Sport and Cinema.com

The Journey of the Youth Olympic Flame got under way today in Olympia, Greece, with the lighting of the flame at an official ceremony outside the famed Temple of Hera.

The Olympic Games have traditionally been a ratings bonanza for American televison networks and they still are. Correspondingly the astronomical rights fees have reflected broadcasters’ level of interest in securing them. But the times, they are a changin’. As the future rights fees are not likely to reach such heights.
(see chart below)

The Richmond Olympic Oval is the long track speed skating venue for the 2010 Olympic Winter Games and bound to be eye-candy for viewers around the world. A 15 minute train ride down the new Canada rail line from downtown Vancouver, With its floor to ceiling views of the Fraser River and North Shore Mountains, not only is the vista impressive, but so are the numbers:

The men’s hockey competiton at the XXIst Winter Games in Vancouver will be one of the most coveted tickets form the first day of competiton through to the gold medal match, but will Canada even be in that title game?

There are plenty of world class teams that are capable of winning it all including Sweden, Finland and the Czech Republic.

2010 Vancouver Olympic Television Schedule

The sports world turns to its biggest winter extravaganza beginning on the 12th and running through the 28th of this month. So to help prepare those who are more expert in the nuances of an NFL game or the intracacies involved in a NASCAR pit stop, we’ll present over the next few weeks a basic guideline to the sports, venues and potential stars of the XXIst Winter Olympics from Vancouver, Canada.

As we begin 2010 it is time to consider which is the BEST sports movie from the first decade of the 21st Century.

There are some very good choices. Documentaries, by the way, like “Dogtown and Z-Boys” deserve their own column.

Here is the Top Ten:

It is a tough criteria, some play longer seasons, others go solo, a few operate complex machinery while others merely navigate their bodies through wind or water.

Unlike most nations around the world, there is very little government financial support for the Olympics in America, so when NBC broadcast a taped ceremony over the weekend of the USOC’s latest inductees it was for a good cause.

Just over a month ago, Sports and Cinema.com reported on the USOC’s plans to launch a major cable television network.

Four weeks later, in the midst of the marquee Olympic sport of athletics hosting its world championships , after meeting with IOC president Jacques Rogge Sunday, USOC chairman Larry Probst decided to postpone their efforts.