Colbert to sponsor US Speedskating!

[rinkydink]

There's going to be a new name on some of our favorite skinsuits. This is *great* exposure for our athletes. I'm so excited. And I love Stephen Colbert even more than before!

mediadecoder.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/11/03/colbert-decides-to-sponsor-fast-moving-billboards/

Colbert Decides to Sponsor Fast-Moving Billboards
By David Carr

Jeff Christensen/Associated Press

Stephen ColbertStephen Colbert, who spends a fair amount of time spinning around on comedic thin ice, announced on Monday that “The Colbert Report” will become the primary sponsor of the United States Speed Skating team. According to The Associated Press, after the team’s largest annual cash sponsor, DSB Bank NV, went into bankruptcy in October, Colbert stepped in.

“On their enormous, billboard thighs, it will say, ‘Colbert Nation,’” Colbert said in an interview before Monday evening’s taping. “Be looking for that logo as it comes around the final turn. It will be easy to see because it will be in first place.”

“The Report,” as its fans call it, will not pay money directly, but rather raise funds for the team, The Associated Press said. Mr. Colbert, who has been involved in some other unusual branding activities, sees it as a way to settle some scores.

“My character sees the Olympics as war, but nobody gets hurt,” Colbert said. “It’s a way to peacefully figure out who has got the top country.” There are downsides, however. “It still tragically involves a lot of Canadians. It’s kind of unseemly how many Canadians I’m going to have to be dealing with.”

[aaosmts19]

This was on the front page of Boston.com (the internet page for The Boston Globe). And even though it was small, it was in the top, left-hand corner in the HOT TOPICS section:
"Colbert to Sponsor US Speedskating".

This is the exposure he is trying to give...hopefully people are actually acting and sending $$$.

[aaosmts19]

Posted by Peri at USS:

Colbert Nation steps up to support US Speedskating Olympic athletes

posted by pkinder - Nov. 03, 2009 11:40 AM
November 3, 2009—Salt Lake City, UT.


In an unprecedented move by a National Governing Body, US Speedskating has joined forces with Stephen Colbert, the extremely talented and handsome host of Comedy Central’s “The Colbert Report.” Starting today, Colbert will rally The Colbert Nation to raise money for US Speedskating’s athletes and programs in preparation for the 2010 Olympic Winter Games. Donations should be made in the name of The Colbert Nation via www.colbertnation.com.

“US Speedskating is thrilled to be able to create a unique partnership between one of the great entertainers in the industry and one of the great sports in the Olympic movement,” said Bob Crowley, USS Executive Director. “Embracing the U.S. Speedskating Team will provide immeasurable exposure for our sport and very talented athletes.”

Until recently, DSB Bank in the Netherlands was a major sponsor of US Speedskating. But when the bank declared bankruptcy on October 19, Colbert stepped forward to help the winter sport with a record of great performances during Olympic Games competition. With 75 Olympic Games medals, US Speedskating athletes have won more medals than any other winter sport.

Said Colbert, "We must ensure that it is America's 38-inch thighs on that medal platform!"
The partnership was announced on "The Colbert Report" on Monday, November 2 where gold medal Olympian Dan Jansen and Crowley were the guests.

“Stephen Colbert has embraced the U.S. Speedskating Team which will provide exciting opportunities for our federation,” said Brad Goskowicz, USS President. “Having lost our major commercial cash sponsor due to their insolvency, “The Colbert Nation” provides a terrific platform for US Speedskating to prepare for the Olympic Games.”

[evie5]

Nov 3, 2009 16:27:23 GMT -5 aaosmts19 said:

This was on the front page of Boston.com (the internet page for The Boston Globe). And even though it was small, it was in the top, left-hand corner in the HOT TOPICS section:
"Colbert to Sponsor US Speedskating".

This is the exposure he is trying to give...hopefully people are actually acting and sending $$$.

