LA28, White House Set Up Task Force ... Majeure?

Evening headlines of Aug. 4 perked up my ears and eyebrows as LA28 and The White House apparently are announcing an Olympic planning task force on Aug. 5. 

I wrote to The White House press office team to ask more, and here's the two statements they shared (their reply in less than five minutes did impress):

"During his first term, President Trump was instrumental in securing America's bid to host the 2028 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles. 

Credit: Hisham Ibrahim for Getty Images

The President considers it a great honor to oversee this global sporting spectacle in his second term. Sports is one of President Trump's greatest passions, and his athletic expertise, combined with his unmatched hospitality experience, will make these Olympic events the most exciting and memorable in history," -- Karoline Leavitt [36th White House press secretary]

"On behalf of LA28, I want to express our deep appreciation to President Trump and his Administration for their leadership and unwavering support as we prepare to deliver the largest and most ambitious Olympic and Paralympic Games ever hosted in the United States. Since we secured this historic opportunity in 2017, President Trump has consistently recognized the magnitude of our responsibility in welcoming the world to Los Angeles. The creation of this task force marks an important step forward in our planning efforts and reflects our shared commitment to delivering not just the biggest, but the greatest Games the world has ever seen in the summer of 2028." -- Casey Wasserman, Chairperson and President of LA28. 

How concerning should this be? 

On one hand, as reported elsewhere and as observed firsthand or reading history around U.S. Olympic host organizing committees since Lake Placid 1980, the Games engaging the federal government is standard operating procedure. So, it makes perfect sense that LA28 teams up with the U.S. government for security, prepping eased entry to the U.S. for international guests, transportation and on other fronts. 

On the other hand, I don't recall any previous White House -- except for President Carter pulling Team USA out of the Moscow 1980 Games to lead/inspire what became a multinational boycott -- making "a thing" about their involvement with the Games. Rather, the modus operandi was seemingly on the down low, or perhaps so mundane as to warrant zero media coverage (though I did find online an archived May 1996 White House release from the office of the press secretary outlining preparations for Atlanta).

Karen Bass by Myung J Chun/LA Times

But the timing for tomorrow's shared LA28/Executive Branch ceremony is curiously, closely on the heels of Mayor of Los Angeles Karen Bass' recent comments critical of the president. The City of LA is in its own negotiation with LA28 regarding an array of agreements and funding (I won't try to summarize here but the LA Times did so on Aug. 2 at this link). 

The White House did provide previous reassurances of federal support, as reported when the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic officials met with the president this spring. 

Only Tuesday's ceremony with Wasserman, and time, will tell what the future holds for LA28, its federal support/input and how the president will engage. One hopes any presidential oversight will be only from a distance. 

Image credit: LA28 masthead via LinkedIn; The White House image by Hisham Ibrahim for Getty Images; LA28 logo mashup via TimeOut/LA28. Karen Bass photo by Myung J. Chun for LA Times.

Feeling Great (-ish) RE: IOC Vote for '24 and '28

Around noon July 11 word arrived (in the form of back-to-back media advisories from the International Olympic Committee, LA2024 and Paris 2024 and a live stream) that an unanimous vote in Switzerland will change the game for summer Olympic Games bids and hosting.

And now the world officially knows, for the first time in a single IOC Session, Olympic leadership will award both the 2024 and 2028 summer Olympics through a vote set to take place in Lima, Peru, two months from now. 

If IOC President Thomas Bach has his druthers, the dates for the next Games of Los Angeles and Paris will be known as early as August, with the September decision a mere formality. During his remarks with the mayors of Paris and L.A., the notion of "everyone wins" came up repeatedly, and this is apt. 

I applaud change and innovation. It also was good to see the official (and outstanding/flawless) presentations by Los Angeles and Paris earlier today. See the base of this post for the YouTube versions.

During the joint press conference featuring Bach and the mayors of both bid cities flanked by the bid leadership, I was trying to get a read on Casey Wasserman. 

On one hand, there must be some relief. The Olympics WILL RETURN to Los Angeles. Bravo!

