The Colbert Factor

Anyone following US Speed Skating as of late. The organization has found itself a partner in Steven Colbert - host of Comedy Central's The Colbert Report - and in the process has become a media darling heading into Vancouver. The lesson is one that Canadian Sport Organizations should emulate

In October of 2009 with the Vancouver 2010 Games still four months away US SpeedSkating was in dire need of cash after its biggest sponsor Dutch Bank DSB went under. With $300,000 in corporate sponsorship suddenly gone - US Speedskating was in need of a white knight and Colbert was happy to fill that role....but not in a financial sort of way.

Colbert agreed to promote the sport on his show and encourage viewers to donate money to the team. In return US SpeedSkaters would wear Colbert Nation logos on their skinsuits. Without any other plan in place US Speedskating jumped at the opportunity and donors have responded. More than 9,000 individuals have donated money (average donation is $30) and the organization has raised close to $300,000. Further, traffic on the sports website has increased two fold and the skaters are garnering huge amounts of media attention.

The success of the Colbert initiative gives light to Canadian Sport Organizations as to how they can raise money. Instead of relying on handouts from traditional sources sport organizations have to start appealing to their fan base. Post video of athletes looking for money on the organizations webpage. Show video from recent competitions. Get athletes to write blogs about their daily trials. Get the fan base involved!. Today the webpage of most sporting organizations here in Canada is bland and boring. Start appealing to the base of your sport.

By interacting with the sports base not only will interest increase but so to will corporate donations.

Nothing Changes

Great article the other day in the Vancouver Sun about how Canada's politicians are queue jumping and using tax payers money to secure tickets to Olympic events. http://www.vancouversun.com/life/Politicians+score+seats+events+before+public/2480201/story.html

While extremely disturbing to not only the tax paying public the aforementioned article goes to show how all levels of government are using amateur sport. In 2002 federal ministers spent over $397,000 at the 2002 Winter Olympics, which exceeded the budget of many of Canada's National Sport Orgranizations. The article shows that nothing has changed regardless of which political party is in office.

Wouldn't it be nice if all levels of government invested public monies on our amateur athletes, rather than try to fatten their egos. This blogger thinks so.

Finance for Dummies

Imagine what $104.9 million could do for Canada's Summer Athletes. It would provide the Summer Own the Podium program with resources it requires for the next four years. It would give Canada's amateur athletes a five fold increase in sport funding. The interest alone would give Canada's Summer Sport Organizations an across the board 50% increase in sport funding.

Needless to say Canada's Summer Sport Organizations won't be recieving these monies but this amount of money is exactly what VANOC invested in creating the state of the art Whister Sliding Centre on Whistler-Blackcomb. Following the conclusion of the Vancouver 2010 Olympics the center was to be operated by by the Whistler Legacies Society and help in the future development of all sliding sports in and around the local area. That was the hope.

Unfortunately, the $104.9 million dollar investment was utilized to create a facility on lands owned by Intrawest; a company whose assests are in the process of being foreclosed upon. Presently Intrawest is in default of a $524 million dollar debt payment prompting lenders to seek buyers for the company's assets including the $104.9 million dollar sliding center.

Currently the assets are scheduled to be auctioned off on Feb 19, 2010 which would certainly be an unwelcome disruption to the Winter Olympics. The likelihood of the auction affecting the games themselves is minimal. However, the taxpaying citizens of Canada, British Columbia and Canada's amateur athletes should be questioning VANOC. Anyone in finance will tell you that investing money on property owned by an independant third property is not a sound financial decision. Why was this lost on VANOC?

After the games are over, VANOC's responsabilities will be over, but the impact of this will be felt for a long time. $104.9 million is alot of money in Canada's amateur sporting system and could certainly be put to use. Unfortunately, these monies will be left to the control of Wall Street and they will determine what use it will be to them.

Fat Nation

For the last decade Canada's Sporting Officials have been lobbying the federal government for increased funding on the premise that increased funding will lead to more medals which in turn will motivate Canadians to get involved in sport.

"I think they understand what we're saying. The critical point is to link the health of Canadians with active lifestyles - it would take a burden off the health budget if more Canadians were involved in sport. And one of the links that accomplishes that is the link of high-performance athletes getting on the podium. Every time that happens, the number of kids involved in physical activity goes up." notes Alex Baumann Executive Director of the Own the Podium Program.

For this blogger the link between Olympic medals and a healthy society was always a poorly contrived theory. Think about it. Using the logic of Canada's Sporting Leaders, municipalities and provinces should pump millions into the CFL or NHL because a championship run, after all, would get kids active. However, despite how irrational the theory was, the federal government seeminly bought it, until maybe now.

