not involved as a few of us were moving cars. Like I said, it is all glamour. Oh yea, our elevator in one of buildings broke - but Robert and I were able to get it fixed - at least for tonight. The fix - we got in and pushed the floor buttons, and that is no joke. It takes all types to make a Village, a Village.

Okay, Opening Ceremonies are getting closer. Enjoy the Super Bowl, it starts in 3 minutes (I took a break, I did not write for 27 minutes). Go Steelers. Talk with you soon.

P.S. There are new photos on Snapfish for those of you who want to see them.

Back Again

2006-02-05T10:01:00.000+01:00

My computer took a vacation for the past two days....it crashed...
The USOC IT division in Torino is working 24/7 to keep our IT system up
and running. While I lost all the files (on my computer) that I needed, I did have a
backup, a 1gb zip drive with all my International Relations files......

For the past two days we have been making our way around Torino
to learn how to get to the different venues (IOC Hotel, etc.) of where
our planned meetings will take place. Having a GPS system in our
car (Cadillac SUV) has been a great asset, but like what happened
to my computer, we are learning our way around just in case.

I am on my way to find the Royal Hunting Palace of Stupinigi (Camini Hall)...
Here's a brief video of the Palace - it is the second one of three on the clip. http://www.torinopiemontevideobank.it/en/video.php?ID=23&categoriaID=4&avanzata=1
it is the venue where the Olympic Truce award will be presented to a USOC official (TBA)......

More to follow tonight...

BG

Italian Engineering

2006-02-02T23:14:00.000+01:00

Can you guess what this is a picture of? Remember the story I told you about the "leak" we had in our roof and the three guys who did not speak any English coming to fix it - well, this is a picture of the fix. Serioulsy. Much like the Fiat, it may not be pretty, but it works. I am
happy to report that since this fix, we have not had a single leak. In the spirit of fairness, I must tell you that the last few days have been amazing weather wise. We have been walking around in short sleeve shirts and the sunshine has been incredible (this picture was taken at night). So is it the Italian engineering, or Mother Nature who is keeping us dry? Time will tell.

Nice post by Bob. Thanks for telling us about the GPS system you have in your cars - that is great. Maybe you should send a few into the bus drivers that TOROC (acronoym for the organizing committee) has hired. Why? Well yesterday our speedskaters got on a bus that works out of the Olympic Village. This is a bus that has one job - take people from the Olympic Village to the speedskating rink - and bring them back. That is it, nothing more, nothing less.

Yesterday the athletes got on the bus to go to practice. The bus drove right past the skating rink. When the athletes - who are from the United States - told the Italian driver, who had been hired by TOROC, to turn around because he had passed the rink, he did.

So now he is headed down the other side of the street coming up on the rink, and....he nearly passed the rink again. The athletes had to tell him where to go. Beautiful.

Oh by the way, the rink is literally 500 yards from the village. As I sit here typing this, I can clearly see the rink. It could be a long Games.

Like I said, two experiences, one Games.

We had a little fun with some of the maintenance men. We are having a bit of a heat problem in some of the rooms here in the village. Mainly, there is not any heat in some of the first floor apartments. So we - well Michelle - calls TOROC to ask them to come and fix the problem. She then asks me to go and watch what they are doing (those of you who know me realize that this was probably a bad move). I ask one of our NOC (National Olympic Committee) assistants to go with me. NOC Assistants are volunteers who speak both English (in our case) and Italian.

So the two of us go over to make sure that the maintenance guys are working on the heat situation. We walk into one of the apartments that we have here and there are 5 guys standing there, laughing. One of them is the guy that Eric had been hand gesturing with when we had the roof problem. Anyway, I ask the NOC Assistant to find out if the heat is on and what the problem is with the apartment. So she does, and the leader of these 5 guys - who was a scruffy dude, definitely named Alessandro - motions for us to follow him. He opens the door to the room, touches the floor (remember, radiant heat here) and then stands up and points at the thermostat and says (at least this is what the NOC Assistant told me he said), "if you want heat, you must turn up thermostat." If only we had thought of that.

I hope everyone is doing great. We had another team check into to the Village, so it is starting to feel more and more like the Olympics are coming. Just so you know, I am occassionally adding pictures to the snapfish site. I hope you enjoy. Until next time....

