Olympic Fever

My bi-annual Olympic Fever has fully set in.  The two weeks of Olympics every two years is always a highlight for me.  I think it should be a world-wide holiday so people can sit glued to their tvs and support their Country.  I must admit that I am not at all patriotic....until it comes to those two weeks.  I think it is more than cheering for your Nation - it is all of the heart warming stories that the TV-Networks find and use to keep people like me glued to the television.


Over the past 6-months I think I have complained a fair bit about the sports coverage I receive on my numerous sports channels.  At this point I am still a little concerned that when I wake up at 2am on Sunday night/ Monday morning to watch the Superbowl that I may find synchronized swimming instead.  That being said I must admit that the ESPN coverage that I get has done a good job fueling my fever.  Every morning I have been able to watch heart-warming and heart-breaking stories from past winter Olympics.  Now I just hope they don't disappoint and that the coverage of The Games is good.


Now it was important to get me going this year, as I must admit I became quite disenchanted with the whole Olympic Movement over the past 18 months.  Between the Games it is easy to get caught up in the corporate battle, as while the Olympics does bring some spectacular sporting moments, it does come down to dollars and cents.  I was quite distressed to learn in early 2009 that Right To Play would be banned from the Olympic Village in 2010.  See some articles about this here:Right To Play banned from Olympic Village.  


There is of course much speculation about why RTP lost the privilege of being the only charity allowed in the Village and on what the effect will be for the organization.  There is the issue that Mitsubishi Canada is one of our Corporate Partners and over the past two years has donated over $1 million to us -  (In April, May & June - 2008 and 2009 they have donated $100 for every car they have sold in Canada) - and that GM is one of the sponsors for Olympics.  But that comes down to cold-hard business.  I understand that companies pay HUGE amounts for the Olympic rights and it is important to protect what they are paying for but to me it goes against the whole spirit of the Olympics.  Today it has almost become a game for some companies to see how they can ambush the Games and I think in some cases they spend as much money as those that have paid for the rights.


How this will affect RTP is still unclear.  At past games our presence in The Village has been a way to educate athletes about the cause and spurred giving from athletes such as Joey Cheek and Clara Hughes (the athlete chosen to carry the Canadian Flag at the Opening Ceremonies).  As a side note - this is the second consecutive Olympics that a RTP Athlete Ambassador has been selected to carry the Canadian Flag at the Opening Ceremonies!!  These athletes then help us spread the word about RTP and raise the much needed funds to carry out programs in some of the most disadvantaged communities in the world.  Our Olympian Athlete Ambassadors also protested the ban as they have found inspiration from visiting our booth in The Village at past games.  


Over the past year there has been a group of people working very hard to determine what type of presence RTP would have in Vancouver and how we could engage not only the athletes but also the millions of fans.  Just yesterday the plan was unveiled: RTP Vancouver/ Whistler Activities.  If you happen to be attending the games I encourage you to check it out.  If you, like me, won't be making the trip out you can follow all the action at http://twitter.com/RightToPlayIntl or on RTPtv starting February 12.


I will be watching The Games whenever possible and look forward to wearing my Roots Canada T-shirt from their Canada Collection supporting RTP.  Roots has also created an RTP line so you can go out and buy RTP gear.  While I do love the lines that Roots has created for various Olympics in the past they are no longer the official supplier for the Olympics - but they do produce amazing gear so go out and support RTP if you are trying to be patriotic (they have gear for a variety of countries) this February.


I also need to make a comment about Lulu - my favourite clothing store and probably the reason my savings are abysmal.  I came across a great article yesterday about how they have managed to get around all of the branding regulations (2010 and Vancouver cannot be used) - Lulu - Genius!!


In non-Olympic fever news - last week I experienced weather Karma.  After seeing people all over facebook comment on the cold I decided I would mention the nice warm weather in Kampala.  I think within an hour of my post the mercury rose and we had 4 - 5 days of hot, humid, brain frying weather.  The office is not air-conditioned and I must admit I had trouble getting anything done.  So of course I was complaining about the heat and then the weather changed again - the temperature is back around 22 (cold for Kla) and the grey skies accompanied by occasional downpour is back.  So I guess the lesson I have learned - I need to just adjust to the weather and there is no need to remind people that I am not wandering through the snow!