Back In The (Blogging) Saddle Again

Whoa! The Rio Olympics sort of kicked my ass.

Following a troublesome mid-Games trek to the Deodoro venues in search of Olympic shooting, I was pretty much done, cooked, completely spent and downright cranky about the host city, a five-ringed first!

Years ago in Blogging 101, they taught us to avoid posting while angry or overly negative. So, I created the end-of-Games roundup of medalists and took a breather.

The good news, however, is that in spite of my frustrations the second week of the Games provided an array of exciting experiences, providing content for many future posts.

And with a month of rest and recovery under my belt (now about five weeks since the Closing Ceremony), a trio of Team USA-related events in Washington revived my enthusiasm for posting here.

It makes me happy to feel "Back In The Saddle Again" just like Gene Autry or Aerosmith.

With thanks to the U.S. Olympic Committee communications team for a media credential, on Wednesday evening I enjoyed collecting interviews and photos on the red carpet for the 2016 Team USA Awards presented by Dow.

Held in the historic McDonough Gymnasium at Georgetown University, the wear-your-best-suit or don-your-most-glamorous-dress event featured Akbar Gbaja-Biamila and Matt Iseman of "American Ninja Warrior" as co-hosts, with more than 500 Team USA Olympians and Paralympians as VIP guests.

Just like the red carpets for the Oscars, Emmy's or Grammy Awards, reporters and photographers had their hands and heads full trying to keep up with all the A-listers making their way to the arena.

With the help of the USOC's designated handlers, I enjoyed a few minutes of conversation, photo access or pool Q&A with the following Olympians:

• Four of the "Final Five" women's gymnasts -- Simone Biles, Laurie Hernandez, Madison Kocian and Aly Raisman
• Olympic swimming champion Katie Ledecky
• Sprint star Allyson Felix, the most decorated U.S. woman in Olympic track and field
• LaShawn Merritt of 400m and 4x400m medal fame
• Beach volleyball's April Ross

A special highlight of the red carpet experience was spotting Paralympic shooting athlete Tricia Downing, with whom I was a U.S. Olympic Committee intern in the summer of 1995.

At events like this, it's not too shabby catching up with journalist friends like Examiner.com's Olympic beat writer Tom Burke or USA Today's Roxanna Scott while meeting other Games-minded journalists.

Each of us had Rio tales to tell, not to mention a bit of anticipation for the following morning and Team USA's visit to The White House (for which I was biting my nails over press credential approval until the very last minute -- more about that experience in a separate post).

Check out this gallery for a broader view at the scene outside the arena.

The red carpet media opps also included conversations with living Olympic legends or family related to other legendary athletes:

• Carl Lewis, who recently donated nine of his 10 Olympic medals to the new National Museum of African American History and Culture
• Swimming superstar and LA2024 Olympic bid executive Janet Evans
• Mexico City 1968 Olympic medalists Tommie Smith and John Carlos (enshrined in the NMAAHC as a large medal stand statue)
• Lonnie Ali, accepting an inaugural Team USA honor presented posthumously to her husband Muhammad Ali
• Marlene Dortch, granddaughter of Jessie Owens and Georgetown alumnus.

I'll post videos, notes or additional images from these many conversations.

Once the busloads of athletes had all arrived to a hero's welcome that included Georgetown cheerleaders and hundreds of excited students, inside the arena the Olympians received their official Team USA rings before the live show began as cameras rolled.

Turns out the Team USA Award trophy is a three dimensional object, usually in the likeness of an Olympic torch. During the event I got a peek at Katie Ledecky's trophy as she carried it back to her seat (see photo), and post-event I found this link with brief details from the designers.

A list of the winners is available via the Team USA press release here, and fans can tune in watch the taped ceremony on NBC Sports Network on Oct. 4 at 10 p.m. ET. My favorite presenter: U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry.

The Team USA Awards post-party was spectacular, and its organizers deserve gold stars or perhaps a gold pin like the ones given to athletes as their "ticket" and Olympian status for security purposes (yes, I did manage to trade a Rio blogger pin for one of the auric mementos).

With an excellent DJ setting the scene musically, I had never seen so many Olympians dressed to the nines and dancing/partying in one setting ... or ever.