My first 72 hours - Bob G

2006-02-02T00:28:00.001+01:00

Wednesday February 1, 2006 – (Bob)

I departed Colorado Springs on Sunday and arrived without incident (no airport strikes). Presently I am staying at the Hotel Lancaster and will move to the Jolly Ligure Hotel in the City Centre. The Jolly Ligure will serve as the official National Olympic Committee (NOC) hotel during the Olympic Games. (As soon as the USA house is built out, I will post some photos). Most of Monday was getting acclimated to the time change and to identify all the sites related to the Olympic Games. On Monday evening I received my credential from the IOC Main Accreditation Center.

Tuesday I spent most of the day at the USA House and made an airport run to pick a USOC Marketing staff member. The USA House serves the USOC‘s reception center for athletes, sponsors, donors and friends of the US Olympic Committee. Next door to the USA House is “Club Bud” (Budweiser) which will host many parties for athletes, and the Olympic Family through out the 17 days of the games. Addtionally, the USA House will play host to foreign dignitaries from the NOC’s, OCOGS, International Federations and other International Sport Bodies.

This is where my job begins. Beginning next week we will host meetings with sport leaders to discuss all aspect of international sport. Additionally, the International Olympic Committee will host the 118th IOC Session, where the 110 member board will meet to discuss issues related to the Olympic movement. You can go to the IOC website to view the schedule of events for the IOC session (go to: http://www.olympic.org/uk/games/index_uk.asp).

Some of the USOC staff members have been taking tours of the city to get familiarized with the city venues (e.g. Medals Plaza) to be able to move around efficiently in the the city during the games. Traffic will be a challenge during the games. Good news!!! Our cars have GPS systems installed, which helps navigate our way in the city. Getting lost is a thing of the past (I am knocking on wood right now).

Today our staff is starting to set up a coordination center in the City Center. The USOC leased an apartment that will be used as a command center in an attempt to centralize all operations for Team USA.

In ending a former USOC Sport Scientist once said: “The margin between a gold medal and a silver medal performance at the world level (Olympic Games, World Championships) is only 2/10ths of 1%... therefore we can never leave anything to chance…..”

We are open for business

2006-01-31T23:51:00.000+01:00

We welcomed our first athletes into the Village today! For us this is very big as it means we are now ready to get this going. The Opening Ceremonies are still 10 days away, but we are ready. This is going to be awesome.

As I will be writing about the Olympic Village, I thought I would take this opportunity to tell you a little bit about this place. Where the Village has been built was an old warehouse district. One of the good things that the designers did was to keep the shell of some of the buildings and use them for some of the organizing committee offices, dining areas, etc. It adds a nice feel to the Village.

Like every place we have been to - at least for the last few Games - the plan is to tear a part of the Village down when this is all over, and to use the rest of it for low income housing. They will have to do a lot of work to these buildings to get them ready for people to live in them full time, but that is the intent.

One thing is clear - as seen from the picture above - they stick out like sore thumb. We are in this area with all of these old buildings and then there is a village of buildings like this. Interesting choice.

An Olympic Village is very much a city. We have a mayor, a retail area (called the International Zone) where you can do banking, make travel arrangements, buy "store" type items, a bookstore, coffee shop, and internet cafe's. There is a transportation area and of course dining opportunities. We have a phone book, and heads of various departments. And, like any city, the leadership of the various divisions do not communicate very well. It is very interesting.

Speaking of food - yes, the food is great. Of course the pasta and pizza are fantastic. The pizza - for those of you that have asked - is similar to our pizza. They tend to go with a thinner crust and every place (that I have been to) cooks then in a wood burning oven. A typical dinner - outside the Village - consists of several courses and generally lasts for two hours. As for the wine, I have not had any. But we have been made aware of a store just outside the village that sells wine (easy to find). But they have a twist. You bring in the bottle and they pour it from the tap and it only costs 75 cents. Like I said, I have not tried it, but I am told it is good.

The rooms are nice. We have radiant heat, which is great in the morning. I will talk more about the rooms later. Most of the apartments are 3 0r 4 bedrooms with a common area and two bathrooms.

One thing that many people do not know is that when the organzing committee gives you the rooms assigned to your team - it is up to us to set them up. The beds are in the right places, but we do the setup. And, in our offices, we set all desks, televisions, everything. In fact, yesterday we were living the dream our significant others will not allow when we were using massive amounts of duct tape on the walls and ceiling to run....CABLE. It was beautiful. All guys involved had to stop for a moment and marvel at what we had done. It brought a tear to our eye - I think mainly because we did not have someone (i.e. wives) telling us it looked awful, or that we didn't live in college anymore.