On the other hand, there's gotta be a twinge of ... I don't know the right words ... a waft of sour grapes over the decision. Like two Olympians worthy of gold, two Olympic-level committees brought their A-Game, and the IOC is trying to divvy out two top-of-podium medals as if only a millisecond or micrometer separates the two champions from victory. Don't both "Olympians" in this fight deserve to know THE victor for posterity? 

I singled out Wasserman for a read on this because I believe it was his passion and communications savvy that kept LA in the race even with Boston's false start win early in the 2024 domestic race. Though I can only armchair quarterback on the Olympic bid front, I've been in a similar seat-- for comparison, I sat at PRSA and PR Week Award ceremonies awaiting word as to which client (mine or another agency's) would take home top honors, and tie wins kinda suck more than getting a silver! 

Wasserman's game face was all smiles, but I can't help wonder what he said behind closed doors with family or closest associates with less skin in the game. Was he beaming with glee or relief, or a little bit disappointed that his team will always have to wonder "who won, damnit!?"

But this is just speculation and Olympic armchair quarterbacking. I am thrilled that Los Angeles and Paris will follow Tokyo's 2020 Games in some order. The 2020's will be an outstanding and thrilling decade for summer Olympiads, period. Everyone wins, indeed!

Photo via LA2024

LA2024 Dazzles on Days Two and Three of Evaluation Commission

Days two and three of the 2024 IOC Evaluation Commission visit to Los Angeles were as jam-packed for media as they were for the future Games selection team.

The combined LA2024 and U.S. Olympic Committee media relations crew treated attending reporters to a full Thursday of venue visits including two university campuses, a Metro station press conference and multiple photo opportunities or bid-centric press events.

May 9 began early at Staples Center, where IOC members took turns shooting hoops on the LA Lakers' home court. Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti, LA2024 Chairman Casey Wasserman and IOC Member Anita DeFrantz also practiced layups and cheered when visiting delegates found "nothing but net" through informal basketball play.

Then two groups of Evaluation Commission members embarked on site visits in separate corteges, with media site visits on a parallel track to the IOC tour experience.

Stop one: The University of Southern California, home of the Trojans and the nation's No. 1 school in terms of total Olympians (451 since the early 1900's). Media heard from Olympic track champion and USC alum Allyson Felix before experiencing a walking tour of a soon-to-open modern dorms that would house the Olympic media village in 2024.

We also toured USC's Annenberg School of Communication, which would house the 2024 Olympic Media Village operations center close to new dorms which reporters visited.

A quick bus ride over to Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum lined up with the IOC's morning visit inside the stadium, which apparently included a foot race between Garcetti and at least one Olympic track champion from 1984.

We learned later in the day that more than 50 Olympians met with the Evaluation Commission, with the first women's Olympic marathon champion Joan Benoit Samuelson sharing a tearful reunion with a fellow LA84 gold medalist Nawal El Moutawakel, who is now an IOC member (both women achieved remarkable "firsts" as female competitors on the same track).

Brief sidebar: The coliseum photo opportunity marked my fourth visit to the venue, and not the first time the cauldron was aglow, but this was the first daytime and ignited flame combination and it was remarkable in that the morning sun and cloudless sky brightened the historic stadium's adobe-hued exterior.

More walking ensued, this time past USC's historic and wonderfully fragrant rose garden (we did, in fact, stop to smell them).

A few hundred meters later we were greeted by -- surprise -- local resident and longtime environmental champion Ed Begley, Jr., on site for an outdoor press conference to promote the fifth anniversary of the LA Metro Expo Line service between downtown Los Angeles and points west.

Our entourage boarded buses to arrive at the University of California at Los Angeles in time for a superior campus dining experience. Several inquisitive undergrads asked me about what our group was doing on site -- our objective, to experience a sample of an afternoon in the potential future Olympic Village.

LA2024's proposal to house the athletes in existing or new dorms is a key differentiator for the bid, saving piles of money while harnessing a fantastic, well-developed and mature tree-filled campus atmosphere. Our hosts pointed out several residences build when the school hosted one of LA84's villages.

We must have walked 5,000 steps on site, including peeks at student gyms, three student swimming pools, Pauley Pavilion (site of Mary Lou Retton's perfect score in 1984) and the school's sports hall of fame celebrating, among thousands of alumni athletes, the school's 420 Olympians.