Held in an elaborate meeting room overlooking the Potomac and high rise towers in Rosslyn, Va., the catering was superb and most athletes lingered until the final fleet of buses arrived to whisk them back to their hotel. And were it not for the rain drizzling on the party venue's overlook patio, the revelers may have spent more time enjoying the early autumn breezes outside.

It was fun to get acquainted with more Olympians during this laid-back event, including a follow-up conversation with 2012 silver medalist diver/medical student Abby Johnston, first met at the Team USA Media Summit earlier this year. We swapped stories of Rio pedestrian and security headaches, and also tracked down Uber options as the party was winding down.

Also enjoyed an extended conversation with Olympic diver Katrina Young, who I previously met in the rain behind the Carioca One arena just before the gold medal men's basketball game in Rio. On that day in August, we were both in search of tickets or special access, and during our post party D.C. chat she cheerfully shared how she scored court side seats while I explained the paths bloggers take to get last-minute access. Very fun to learn Young studied music at Florida State -- check out her YouTube Channel for some great performances away from the pool.

It was also a wonderful surprise to bump into Atlanta-based "Olympic Pride, American Prejudice" documentary filmmaker Deborah Riley Draper and her Coffee Bluff Pictures colleague Lacy Barnes to catch up on the film's journey to mainstream release, and the duo's role in a special presentation to surviving family members of the 1936 Berlin Olympiad. More on that soon.

Photos by Nicholas Wolaver except Katrina Young's Instagram photo, and the topmost ticket image cropped from the site for the artists selected to create the Team USA Awards trophy.

Kind Words For 'Race'

Movie buffs and Olympic fans are getting treated to several new five-ringed films this year, and next to hit the big screen is the Jesse Owens biopic "Race."

Focus Features hosted a star-studded Atlanta premiere earlier this month, and there are plenty of good reasons to experience this portrayal of an American and worldwide Olympic hero, and those forming his inner and outer circles of influence, on the road and boat to the Berlin 1936 Olympiad.

Ambassador Andrew Young, Chris Bridges (a.k.a. Ludacris), Regina Belle, Anthony David and Kim Fields were among the honored guests on site.

Rising track star and Rio Olympic hopeful Candace Hill also attended to enjoy what she called her first real red carpet experience. I was hoping to spot other Georgia Olympians, or the team from the upcoming documentary "Olympic Pride, American Prejudice" (a work in progress also featuring Owens) during the festivities.

Addressing the audience before the special screening, the actor in the title role, Stephan James, explained how he drew inspiration from the Olympic champion.

"Jesse Owens was a humanitarian," said James. "Of all things I learned about him, nothing [compared] to that aspect of his life."

James described Owens' courage to travel to Berlin as one of the first black Team USA Olympians also running against strong headwinds of Nazism in Germany and racism at home in the USA.

"I took it as a responsibility to bring a level of humanity to him and bring that to the screen," said James. "I hope [audiences] enjoy the film and they learn something from it, but most importantly I hope [they're] inspired the same way I was."

Through a red carpet interview informed by an Atlanta Journal-Constitution report, I asked James about his training for the film on the tracks at Georgia Tech during his time away from filming "Selma" (in which he portrayed a young Congressman John Lewis).

While responding, James also described how his study of "Olympia" -- the original Olympic film and award winning documentary by Leni Riefenstahl -- factored into his Owens performance. James seemed humbled by the opportunity to portray the gold medalist, and the actor's responses may be viewed here:

I liked "Race" not only for its attention to small Olympic details but also its script directly addressing race relations, leaving no doubt about the title's double entendre while subtly proving the premise of the "Avenue Q" song "Everyone's A Little Bit Racist Sometimes." Just about all of key characters in "Race" had strong though inappropriate words about their fellow man. 

Prepare to wriggle in your seat if you're uncomfortable with epithets like coon, cracker, darkie, eight ball, Kraut, the n-word or peckerwood. They're all in there, though not in succession as in the dugout confrontation of "42."

Some of the most honest conversations in "Race" are between Owens and his coach Larry Snyder (Jason Sudeikis). As the arc of their relationship evolves from coach:athlete to mentor:mentee then close friendship, their "tell it like it is" comfort levels increase, eventually shining as they defend each other to narrow-minded peers. This crescendos with the film's most direct statement on race (for a spoiler, see 1:35 to 1:45 of the trailer).