That is enough for today. There will be more later. Remember, we are just getting started. Be well and go USA.

Some pictures finally

2006-01-30T00:04:00.000+01:00

Here is what you are looking at...the first photo is people trying to to get tickets to Medals Plaza for the medal presentations each night, followed by live entertainment. The next photo is of the Plaza under construction.

The arch is the arch just outside the Torino Village. It was built just for the Games and is awesome at night when they light it up. The river you see if the River Po. Finally there is a picture of the case that contains the Shroud of Turin.

This site can only hold so many photos and I am starting to get many. Once IT gets my software up and running I will have several. If you would like to see what I have been able to save to a photo album on Snapsfish so far, send me an email at kelly.skinner@usoc.org and I will send you the photo album. Thanks and enjoy.

One Games, Two Experiences

2006-01-29T01:19:00.000+01:00

As you can see from the post by BG, he is getting it done internationally. In fact, we call him an international player - the greatest proof of how connected he is internationally was written by him in the blog. He will be setting, and attending, high level meetings between the USOC and IOC members, as well as key international figures. Awesome.

What this blog will show you is how two people, who work for the same organization, on the same floor (in fact, just three doors apart) will have COMPLETELY different experiences at the same event. While Bob is out interacting with the heavy hitters, those of us in the village will be doing this type of stuff....

Today in the village we had a leak. The roof access point in one of our buildings was not sealed well. This would not be a problem except we had two consecutive days of snow, followed by today, which was snow and now a steady, nasty and cold rain. So we had water on the floor where our offices are located. After several attempts (3) to get the situation fixed - we finally had a crew of three guys show up to "fix" it. Their fix was to put some plastic inside the window and stop the water. This made it worse. Instead of a drip, we had a full on run of water.

About two hours later (maybe longer), they came back, with more plastic, and this time climbed up on the roof and completely covered the leak. They then ran some more plastic inside and finished the job by using some string to lock the window down. I am not sure two of these three things would have happend had Eric (he refuses to let me use his last name) not told these three Italians (by using simple words and hand gestures (I think he told the guy to steal third, or possibly something bad, who knows)) what to do. Thankfully they finished about 12:15am and hopefully all is dry tomorrow.

The other "problem" that has popped up is that the elevator in another building of ours is stuck on the fourth floor. It has also taken on water. It will be interesting to see how they fix this one.

This situation can only be topped by the fact that while we were eating lunch today we watched a snow plow driver -with the plow on the back of his tractor - and facing towards the tractor - plow a 25 foot wide area, that was probably 200 feet long - for 30 minutes. It was like he had no idea what to do. The guy would last 10 minutes in Michigan.

Okay, I am going to cut this off for today. I want to say this, I took some heat from the band of law breakers I told you about the other day. Apparently they think that the Italian authorities read this site. Anyway, to them I offer my apologies and these words, if you choose to break the rules, it just may end up in print.

Only a few more days of setup and athletes start to arrive. We will keep you posted. I hope everyone is doing great.

Postscript: We got word that the reason for the strike at the airport was because they wanted a day off. Apparently this is common in Italy - museum workers strike - school kids strike, bus drivers strike. In fact, we were told that there was a bus driver strike one time, but the drivers were ordered to drive during morning and evening rush hour, so they did. They were on strike from 10 - 4. Beauty.

On my way to...Torino or is it Turin?

2006-01-28T05:15:00.000+01:00

I (Bob) am getting ready to travel to Italy (since 2004 I been to Europe 19 times). My journey starts on Sunday at 0545 hrs. I will be departing the Olympic Training Center (OTC) to the Colorado Springs Airport. Flying from Colorado Springs to Chicago to Frankfurt and then if I am as lucky as Kelly, circle over Torino (or is it Turin?) for about two hours before we land.

Since leaving USA Taekwondo (CEO) in early January, the past two weeks have been an all out sprint getting ready for the games. I am now in the International Affairs Division and I am in the process of scheduling high level meetings between the USOC and other international sport organizations such as the International Olympic Committee (IOC), National Olympic Committees (NOCs), other Organizing Committees (Beijing 2008, Vancouver 2010 & London 2012), etc.

There will be a myriad of meetings and receptions, from developing Bi-lateral agreements and Olympic Solidarity projects, to receptions hosted by various NOCs, sponsors and friends of the Olympic Family.

Stay tuned and thanks for visiting our site.

For us "It's not every four years....It's every day..."

