Over The Wall

Those final days in Vancouver ... they each remain a fantastic, psychedelic blur.

After posting about hitting the wall weeks ago, the next day (the final Thursday of the Games), brought a great blend of work successes (interviews for clients), a ticketing coup (row three seats for the women's figure skating final for less than an arm and a leg), three nights of red carpet interviews at Club Bud (disclosure: a client of the firm where I work) and as much pin trading as I could muster.

Some old friends arrived in Vancouver, too, so some blogging time went away in order to catch up and create new Olympic memories.

There was a midnight visit to the Main Press Center (MPC) and International Broadcast Center (IBC), tying up loose ends with new friends at work and around town, then packing up from the Marinaside condo (realizing now I have yet to post details of that experience ... and dozens more experiences). Spending an hour at Sochi House, then a Saturday afternoon and evening in the Olympic Village residential zone, were icing in the cake of a fabulous yet extremely exhausting four days of Olympic wrap-up.

Could blog for days about the Closing Ceremony, too (seated under the stage where Avril Lavigne and Michael Buble performed). And I will in good time. There are gold medalist and other surprise interviews yet to be formatted and posted.

There was some big ice hockey game one day, too, wasn't there?

Leaving Vancouver was a HUGE BUMMER. I absolutely love and miss being there.

The commute back to Atlanta -- starting March 2 at 5 a.m. at YVR with landings in Seattle, Dallas and (at long last) ATL at 9:30 p.m. after several consecutive weeks with only 2-3 hours of nightly sleep -- made for a soupy/foggy first few days back (it was indeed good to be home, too -- torn between two cities, now). There are two steamer trunk-sized bags of loot with a label "for eBay" staring at me from the corner of my home office. :-)

It hardly seems possible that only a week after the layover in Dallas on March 2, work travel took me back to "Big D" on March 10. It's nice to sort of ease into a spring of busy days that, by comparison, will be calm and steady.

Was it all a dream?

Vancouver marked my seventh Olympic Games. It is going down among the best. No credentials? No problem.

I keep thinking of John Furlong's astounding speeches of the Opening and Closing Ceremonies, and the music of the Games. Paraphrasing Furlong, Canada's Winter Games will certainly be remembered for generations.

Only 862 Days to London.

Borderline

An article on the USA Today online travel section just started me whistling that Madonna tune "Borderline."

It's been about three years since my lone drive from Seattle to Vancouver via the Washington:British Columbia border crossing. According to today's report, if I'm to repeat that transnational trek again next month there may be a longer wait and more detailed search of the vehicle.

So in case you're planning to drive from anywhere in the USA to the 2010 Winter Olympic metropolis, be sure you plan ahead and bring your required documents.

If only I could drive one of those T-top Datsun Z cars (as featured in the "Borderline" video) ...

Photo via Flickr user i_am_metolius

100 Days Out Brings Olympic P.R. Trifecta In

The 100 Days to Vancouver milestone marked a flurry of activity online and in the news. It was refreshing to see the Olympic headlines gaining prominence again in anticipation of the big B.C. party coming soon.

There was a party in my inbox as a handful of public relations agencies/contacts sent over their Olympic wares tied to 100 Days as well.

The first arrival was some detail from Polo Ralph Lauren regarding the newly unveiled Vancouver 2010 Closing Ceremony uniforms to be donned by Team USA in February. There's a complete line of Olympic gear from this official outfitter. According to their news:

"The Closing Ceremony Parade Uniform for both men and women are vintage-inspired and modern in design with a functional cotton fleece pant, a patriotic navy and red wool shawl cardigan, and a newsboy hat adorned with the “Look of the Team” logo adding a distinct feel of American spirit. Underneath the shawl cardigan, the women’s uniform will feature a classic navy ribbed turtleneck while the men’s uniform includes a traditional plaid shirt made of woven flannel. The men’s uniform also boasts a sophisticated tie featuring unique patriotic elements."

Looks good to me. Their nods to the 1932 Winter Games wear at Lake Placid is classy.

Perusing the Polo photos and models/Olympians, both on the Polo media site and on another Olympic blog (this one showing some merchandise that was part of the Rockefeller Center festivities for 100 Days), I must admit the gargantuan horse and rider RL logo was a bit much for my taste (as a Polo customer and fan since fifth grade -- my closet has many casual and semi-formal Ralph Lauren items -- I often wish their high quality and stylish products to be available sans logo).

But the 2010 logos will certainly show up on NBC Olympic broadcasts from Vancouver (remember the whole controversy of Michael Jordan wearing having to cover up his sponsor logos on the medal stand in Barcelona? Will that apply again in 2010?).

Sidebar: One of my uncles works in a movie set and design operation in Texas, and at one point in the late 1980/early 1990s he visited one or more of Mr. Lifschitz's (Ralph's) homes to complete some design work. Will have to check the facts on this family lore before revisiting the Ralph connection again in the future.

Next to arrive in the inbox was a nice note from the P.R. team for McDonald's, reminding me of their 2010 Vancouver Olympic contest for kids (just wrapped up entry phase) and the company's extended timeline of Olympic involvement. Per the press site:

"McDonald's Olympic Pride continues to shine throughout the host country of Canada and throughout the world. McDonald's is preparing for its eighth Games as the Official Restaurant and feeding the athletes. Plans are in place to share the excitement of the Games with millions of customers across the globe as a Worldwide Partner of the Olympic Movement."

As noted in previous posts, my personal Olympic journey is intertwined with the Golden Arches all the way back to "When The U.S. Wins, You Win" in grade school and the Atlanta Olympic Village (1996) locations of McDonald's across Georgia Tech.

Suggestion for future Games: I'd be "Lovin' It" if McDonald's Vancouver 2010, London 2012, Sochi 2014 or Rio 2016 Happy Meals would include PINS rather than plastic toys.

Another in-box P.R. arrival was from one of my colleagues at Edelman, the firm where I work. Our client 24 Hour Fitness announced Wednesday the names of the athletes on deck for their Vancouver programs. According to the press release:

"[24 Hour Fitness'] partnership [includes] six U.S. Olympic and Paralympic hopefuls for the 2010 Games: Snowboarder Gretchen Bleiler, pairs skater Rockne Brubaker, short track speedskater J.R. Celski, Paralympic skier Chris Devlin-Young, speedskater Tucker Fredricks and skier Julia Mancuso. The athletes joined Team 24 Hour Fitness as they strive toward making the 2010 U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Team and medaling this winter at the 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games in Vancouver.

It will be fun to witness how these and other athletes progress, work out, Tweet and shine before and during the Games of Vancouver.

As I wrap up this press release-infused post, it is worth noting that on the 100 Days milestone I also stumbled upon some P.R. gone bad. Apparently an embargoed** press release related to the torch relay struck a nerve with a reporter in Seattle. Call it Schadenfreude, but some of the comments are hilarious.

**offered/delivered to reporters in advance of publication date as a courtesy to aid with timely news delivery

Images via McDonald's, 24 Hour Fitness and Polo Ralph Lauren (Polo image is via Yahoo! News/Associated Press)