I think both characters grew from their open and direct conversations, and perhaps moviegoers may also. And, by the way, the second nod to a previous sports film comes through a few Sudeikis coaching scenes akin to Ian Holm in "Chariots of Fire."

If a goal of "Race" is to get audiences talking frankly about the topic race, the filmmakers succeeded -- the diverse premiere audience definitely shared conversations upon exiting the theatre. This writer sort of anticipated mention of Richard Pryor's response to Chevy Chase on "SNL" to creep into the post-screening banter.

I spoke with Ambassador Young, Fields and Belle about their observations.

Young described "Race" as "probably his favorite" Olympic movie because it took him back to his first lessons in race relations at age four. Conversing with me as the credits rolled, Young said his boyhood home street included some pre-WWII German neighbors who publicly saluted Hitler, and early newsreels of Jesse Owens' victory provided fodder for some father-son conversations.

"It taught me 'don't get mad, get smart!" said Young, who added that he never met Owens or his family members, but he did serve in Congress with Owens' teammate/Olympic gold medalist Ralph Metcalfe.

Fields, who was emcee for a brief in-theatre presentation for James, said she enjoyed the film. The "Facts of Life" star who now resides in Atlanta thought it would be an inspiration for many, as did Belle, who answered a few questions on camera, specifically citing one of the film's best lines about freedom and sport relevant to anyone's chosen passion.

Returning to attention to detail in "Race," a few other finer points are notable.

For the second or third time in recent film history (following "Unbroken" and "Berlin 36"), the German Olympiastadion is vividly brought to life through rich, modern animation.

An over-the-shoulder lens follows Owens through the vomitory and onto the field with 100,000 seated fans. This long take seamlessly presents an on-screen Owens transformation from national track star to international icon. This I liked, and many in the audience gasped at the stadium views inclusive of the 1936 Olympic cauldron.

I also enjoyed how everything from Riefenstahl's camera angles and lipstick to the long jump judges' correct Olympic pin and ribbon colors really popped. Earlier, during the opening scenes, there's an homage to "Rocky" with Owens taking a training run through depression era Cleveland. Everyone's got the right pinstripe suit, hat and rumble seat sedan, proving the costume and set decoration teams did their homework.

They even put an Olympic oak seedling in Jesse's hands during his medal ceremony, accurately depicting the special takeaway gift presented to each winner of gold, silver and bronze (the fate of many Olympic oaks was documented by an International Association of Olympic Historians member, with at least one Owens oak still possibly alive at his his high school or college alma mater, Ohio State University).

The hand-held seedlings got a lot of surprised responses from the audience: "A tree?!?" and "What's Jesse going to do with a tree?"

Where I took issue with "Race" is through the broad and purely fictional liberties taken by the writers to showcase the politicking of Team USA and Third Reich. If the filmmakers went out of their way to get the right lapel pins on the actors, why create such preposterous scenes on other Olympic fronts?

The most outlandish set up features multiple conversations during which Riefenstahl, the documentary filmmaker, personally translates conversations between Joseph Goebbels and Avery Brundage, the German propaganda minister and the U.S. Olympic Committee delegate, respectively. Ridiculous!

These scenes seemed false on a level akin to another purely fictional Olympic film character, the so-called "Olympic shooter from Syria" written into "American Sniper" for distracting-to-this-blogger dramatic effect (more on that fiction here). More forgivable but perhaps just as fictional are post-race scenes during which Hitler snubbed Owens (facts still debated my many historians).

Two casting choices -- specifically regarding Jeremy Irons and William Hurt -- struck me funny as well.

While Irons' CV is chock-full of douche bag villain roles (his love to hate them characters in "Lolita," "Reversal of Fortune," "Damage" and "Margin Call" among my favorites), and I get it that Irons as Brundage is a new addition to the list, it seemed to me the balding William Hurt, who also played some jerks (see "Broadcast News," "Mr. Brooks" and "A History of Violence") had a better hair line match to Brundage.

Instead, Irons dons the spectacles and Hurt carries his tail between his legs as Jeremiah Mahoney, the U.S. athletics official who -- at least in the script for "Race" -- failed to sway votes for a 1936 Olympic boycott (more creative writing liberties, I suspect -- though the boycott vote did take place it's doubtful such speeches were uttered by those in attendance).

