Vancouver's Olympic city brand takes a hit

Vancouver saw the worst of two worlds collide Wednesday night - the heart-breaking disappointment of Stanley Cup defeat and, worse, the stinging embarassment of public disorder gone wild.

On the ice, the NHL's Vancouver Canucks were shut out 4-0 by Tim Thomas and the Bruins, giving Boston its first Stanley Cup championship in 39 years and denying the Canucks franchise their first in 40 seasons and 41 years.

That in and of itself is disappointing to Canucks fans and the team's corporate, broadcast and merchandising partners, and the many other businesses who rise and fall with the NHL team, let alone the very brand equity of the franchise that had been building at an impressive rate this anniversary season.

Yet disappointment around the Canucks missing a golden opportunity to win the 2011 Stanley Cup paled in comparison to the disappointment – the utter embarrassment – the City of Vancouver suffered off the ice in the aftermath of Game 7.

In three hours of rioting, vandalism, looting and violence, Vancouver saw its global brand – one so elevated by the Vancouver 2010 Olympic Winter Games – badly diminished. The tremendous global goodwill and image generated by Vancouver 2010, almost all but gone. The local economic impact of two months of Stanley Cup playoff hockey – arguably north of $45 million – fully erased by the negative exposure the city received across Canada, throughout North America and around the world.

The few million dollars in damage and costs directly associated with Wednesday night are mere water drops when juxtaposed against the wave of damage done to the city’s reputation nationally, continentally and globally.

The ugly side of the public celebrations that made Vancouver such a fun place to be for a Stanley Cup spring have undoubtedly bruised the city’s civic pride.

Yet it is that same ugly side -- both the criminals who may have triggered the riots and the other disaffected, angry young people who elevated and sustained the disorder -- which cannot be allowed to shape the future of the city in particular and the region and province in general.

Many are concerned about the public plazas that seemed to anchor the post-game stupidity, but in my view the best defense against hooliganism is to continue building civic pride through public celebration, not reducing it out of fear.

Protecting the city’s capacity to stage big events and hold public celebrations began with those who rose on Thursday to help clean the streets of downtown Vancouver and it is something we should stand behind. The follow through to protect future public events -- Stanley Cup-related and others -- will require smart security measures, inspired public policies and leadership, and creative public-private partnerships, not to mention more of the spirit and community caring shown Thursday morning and into the weekend.

It will also require more of us to embrace sport as an essential element in the fabric of any community and in society at large...belief that the infrastructure of professional sport creates value for a community, ranging from the tangibles of jobs and economic impact to the intangibles of continental and global name recognition and, closer to home, civic pride.

First and foremost, civic pride contributes to our sense of identity. The privilege of gathering to celebrate and share as a community is worth protecting because it’s in large part how we are defined as a civil society. It’s how we feel at home in our community and it’s how most of us best express the pride we take in living in Vancouver and in being Canadian.

It would be senseless to compromise that civic pride and it would be wrongheaded not to continue to leverage the many positives that spin off of professional sport by making the most of hosting opportunities such as the Stanley Cup, the Grey Cup and other special events. 

Losing that would be the biggest cost of all.

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South Africa 2010 and Vancouver 2010: Similar pre-event lead-ins, divergent post-event legacies

JOHANNESBURG, South Africa - Beginning with the familiar slogan used by some of the official corporate partners of the 2010 FIFA World Cup -- as in the welcome display used by First National Bank (FNB) at Tambo International Airport -- there are many common storylines between South Africa 2010 and Vancouver 2010, global sports events held four months apart after close to a decade of bidding and development.

At first glance, the South Africa World Cup and the Vancouver 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games are similarly-sized ventures, at least in terms of operating budgets. Vancouver 2010's operating budget stands at around $1.8 billion. When you add the South Africa local organizing committee's budget of $532 million to FIFA's tournament budget of $1.2 billion, you're pretty close at $1.7 B and change.

They're both huge ticketing machines of similar magnitude, at least when pro-rated. Vancouver 2010 sold about 1.5 million tickets over a two-week Olympic period of events and the month-long South Africa 2010 tournament has surpassed three million spectators at 10 soccer venues with an average capacity of 48,500.

Most important, they're both similarly associated with more than $5 billion in venues and infrastructure.
 
In the case of South Africa, hosting the 2010 FIFA World Cup involved construction or renovation of the 10 stadiums, about half of which were built from scratch. That generated 66,000 construction jobs according to the South African government. Also required were significant airport renewal and expansion (especially in Cape Town, Durban and here in Johannesburg) and massive transportation upgrades, including highways and rail.
 
Sound familiar? Vancouver 2010 saw the provincial and federal governments partner on about $600 M of Olympic venues; including the Richmond Oval, Hillcrest Curling Centre, UBC Thunderbird Arena, Whistler Sliding Centre and upgrades to the Pacific Coliseum and what is now Rogers Arena. In terms of infrastructure, Vancouver 2010 helped generate construction of the Canada Line, Sea-to-Sky Highway upgrades and the new Vancouver Convention Centre.   
 
The largely comparable storylines don't end with the economic costs themselves. In the lead-up to both events, critics and doomsayers dominated the news coverage and spin. Skeptics in both countries questioned why monies were being spent on sports toys instead of providing for the homeless, hungry and ill. There was considerable angst over venue construction in both countries, with shared concern over timelines, costs and overruns.
 
In both cases, the years of severe anxiety and negativity turned into palpable pride and positivity by the time both events were a week old.

Of course, we all know both Vancouver 2010's venues and South Africa 2010's stadiums cost much more than originally forecast and both required additional government support to get the jobs done (the full measure of which is still being tallied by the BC government, especially in what it spent off-line). 

Despite all of the similarities, there are differences and the biggest is in what the countries got for their money. While the spend was indeed similar, the return on investment is clearly higher in South Africa than it was in Vancouver.

South Africa 2010's $5 B in venues and infrastructure went a lot further than Vancouver 2010's $5 B. The stadium legacies alone are awe-inspiring and would make any fully-developed country in Europe, Asia and North America proud, including Canada. That, of course, has everything to do with access to and cost of labour in South Africa.
 
Arguably the most glaring difference between the World Cup and the Winter Olympics is the return on monies spent on security. The federal government of Canada rented close to $1 B worth of it at Vancouver 2010. South Africa, meanwhile, invested in the creation of 44,000 new police jobs. They'll stay in place permanently and, according to many South Africans, will serve as the most important legacy of the 2010 FIFA World Cup.
 
The ROI advantage to South Africa on venues, infrastructure and security will also likely be joined by a big differential in long-term tourism impact. The impact of Vancouver 2010 on tourism in Vancouver, British Columbia and Canada simply cannot be compared to the impact of the World Cup on tourism for South Africa.
 
In the case of Vancouver, it was already playing from a position of strength as a popular Pacific Gateway city which hosted the world's fair in Expo 86. In the case of South Africa, it was truly a coming out party and hence a much bigger deal in terms of what it means for the country over the next generation.
 
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Vancouver 2010 a factor in strong television ratings for Stanley Cup playoffs

The parity that drove strong television ratings throughout the 2009-'10 National Hockey League regular season has found expression in the post-season, which included 49 games in the first round (with seven of eight series going at least six games).

Twelve overtime games helped produce great ratings for Versus and NBC south of the border and for TSN, RDS and CBC here in Canada.