A couple of weeks ago, the Canadian Press reported that all Canadians were fatter than they were in 1981. The report went on to add that there was a three fold increase in child obesity since 1981. http://www.google.com/hostednews/canadianpress/article/ALeqM5gVB3NH3D7S2U3Qn-1e2OvnCCVDcA.

The logic of which wouldn't make much sense if you listened to Canada's Sporting Officials. In 1981 Canada boycotted the 1980 Olympics in Moscow, and won only 2 medals at the Winter Olympics that very same year. Some 30 years later Canada is poised to win a record number of medals at the 2010 Olympics and returned home from the 2008 Summer Olympics with 18 medals. And yet despite Canada's success at the Olympics, Canadians are fatter, less active and we as a nation are facing a health epidemic as a result.

Here is a thought. Maybe it is time that we as a nation invested in opportunities for our youth. Like Recreation Centres. Just a thought.

Dirty Dick Pound

Richard Pound is at it once again. Speaking to a business conference in B.C. on Monday January 10, 2010, Richard Pound called figure skating a "nightmare sport" and said figure skaters can't be sure that their sport is immune from judging scandals.

"I don't see much improvement," Pound told the Vancouver Sun, "You don't know what's going through (the judges') minds. It's so corrupt that the judging is anonymous."

While it isn't surprising that Pound would make another ridiculous comment without any real evidence before him, what has become tiresome is Pound's manner for seeking out publicity. Has anyone noticed that Pound reserves his comments until the press actually cares about amateur sports so his image can make front page headlines across the country.

Think about it. In early 2004 - a few short months before the onset of the Athens Games and at the height of Lance Armstrong's popularity here in North America Pound remarked that "the public knows that riders in the Tour de France are doping". Just before the cauldron was lit at the 2004 Games in Athens Pound accused USA Track of being "largely responsible" for doping. In January of 2006 - a few short weeks before the onset of the Olympic Games Pound noted that a third of NHL hockey players were on performance enhacing drugs. And in 2008, on the second day of competition at the Beijing Games when asked about China's human rights record Pound remarked that "Canada was a land of savages".

However, while Pound sits and passes out accusations he should look at himself first. In an article written by Sally Jenkins of the Washington Post she notes the following, "Pound was vice president of the IOC and a representative of the Canadian delegation in 1988 when his countryman, Ben Johnson, was stripped of his gold medal for testing positive for steroid use. Pound was a public defender of Johnson's, arguing that he was essentially innocent, had been manipulated into taking an illegal drug unwittingly. "I'm certain he didn't know," Pound said. "I don't think he has the faintest idea what it's all about." He also said that Johnson had a "guilty body" but not the guilty intent that would have convicted him in a court of law. Johnson later confessed he had used steroids since 1981."

Some time thereafter, Pound became known as an outspoken critic of corruption within the IOC, while at the same time supporting the leadership of IOC President Juan Antonio Samaranch.


Later as President of the World Anti Doping Agency Pound's agency was a benefector of his board and the Canadian tax-payer. In 2002, Hon Paul Devillers, the then Minister of Sport to Paul Martin, sat as a member on the board of directors of the World Anti-Doping Association (WADA). As a board member with WADA, Devillers was quoted as saying that anti-doping in sport was part of his mandate. In that year, Sport Canada approved a $1.5 million grant to the World Anti Doping Agency to move their head office to Montreal, Quebec - Pound's home town at the time. This was in addition to $315,000 in operation funding that very same year.






Perhaps it is time that Pound kept his mouth shut and he focused on cleaning up his own act.
Just a thought.

Hiring Process

In professional sports, the general manager is the most influential and scrutinized individual as he decides how the owner's money is spent. It is the General Manager who is often the difference between a succesful franchise and an abysmal one. In amateur sport, the executive director is often the individual faced with making the difficult decisions and is equally as important to the well fare of the organization as is the general manager in professional sports. Recognizing this, one would hope that the quality of individuals hired for an executive director role in amateur sports would be equally impressive as that of a general manager in professional sports. You decide for yourself.

In 2009, the Toronto Maple Leafs hired Brian Burke to be it's general manager. A former hockey player and Harvard Law Graduate, Burke was first hired by the Vancouver Canucks in 1987 as their Director of Player Operations. In 1992, Burke accepted a position with the NHL front office as Senior Vice President and Director of Hockey Operations. In 1998, Burke left the NHL Head Office to accept a position with the Vancouver Canucks as the team's President and General Manager. Following a six year stint in Vancouver, Burke accepted the General Manager's job in Anaheim where he won a Stanley Cup in in 2007. In 2008, he was recognized by his peers as the league's most outstanding GM before departing for greener pastures in Toronto in 2009. In addition to his role with the Toronto Maple Leafs Burke is also, the Executive Director of USA Hockey.