LA2024 has a strong asset in that the UCLA Olympic Village existed even before the '84 Games, and as announced just after the IOC visit the same day, another batch of several hundred rooms are planned for the campus.

With slightly sore legs and definitely smarting feet, media departed for the beaches of Santa Monica for the IOC's and LA2024's Day Two media Q&A, this time framed by a perfect sunset and light ocean breeze.

The purple and pink skyline over nearby Malibu and Santa Monica Mountains gave attendees a dreamy "Follow The Sun" moment.

As an after-dinner sendoff from the press conference venue, the Annenberg Beach House, a troupe of six synchronized swimmers dove into a logo-ed swimming pool, reminding attendees of LA2024's fast-paced and precise timing executed consistently through the three-day Evaluation Commission process. The swimmers' smiles above the surface, all the while furiously kicking and positioning, may echo the hard work of LA2024's team to prepare and execute the key milestone in the IOC selection process.

Friday morning brought just two press conferences, one each for the IOC and LA2024 officials, again at Staples Center. At the latter Q&A I asked Garcetti and Wasserman to expand on their professional relationship and friendship through the bid process since the IOC had nicknamed them the "1984 boys" who were youthful Angelinos during that summer's Olympiad.

"We met in our 20's," said Garcetti, answering whether they knew each other as kids or teens.

Garcetti went on to explain that his very first official action as LA's newly-elected mayor was to deliver a letter confirming his interest, support and passion for a bid. Now many months later, he confidently summed up the collective efforts of the combined LA2024/City of Los Angeles team.

"We keep looking for a hole in this bid, and we can't find it," said Garcetti.

Photos by Nicholas Wolaver

Games-Minded Media Explored Potential Olympic Venues While IOC Evaluation Commission Quizzed LA2024 Leadership on Wednesday

The official first day of the 2024 IOC Evaluation Commission on Wednesday included more than a half-day of Q&A for LA2024 bid executives and simultaneous venue tours for media during the closed selection process.

May 10 began early with International Olympic Committee officials greeting LA2024's bid team to their 35 hot seats facing two rows of about 20 Evaluation Commission desks in a large downtown conference room. 

Media enjoyed access to opening remarks by IOC Member and Commission Chair Patrick Baumann before the Los Angeles team leaders -- including the city's Mayor Eric Garcetti and LA2024 Chairman Casey Wasserman flanked by the IOC's three delegates to the United States Anita DeFrantz, Angela Ruggiero and Larry Probst -- took turns sharing personal stories of their past Los Angeles Olympic experiences. 

Citing her review of 74 Olympic bid campaigns and her work on eight previous USA bids, DeFrantz put into context the task at hand for her fellow IOC members across the table.

"One of the biggest responsibilities of IOC membership is selecting host cities," DeFrantz said, adding her colleagues at LA2024 are the "finest [she had] ever seen."

Wasserman and Garcetti earned the nickname "boys of the Olympics" of 1984 as both were kids when Los Angeles last hosted the summer Games. DeFrantz spoke of the many legacies of LA84 while Probst and Ruggiero spoke of their passion for a future legacy should the IOC's decision favor California when the Commission votes in September.

Paris, which also hosted two summer Olympiads and presented bids for 1992 and 2012 is LA's lone candidate, with the IOC and media embarking to France this Friday.

I snapped a few photos from the media platform and spotted many faces of LA2024 staff who appeared relaxed and eager to share their part of the city's bid presentation. Calm, cool and collected are each apt descriptors for everyone with the bid team, and though many must have felt a degree of relief after Wednesday's most intense of the three-day Commission visit, guarded confidence seems to reign with this group. 

After the opening session, media boarded buses to the day's first tour stop, Pasadena's iconic Rose Bowl. Olympic medalist and world champion Brandi Chastain spoke with reporters outside the stadium before joining the entourage of reporters and cameras on the field that made her a world icon of female strength. 

In her prepared remarks, Chastain mentioned her first Olympic experience came as a teenage volunteer during LA84. During some 1x1 Q&A on the way into the stadium, I asked her to expand on that story of the first experience, and Chastain explained she vividly recalled "waiting hours and hours for her uniform and credential" and how that experience became "... just a preview, and I didn't know it, of what it would be like to be part of the Olympic Family." 