The NHL numbers for round one of the 2010 Stanley Cup tournament still pale in comparison with those for the NBA on ESPN/ABC and TNT (about a third to a fifth of the size of the ratings sparked by Kobe and Lebron). Nonetheless, they represent solid growth for the NHL and give it much to crow about, especially with its U.S. broadcast partners and league-wide corporate sponsors.

NBC is up 18 per cent over 2009, to an average first-round viewership of 1.430 million and a rating of 1.1. Versus has seen a 35% spike in viewers, with a first-round average of 595,000. That's the most the NHL has gleaned on U.S. cable television since ESPN/ESPN2 drove 608,000 in 2001. The combined average of 742,000 is the most since ABC/ESPN/ESPN2 scored 750,000 in 2000. In addition, the various U.S. regional rights holders who simulcast alongside the national carriers have hit record numbers in 2010.

In Canada, where hockey and hockey television are kings, the CBC's Hockey Night in Canada is up 49% over last year and is riding its highest numbers since 2004, when a Vancouver-Calgary first-round seven-game series caused a television buzz. TSN is up 89% (growing from 567K in 2009 to 1.07 M in 2010). RDS is going wild on the wave of the Montreal Canadiens.

The numbers are up in part because of the parity and the overall strength of the markets involved in the first and second rounds. They are also higher because of the new Personal People Meter (PPM) measurement system deployed for the first time last fall (which most analysts suggest is responsible for a bump of up to 20%).

Yet make no mistake about another big factor in these terrific television ratings for the NHL: Vancouver 2010.

In Canada in particular, the Olympic Winter Games were a storyline for NHL fans since the Canadian team's training camp last fall. There was massive media and fan interest in the unveiling of the Team Canada jersey in October and in the announcement of the roster over Christmas. It just built from there and created the largest television numbers -- for sports and overall -- during Vancouver 2010.

Featuring the best players in the world on their respective national teams, the Olympics engaged NHL aficionados, brought back some old fans and attracted new viewers. That's true in both Canada and the United States, the two countries which squared off in a memorable overtime finale won by Sidney Crosby February 28th.

More than two months later, the afterglow of Vancouver 2010 is a contributing factor in this great TV run the NHL is enjoying in both Canada and the U.S. during its Stanley Cup showcase. And that is something NHL commissioner Gary Bettman should consider as he ponders Sochi 2014.

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A tale of two sport business storylines

Note: Penny Stocks is a regular feature of The Sport Market on TEAM 1040 and teamradio.ca Saturdays from 9 a.m. to 12 noon PT. It airs at 10:40 a.m. PT and identifies some of the smaller sport business stories which are worth watching in various sectors of The Sport Market. This week, the imminent appointment of Andrea Shaw to an independent executive contract as the new marketing and sponsorship boss of the Vancouver Whitecaps FC represents the intersection of two Penny Stock storylines we've projected since last fall: the need for the Whitecaps to ramp up their management team in preparation for their debut in Major League Soccer in 2011 and the imminent return of significant sport business talent to the marketplace as VANOC begins to disband post-Vancouver 2010.

The leap from United Soccer Leagues to Major League Soccer is a relatively small one in terms of on-field product. It's a massive leap, however, in all other aspects of the game of soccer, from brand management to television to marketing and game presentation.

That's why the status quo was never an option for the Vancouver Whitecaps FC when Greg Kerfoot and his expanded ownership group won the bid a year ago to bring Major League Soccer to the west coast of Canada in 2011.

Kerfoot and company always had only two choices as they considered the resources they needed to compete in Major League Soccer among the likes of Toronto FC (a division of Maple Leaf Sports & Entertainment, which owns and operates the Toronto Maple Leafs of the NHL, Toronto Raptors of the NBA, Toronto Marlies of the AHL and the Air Canada Centre), the Los Angeles Galaxy (part of the global Anschutz Entertainment Group juggernaut) and the new kids on the block from Puget Sound, the Seattle Sounders FC (owned by Joe Roth, Drew Carey, Adrian Hanauer and Paul Allen but operated by Allen's Vulcan Sports & Entertainment, who also manage and market his NFL Seahawks).

The first choice was to form some sort of strategic partnership with Canucks Sports & Entertainment to gain access to the kind of customer sales and service, sponsorship and broadcast infrastructure that Toronto FC , the Galaxy and the Sounders have at their disposal.

The second choice was to expand their own in-house capacity in those areas, in part by expanding their people power and in part by bringing in those with big league experience to manage their in ticketing, branding, sponsorship and broadcast operations.

With the hiring of Paul Barber as their new Chief Executive Officer, the Whitecaps made it clear they would be taking the second approach. Barber took the reins March 1st and he will be tasked with building the organization in the year leading up to the debut of MLS here in Vancouver in March of 2011.

More evidence of what that second approach will entail will be announced soon by the Vancouver MLS franchise; the appointment of VANOC sponsorship director Andrea Shaw as the Whitecaps' new executive striker in marketing and revenue generation.

Shaw comes to the table hot on the heels of working with VANOC Executive Vice-President Dave Cobb and CEO John Furlong to help VANOC exceed the domestic sponsorship targets set for Vancouver 2010 - more than $750 million in marketing contracts and revenues for the Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games.

Shaw will join the Whitecaps -- either as a full-time senior executive or on an independent executive consulting contract -- to complement the existing marketing and sales resources the team has used at the USL and now USSF-2 league levels.

In the works for months, her appointment will give the franchise the additional resources -- and corporate contacts -- they need to drive the much larger budgets of MLS. It will allow respected cause marketing specialist Andrea Wilkinson to focus on the Whitecaps Foundation, another important piece of the puzzle for the franchise, especially as it works hard to build a stronger connection with the local soccer and sports communities.

Barber and Shaw are only the beginning for the Whitecaps. The makeover will continue in the weeks and months to come.

Yet Shaw is also only the beginning for VANOC. Where her Vancouver 2010 land this year will have a big impact on professional sport here in Vancouver, the larger sport business landscape in Canada and potentially in other sectors in North America.

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Being John Furlong: The Podium of Leadership Qualities behind Vancouver 2010

SportBC did a very good deed Wednesday night at the River Rock Resort & Casino, honouring VANOC Chief Executive Officer John Furlong as Sportsman of the Decade for his leadership of the Vancouver 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games.

The decade tag was particularly appropriate, given that Furlong led the largest sports festival in the history of the city and the province from bid phase to organizing committee to the Games themselves -- executive staying power that is atypical among Olympic event management marathons.

Whereas most Olympic host cities go through two or more CEOs -- either through the natural pairing of skill sets with the requisites of different phases of the multi-year campaign, politics associated with the process or sometimes sheer burnout -- Furlong defied early skeptics to go the distance and help make Vancouver 2010 one of the best Winter Games in history.

He did so as the epitome of personal character and professional leadership.

Furlong built his leadership of Vancouver 2010 around a strategic vision, one which he articulated clearly, championed passionately and defended smartly. These were to be Canada's Games. That vision, manifested in the Olympic Torch Relay presented by RBC and Coca-Cola, drove record levels of domestic sponsorship, ticket sales, merchandising and television audiences.

Furlong was Presidential in style, using the royal "we" instead of the self-centered "I". That made him well-respected internally and well-liked externally. It broadened coalitions of support when he needed them most, both domestically and at the level of the International Olympic Committee.