Two German performers shine as Riefenstahl and Goebbels, who share some verbal fencing just as directy as Owens and Snyder.

Barnaby Metschurat filled his S.S. costume with stern angst, and Carise van Houten dished out some clever schadenfreude for Hitler's closest minion.

"This is my Olympics," said Goebbels, to which Riefenstahl aptly retorted, "This is my film; without it, your Olympics will be forgotten in one year!"

Other brief notes: Though the exact duration of the film is not yet published, audiences may wish to pace themselves for a marathon not a sprint to the finish.

Also, the soundtrack to "Race" leaves a bit to be desired -- seemed like a missed opportunity for the filmmakers to engage Vangelis, John Williams or one of several talented African American composers for a stronger score (the team at Back Lot Music just didn't come through on this one).

I was very impressed by Stefan James filling some big Olympian shoes** in "Race." This was his second five-ringed film (he previously appeared in the made for television movie "The Gabby Douglas Story") and it hopefully will be the first of many major roles for James' career.

One key scene in the rain, during which Owens stares with optimism at the woman he hopes to marry, resembled the Pulitzer Prize winning photo of President Obama gazing into a challenging future, and down the road I think James could fill the shoes of our commander-in-chief on film.

Might also be fun to see James again in the eventual "Carl Lewis Story" or "Bolt -- Usain's Journey" down the road. Until then, my suggestion is to run, don't walk, to see "Race."

Premiere event photos and videos by Nicholas Wolaver. Hurt-Brundage-Irons images via IMDB. Stills and posters from "Race" via Focus Features.

**A pair of Jesse Owens' shoes may be on view in the upcoming High Museum of Art exhibition "Out of the Box: The Rise of Sneaker Culture" opening June 11; the exhibition catalog features images of a pair of Owens' spikes. "Race" includes a curious reference to these shoes via Coach Snyder clumsily trying to locate Adidas founder one night in Berlin -- another fictionalized, albeit interesting, Olympic trivia element in the film.

Olympic Rings To Fill Silver Screens In 2016

With all the recent attention on "Star Wars: The Force Awakens" and other big films opening for the holidays, some previews are popping up for new Olympic-themed features set to open in 2016.

Not since Leni Riefenstahl assigned her crews 80 years ago have there been so many filmmakers with an eye and lens on Olympic action.

Here's a look at the big studio releases and smaller potential gems with a five-ringed connections coming soon to a theatre near you:

Title: "Race"
Release Date: 19 February 2016
Website: www.FocusFeatures.com/Race
Production/Distributor: Focus Features
On screen: Stephan James, Jeremy Irons, Jason Sudeikis, William Hurt, Carice van Houton
Off screen: Stephen Hopkins (director)

Description: Tailored to the masses fresh look at Jesse Owens and his journey from rural Alabama to the world's stage at the Berlin Olympics. Title is a double (or perhaps triple) entendre about Owens' running prowess, the color of his skin and (hinted by the previews) a "race against time" for the track star to decide whether to compete for Team USA in spite of obvious discrimination in its ranks and Germany's emerging Aryan aspirations.

Curious facts: According to IMDB, the title role originally went to John Boyega, who backed out to appear in "Star Wars: The Force Awakens." Jeremy Irons will play the role of U.S. Olympic chief Avery Brundage, an official likely to appear in two of the upcoming Olympic documentaries listed later in this post.

Olympic Rings And Other Things prediction: Film will entertain with a new, crowd-pleasing spin on Owens' feats while disappointing the fact checkers who call to question the fictionalized bio for the sake of tension/drama (sort of like in the film version of "Unbroken").

Title: "The Bronze"
Release Date: 11 March 2016
Website: SonyClassics.com/TheBronze
Production/Distributor: Sony Pictures Classics
On screen: Melissa Rauch, Gary Cole, Haley Lu Richardson, Cecily Strong
Off screen: Bryan Buckley (director)

Description: Comedy about a twentysomething Olympic bronze medal gymnast "putting the nasty in gymnastics" whose star is falling while a younger athlete's profile is on the rise in the same small Ohio town they call home.