BG

No Turning Back Now

2006-01-28T01:17:00.000+01:00

Hello everyone. I apologize for the couple of days without any information - maybe after you read what we have been up to you will understand. Then again, maybe you will just think that I have been lazy and slacking on my responsibilities.

I am writing this during the early morning hours of January 28 (in Torino). So I will start with an update on an adventure four of us took in the city on the 26th. The four brave souls, who all work in the Torino Village, were Eric (he will be doing all of the transportaion for Team USA), Michelle - the housing master - she decides who sleeps where (so we all have to be nice to her), and Tammie - she handles all of the needs the sports have when they get in the Village. Anyway, we figured that the best way to spend our time and prepare for athlete arrivals - they start to come on January 31 - was to "find" our way around.

Now I said we were brave, but fortunately we are not stupid, our first adventure was to the site where Team USA will do all of their processing - to get there we got a ride versus walking. Processing is something that every single person who is a part of our delegation will go through. In processing the delegation is outfitted with all of the cool Nike and Roots stuff you will see on TV. Everyone also takes part in a briefing where they are reminded that they are here to represent you, the people of the US. They also learn some of the ins and outs about the village, expectations we have of them and of course a talk about security. So processing is cool and if you watch the Today Show I am sure that Katie Couric will do what she does at every Olympics and go through processing with an athlete - I am betting Michelle Kwan.

After we saw the folks who are working processing, and doing a bang up job of geting ready for the arrival of athletes, we headed out....to the mall. Okay, it is not as bad as it sounds. You see there is a mall that has a bridge that connects to it, and that bridge goes to the Olympic Village, so we wanted to see how that process worked so we could advise people. After the stress of riding in a car, seeing processing, and walking to mall, we had lunch.

We then got into the adventure. We wandered from the mall to a bus stop and got on a bus. About two minutes into the ride we realized we had not paid for the ride. But we noticed that no one was paying for the ride. So we called some friends and were advised that if we were caught for not paying, we would be fined. Brutal. Needless to say, we rode the bus. We did think about getting off and buying a ticket, but we did not do that. Before you send email about ethics and morals let me say this. Later in the day, on our return trip, we bought a ticket (and each ticket is good for two rides), so we figure we are even.

So we took our free bus ride and got dropped downtown. We then proceeded to walk past the Bank of America Hometown Hopefuls building. This is a program that BofA does for the families of the athletes. Athlete's register their family members and those folks get feee meals and often times free tickets to events. It is great.

We then walked to the USA House which is our sponsor hospitality setup for the Games. It is incredible what our team in corporate hospitality does with the USA House. From the USA House we walked to Medals Plaza. It will be great, if they get it finished. While we were there there was a line of hundreds of people trying to get tickets to each night at Medals Plaza. It will definitely be great show.

Medals Plaza is very close to where the Shroud of Turin is, so of course we went into the church and saw that. The actual shroud is not on display, but a replica is out. The church and display are amazing.

From there we had to find our way back, which we did, but it was an adventure. Let me just say this - the four of us don't speak any Italian, and I think there are four people in Torino who speak English. That would be great - if we would actually come together. We didn't. It was a long, tough journey, in some very cold weather, but we made it home.

Today we moved into the Village. There are just five of us with the US delegation living here until the 31st, so it is quiet, but that will change. We spent our day setting up our office space, checking all of the rooms, making sure keys work, that we have hot water, that the toilets flush, etc. I will say this, the "dorms" are great.

One challenge we have is that we don't have internet access yet in the Village. I was able to tap into a high speed line for this post. Hopefully tomorrow we will be up and running with wireless access.

That is enough for now. You will be hearing a ton about the village over the next few weeks - as well as those that inhabit it - so I will not give you too much now. I have been taking photos and if our IT folks can help me, I will create a Snapfish account and post the link on this site so you can see what I have taken pictures of so far. The city is great, and being the first delegation on the Village opened up a chance for some photo's. I will keep you posted if I can get that up and running.

I hope that everyone is doing well. Let me know if there is something you would like to hear about. Like I said to start, we are here, we are in the village, and it is time...there is no turning back now.

You have to love a strike...

2006-01-25T15:45:00.000+01:00

Well, as I had mentioned yesterday, we were made aware of a potential strike in Torino at the airport. The reports were true, there was a strike. When we arrived in Frankfurt we were told that the the flight to Torinjo was going to happen - and happen on time. However, what they did not mention was the "real" plan.