Finally, Furlong showed a remarkable human touch, especially in the way he handled the inevitable challenges he and VANOC faced along the way; none more impressive than how he respectfully managed the tragic training run death of Georgian luger Nodar Kumaritashvilli on the day of the Vancouver 2010 opening ceremonies.

That podium of leadership attributes made Furlong a highly-effective front man for the Games. Adhering to strategic vision, consistently deferring to the larger body of staff and volunteers behind him and simply being John Furlong the person gave him significant political capital.

That capital helped keep things together whenever VANOC was particularly challenged, made mistakes or was otherwise subject to the intense public pressure or media criticism that is part of the territory of staging the Olympic showcase.

Even among critics, he was always one of the most reliable and likable things about Vancouver 2010 and VANOC.

Furlong was all about consistency and personal follow-through. In attending a memorial in Kumaritashvilli's home town -- well after the Games had ended -- he brought together the personal and professional characteristics that defined his leadership in particular and the Games in general.

Visionary. Inclusive. Human.

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Vancouver 2010 Scorecard: Top Tens and Bottom Tens of Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games

With the Vancouver 2010 Olympics and Paralympics now in the books and in the conversation with Lillehammer 1994 as among the best in Winter Games history, it's time for our sport business scorecard for the most watched sports event -- and television event -- in Canadian history.

The Top 10s of Vancouver 2010

10. The Richmond Oval as the most impressive new sport venue in Canada since the opening of the Air Canada Centre in 1999 and VANOC's general approach to competition venues - smartly relying on upgrades to BC Place, Pacific Coliseum and General Motors Place/Canada Hockey Place; all completed on time, well in advance of the Games...an unusual feat for Olympic host cities;

9. Family marketing campaign centered around mascot team of Quatchi, Miga, Sumi and MukMuk, which engaged kids and schools in the Winter Games and kick-started strong merchandise sales and branding, smartly backed by the official colour pallette of wintry blues and greens symbolic of Canadian west coast;

8. Event ticket sales, surpassing previous record set in Salt Lake City 2002 (although it was still disappointing to see unfilled sections of IOC family seating at indoor venues, including for otherwise sold out hockey games at Canada Hockey Place);

7. In what amounted to the two single largest global branding opportunities in the history of Vancouver, British Columbia and Canada before worldwide audiences on television, computers and mobile phones, the staging of the opening and closing ceremonies of both the Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games were solid (despite the mechanical failure of the indoor cauldron February 12th and a slight excess of cheese February 28th);

6. Domestic sponsorship sales which met and exceeded VANOC's $750 million in budget projections, despite impact of global economic recession, with kudos to Executive Vice-President Dave Cobb and his marketing team;

5. A host sport medical platform almost unanimously regarded by athletes and coaches as second to none in Winter Games history, engineered by the likes of VANOC Chief Medical Officer Dr. Jack Taunton, Rick Celebrini, Dr. Mike Wilkinson and a team of British Columbian and Canadian leaders in their fields;

4. At 106 days, 45,000 kilometres and coast-to-coast-to-coast coverage, the longest domestic Olympic Torch Relay in history, with kudos to RBC and Coca-Cola for their classy activation around 12,000 torch bearers;

3. Own The Podium for provoking a change in the way we view our athletes and our capacity for success on the world stage, not to mention $110 million in training and technology support for Canadian Olympic team;

2. Vancouver 2010 merchandising and licensing campaign, especially by official retailer HBC and hot sales of Canadian Olympic team apparel, most notably the sea of red created by Hockey Canada's Nike jerseys;

1. John Furlong's strategic vision of Vancouver 2010 as "Canada's Games", a leadership position which rubbed off on Olympic Torch Relay presented by RBC and Coca-Cola, record television ratings, strong domestic sponsorships, provincial agreements, record ticket sales and record levels of Winter Games merchandising, not to mention expressions of patriotism and flag-waving like we've never seen before in Canada.

Bottom 10s of Vancouver 2010:

1. Tragic training run death of Georgian luger Nodar Kumaritashvilli on opening day of the Games;

2. Failure of federal, provincial and municipal governments to get their marketing, hospitality and tourism ducks in a row early enough (most notably a missed opportunity to present a fully-aligned and integrated message to visitors, trading partners and investors from around the world - although the weather and televised beauty shots of Vancouver and Whistler more than made up for it);

3. Inability to deliver a direct cash legacy for sport development like that of Calgary 1988, which would have been the ultimate follow-up punch to BC's 2010 Legacies Now and Canada's Own The Podium before the Games (shouldn't the IOC follow through with $22.5 million US or even $30 million US, the amount it fell short on its own worldwide partner budget for Vancouver 2010?);

4. Poorly-conceived fencing plan and poorer communications spin around outdoor cauldron at honourably-named Jack Poole Plaza;

5. Lack of stronger protocols and alignment between VANOC and sliding federations to ensure safer luge, skeleton and bobsleigh track at Whistler;

6. VANOC fueling greater pushback and negativity from international media in opening days of Vancouver 2010 by not more easily acknowledging mistakes and logistical wrinkles;

7. BC Place without the retractable roof that will only come 18 months after Vancouver 2010 and without new video screens and other bells and whistles which might have added even more pizzazz to the opening and closing ceremonies and nightly medal presentations (and further helped justify the province's hefty $563 million tab for the long-overdue stadium renovation);

8. Missed opportunity to "open" the opening ceremonies by creating a staged opportunity for tens of thousands more Canadians, British Columbians and Vancouverites -- unable to afford or otherwise access tickets priced at up to $1,100 a pop -- to witness Wayne Gretzky and a final procession of torchbearers carrying the Olympic flame from BC Place to the outdoor cauldron on opening night February 12th (instead of what came across as an afterthought, with only television audiences watching the Great One scrambling away in a pick up truck to the outdoor lighting at Cole Harbour);

9. Some questionable calls on overseas hires and foreign contracts when highly-touted and capable Canadian talent was ready and willing, in areas such as design, sport operations and, yes, Cirque de Soleil;

10. Community disconnects in the period leading to Vancouver 2010, ranging from misplaced aggression on trademark protection (especially in the early years) and VANOC not making the most of the opportunity to fully engage BC sports stakeholders to the exclusion of the global children's charity Right to Play and the BC government's wrong-headed decision to announce cut backs to the provincial sport system six months before Vancouver 2010 (despite boasting of its commitment to create the healthiest jurisdiction to ever host the Winter Games).

Net score: "Excellent and Friendly Games", with big wins at the international, domestic and local levels, where Vancouver's DNA will forever carry the designation of Olympic and Paralympic city and usher in a new era of sport business opportunities for the Pacific Gateway city.

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Leadership vacuum a problem for the business of professional hockey in North America

Is there anything more deafening than the silence of the lambs behind the National Hockey League Players Association?

Sure, we're the first to challenge the NHL's failure to understand how much a more balanced schedule -- in which each team hosts at least one visit from each of the other 29 clubs -- would add value for season ticket holders, the heart of the league's gate-driven business. We question the league's unclear global marketing strategy and its reluctance to commit to Sochi 2014.

We're always haranguing the NHL commissioner's office for its handling of the Phoenix Coyotes situation in general and its treatment of former owner Jerry Moyes -- not to mention former managing partner Wayne Gretzky. We are convinced the league's spin on its troubled franchises in the southern U.S. does little to create value for either the game of hockey and the owners in the NHL.