In 2009, the Canadian Amateur Wrestling Association hired Tamara Medwidsky as it's executive director. Tamara was a Collegiate Wrestler with Concordia University winning two national titles in 2000 & 2001. Following graduation, Tamara made an attempt to represent her country at the 2004 Olympics. However, after a dispute in which she filed a legal challenge with the Canadian Amateur Wrestling Asscoation over the selection process of a World Cup Team in 2003, Tamara left the sport in 2004 and accepted a role with Football Canada as a Program Coordinator. Following a three year stint with Football Canada, Tamara returned to Wrestling Canada as a Team Manager. After two years as a Team Manager - Tamara was promoted to the role of Executive Director in 2009.

In 2009 Hockey Canada hired Steve Yzerman to be Executive Director of Canada's Men's Olympic Hockey Team. A 22 year career with the Detroit Red Wings - where he served as the team's captain for 20 of those years - Yzerman retired in 2006 after winning three Stanley Cups and an Olympic Gold Medal at the 2002 Olympics. In 2007, Yzerman was named to the role of Vice-President of the Detroit Red Wings where in 2007-2008 he helped guide the team to it's fourth Stanley Cup in 15 years. In addition to his role with the Red Wings, Yzerman was General Manager of Hockey Canada at the 2007 IIHF World Championships where the Men's team won gold. Yzerman was appointed executive director of Hockey Canada's Men's Olympic Team in September 2008.

Perhaps these decisions show why some amateur sports organizations in Canada fail while others aspire to greatness. You be the judge.

VANOC's Lead!

Congrats to VANOC with their latest initiative. As part of it's Northern Outreach Project VANOC in association with the Canadian Forces and the United Nations Association of Canada, helped see the distribution of sporting goods equipment to 20 northern communties across Canada today.

The sports gear — donated by Nike as well as the NHL's Vancouver Canucks, Edmonton Oilers and Calgary Flames teams will hopefully foster more play in northern communities, which in turn will lead to increased participation in sport.

This blogger is ecstatic with the initiative and can only hope that sport organizations, their athletes and professional sporting teams here in Canada follow VANOC's lead and get involved with projects of this nature going forward. As we are aware, physical inactivity is a serious concern here in Canada. It is widely acknowledged that Canadians are increasingly struggling with obesity and other health complications associated with inactivity , which is taxing our national healthcare system to a serious degree. The Conference Board of Canada states that healthcare spending because of physical inactivity ranges from $2.1 billion to $5.3 billion annually.

Situations are equally as dire in the United States, which is why the National Football League, and it's players have launched a multi million dollar national campaign titled "Play 60" encourgaging children of all ages to be actively engaged in sport for 60 minutes a day.

While only small in comparison to the NFL's "Play 60" program, the VANOC initiative is a start, and with time the hope here is that a small step today encourages all Canadians to actively promote sport. I know that VANOC has encourged me. Tonight I am going to flood the community rink. What can you do?

Own the Podium

Own the Podium, introduced in 2005, was designed to get Canada's winter athletes on the Olympic and Paralympic podium more often than had ever been seen before. This would be achieved by prioritizing sport funding based on a sport's potential for success; those sports with a high opportunity of success would be given additional resoucres at the expense of other sports. The initiative at the time was seen as radical for a country whose system for funding amateur sports was seen as largely egalitarian.





In Vancouver, Canada's Winter Olympic and Paralympic Athletes are projected to win more medals than ever before, and for some this level of success is attributed to the Own the Podium program itself. Detractors say that the benefits and failures of the program won't be known until the 2014 and more likely the 2018 Winter Games.





Regardless of whether you agree or disagree with Own the Podium initiative, after reading a splendid article - The Games of our Lives by Jon Wertheim of Sports Illustrated -
http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/vault/article/magazine/MAG1163721/index.htm - should the Own the Podium program be applied to Paralympic Sport. This blogger says no.





Not to suggest that our Paralympians don't deserve the same opportunity to succeed as our able body athletes; they do. However, after reading the aforementioned article it is apparent that the Paralympics are more than just winning medals and medal counts and as such the athletes deserve a sport funding program their very own. Our Paralympians deserve a sports program that recognizes the challenges they face just to reach the starting line as opposed to a funding program that examines an athletes placing at the finish line.



Disagree.....read the article.