Hitting the Olympic Wall

It happens every Games. Its nickname: The Wall

And it's a bummer! Lots of it going around, sadly.

"The Wall" of the Olympic world is, of course, sheer Games fatigue that sets in after one's second or third week of nights with fewer than four hours of sleep.

This is the antithesis of "Olympic Fever" when folks who are otherwise Olympic fanatics start to pick mundane activities such as laundry or household chores as "a welcome break" from Olympic activities.

What is sad is that, in a few weeks or months (or even years), looking back at the Games, many will kick themselves asking "why was I worried about laundry when I could have been at an Olympic event?!"

For the first-timers enjoying their premiere Olympics, a.k.a rookies, "The Wall" during Vancouver (and past Games) started to show up in conversations around February 17-18.

Sophomore class Wall conversations in VanCity started popping up on February 20-21.

Senior class wall (for those at their third, fourth or more Games) is dropping in right about now (Feb. 24). And tomorrow brings "the final stretch" to the Closing for everyone (for the brave veterans, could mean little or no sleep for 2-3 days to tap the Games for every last bit of fun).

It's a marathon, not a sprint. Bell lap comes around on Saturday.

Two "walls" for me this Games struck thus far ... first, I hit a brick wall when my laptop crashed last Friday, costing me about three hours of precious work. The second wall came yesterday, after about the third instance of slapping myself across the face to stay awake! I also sold a couple of tickets to figure skating on the street, and accidentally left my Feb. 24 speedskating ticket in the envelope handed to a complete stranger (a $200 mistake -- DOH!)

Fortunately last night I got a few more hours of rest. Today was OK. But the rain makes me tired. Can hardly believe this time next week I'll be back in Atlanta, and a week after that in Dallas and Oklahoma City!

Lots of very, very cool experiences have not yet been written for the blog. I hope there won't be another "wall" and to post the interviews with Carl Lewis, Kristi Yamaguchi, B.C. Premiere Gordon Campbell (press conference) and visits to hotspots including USA House, Visit Britain's media night, the B.C. to Sochi mayor's handover presser, speedskating, pin trading, condo dwelling and new friends made.

Here are a few activities that are highly recommended for the home stretch:

-- Check out the Swiss House on Granville Island.

-- Pop into the Panasonic pavilion at LiveCity Yaletown (both the pavilion and LiveCity are clients of Edelman, the P.R. firm where I work). Be certain to view the video of Sarah Brightman created just for the Vancouver Games.

-- Head over to False Creek for the very fun Saskatchewan House (a pleasant, very laid back pavilion that had some great home-province musicians and one of my favorite Olympic pins for the Games).

-- Find a way into Sochi House, the preview pavilion for the 2014 Winter Olympic Games. I really hope to get there (the only "access denied" venue for yours truly at the Vancouver Games ... but I will get in!).

-- Walk around B.C. Place to view the Olympic-colored lights installed around the base of the inflated dome (a nice touch).

-- Count the Canada flags on the high rise apartment buildings. On one tower alone near Yaletown and the Marina, there are more than 30 Maple Leaf emblems on display.

-- Take the bus through East Vancouver to the Pacific Coliseum, and be sure to view the statue celebrating the two runners who completed the perfect mile in the same race.

-- Snap some photos of the Allstate U.S. Olympic Hall of Fame chalk artwork, visible from the corner windows of USA House (on Seymour across the street from Irish House).

Hoping to make it to one of the mountain events on Saturday. Tickets, anyone?

Thank you for reading the blog.

Double Buble! -- Michael Buble, at Club Bud in Vancouver, Talks about The Colbert Report Taping; Dares The World To Criticize Canada!

I gather for most Canadians, running into Michael Buble once is a big deal.

Saturday night at Club Bud in Vancouver (a client) afforded me an encore, er, "Double Buble" encounter on the heels of filming him (and snagging the least legible celebrity autograph since meeting Ennio Morricone in Torino) backstage at The Colbert Report taping in Vancouver.

If you have not yet seen that Stephen Colbert and Michael Buble video, it's right here.

Buble impressed me -- he is quite calm and really made time to speak with fans at both Vancouver sightings. Observing his other red carpet interviews, one could sense that Buble is bursting with Canadian pride. He commented several times on the massive crowds throughout downtown.

According to Buble, he dined with NBC's Tom Brokaw and Lorne Michaels just the night before singing dueling national anthems with Colbert -- not surprising that Colbert earned Buble's praise as "a class act."

I was surprised that toward the end of our conversation at Club Bud, Buble seemed to be throwing down a dare to, um, just about everyone outside of Canada!

Olympic Blog Pin Offer -- Get 'Em While They're Hot!