Curious Facts: Gary Cole is often quoted for the TPS Report-loving manager he portrayed in "Office Space." Since the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics, several Team USA women's gymnastics Olympians took home bronze medals, including: Mary Lou Retton (1984 uneven bars, floor exercise), Kathy Johnson (1984 balance beam), Phoebe Mills (1988 balance beam), Shannon Miller (1992 uneven bars,), Amy Chow (1996 uneven bars), Dominique Dawes (1996 floor exercise), Courtney Kupets (2004 uneven bars), Nastia Liukin (2008 floor exercise) and Alexandra Raisman (2012 balance beam). In 1948, Team USA earned a bronze in the "team combined" women's gymnastics events in 1948 London, 1992 Barcelona and 2000 Sydney.

Olympic Rings And Other Things prediction: Future cult classic and solid scores for F-bomb vaulting.

Title: "Eddie The Eagle"
Release Date: 26 February 2016
Website: www.FoxMovies.com/movies/Eddie-the-Eagle
Production/Distributor: 20th Century Fox/Lionsgate
On screen: Taron Egerton, Hugh Jackman, Christopher Walken
Off screen: Dexter Fletcher (director), Matthew Vaughn, Adam Bohling, David Reid, Rupert Maconick and Valerie Van Galder

Description: Highly fictionalized version of events leading to the world famous British ski jumper's Olympic debut at the 1988 Calgary Winter Olympics.

Curious Facts: In a BBC interview, the athlete on which the film is based said, "I've been warned only 10 to 15 percent of it is based on my life."

Olympic Rings And Other Things prediction: Future boxed set with the other Calgary Games comedy "Cool Runnings."

Title: "Munich 72 And Beyond"
Release Date: TBD
Website: www.MunichMemorial.org
Production: Foundation for Global Sports Development, Crisman Films
On screen: Surviving family members from 1972 Israel Olympic Team
Off screen: Stephen Crisman (director)

Description: According to the official site, the film will, "... capture the story of the Munich Memorial, and create an unflinching, elegant and timely examination of contemporary remembrance. The film will revisit Munich's history and bring it to a contemporary moment through intimate interviews and access to those involved. The film will also follow the construction of the Memorial ... with blueprints and renowned architects as guides.

Curious facts: The New York Times wrote up new revelations to be discussed in the film, and Around The Rings aired a podcast interview about the project. The 40th anniversary of the Munich Olympic attack is covered here. 

Olympic Rings And Other Things prediction: Surviving family member inch closer to closure while the Oscar-winning "One Day In September" (documentary which covers the same topic) proves tough to beat.

Title: "Olympic Pride, American Prejudice"
Release Date: TBD
Website: www.1936OlympicsMovie.com
Production: Coffee Bluff Pictures
On screen: Blair Underwood (narrator), Carl Lewis, Isaiah Thomas
Off screen: Deborah Riley Draper (director)

Description: Documentary exploring the 18 black American athletes (including Jesse Owens) and the discrimination they faced at home before, during and after they competed in the 1936 Berlin Olympics.

Curious facts: Draper, who is based in Atlanta, previously created the documentary "Versailles '73: American Runway Revolution."

Olympic Rings And Other Things prediction: Audiences will be treated to an accurate and detailed look at what Team USA's black athletes endured in spite of their accomplishments.

Title: "Roads to Olympia"
Release Date: TBD
Website: www.RoadsToOlympia.com
Production: Beacon Revolt
On screen: Daniel Alexander
Off screen: Ramazan Nanayev (director/writer)

Description:  "Weaving between Russia, Saudi Arabia and South America ... a dark yet truly empowering story that follows young people testing their strength and endurance, as athletes and as people, while the attempt to achieve their dreams."

Curious facts: Like "Olympic Pride, American Prejudice" this film was funded in-part through a public campaign via Seed & Spark.

Olympic Rings And Other Things prediction: Effective international version of "Race" portraying athletes overcoming oppression, poverty and intolerance due to ethnicity, gender and sexual orientation.

Images courtesy of the respective film production companies or distributors listed in this post. 

Help Bring Olympic History to Light on the Silver Screen in Time for 2016

Olympic movie and history buffs have an opportunity to help get a potential five-ringed gem to the silver screen in time for next year's film festival season and the Rio 2016 Olympic Games.