We believe the NHL could do much to strengthen its television platform, particularly in the U.S. where Versus is still as difficult to access as a question-and-answers media conference by Tiger Woods.

Yet the inability of the NHL's commissioner's office to inspire hockey fans on either side of the border is less worrisome than the tumbleweeds posing as leadership, advocacy and communications at the NHLPA during this 2010 regular season.

Still seeking to install its fourth executive director in five years, the NHLPA has been as invisible as Casper since the unfathomable firing of Paul Kelly in September. Interim executive director Ian Penny represented the union at the Kraft Hockeyville pre-season game in Terrace, B.C. but resigned himself only weeks later.

Since then, pretty much nada. Yes, former Major League Baseball Players Association kingpin Donald Fehr appears to have at least stabilized the operations of the dysfunctional NHLPA acting as an adviser for the past few months. That didn't give the NHLPA a public voice during the Alex Burrows-Stephane Auger incident earlier this season. It didn't lend the union any discernable profile at the Vancouver 2010 Olympic Winter Games. And it certainly hasn't offered any meaningful representation of NHL players during these weeks of consternation over blind side head shots.

All of this as the NHLPA is supposed to be ramping up to revamp escrow and push for other changes to the NHL's salary cap in the coming round of collective bargaining negotiations.

Firing the polished and media savvy Kelly was a mistake for a union desperately seeking stability and long-term vision and leadership. Going dark for much of the 2010 NHL season has been simply embarrassing.

The sooner the NHLPA confirms Fehr or Doug Allen of the NFLPA or NBAPA outside counsel David Feher or another candidate as its new executive director, the better. The lack of a full-time union boss is not only a liability for the NHLPA, it has only exacerbated the leadership vacuum at the top levels of professional hockey in North America.

It's not good for the association. Ironically, it's worse for the business of hockey.

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Paralympics would be better positioned as lead-in event to Olympic Winter Games

It is nothing more than hindsight to suggest the Vancouver 2010 Paralympic Winter Games would have been better positioned as a lead-in event to the big show of the Olympic Winter Games. That ship has sailed. It is, however, foresight to suggest the International Paralympic Committee and International Olympic Committee should explore the best timing for each other's major winter sports showcases for Sochi 2014 and beyond.

Ultimately, full integration of the Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games would be ideal in promoting the magical talent and remarkable courage of disabled athletes as a signpost for the integration and inclusion of disabled people into society at large. Done properly, it could also deliver maximum functional effectiveness and financial efficiencies at the level of venues, organizing committees, staff, volunteers, broadcasters, media, sponsors and other third-party support networks.

The disadvantage of being lost in the Olympics would be more than made up by the bigger stage and attention from more than 10,000 visiting media and technicians (20 times the size of the media contingent covering this year's Winter Paralympics) and the massive domestic and international television rightsholders and sponsor delegations in tow for the big show.

But if the time for full integration of the Paralympic Winter Games with the Olympic Winter Games has not yet arrived, then surely staging the Paralympics before the Olympics rather than after merits consideration.

Beginning tonight and running for 10 days through March 21st, the Vancouver 2010 Paralympic Winter Games are still a big event, coming as they do two weeks after the Olympic Winter Games February 12th-28th. They'd be a much bigger event -- and an even more useful event -- the other way around.

Holding the 2,750-athlete Olympics first and the 650-athlete Paralympics second is like U2 opening for the Bare Naked Ladies.

It is much harder to turn the lights back on after U2 and still get people excited about the Ladies than to have the Ladies warm up the audience and take advantage of the concert buzz before the headliners take charge. Yet that's exactly what the current timing asks of host organizing committees, management and staff, volunteers, media, broadcasters, sponsors and, for that matter, the host city and larger community.

There are missed opportunities for the Paralympics happening after the Olympics, even with the supposed advantages of having the floor to themselves for 10 days. Much of it is missing the chance to showcase their extraordinary athletes and inspirational stories in front of media arriving for the Olympics; not as many as who are here for the actual competition dates but still many times more than who are here two weeks after the Olympiad.

Also missed is the political opportunity to showcase these amazing Paralympic athletes before government dignitaries and public policy makers from around the world.

The missed opportunities for the Olympics are equally important, if not more important. Inclusion of the Paralympics in the 10 days before the Winter Games would only add more substance and anticipation to the Olympics; more excitement and spirit in future host cities such as Sochi 2014. It would help the Olympic organizing committee ramp up for the big show, testing venues, transportation, security, media and broadcast facilities and other logistics.

As Vancouver 2010 showed, the Winter Games are a beast of an international event to stage and there is no such thing as too much preparation and practice; no better way to work out kinks and ensure smooth operations than real-time delivery.

Paralympics preceding the Olympics would be more than a valuable and practical rehearsal - it would be an inspirational opening act for the Olympic movement...and the first step towards full integration.

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Vancouver 2010's greatest gift: the lesson of inspiring by overcoming adversity

Event management is a case study in multi-tasking. Event management for an international competition -- particularly at the level of the Olympic Winter Games -- is the most complex beast of all. There are many things event organizers can control....and many they cannot.

Weather conditions cannot be controlled. How event organizers react to it can be.

That's why the greatest gift that VANOC, the Vancouver Organizing Committee for the Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games, gave the city of Vancouver, the province of British Columbia and all of Canada is how they responded to a rough start to Vancouver 2010.

It is a case study in pursuing excellence even in the face of adversity.

After four days marred by logistical problems exacerbated by the weather, mechanical failures and the tragic death of Nodar Kumaritashvilli, the Games could have slid the slippery slope of continued problems and spiraled into disaster. Failure can become defeat if individuals, teams or entire organizing committees comprised of thousands of people, stop trying in the face of mistakes, criticism or plain bad luck.

Instead, the leadership of VANOC, its management and volunteers made the adjustments needed to turn Vancouver 2010 into one of the best Winter Games in history.

To rally from the tough opening weekend of Vancouver 2010, the people behind VANOC did not have to look far for inspiration.

They needed only to witness the courage of the Georgian Olympic team which walked into the Opening Ceremonies February 12th, only hours after the training run death of their teammate Kumaritashvilli. Their body language did not hide their heavy hearts. It only reflected the sadness shared by all.

They needed only to look at Slovenian cross-country skier Petra Majdic, who picked herself up from several broken ribs suffered in a training run to win a bronze medal for her country.

They needed only to see Joannie Rochette's steely determination to persevere in the days after the death of her mother. Persevere she did, in bronze.

Jeff Lee of The Vancouver Sun (http://www.vancouversun.com/) said it best when he wrote today that the true spirit of Olympism is the ability to overcome and to inspire.

The teammates of Kumaritashvilli did. So did Majdic and Rochette. So did countless other athletes who battled adversity at lesser but still challenging levels, bouncing back from falls, injuries and poor first runs to come from behind to win Olympic gold.

Those individual case studies of the power of the human spirit to overcome adversity and inspire serve as a fitting metaphor for how VANOC responded to the obstacles of event management to deliver an excellent Vancouver 2010 Olympic Winter Games.

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Crosby's overtime goal makes instant Canadian hockey -- and Winter Olympics -- history

September 28th, 1972: Paul Henderson, assisted by Yvan Cournoyer and Phil Esposito, 19:26 of the third period, Canada vs. Soviet Union, Luzhniki Ice Palace, Moscow.