Olympic pin trading is everywhere in Vancouver, from the "official" trading areas in department stores and the airport, to casinos and Yaletown tents, to impromptu swapping (and discreet sales) spots on Granville Street and other points of interest.

Now the sport of Olympic pin trading is here on this Olympic blog with a special offer:

The first five readers who post a comment -- describing your favorite place to trade pins in Vancouver -- will receive a free Olympic blog pin for OlympicRingsAndOtherThings.blogspot.com (as shown with this post).

You must post a comment on this blog to qualify. I'll either deliver the pin to your suggested Vancouver location or mail the pin to those first five to comment.

There are only 500 of these Olympic blog pins (numbered by hand), and I'm getting down to the last of them.

Happy writing, and thanks for reading the Olympic blog.

Tara Lapinski at Club Bud in Vancouver

As noted in previous post, "Mad Men" star Jon Hamm was only one of the red carpet walkers at Club Bud (client) on Saturday night at the Vancouver Olympics.

Nagano 1998 Olympic gold medalist Tara Lipinski arrived at club bud ready to talk with media and fans.

Lipinski is a real trooper with media, enduring several interviews with repeat questions. She also politely navigated some potentially awkward (but handled with good cheer) moments with the friendly Brad Blanks, a reporter for New York's "Scott & Todd in the Morning," who's memory drew a blank regarding Lipinski's Olympic glory (on par with my own naivete about most of the young TV stars who arrived at Club Bud -- we had a good laugh about it in the media row).

Lipinski shared brief details on some of the special children's causes she supports, and she discussed the post-Olympic experience including participation in two Olympic torch relays.

Mad Man at the Olympics!

Last night at Club Bud, perhaps the most exclusive Olympic-time party venue in Vancouver, the stars were shining as tens of thousands of Canadians took to the streets. (disclosure: Club Bud is a client of Edelman, the P.R. firm where I work)

"Mad Men" star Jon Hamm was among numerous celebrities who took in the sights and sounds of Club Bud, and he was also nice enough to speak with OlympicsRingsAndOtherThings.blogspot.com. Enjoy the video!

More interviews to post later, that's for sure! (come back for interviews with Olympic figure skating legends Kristi Yamaguchi and Tara Lipinski, Hayden Christensen, Michael Buble and others.

Heading now to speedskating.

And living the dream!

(P.S. If any "Mad Men" writers are out there and spot this interview, please, please write the Olympics into an upcoming episode!)

Backstage at The Colbert Report Olympic Edition

Per my post last night, a colleague and I set out Wednesday morning on behalf of several clients.

Our mission was a success, but more details on that will have to wait until next week's air dates for "The Colbert Report" Olympic shows filmed in Vancouver.

Mr. Colbert was great! We made eye contact twice, and that gleam in his eye on TV twinkles even brighter in person (perhaps it was the sunlight reflecting off the "Iceholes" in attendance).

His crowd interactions met deafening applause at every step. It was cool that someone in the audience of thousands brought their Vancouver Olympic Torch and loaned it to Colbert for the show's opening lines.

I was so pleased to also see Canadian singer Michael Buble, as well as "Miracle On Ice" Miracle Worker Mike Eruzione (who shared a very brief impromptu interview shown in the video) and NBC Sports legend Bob Costas (has it really been 21 years since his broadcasts from the Seoul Olympics?). This was not the first time encountering these stars (Buble was in Atlanta recently, Eruzione appeared at Olympic pin trading in Park City, Utah, in 2002, and Costas was steps away in the Bird's Nest at Beijing's Olympic Closing Ceremony), but it was perhaps the most fun!

Enjoy the video!

Olympic Heroes Squared

Today I witnessed two heroes of speedskating, and both experiences left me breathless.

This afternoon at the Richmond Olympic Oval, Team USA speedskater Shani Davis won the gold in the 1000m race (astounding!), while this morning, U.S. Speedskating sponsor Stephen Colbert played to a staggering outdoor crowd gathered for "The Colbert Report" taping on the banks of False Creek in Vancouver.

I don't want to spoil the surprises that Colbert unleashed on the show taped to air next week, but let's just say that Mr. Colbert was absolutely hilarious both on stage and backstage, where my Edelman colleague Shari and I were staked out to deliver some client news and information to Colbert's producers (we happened to also visit with two of several attending media there, too, including LA Times reporter/Olympic blogger Mr. Chris Erskine and Ms. Tiffany Campbell, doing the online thing for The Seattle Times).

As an Olympic fan and a Colbert Nation member, I am in awe of the Colbert team of writers for their creativity and for their hard work. We're heading back tomorrow to delivery the next batch of client details, and hopefully there will be time to post photos, videos and more details from Feb. 17, a day of Olympic heroes.

Congratulations, Shani Davis! What an amazing race!