Poll: Colbert vs. Vonn -- Sexiest SI Cover

Which Sports Illustrated cover star is sexier? Olympian Lindsey Vonn, or would-be-Olympic speedskater Stephen Colbert?

Both SI cover stars are obviously competitive and have legions of fans, so which fan base will answer the call and vote for the "Sexiest SI Cover" for the Vancouver Winter Olympic Games? The Colbert Nation? The U.S. Ski Team?

Drag your mouse over to the right side of the screen to vote in this Olympic blog poll now through next week.

Funniest comment posted in favor of either cover athlete will earn a blog pin by mail (mind your manners in the comments, please). Happy voting!

Here, KT KT KT

Remember the time when Kerri Walsh was wearing that curious black "stuff" on her shoulder during the Beijing beach volleyball games?

It was always my intention to try to learn more about "the stuff" but it slipped my mind.

And then the other day an e-mail arrived from the P.R. team for KT Tape, the proper name for the company/product that contributed to Walsh taking home the gold.

According to their website ...

"KT Tape is an elastic athletic tape that allows athletes to compete at the top of their game. Used as a preventative taping system, KT Tape enables athletes to perform at their highest levels with confidence."

Since we won't likely see too many beach volleyball players in Vancouver (note: if you spot ANY women's beach volleyball Olympians in town, a free blog pin goes to the first person to send me the news tip!), I was curious which Winter Olympic athletes might be donning KT Tape in British Columbia.

Quoth the press release ...

"Athletes from all sports use KT Tape. More and more people are discovering the difference KT Tape can make in their athletic performance. Injuries that usually sideline an athlete are no match for KT Tape. KT Tape provides relief for runner’s knee, tennis elbow, Achilles tendinitis, shin splints, sprains, and general back and shoulder pain, as well as most muscle soreness or pain. All of these injuries respond well to treatment with KT Tape, allowing people to remain active while injured."

The tape is also available now to consumers.

Anyone else wondering whether KT Tape was part of that photo shoot for the new (and "controversial") Sports Illustrated cover featuring Lindsey Vonn?

Back to Blogging

The last few weeks were a bit insane.

Holiday treks to Oklahoma and Milwaukee, and some post-holiday catch-up work at the office kept me away from blogging, but with only a few weeks to go before the Vancouver 2010 Olympic Opening Ceremony, I'll endeavor to post daily or near-daily for the weeks to come.

Here's a random hodgepodge of Olympic topics, story suggestions and general stuff that piqued my interest in recent correspondence or trolling online:

• Thanks to a colleague and fellow blogger for pointing me to the SI.com Olympic galleries for Vancouver 2010 Olympic hopefuls


• Good traffic of Olympic news and views on the New York Times' Rings blog
  
• Adecco is still looking for a silver and bronze medal "Office Champion" via a video contest.


• MediaDailyNews reports on social media and the Olympics


• Stephen Colbert first took U.S. Speedskating to new heights, and last night's show featured Colbert Report on thin ice with the USA Curling team for Vancouver 2010


• One family's quest to get Vancouver 2010 Olympic tickets hit a snag, according to the Vancouver Sun
  
• The LA Times reported on Canada's Olympic hockey team selection, and more than 4 million Canadians took time to care about this news, says the National Post blog


• Lots of people went to see the new film "Up In The Air" during the last few weeks, and it really impressed me for its "real-ness" and story (compared to the digital-ness of the also-popular release "Avatar"). I now have a huge crush on Anna Kendrick, thanks in part to one of her talk show TV appearances


• ESPN and ABC noted some changes to anticipate for locals and tourists in Vancouver


• SafeGames2010 will apparently distribute more than 250,000 Olympic condoms during the Vancouver 2010 Winter Olympic Games
  
• The Vancouver Sun's Olympic reporter Jeff Lee took on P.R.-types at VANOC on December 21, and I have to agree with just about everything he wrote. Lee also peeked at Olympic pins on deck for next month in a post dated December 3, which took me to a blog post about the Coca-Cola Pin Trading Centre that opened last weekend.

See you in Vancouver! Only 37 days to go!

Don We Now Our Sports Illustrated Apparel

Awesome news via the Associated Press: Sports Illustrated's new edition (on newsstands tomorrow) features Stephen Colbert in a U.S. Speedskating uniform!

As noted in previous posts, The Colbert Report and Colbert Nation recently rescued the national governing body for speedskating, raking in more than $250,000 in donations when another title sponsor pulled out of their arrangement.

Kudos to Colbert -- that photo cover is awesome, and I can't wait to read the sports media cover story. Bravo, SI, for celebrating Colbert's contributions to Vancouver 2010 and sport.

Photo via the Associated Press