I also saw it on the MSN front page today

[justsayin]

Whooo hooo. Stephen Colbert just announced that they received $40,000 in donations for US Speedskating in the first day of the sponsorship drive......YAY ;D

[gasp]

Donation Made! Woo Hoo

Just watched the video from the show. Loved the way Bob Crowley ran out with contract in hand. Priceless!

[gasp]

TIME/CNN has picked up the story too. I love Katherine's comment at the end of the article.

Tuesday, Nov. 03, 2009
Colbert to the Rescue: Can He Save U.S. Speedskating?
By Sean Gregory

In an icy economy, where can a cash-strapped team training for the Winter Olympics turn for help? Stephen Colbert. Seriously. On Monday night's Colbert Report, the mock-blowhard host of the Comedy Central show announced that he will ask his loyal fans to donate money to the U.S. Speedskating team, whose largest commercial cash sponsor, Dutch bank DSB, just went belly-up. (Colbert snarkily referred to DSB as "Deposit Savings in Bong"). In exchange for the publicity and potential revenue, "Colbert Nation" logos will be stitched onto the suits of both long track and short track skaters during World Cup competitions before the Olympics. Right now, the long track team is preparing for a competition in Berlin, while the short trackers are in Montreal for a meet. "We are scrambling like crazy to get the logos on the uniforms this weekend," says U.S. Speedskating executive director Bob Crowley. (See a video of U.S. athletes training for the Winter Olympics.)

This isn't some kind of prank, right? "We're not viewing this as a joke at all," says Crowley. Colbert really is throwing U.S. Speedskating a lifeline. The Dutch bank had been the American team's most generous benefactor (speedskating is huge in the Netherlands) but a run on the bank caused DSB to go under in mid-October, leaving U.S. Speedskating with a $300,000 budget shortfall. "The Olympics are our Super Bowl, Masters, and Tour de France combined," says Derek Parra, a 2002 speedskating gold medalist who is now one of the coaches for the American team. "And we were scratching our heads at the table, wondering how we are going to get through the rest of the year. It's tough." (See Colbert's nomination to the TIME 100)

Then Colbert's staff saw a story on the DSB sponsorship fallout, and pounced. To them, the irony was too delicious: the tentacles of the financial crisis have stung the innocent athletes who aspire to Olympic glory. Plus, the sport offers comic material. "We must ensure that it is America's 38-inch thighs on that medal platform," Colbert said in a release announcing the sponsorship. (See a video of Stephen Colbert at the 2006 White House Correspondents Dinner.)

So the show's producers called the U.S. Speedskating office in Salt Lake, and the parties quickly hammered out a deal. "My gut reaction was, 'great,'" says Crowley. "It's a unique sponsorship opportunity, and you know what? It's going to be fun." The market price for sponsorship logos on speedskating suits is $100,000. Colbert will get a logo on the leg and the hood of the long track skaters; on the short track athletes, the "Colbert Nation" mark will be stitched on the leg and the chest.

Colbert, however, isn't exactly cutting a check to U.S. Speedskating for $400,000. Over the next few weeks, the show will plug the sport regularly and feature speedskating in a few bits. The team is counting on the generosity of Colbert's audience, in both a down economy and around the holidays, when spare change goes to stocking stuffers. "It's a gamble," Crowley concedes. U.S. Speedskating was in preliminary discussions with a few sponsors, but none were willing to pay $100,000 for the suit space. And with the Olympics just 100 days away, Crowley was left with little choice. "We need to make up lost revenue, and we don't have the comfort of getting that guaranteed check every three months," he says. (Take TIME's quiz on Olympic gold.)

Luckily for speedskating, Colbert's audience tends to adopt his causes. He has raised at least $240,000 for the Yellow Ribbon Fund, which assists injured service members and their families. But even if the economics work out, the Colbert stunt could backfire. After all, if your sport becomes too intertwined with a comedy program, does it become a joke? "We talked about that," says Crowley. "We stressed to the Colbert staff that we have exquisite athletes who have trained their entire lives for that Olympic platform. They can't minimize that. They get it, and they recognize that."