After on-the-field photos and a few more questions, media trekked south an oceanside rooftop experience atop the Long Beach Hyatt Place Hotel overlooking the harbor, Queen Mary cruise ship, shipping cranes and the sands that would welcome spectators for water polo, triathon. sailing, BMX cycling, open water swimming and handball. 

Southern California-based Olympians Tony Azevedo and Haley Anderson spoke briefly and answered questions on their roles with LA2024's Athlete's Advisory Team. 

The high rise media stop also afforded me a few minutes to speak with Olympic gymnastics champion Nastia Liukin, who joined the media tours most of the day to photograph and post several social media items in real time. We chatted about the bid team experience and a few mutual connections to Olympic gymnastics in Oklahoma.

Then the group was off again to Stubhub Center at which media enjoyed lunch and more venue peeks before LA2024's press conference announcing a detailed Sustainability Plan. Slightly exhausted and sunburned in spite of an overcast sky, media returned downtown in time for a pair of end-of-Day-One press conferences hosted by the IOC and LA2024, respectively, at Staples Center. 

During his IOC press conference remarks, Baumann briefly described LA2024's "excellent proposal" while citing the bid's innovative "two-ceremonies" plan which would double the seating capacity for the opening and closing of 2024's Games by filling Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum and the new LA Rams' stadium set to open in 2019.

At the LA2024 press conference held courtside (with the mayor and Wasserman standing on the LA Lakers' free throw line) "the boys" described many aspects of the day's Q&A and anticipation of Thursday's venue visits for the IOC. Several reporters asked questions that were on my brain (see here and here for a few responses) while I asked about how the bid might serve as a reboot for the Cultural Olympiad (the mayor responded on point, describing involvement of Getty Trust leadership rallying the arts community for programs spanning several Southern California museums and arts organizations. 

LA2024 capped the evening with a media night in the BMW box at LA Dodgers Stadium (great fun). In the suite, fellow-Atlantan Stan Kasten -- a former client of sorts (in his leadership role for the Atlanta Braves, Hawks and Thrashers, we worked on a few photo opps with him to open Philips Arena in 1999) -- showed up to say hello.

Photos by Nicholas Wolaver

Surf's Up for New LA2024 Olympic Bid Pins

On the home stretch to Rio 2016, Olympic pin collectors may anticipate a wave of board-shaped pins designed in homage to the city's surfing culture. 

Earlier this year, the U.S. Olympic Committee released a series of longboard pins inspired by Rio surfing culture.

In the set, each pin matches an actual surf board created for a sponsor appreciation display planned at USA House.

On the Olympic bid pin front, so far only one or two generic logo designs emerged from Budapest, Los Angeles, Paris and Rome, and there are some pins out there for the defunct Boston 2024 organization.

Until now.

At last night's 20th anniversary celebration for Atlanta's 1996 Games -- held in Centennial Olympic park with a stage for prepared remarks by several Games-related leaders -- LA24 Chairman Casey Wasserman decided the time was right for taking the drop, delivering the first boxed-set of new surfboard-shaped Olympic bid pins.

The lucky recipient? Atlanta Committee for the Olympic Games CEO turned Augusta National Chairman Billy Payne. 

Wasserman handed the gift box of four surfboard pins while encouraging Payne and the crowd of thousands to "Follow the Sun" (LA24's bid theme) in support of America's next Olympiad.

On stage Payne thanked Wasserman, stating he appreciated the surfing tutorial as, at least during Payne's first glance, the pins' shape was not as self-explanatory as intended. 

Standing in the photo pit at the conclusion of the event, I asked Payne for a peek at the boxed set, which he held up for a photo. It was fun to inspect the new pin treasures -- Payne would not let the box out of his hand, so he must have considered them "keepers."

I'm no surfing guru, but upon inspecting the designs, each of the four pins appear to be wider than the longboard surfing pins the USOC previously released -- more in the shape of Payne's or my thumbprints. 

To me, the LA24 Olympic bid pins are more like wakeboards, perhaps to provide a wider space for the LA24 angel logo and the Olympic rings. 