September 15th, 1987: Mario Lemieux, assisted by Wayne Gretzky, 18:34 of the third period, Canada vs. Soviet Union, Copps Coliseum, Hamilton, Ont.

February 28th, 2010: Sidney Crosby, assisted by Jarome Iginla, 7:40 of overtime, Canada Hockey Place, Vancouver.


Could it have been scripted any better for Team Canada and Canadian hockey? Could there be a better or more dramatic ending to Vancouver 2010?

A Sidney Crosby overtime goal to defeat the United States 3-2 to win gold for Canada in the marquee event of the 21st Winter Olympiad; a goal that set a new record for gold medals won -- 14 -- by a country at an Olympic Winter Games.

It was the single last action by an athlete at these Games.

Crosby's shot -- and commentator Chris Cuthbert's call of his "golden goal" on CTV and that of Pierre Houde on RDS -- becomes a defining moment in Canadian hockey history. It becomes an iconic flashpoint for our national heritage and culture, as it does for the game of hockey and Vancouver 2010 itself.

It immediately took its place on the podium of the biggest goals in Canadian hockey history.

That podium includes Paul Henderson's winning goal in the 1972 Super Series between Canada and the old Soviet Union, the 1987 Canada Cup winner over the Soviets scored by Mario Lemieux on a tic-tac-toe passing play from Wayne Gretzky and now Crosby from Iginla in overtime in the Vancouver 2010 final.

There will be debate about which goal goes down as the biggest. Henderson's rescued our hockey pride against the backdrop of the cold war era and did so on faraway ice in Moscow. It is often referred to as the most famous goal in Canadian hockey history and is dubbed the "Goal of the Century". Lemieux's was arguably the most beautiful and decided a memorable Canada Cup of three 6-5 games at Copps Coliseum in Hamilton.

To me, Crosby's goal carries the widest audience, the biggest reward and the largest impact.

The goals by pre-digital Henderson and Lemieux were watched on television and heard on radio in English and French. Crosby's goal not only comes on the three screens of the Internet era of TV, computers and mobile devices, it comes on the massive media and global television stage created by Vancouver 2010, CTV, NBC and official national broadcasters around the world. It was called in multiple languages on multiple platforms. And it was scored in overtime in the most-watched hockey game in history.

Henderson's won an historic eight-game exhibition series between the world's hockey superpowers. Lemieux's goal won the Canada Cup, the unofficial world cup of hockey. Crosby's marker won Canada the biggest hockey tournament in history and an Olympic gold medal. It also gave Canada a stranglehold on the gold-medal podium at Vancouver 2010 and set the record for most golds by a country in a Winter Games. Those are the biggest prizes of any of the three goals.

Yet what distinguishes Crosby's overtime winner from the other iconic goals in Canadian hockey history is its larger impact. Crosby was scoring not only for his hockey team and his country, but for the larger Canadian Olympic team of 203 athletes. His goal came in a 12-team tournament that was part of a larger worldwide competition featuring 2,700 athletes from 82 countries. It mattered to more than the two countries facing off.

That's why it'll hold special status as the most important goal in Canadian hockey history...and Canadian sport history.

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Vancouver 2010 exemplifies the new millennium of the Canadian female athlete

With all four of the host country's medals, day 13 of the Vancouver 2010 Olympic Winter Games was anything but unlucky for Canadian female athletes.

It was an historic day of good fortune for Canadian women, who scored one gold, two silvers and a bronze and who have now figured in 12 of Canada's 15 medals at Vancouver 2010 (one of which was shared by Olympic ice dance champions Tessa Virtue and Scott Moir).

Golds by Maelle Ricker in snowboard cross, Kristine Nesbitt in speed skating, Ashleigh McIvor in ski cross and Kaillie Humphries and Heather Moyse in bobsleigh have not only led the way for Canada at Vancouver 2010, they exemplify the new millennium of the Canadian female athlete.

Turin 2006 saw 16 of 24 Canadian medals won by our women. In Salt Lake 2002, it was 10 of 17 (with one shared in pairs figure skating by Jamie Sale and David Pelletier).

The new millennium -- with Salt Lake 2002, Turin 2006 and Vancouver 2010 adding up to women figuring in 38 of 56 Winter Games medals or 68 per cent -- underlines a new level of dominance by Canada's female athletes. But it's important to note that it only extends a female tradition of Canadian winter sport excellence that's more than 50 years in the making.

Canadian women have now been involved in 57 of 92 -- or 62 per cent -- of Winter Games medals won since St. Moritz 1948.

This all speaks to Canada's status as one of the world's most progressive societies when it comes to female sport, one that has picked up steam each decade since skier Nancy Greene Raine won two medals at Grenoble 1968 and when pioneers such as the late Carol Anne Letheren and Vancouver's own Marion Lay helped shape Canadian sport culture and pushed the country's sport system to become more accessible to women in sport.

Letheren and Lay were among those who leveraged Greene Raine's success in the 1970s to create opportunities for Canadian women at all levels; in competition, coaching, officiating and administration. They built on the comparatively stronger political and economic clout held by women in Canada and, in turn, saw both the public and private sectors prepared to invest in women in sport well ahead of the pace of other countries, especially in traditionally male-dominated disciplines such as hockey.

Thanks to those efforts, Canada headed into the new millennium as the world leader in winter team sports such as ringette and women's hockey and it was arguably home to the world's most progressive system when it came to women in sport. It's a classic case of long-term leadership and continued attention to progress paying off big dividends.

Those dividends include among the world's highest per capita participation levels for girls and women in sport, many women among the country's highest-profile athletes and and a fourth consecutive berth in the Olympic women's hockey final at Vancouver 2010 against another beacon of women's sport, the United States.

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VISA at top of Vancouver 2010 sponsor podium with advertising volume, tagline and content

On day 10 of Vancouver 2010, VISA should be acknowledged not only as one of the Olympic movement's top-10 sponsors in terms of financial investment, the San Francisco-based global corporation deserves kudos for the advertising campaign it has activated around the 21st Olympic Winter Games.

VISA is at the top of the podium of Olympic sponsors these Games on the strength of its Go World television campaign voiced by Oscar winner Morgan Freeman.

Freeman's personal brand -- both likable and respected -- is an ideal combination to bring to VISA's global brand-building efforts. His narrative is one of the major reasons the Go World campaign is a winner. It also doesn't hurt that his profile is heightened during these Games on the backs of Invictus -- the rugby movie in which he plays South African president Nelson Mandela -- and his most recent Oscar nomination for best actor in advance of the Academy Awards March 7th.

Go World is smart because of the simple tagline, easily adaptable to Go VISA and domestic applications such as Go Canada.

The television ads are well-written, well-produced and well-themed (the Norwegian connection to Canadian cross-country skier Sara Renner at Turin 2006 as one of the best examples).

Go World has been so effective because it was among the first out of the gates months before Vancouver 2010 and has sustained VISA's place in the minds of consumers on the volume of a heavy media buy -- in Canada, the U.S. and in many other winter sports countries.

Yet VISA is winning mostly because it has accomplished what is often difficult for Worldwide Olympic partners to do; and that is connect with the domestic audience of the host country. VISA did that by being the first Olympic sponsor -- domestic or otherwise -- to run a congratulatory television spot on the occasion of Canada's first-ever home Olympic gold (22 minutes after Alex Bilodeau won the men's moguls on the first Sunday of the Games). It is doing that by running congratulatory ads on every subsequent Canadian gold medal.