Plus, many Olympic speedskaters don't take themselves too seriously. "We're Olympic athletes, and that in itself deserves respect," says Katherine Reutter, a short track skater who will be competing in her first Olympics in Vancouver. "But we race around in little circles in full-body spandex. There's plenty of stuff to make fun of." And who knows? Those jokes may pay for her medal.

[LurkerB5]

Nov 3, 2009 16:27:23 GMT -5 aaosmts19 said:

This was on the front page of Boston.com (the internet page for The Boston Globe). And even though it was small, it was in the top, left-hand corner in the HOT TOPICS section:
"Colbert to Sponsor US Speedskating".

This is the exposure he is trying to give...hopefully people are actually acting and sending $$$.

Well, it worked for me! Donation made...

[Mars]

I heard about it, thought it was a joke...then watched Colbert Report last night and couldn't stop smiling about it =) Go, Colbert!

[sak755]

Nov 4, 2009 9:30:56 GMT -5 LurkerB5 said:

Nov 3, 2009 16:27:23 GMT -5 aaosmts19 said:

This was on the front page of Boston.com (the internet page for The Boston Globe). And even though it was small, it was in the top, left-hand corner in the HOT TOPICS section:
"Colbert to Sponsor US Speedskating".

This is the exposure he is trying to give...hopefully people are actually acting and sending $$$.

Well, it worked for me! Donation made...

It worked for me too!

[justsayin]

Looks like Joey Cheek is the next one up on the Colbert Report. He is scheduled to appear on tomorrow night's show.

Let's hope the current skaters, including our fav, get their appearances once the World Cups are over.

Three Cheers for Stephen Colbert for giving this 110%

[aaosmts19]

A couple of things were interesting in Gasp's Reply#6:

USS wanted to make sure that the ColbertNation wasn't going to make buffoons out of our athletes, and

Short track will wear the logo, too. To my knowledge, DSB was only an LT sponsor, not ST. But looks like the fun is getting spread around.

Both LT and ST are competing this weekend. We'll have to watch and see if any team has the logos yet!

Hm....does this call for big "Thank you Colbert Nation" signs in the stands at Montreal?

[sk8er]

Whoops, sorry about above. That's what ya get for posting at 1 in the morning 0_0 I sure hope the "Nation" gets their credit cards and Pay Pals out ~~

[bubblebuttsbabe]

Source: www.google.com/hostednews/canadianpress/article/ALeqM5gOW6kx5AzrO81nvAsQae_BJheJQQ

Little-known sport gets a comedic and financial boost from Colbert
By Paul Newberry (CP) – 22 hours ago

Imagine the possibilities for this strange new relationship between Stephen Colbert and America's speedskaters.

Maybe we'll be seeing a new segment, "Better Know A Speedskater." (The fightin' medallists !) "I see your name is APOLO Anton Ohno," the master of mock punditry asks when he gets one of America's top Winter Olympians in the hot seat. "So, what's it like to speedskate on the moon?"

Maybe Colbert can take a few lessons from Shani Davis or Chad Hedrick, just enough to give us an Ice Capades-like redux of that memorable dance down a hallway behind none-too-amused congressman Barney Frank.

And, of course, there's always the chance for another "Green Screen Challenge" - hey, who can come up with a video that makes Canadians actually look interesting? (Sorry, neighbours to the north, but you are one of Colbert's favourite foils.)

Whatever the case, this sport that draws little attention in the United States other than a couple of weeks every four years has a chance to really shine in the months leading up the Vancouver Olympics, thanks to an unlikely lifeline.

The host of "The Colbert Report," a four-times-a-week cultural phenomenon that airs late night on Comedy Central, heard that U.S. Speedskating has lost its main sponsor, the bankrupt Dutch bank DSB. Always looking for the chance to mix humour with a serious cause, Colbert stepped in with a unique way to make up a US$300,000 funding shortfall.