Before we boarded we were informed by the USOC team already here in Torino that the ground operators strike had ended at 4:00am on the 25th. So the plan, as it was relayed to us, was to get us in the air because the airport was to open at 10:00am. However, we were told, if the airport could not get opened by 10:00, then while we were in the air the airline would decide to take us to Milan. To address this possibility the USOC had staged a bus half way between Torino and Milan.

Well, the airport did not get opened by 10:00, not even close. We were in the air and apparently told by air control to get into a holding pattern until the airport opened. So we spent over 2 hours circling Torino - or as we told our security officer here - we did aerial survelliance of the area for two hours. We ended up landing just after noon (should have been on the ground by 10:15). When we got here the ground operators - who had been on strike - were not ready to bring the steps to our plane (and you all thought we would have a jet way). So that process took another 15 minutes. Needless to say, after 23 hours of travel, it was not really really that funny.

All is well now. Tomorrow will be another day. By the way, we have been asked about the times that are "posted" with our blogs. The time that is shown is Torino time.

So it begins...sort of

2006-01-24T19:16:00.000+01:00

Hello. Well, I am writing this while sitting at the Chicago O'Hare airport. I left Colorado Springs at 8:10am this morning - it was an early morning at good old 1608 Yuma. Our flight heading towards Frankfurt leaves at 2:30pm and we arrive in Frankfurt at 5:45am (remember, Frankfurt is 8 hours ahead of mountain time). So far the trip has been uneventful, just the way we like things.

That said, last night we received an email message from some of our co-workers already in Torino telling us that the airport workers in Torino have decided to go on strike. So, we were advised, once we get to Frankfurt we may be routed through Milan versus going straight to Torino. Oh well, not much we can do about it except enjoy and hope for the best. So anyway, we are on our way. I will be in Torino (hopefully) sometime on the 25th. Bobby G comes over on Sunday.

So it has begun. This will be great.

Pierre de Coubertin - founder of the Modern Olympic Games

2006-01-21T03:44:00.000+01:00

Baron Pierre de Coubertin (January 1, 1863- September 2, 1937), born as Pierre de Frédy, was a French pedagogue and historian, but is best known as the founder of the modern Olympic Games.
Born in Paris into an aristocratic family, the third child of Charles Louis de Frédy and Agathe-Gabrielle de Mirville De Coubertin was inspired by his visits to British and American colleges and universities, and set out to improve education. He thought part of this improvement should be sports education, which he considered an important part of the personal development of young people.
He conceived of an international competition to promote athletics. A growing international interest in the ancient Olympics, fed by recent archaeological finds at Olympia, De Coubertin devised a plan to revive the Olympic Games.
To publicize these plans, he organized an international congress on June 23, 1894 at the Sorbonne in Paris. There he proposed to reinstate the ancient Olympic Games. The congress led to the establishing of the International Olympic Committee (IOC), of which De Coubertin became the general secretary. It was also decided that the first modern Olympics would take place in Athens, Greece and that they would be held every four years. These Games proved a success, and De Coubertin took over the IOC presidency when Demetrius Vikelas stepped down after the Olympics in his own country.
Despite the initial success, the Olympic Movement faced hard times, as the 1900 (in De Coubertin's own Paris) and 1904 Games were both swallowed by international fairs, and received little attention.This changed for the better after the 1906 Olympic Games, and the Olympic Games grew to become the most important sports event. De Coubertin stepped down from his IOC presidency after the 1924 Olympics in Paris, which proved much more successful than the first attempt in that city in 1900. He was succeeded as president by Belgian Henri de Baillet-Latour.
De Coubertin remained Honorary President of the IOC until he died in 1937 in Geneva, Switzerland. He was buried in Lausanne (the seat of the IOC), although his heart was buried separately in a monument near the ruins of ancient Olympia.

Turin vs. Torino

2006-01-20T22:57:00.000+01:00

One of the questions we have been asked is about the "real" name of the city that will host the upcoming Olympic Games. In fact, my mom sent out her holiday letter with Turin being the city and people asked me if she needed some help with spelling. So to put this issue to bed - well, sort of - I wanted you all to see the following article. Enjoy.

Turin or Torino? It's all Italian to some
Opinions mixed on what to call Olympic city
By NANCY ARMOUR
The Associated Press

Turin or Torino? It's the Olympic version of "You say tomato, I say tomahto."

The city in northern Italy that's hosting the Winter Olympics next month is "Torino" to the locals and NBC. For most of us non-Italians, it's always been Turin.