Only fellow IOC Worldwide Partners Coca-Cola (with its hockey-themed 30-second television spot) and McDonald's (with its tribute to Canada's gold medalists using Jamie Campbell's call on Bilodeau's freestyle ski win on CTV) are in the same league on their television execution around Vancouver 2010.

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Impact of Vancouver 2010 on U.S. television: Less watching TNT and FOX and more watching NBC

The NBA All-Star Game made the most of its venue opportunity and, with 108,713 at Cowboys Stadium last Sunday, set an all-time record for basketball game attendance.

The new $1.6 billion US stadium was as big a star in the proceedings as were Lebron James and Kobe Bryant. The buzz around the stadium and its capacity to set the attendance record heightened media coverage in the U.S. and sponsorship activation hype around the NBA's fan festival in Arlington, Texas.

Expect more of the Mark Cuban-inspired outdoor NBA All-Star games in 2013 and beyond at places like Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis, Reliant Stadium in Houston and University of Phoenix Stadium in Glendale, Arizona.

Those are the positives. The downside for the 2010 NBA All-Star game was a 4.4 cable rating with 6.9 million viewers of the game on TNT in the U.S., a television audience decline of 15.4 percent from last year’s 5.2 rating and 7.6 million viewers.

Yet no one should look at that drop in ratings as a reflection of long-term concern for the NBA and its All-Star format. The equally-iconic Daytona 500 had an even larger drop of 16 per cent over last year on FOX.

TNT and FOX had less people watching their sports properties last weekend because NBC -- and its cable platforms -- had more. That's because NBC is carrying the Vancouver 2010 Olympic Winter Games in the U.S. and every four years, competing networks programming in February have to grin and bear the television magnet that is the Winter Olympics.

More than 152 million Americans have watched at least some part of Vancouver 2010 in the first week of the Games on NBC's networks; the most since the Tonya Harding-Nancy Kerrigan drama drew millions of non-sports fans to Lillehammer 1994. Last night's figure skating gold drew an average American audience of 24.8 million and a cumulative tally of 77 million viewers -- both well higher than Turin 2006.

The night before, NBC rode Shaun White's snowboarding gold to knock off American Idol, scoring 12 million more viewers than the FOX juggernaut, which typically rules Wednesday nights in the U.S. Last Friday's opening ceremonies kicked things off big time for NBC with an average audience of 32.6 million in the U.S.

NBC has done well and will continue to drive strong ratings around Vancouver 2010 because (a) they are happening in the North American time zone; (b) they are effectively cross-promoting their coverage across multiple platforms and on all three screens; (c) the economy is keeping more people at home in front of their televisions; (d) as is the cold winter weather throughout much of the U.S.; and, most important, (e) American athletes are hot, off to a great start and the U.S. team tops the medal podium at the midway mark of the Games.

Nothing drives interest and national television audiences -- especially for Americans -- like success.

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Media criticism valid, but harsh judgements on Vancouver 2010 premature

There is no denying that mistakes have been made at the Vancouver 2010 Olympic Winter Games. Some big ones, too. Tragedy. Logistical problems. Breakdowns involving prototype ice resurfacing machines. Flawed -- and baffling -- planning around the outdoor Olympic cauldron.

Yet those visiting international media who waited only four days -- or less than a quarter of the 17-day event -- before slamming Vancouver 2010 with over-the-top hyperbole such as “Worst Games Ever” are either guilty of sticking their necks out way too far or irresponsible journalism.

Most professional journalists covering the business of sport editorialize in the right context and with proper background and comparative analysis. They don’t sensationalize.

Yet that's exactly what happened in the case of some foreign press headlines screaming about Vancouver 2010 -- after only the opening weekend -- in the most negative of terms.

The analogies are imperfect, but it’s akin to football reporters covering this year’s Super Bowl XLIV between New Orleans and Indianapolis using the first quarter results alone to declare the Saints performance the worst in Super Bowl history or those suggesting at the start of the second quarter of Super Bowl XXII that the Washington Redskins played a poor game against the Denver Broncos. History shows both the Saints and Redskins overcame 10-point deficits and were ultimately measured on the strength of their whole-game performance...as Super Bowl champions.

Even if some or even most of the international media criticism is valid, the hyperbole and "Worst Ever" tag is both unfair and inaccurate. But if the media criticism has been too harsh to be justified, the reaction of the Vancouver 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Organizing Committee has been equally problematic -- especially on its handling of the outdoor cauldron issue, which has bordered on unfathomable.

VANOC would be doing itself a huge favour if only it acknowledged some of its mistakes and took the opportunity to remind everyone of its commitment to delivering a terrific Games for the athletes, paying customers and the international media and sponsors. It would likely gain more of the benefit of the doubt from the media if it did.

On the issue of the media reviews, the initial mistakes and disappointments can't be erased and their damage has been done...but let’s wait for the paint to dry on the canvas before fully judging the artwork.

Let American superstar snowboarder Shaun White and others do their extraordinary stuff. Let the natural environment of British Columbia speak for itself as a big plus of Vancouver as an Olympic host city. And let the biggest hockey tournament in our lifetimes -- played at the best hockey venue in the history of the Winter Games -- tell its story.

Those storylines should weigh in before any definitive judgements are applied to Vancouver 2010.

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Let's get the facts straight about Olympia-sized problems at Vancouver 2010

There's no denying the Olympia brand of ice resurfacing machines and Resurfice Corp, the family-run business which produces them, has taken a big hit from the debacle at the Richmond Oval.

It's one thing for something to break down or otherwise malfunction when nobody's looking. It's quite another when the problem occurs in front of a full house of paying customers, global television audiences, international media and the world wide web.

When mistakes happen at the world's largest winter sports event, they get attention. And on that note - this is a public relations disaster for Olympia, Resurfice and Vancouver 2010. That cannot be debated.

What needs some sorting out, however, are the facts surrounding the problems at the Richmond Oval, site of the Vancouver 2010 long-track speed skating competition.

Untruth #1: The Olympia is an American product. Correction: It is manufactured in Elmira, Ontario by a Canadian company, Resurfice Corp, owned and operated by the Schlupp family.

Untruth #2: The Olympia is made by General Motors. Correction: Resurfice Corp has a strategic relationship with General Motors, using GM parts in assembling the Olympia.

Untruth #3: The maker of Olympia -- and it's not GM -- is new to this. Correction: Founded in 1985, Resurfice Corp has been making inroads in the new ice resurfacing marketplace, especially since 1995 when it became the official supplier at General Motors Place in Vancouver, home of the Vancouver Canucks of the National Hockey League. Olympia machines are working the other Vancouver 2010 ice venues, notably Canada Hockey Place (the clean designation required by the IOC), the Pacific Coliseum and UBC Thunderbird Arena.

It is true that Olympia was chosen largely on the strength of its corporate connections with General Motors, a domestic sponsor of the Vancouver 2010 Olympic Organizing Committee. That was also the case 15 years ago when it earned the gig over Zamboni at General Motors Place, currently one of five NHL venues using the Olympia.

It is also true that the battery-powered Olympia Millennium Cellect machines in question were being showcased as part of VANOC's commitments and obligations around environmental sustainability.

Yet to hear newscasts referring to Olympia as American and U.S.-based Zamboni as Canadian and to read stories slamming General Motors as the makers of the Olympia means the problems at the Oval are being compounded by Olympia-sized errors in reporting.