In exchange for becoming the new primary sponsor of the sport's governing body, Colbert agreed to put up a fundraising link on his popular website - a tactic he used to raise hundreds of thousands of dollars for wounded military members and their families - and provide unparalleled media exposure for this underexposed sport.

"This is something that's never happened before," said Derek Parra, the coach of the U.S. all-around team and a former gold medallist himself. "We have interest from outside the sport of speedskating."

The announcement was made on Monday's show, when Colbert brought up the monetary crisis during one of his regular skits, the "Sport Report" (pronounced "Spor Repor" in a nod to the silent 't' in the host's name).

The skaters, who are used to competing in virtual anonymity, were stunned when they heard of the quickly arranged deal.

In Berlin, where the long-track team is getting ready to compete in a World Cup meet this weekend, Colbert fan Matthew Plummer got the news from a fellow skater at breakfast.

"Food was dropping out of my mouth," he told The Associated Press in a telephone interview Wednesday. "I was like, 'No way.' This is really cool. A lot of things could happen. Wow, maybe he'll come to one of our practices. Maybe we'll get a spot on his show or something like that. Maybe he'll have multiple segments about speedskating. For myself and others, we'd sure like a shot to be on 'The Colbert Report."'

On Tuesday's show, Colbert acknowledged the web link used to make donations wasn't working at first. Surely the work of Canadian hackers, he quipped, trying to get an edge for Vancouver. But the link was repaired, and more than $40,000 was donated in the first 24 hours.

Chad Hedrick, who won three speedskating medals at the 2006 Turin Olympics, was glad someone stepped in, though he's not exactly a huge Colbert fan.

"I read a little bit of his book," Hedrick said. "I didn't finish the book, to be honest with you. No offence."

What about his TV show?

"I don't know a lot about his show," Hedrick acknowledged. "I don't watch a lot of television."

But he does know speedskating was in a bind. There was talk of skipping meets after the Olympics and cutting back on developmental programs. Some coaches wondered if they would be paid once the flame went out.

Speedskating has produced more medals (75) for the U.S. than any other Winter Olympic sport, and some top stars at these games figure to be found at the long-track oval (Davis, Hedrick, Trevor Marsicano) and short-track rink (Ohno is back for a third Olympics after winning gold in both 2002 and '06).

Ohno has come closest to gaining mainstream appeal, the result of his win on "Dancing With The Stars." But that did more for his soul-patched image than lifting up an entire sport. The deal with Colbert might provide a better conduit for attracting new fans.

Plummer and two U.S. teammates, Nick Pearson and Tucker Fredricks, were so eager to see Monday's half-hour show they downloaded it off iTunes at their hotel in Berlin, even though it took nine hours because of a pitifully slow Internet connection.

Plummer also made a pretty good pitch to get on Colbert's show. Check out this snippet from our own version of "Better Know A Speedskater."

"About two years ago, I had it in my head that I wanted to set the backward speedskating world record in the 500 metres," Plummer said.

Please, go on.

Plummer actually applied to Guinness, meeting all the requirements except for one: media coverage. Apparently, a rather crude video he's posted on YouTube posting a time of 49.7 seconds - going backward all the way at the Olympic oval in Salt Lake City - doesn't count.

Hmmm, a world record in backward speedskating.

Wonder who might have some fun with that?

- - - - - -

Link to the youtube video of Plummer: www.youtube.com/watch?v=uJ_K-BvGf0w

um, holy crap. they need to get that professionally shot. too cool.

[aaosmts19]

Colbert Report had a nice update last night, showing the US teams winning gold in both Montreal and Berlin. Pic of Katherine with the patch on the thigh, and one of Tucker with the Colbert "C", center forehead of the skinsuit hood. Said it was sort of the third eye!

And announced that in the first week, the Nation had donated $202,000!