The explanation for the different versions is simple.

Sort of.

"Turin is the English translation of the Italian word Torino,"said Clara Orban, a professor of Italian at DePaul University. "Standard practice in the United States is if a city name has been translated differently, go with the English translation."

That's what The Associated Press is doing. Its policy - and it was around long before Turin was awarded the Olympic Games - is to use the English version of foreign cities. It's Rome, not Roma. Munich, not Muenchen. Moscow instead of Mockba or Moskva.

"We use Turin in accordance with our long-standing style to use English names on English-language wires," said Terry Taylor, AP sports editor. "It's the Shroud of Turin, for instance, not the Shroud of Torino. And when the World Cup comes to Germany this summer, we will write that games will be played in Munich, not Muenchen.

"Of course, in the interest of accuracy, we will not Anglicize the name in full references to the Olympic organizing committee, which uses Torino, and we will not change Torino to Turin in quotations."

Even the Italians go with English translations sometimes. One of their top soccer teams is AC Milan, not AC Milano, and it's supposedly because when the club was founded, the namers wanted to stick with the sport's English roots.

So why the linguistic confusion?

The official name of the games is "Torino 2006," and the International Olympic Committee refers to the city by its Italian name. When the games were awarded in June 1999, then-IOC president Juan Antonio Samaranch announced, "The hosts of the 2006 Games will be Torino."

After NBC Sports chairman Dick Ebersol took a trip to Turin, he decided the network would go with Torino, too. NBC has the U.S. broadcast rights to the games.

"Dick was hearing the way the locals were saying Torino, and how it's so magnificently Italian how it rolls off the tongue," said Mike McCarley, vice president of communications and marketing for NBC Sports. "He decided on that trip that we would call it Torino."

USA Today also went with Torino because that is the official name, said Monte Lorell, the paper's managing editor for sports.

"We had to decide what is the least confusing to our readers. You could say the Torino Olympics in Turin, but that just leads to confusion," Lorell said. "We decided to just make it uniform all the way throughout.

"I feel a little bit better that NBC is using Torino," Lorell said, "because that's what readers will be seeing on TV."

So, Turin or Torino.

Either way, the Winter Olympics will simply call the city home next month.

"I think," Jolly said, "people will be able to figure it out."

Until they do, confusion is sure to be the rule.

The rarest medal in the Olympic Games wasn’t created from gold, but a bolt...

2006-01-17T18:02:00.000+01:00

The story begins on a cold, winter afternoon in Innsbruck at the 1964 Olympic two-man bobsled competition. A British team driven by Tony Nash had just completed its first run which had put them in second place. Then they made a most disheartening discovery. They had broken a bolt on the rear axle of their sled, which would put them out of the competition.

At the bottom of the hill, the great Italian bobsled driver Eugenio Monti, who was in first place, heard of their plight. Without hesitation, Monti removed the bolt from the rear axle of his own sled and sent it to the top of the hill. The British team affixed it to their sled and then completed their run and won the gold medal.

Monti’s Italian team took the Bronze.

When asked about his act of sportsman ship, Eugenio Monti deflected any praise, saying “Tony Nash did not win because I gave him a bolt. Tony Nash won because he was the best driver.”

The story of Monti’s selfless act spread. And because of it he was given the first De Coubertin Medal for sportsmanship. The award, named after the founder of the modern Olympics, is one of the noblest honours that can be bestowed upon an Olympic Athlete.

Mark Your Calendars

2006-01-15T06:41:00.000+01:00

We are not sure if you noticed, but NBC recently published their television schedule for the entire Games. Just in case you missed it, the entire Games television schedule can be found at http://www.usspeedskating.org/Torino%20Schedule%20with%20Highlights.pdf. Remember that the schedule can, and will, change.

Great new site for Turin

2006-01-13T22:21:00.000+01:00

This is the site from Kelly Skinner and Bob Gambardella who will report on a daily basis about the latest behind the scenes happenings from Turin 2006.

Starting January 16, 2006 occasional postings will go up about what to expect and what to watch for. Daily postings will begin on February 2, 2006.

Kelly will be providing insights about village life and the athletes, and whatever else he thinks may be of interest to you. Bobby G will be the roaming reporter and will cover every thing else outside the confines of the athlete village.

While others will merely report on the games, we will be providing a behind the scenes examination rarely, if ever, seen before. Besides the postings we will provide photo essays that will give you a unique look at the Turin games.