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NHL's uncertain status for Sochi 2014 an inexplicable question mark as Vancouver 2010 hockey tournament opens

It's here: the much-hyped Vancouver 2010 Olympic men's hockey tournament - the greatest showcase the sport has had in our lifetime.

It marks the fourth consecutive Olympic Winter Games featuring hockey's best players, beginning 12 years ago when Nagano 1998 represented the historic debut of the NHL and NHLPA as partners with the International Ice Hockey Federation on the Olympic stage.

Despite the disappointment of Canada's performance in Nagano, the impact of the NHL's involvement on the '98 hockey tournament in particular and on those Winter Games in general was unmistakable. The global television numbers for hockey at Salt Lake City 2002 -- including the record Canadian ratings driven by Canada's final win over the U.S. -- were terrific for the sport...and the NHL.

Turin 2006 was a seventh-place disaster for Canada and worse for the U.S. but produced a new Olympic champion in Sweden and was a big deal for hockey fans in Europe.

In Nagano, Salt Lake, Turin and now Vancouver, there can be no denying the NHL has been good for the Olympics. Yet four years after the last Games and five years since the last round of collective bargaining, it appears that NHL commissioner Gary Bettman and his Board of Governors still need convincing that the Olympics are good for the world's premiere hockey league.

That's the conclusion one draws with the Olympic men's hockey tournament at Canada Hockey Place (General Motors Place) opening today without an agreement in place for the NHL's participation at Sochi 2014.

If it was a priority for the NHL, that deal would have been in place by now - even if it required a side-deal with the NHLPA and was contingent on resolving the contentious player transfer issue involving the Russian Hockey Federation. Whatever the complexities of the agreement, a strategic-thinking NHL would have made it happen before Vancouver 2010.

It would have been just one step towards making the most of the business opportunity for the NHL, which is ostensibly one of the league's larger concerns as it weighs whether it should stay or leave the Olympic tent.

The most progressive organizations in sport use one event to promote the next staging of that event, whether it's annual, bi-annual or every four years like the Winter Olympics. The best franchises start selling their season tickets for the next year before the current campaign ends. National governing bodies such as Tennis Canada sell tickets to the next year's Rogers Cup at each tournament.

Anytime now during Vancouver 2010 -- or ideally before these Games -- would have been the right time for the NHL to confirm its place alongside the IIHF at Sochi 2014.

Yet inexplicably, that deal is nowhere on the horizon. In fact, to date Bettman has been nothing but wishy-washy on the issue. His attitude and lack of leadership on the NHL's position with respect to Sochi 2014 make us long for the days of former NHLPA executive director Paul Kelly, who clearly articulated his support of the Olympics. Unlike Bettman, Kelly understood both the tangible and intangible benefits of the Olympics for the NHL brand and the business of hockey - and they far outweigh the costs and disadvantages of a two-week break in the NHL schedule once every four years.

Given the origins of the game, having the most important hockey tournament in history on Canadian ice is a natural. Yet Russia has its own tradition of global hockey excellence and is clearly the game's second leading country. It is only fitting that Russia and Sochi 2014 follow Canada and Vancouver 2010 with a hockey mash-up involving a fully-engaged NHL and featuring the world's best players.

There is no doubt the NHL's return would benefit the IOC, Sochi 2014 and the IIHF. Yet having the game's top players represent their countries, build their own reputations and create Olympic history is great story-telling and it's completely on strategy if the NHL truly wants to grow the game -- and its brand -- globally.

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Bilodeau's marketing upside fueled by history, media-friendlies and compelling story-telling

Smiling before more than 24,000 fans at the official victory ceremonies tonight at BC Place -- aptly dubbed "Quebec Night" -- new Canadian winter sports hero Alexandre Bilodeau of Rosemere, Que. basked in the immediate afterglow of his historic Vancouver 2010 gold medal win in the men's moguls freestyle ski final Sunday at Cypress Mountain.

These past 24 hours have been life-changing for the first Canadian to win Olympic gold on home soil.

Live North American TV coverage of his clutch winning run Sunday night -- in both languages on CTV and RDS in Canada and NBC in the U.S. -- and global television exposure in Europe and Asia, not to mention Australia, where sports fans watched as Bilodeau dethroned their reigning Olympic champion, transplanted Canadian Dale Begg-Smith...front-page newspaper headlines from coast-to-coast and top story billing on television and radio...and many more millions of media impressions throughout the day on the web, Facebook, Twitter and YouTube.

It's only the beginning of the transformation of Bilodeau's career, lifestyle and economic clout.

Gold medal success carries financial rewards for most modern Olympians and Bilodeau will become one of Canada's have athletes on the strength of "des plus brilliants exploits" he recorded at Vancouver 2010.

Yet Bilodeau's commercial upside will be larger than usual. The lift he'll see through endorsements -- and new sponsorship opportunities for both himself and his sport -- will be buoyed in large part because of the sheer history of his moment. Firsts sell because firsts are remembered. Think Charles Lindbergh as the first to cross the Atlantic and ask yourself who was second. Think Neil Armstrong, the first to walk on the moon and admit that, 41 years later, #2 Buzz Aldrin has nowhere near the same name recognition.

The moniker of "first Canadian to win Olympic gold at home" will be with him -- and his sport -- forever. That is irresistable for companies looking for positive association with athletes. So is the youthful demographic of freestyle skiing, which made its debut on the shoulders of Lillehammer 1994 men's mogul gold medalist Jean-Luc Brassard and has been taken to the next level by Turin 2006 women's champion Jennifer Heil and now Bilodeau.

His marketing potential -- and career opportunities in broadcast and the media, which should resemble Brassard's -- are enhanced by his camera-friendly smile, personality and team player personna. Bilingualism is another feather in his cap.

Arguably the key to Bilodeau's terrific opportunity to market his gold medal, however, is the compelling story-telling around his career; including the inspiration he received as an eight-year-old watching Brassard win moguls gold in Lillehammer 16 years ago, his switch from hockey to freestyle skiing and his role as the "good guy" in the slaying of "the villain" Begg-Smith.

Even moreso, it is the story-telling around his personal life that makes Bilodeau such an attractive proposition as more than just a gold medal-winning Olympian. The story of his personal commitment and deeply-layered relationship with his brother Frederic, who lives with Cerebral Palsy, gives Bilodeau an authentic platform as a cause marketing champion.

Whether we're talking corporations and media companies drawn to the opportunity to raise the public awareness of Cerebral Palsy or those such as RBC, Subway and TSN looking to enhance their investment in the Special Olympics, Alex Bilodeau gives them all of that. And the best part is it's real.

That's why Bilodeau's marketing potential is greater than most.

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The Delicious Irony of Canada's First Home Olympic Gold Medal Victory

Canada's first Olympic gold medal won at home was fashioned tonight on the strength of a clutch men's moguls performance by freestyle skier Alex Bilodeau of Rosemere, Que. at 6:18 p.m. PT.

It ended a 33-year gold medal draught that began at Montreal 1976 and continued through Calgary 1988; ending the ignominy of Canada's status as the only country never to win gold as an Olympic host nation.

It underlined the impact that Canadian Jean-Luc Brassard's moguls gold at Lillehammer 1994 had on the sport in Canada, especially in Quebec where his success inspired and spawned the skiers who now dominate the national moguls team: Vancouver 2010 fourth-place finisher Vincent Marquis of Quebec City, No. 5 Pierre-Alexandre Rousseau of Drummondville, Que. and No. 11 Maxime Gingras of St-Hippolyte, Que.