Through the crowdfunding site Seed & Spark, now through March 17, anyone may contribute funds to help complete the documentary "Olympic Pride, American Prejudice" by Atlanta-based filmmaker Deborah Riley Draper, whose team seeks to bring to light the seldom-heard stories of African American Olympians who competed at the 1936 Berlin Olympiad.

For more specifics on the donation process, click the links above or scroll to the base of this post, post-haste.

Paraphrasing the film synopsis: "Olympic Pride, American Prejudice" will be a feature length documentary exploring the trials and triumphs of 18 African American athletes who represented Team USA in Germany.

Set against the strained and turbulent atmosphere of a racially divided America -- torn between boycotting Hitler’s Olympics and participating in the Third Reich’s grandest feat of propaganda -- the film follows 16 men and two women as they prepared for, traveled to, competed in and returned from Berlin.

With an Olympian-level blend of grace and dignity, these athletes represented a nation that considered them second class citizens, and their competitions took place in a nation that rolled out the red carpet in spite of an undercurrent of Aryan superiority and anti-Semitism.

I spoke with Riley Draper, who explained the idea for the film started with research of a jazz singer from Chattanooga who later was reportedly interned by the Nazis. Articles on the musician included references to African American Olympians who competed in Berlin, and as Riley Draper gained some Olympic experiences and interest during a U.S. Track & Field assignment at the 1996 Atlanta Games, the seldom-heard stories of these athletes stuck with her.

Though many know the story of Jesse Owens' feats on the track in Berlin, the other 17 black athletes'
experiences are known to comparatively few.

"I wanted to bring to light these heroes who created a precursor to the Civil Rights Movement," said Riley Draper.

Research for "Olympic Pride, American Prejudice" yielded that the 18 athletes came from across the U.S., with attendance at big colleges as a common thread among the "great student athletes" selected for Team USA. Some medaled in Berlin, though with considerably less fanfare than Owens.

Riley Draper said some of the athletes also made the cut, while more did not, for the original Olympic documentary film, Leni Riefenstahl's "Olympia." And in one case, the German filmmaker
stirred the political pot in the 1936 Cultural Olympiad by displaying images of black U.S. athletes she snapped as artsy photographs during her trip to the 1932 Los Angeles Olympics.

One U.S. athlete set as part of the new film is Jack Wilson, the silver medalist in boxing. Another is Archie Williams, who won gold in the 400m race.

And in high jump, Cornelius Johnson and David Albritton earned gold and silver, respectively, while teammate Delos Thurber also made the podium for bronze (a clean sweep). As rising stars, Albritton and Owens lived parallel lives as rural Alabama natives who succeeded on the track.

I personally look forward to learning more about Johnson and all of the athletes to be profiled through “Olympic Price, American Prejudice.”

Back to the film’s synopsis: "The athletes experienced things that they were not expecting -- applause, warm welcomes, an integrated Olympic Village and the respect of their competitors. They were heroes on the world’s stage who returned home to find only short-lived glory. Their story is complicated … a vital part of history as relevant today as it was almost 80 years ago."

Riley Draper and her team plan to “utilize the wealth of newsreel material, newspaper articles, photographs, personal interviews and never-before-seen footage as well as resources from the personal archival collections of Olympians and Foundations in both the U.S. and Germany.”

She also said research to date included a wealth of detail provided by archives managed by the LA84 Foundation, the National Archives and the Avery Brundage Collection at the University of Illinois.

When I asked the extent to which the International Olympic Committee/Olympic Museum, U.S. Olympic Committee, International Society of Olympic Historians (ISOH) or travels to other domestic or international archives are on the filmmaker’s wish list (as part of their fundraising goals), Riley Draper said she was open to additional sources but travel to Berlin to capture in-stadium footage -- and more interviews of surviving athletes or spectators -- tops the list.

The crowdfunding site lists several types of equipment needs, expenses for everything from insurance and narration to image licensing, and travel items.

Donations of as little as $1 or in the form of Delta Air Lines SkyMiles are accepted, and donor who provide at higher levels may opt-in to pre-release perks (including an on-screen credit as a supporter). For readers who choose to contribute, please consider doing so by selecting this blog and/or blogger as the source providing referral to Seed & Spark.

Thank you for your part in bringing “Olympic Pride, American Prejudice” to the big screen. Additional information is also available via the film’s official site, 1936OlympicsMovie.com.

Images via www.1936OlympicsMovie.com