I consulted some surfboard infographics and the aptly-titled "Riptionary" of surfing lingo, but found no surfboard shape exactly matched.

But who cares? These pins are gorgeous!

Each of the pins would certainly stand out upon a sport coat lapel or as a broach adorning a blouse. From left to right, the designs are:

• Soaring palm trees, like visitors might enjoy while driving through Beverly Hills

• Silhouetted cresting wave reminiscent of Malibu at sunset

• Barrel wave encircling the "angel" logo at the wrong angle for a body-surfing stance

• Sunrise over the San Gabriel Mountains and LA skyline

A possible fifth pin -- sans logos or rings -- appears to be a white cloisonné plaque on which "Follow The Sun" is painted in purple enamel. The cardboard presentation box also features colors from the bid palette.

I asked the LA24 media relations team to confirm the quantity and potential availability of the new bid pin sets and so far this was their response.

"Pins are a limited set, no plans for now on wider distribution."

My guess is the pins may be a special VIP gift for visitors to USA House in Rio, where LA24 will have a special display or other "to be unveiled" elements.

With known quantities historically a factor for bid pin collectors, I'll keep an open eye and ear for details. A boxed set of LA24 surfboard pins is now in the top five most-sought designs to add to my personal Olympic bid pin collection.

Until such time, wishing everyone some glorious and smooth tube riding to the Games of the XXXIst Olympiad, and happy pin collecting to all. 

Photos by Nicholas Wolaver

Hits of America Saturated with Purple Rain?

If the bid team for LA24 plans a music compilation enticing supporters to #FollowTheSun, consider this my nomination of four California-centric hits from the band America for the collection.

Sure, this band launched 46 years ago, in 1970 -- one Olympiad before the birth of bid chief Casey Wasserman. But America's staying power and upbeat music/lyrics could provide many positive vibes on a Los Angeles Olympic bid play list.

One month ago, I was driving north from LA on U.S. 101 bound for Thousand Oaks, Calif., and tonight in Atlanta there was time to enjoy a live performance of one of my personal favorites by America, "Ventura Highway" (on the radio than March 4 evening).

Like no other, this song instantly, vividly brings to mind youthful dreams of the SoCal experience. Every time I've visited Los Angeles (the 2016 trek for the Team USA Media Summit was my seventh City of Angels adventure) "Ventura Highway" and its chipper guitar opening pops up on local radio as if to say "welcome back" to one of my favorite stretches of American road.

In addition to hearing "Ventura Highway" live, tonight I learned three new-to-my-ears West Coast-themed hits also crooned by America: "California Revisited" from their "Homecoming" album, "Hollywood" (much more of a rockin' song than other America works), and the band's cover of "California Dreamin'" made famous by The Mamas & the Papas (my preferred version is by DJ Sammy).

The Uber ride home had my brain swimming with other big songs of the region from "Under The Bridge" and "Californication" by the Red Hot Chili Peppers to "California Girls" and other Beach Boys tunes, Katy Perry "California Gurls" and 2Pac/Dr. Dre "California Love."

Of course, "Hotel California" also crossed my mind ... I figure the more prominent rockers (the Eagles) slept with way more groupies than America's easy-listening singer-songwriters, who maybe felt-up a lot of fans but did not take as many back to their green room or hotel.

But back to "Ventura Highway" -- until this evening, when the band was describing the song's history to the audience, I had not a clue the fourth verse includes what may be the world's first musical reference to "Purple Rain."

The two-person conversation in the lyrics carries listeners to the West Coast with the following:

Wishin' on a falling star
Watchin' for the early train
Sorry, boy, but I've been hit by
Purple rain

By chance, a Minneapolis singer named Prince Rogers Nelson will perform his "Piano and a Microphone" tour in Atlanta next week, and it will be fun and exciting to experience another all-time favorite musician (now informed by his possible inspiration from America).

Now there's a singer I'd like to see performing at the Olympics!

Perhaps given their tethered "Purple Rain" ties, America could be Prince's opening act in the music portion of the L.A. 2024 Olympics opening ceremony? Talk about California dreaming.

Images via www.venturahighway.com, www.ventura-usa.com and www.FoxTheatre.org