It became instant hall-of-fame Canadian broadcast material for CTV consortium commentators Jamie Campbell (of Rogers Sportsnet) and Veronica Brenner and Michel Fervac-Larose and Brassard himself, who called the French-language coverage for RDS.

It also gave Olympic worldwide partner VISA the cue to run the first congratulatory ad on the occasion of the historic gold, 23 minutes later on CTV in the second commercial break after Bilodeau's victory.

Yet more than anything, Canada's first home gold smacked with the sheer irony (some would say poetic justice) that it came at the expense of reigning Olympic men's moguls champion -- Canadian-born Dale Begg-Smith of Australia.

Bilodeau knocked the Turin 2006 gold medalist from his pedestal nine years after the now Internet spamware millionaire left the Canadian freestyle ski team to pursue his Olympic future in Aussie colours. The irony is deepened by the fact that the 25-year-old Begg-Smith grew up two kilometres from the Cypress Mountain venue where he had to settle for silver and where Bilodeau made history for Canada.

Begg-Smith broke ranks with the Canadian Freestyle Ski Association over the flexibility he wanted as an entrepreneurial teenager. Begg-Smith found that latitude with Australia and rewarded his adopted country with its first Winter Games gold less than three years after becoming an Australian citizen in 2004.

Yet the real irony is that Bilodeau may not have had the capacity or team infrastructure to win gold at Vancouver 2010 without the changes Begg-Smith's defection in 2001 caused in the national freestyle ski program. It led to a new, more flexible approach behind Freestyle Ski Canada, both in terms of training and coaching protocols for the national team.

By extension, it created a stronger, better, deeper freestyle roster for Turin 2006 -- where Begg-Smith's own gold for Australia was matched by Jennifer Heil's women's gold -- and especially for Vancouver 2010.

The irony is driven home not only by Bilodeau's golden moment but by the top-five performances of Marquis and Rousseau. Even without Begg-Smith, three Canadians in the top five should only generate even more attention for moguls in particular and freestyle skiing in general for Sochi 2014 and the Winter Games to follow.

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Wayne Gretzky is the natural choice to light Canada's Games

Tonight's full dress rehearsal of the official opening ceremonies for the Vancouver 2010 Olympic Winter Games will demonstrate the great degree to which public and spectator participation will be part of the real deal Friday night at BC Place.

It will showcase a major aboriginal dance and music element. Video images telling the story of Canada and Canada's Games will be prominent. The rehearsal will showcase many of the acts and performers who will be featured Friday at 6 p.m. PT before a global television audience the likes and size of which has never had its collective eye on Vancouver, British Columbia or Canada at any time in our history.

The Olympic Cauldron, although it might not be fully "uncovered", will be ready to go in its central location in the middle of the 60,000-seat stadium.

Who lights the highly-symbolic cauldron for its 17-day burn in Vancouver will not, however, be revealed (or at least confirmed) until that very moment the well-known Canadian with Olympic credentials will actually pull the trigger in whatever technically-brilliant way it is done as the defining moment of the ceremonies Friday night.

That the actual lighting will be cleverly engineered is to be expected given the role of Bombardier of Canada as Vancouver 2010 official suppliers and designers of the Olympic Cauldron and the individual torches carried by the 12,000 Canadians and international guests who made up the 106-day Olympic Torch Relay presented by RBC and Coca-Cola (the longest domestic relay in both days spanned and kilometres traveled).

In fact, VANOC and the Canadian Olympic Committee will likely do everything they can to delay revealing the list of the special torchbearers slated to carry the Olympic flame from City Live Yaletown -- where it will rest in an official Olympic lantern for a few hours Friday afternoon -- into BC Place.

Canadians would be proud to have any one of a group of famous Olympians and other famous Canadians light the torch Friday night. Nancy Green Raine, Cindy Klassen, Catriona Lemay Doan and Gaetan Boucher are among the obvious high-profile, medal-winning Canadian Olympians, while Rick Hansen and Gordie Howe would not disappoint, nor would the memory of Terry Fox.

Yet there is only one obvious answer to the question of who is the best and natural choice to light the Olympic Cauldron Friday night. It's been stated elsewhere this week in print by columnist Gary Mason of the Globe and Mail and on air by Vancouver sports radio host David Pratt of TEAM 1040, among others, but the answer is Wayne Gretzky.

The selection of Gretzky makes sense at several levels, whether he does the final act solo or in concert with a high-profile female Olympian of medal-winning pedigree (keeping in mind that the Olympic Torch Relay began in Victoria October 30th under the auspices of male summer Olympian Simon Whitfield and female winter Olympian Lemay Doan, who were in turn followed by male summer Olympian Alexandre Despatie and female summer Olympian Silken Laumann).

From a sport business perspective, it is the right choice for a few reasons.

First, the official opening ceremonies are one of VANOC's two greatest opportunities -- with the closing ceremonies February 28th the other -- to tell the story of these Olympic Winter Games and sell the Vancouver 2010 brand to the country and the world. That story and brand is based on the vision of Vancouver 2010 as "Canada's Games". Born and bred in Brantford, Ont., a junior player in Toronto and Sault Ste-Marie and a treasure in Edmonton in four Stanley Cup wins for the Oilers of the 1980s, Gretzky fits that bill.

Second, the official opening ceremonies are the single greatest global branding opportunity that the host city, province and country will have ever had in our lifetimes. Neither Calgary 1988 or even the larger Montreal 1976 Summer Games -- which were both pre-digital and essentially single television platform events -- enjoyed anywhere near the international access that will be afforded Vancouver 2010 in this increasingly global Internet era.

The event will be produced across all three screens of television, computer and mobile platforms. The dynamic at play is Canada to the world, not Vancouver to Canada or even Vancouver to North America. Gretzky works in that respect as well as one of few Canadian athletes who transcends hockey to the point where he is recognized across our country, throughout the United States and in much of Europe. In other words, the red-blooded Canadian of eastern European ancestry has name recognition in virtually all of the winter sports countries serving as the core of the global audience for Vancouver 2010.

Third, the final torchbearer often sets the tone for the Games that follow. Placing the accent on hockey before the greatest hockeyfest the world has ever seen plays well for the tournament's single-biggest ticket seller and overwhelmingly-dominant television draw. That's true for the event, broadcast rightsholders such as CTV and NBC and for the corporate partners of Vancouver 2010.

Yet more than anything, the official opening ceremonies are the number one vehicle to convey the defining characteristics of a country such as Canada. The game of hockey is one of our signatures on the global stage. Vancouver 2010 could help create a winter sports culture in this country, but Gretzky epitomizes what Canada has: our hockey culture.

Gretzky does that on the strength of his childhood playing on an outdoor rink built by his father Walter. He does that as a multiple winner of the Stanley Cup, which is for Canadians the most prized trophy in sports. Yet he also does that as an Olympian, both as a player in a disappointing team performance in Nagano 1998 and as the team executive director in an inspiring, glorious and historic gold medal win in Salt Lake 2002.

Gretzky is the right choice because as hockey icon he will appeal to Canadians from coast-to-coast-to-coast. More important to the larger audience, he is the right choice because he will make sense to Americans, Europeans and many others as the Canadian picked to light the Olympic Cauldron at these Winter Games.

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