USOC: Confluence of coincidence

I dreamt a most vivid dream on the eve of September 11th, ...and by now, you should know that at least some of my dreams are kinda...well...special. I pause now to consider that dream in context with the article below....dream meets reality in a crazy, kooky, spooky confluence of coincidence.

Bill Hybl had a room with a view on September 11, 2001

Salt Lake to re-examine security in light of attack

By Paula Parrish, News Staff Writer

Rocky Mountain News

September 13, 2001 


 

"We heard a loud boom, and the whole building shook like there was an earthquake."
 
Ed Gould, the volunteer New York state director for USA Wrestling, the national federation for the Olympic sport, was working in his office Tuesday on the 72nd floor of the North Tower of the World Trade Center. It was the first building hit in the most deadly terrorist attack on U.S. soil.
 
"We didn't know what it was," Gould said Wednesday. "We just saw debris go by the window. I picked up my suit jacket, and within 15 seconds, we were going down the stairs."
 
Gould, an engineering project manager for the New York Port Authority, said the plane crashed into his side of the building, possibly about eight floors above his office. It took about 30 minutes to reach the street, with people hurrying down the stairs three abreast. Another explosion -- the second plane slamming into the South Tower -- was felt as he climbed down.
 
"It was calm, no real panic," he said. "We let people above us get through first, the people who were injured, burned, the skin on their arms was peeled back."
 
Once on the street, Gould walked to his son's office on Wall Street and watched both towers collapse.
 
"Physically, I'm OK," he said by phone from his home in New Jersey. "Mentally, I'm not."
Gould was one of the few members of the Olympic family who were involved, either directly or peripherally, in the terrorist attacks in New York and Washington.
 
In the aftermath:

• Olympic and government officials vowed the 2002 Salt Lake Olympics (Feb. 8-24) will take place.  Security measures for the Salt Lake Olympics will be re-examined.
• International condolences poured into the offices of the national federations of Olympic sports in this country.
• Members of the Olympic family, like other Americans, frantically tried to track down athletes, coaches, officials, family and friends.

Other Olympic individuals involved and/or touched by the attacks included:

• Bill Hybl, former president of the U.S. Olympic Committee and current member of the International Olympic Committee, watched events unfold from his New York hotel room. Hybl, a resident of Colorado Springs, is in New York on assignment as a U.S. representative to the United Nations.

• Mitt Romney, president of the Salt Lake Organizing Committee, was waving smoke out of his face as his car sped past the Pentagon.

By coincidence, Romney was in Washington to secure the final $12.7 million of the $200 million budgeted for security at the Salt Lake Olympics. In light of the terrorist attacks, Romney said the security plan for the Games will be "re-examined," including air safety.
 
The Utah Olympic Public Safety Command is coordinating security for the Games with several federal agencies, primarily the Secret Service, FBI and Federal Emergency Management Agency.
 
During the 1996 Atlanta Olympics, about $100 million was spent on security and 14,400 federal troops were on hand. For Salt Lake, only 1,400 federal troops are included in the security plan (Winter Olympics are about a fifth as large as Summer Olympics). Romney said the number of troops might be increased, as well as the budget, depending on the review.
 
"There's never even been a single suggestion other than to proceed with the Games," Romney said. "The message of the Olympics is even more important today than it was (before). We will make the necessary efforts to make sure the Games are safe and the Games are preserved."

USOC: Sloppy mess

    
The other day, I read that the Uncle Wilbur fountain had a "water-themed riddle" printed on its inner core.  


A riddle...say what?  


Because as by now you may know, at least two of our city's fountains (Uncle Wilbur and Julie Penrose) are CHOCK FULL'O RIDDLES.  


So I hopped on my bike and pedaled down to take a look see.


My disappointment upon viewing the riddle was palpable - the answer to the little kid's riddle was "water."


Dissatisfied, I pedaled down to America the Beautiful Park to take pictures of the astrological sigils that are part and parcel of said park (I'll show you those photos in a separate post).


I rode my bike down Cascade, and for the first time had an opportunity to finally see the "UNITED STATES OLYMPIC COMMITTEE" sign on the building right next to the old Hibbards'...which is right next to this odd splatch of red buildings all grouped together...the Alamo building and Plaza of the Rockies...the building with the decal of a guy riding his bike...


I mean, wazzup with all of that?  Speaking as a hometown gal...I was oddly unimpressed.


So, I went down to America the Beautiful Park as a storm was rolling in, and I snapped my pictures quickly; I'm always terrified of being struck by lightning, but especially at America the Beautiful Park - rain or shine.


I jumped on my bike to head east, pumping up the bridge as fast as I could, the air sizzling around with electricity...


...and then, I saw it.


"Wait," I said to myself.


"Wait nothin', negress...we's about to get struck by lightning!"


"Wait!"  I said gruffly to the lesser Spydra, crossing the bridge in the middle of the road.


Spydra the lesser cried out, "We're gonna get hit by a car!"


Barked the greater Spydra, "Shut up!" 


And, with the lightning-phobic part of me dragging her heels, the fearless one returned to take a look at the rooftop mural building.  


"What a freaking mess," I thought, pulling myself together.  With lightning striking all around, I snapped a hasty photograph of the hot mess I saw there before jumping back on my bike and pedaling as though I were being chased.


Thus the blurriness of the photograph - I was breathing hard and my hands were shaking a bit as I took the picture with my laptop; sorry 'bout that.  

Our City's "simple, gorgeous rooftop mural" underway; photograph taken July 25, 2011

Yesterday, I had another opportunity to be riding my bike downtown, only this time, accompanied by my hometown high-school sweetheart (a.k.a. my husband).  We were well ahead of the storm this time, and so we took our leisure.  


I simply had to learn what my husband thought of what he saw there...and he began to expostulate as we neared the building.


"So, they painted it on the roof of a giant shack," was his first comment.  


"So, is that where the Olympic Committee is...is their building that giant shack?  Because that's what it looks like to me - like the USOC is headquartered inside that shack."


"The graffiti looks better than what's up there now.  Are they starting over, or doing the smart thing, and just covering it up and walking away?  How stupid!"


See, that's why I married him.


I encourage everyone to take a look at the painting for themselves.  I keep thinking about the red splattered behind the lettering...what is it supposed to be - blood?


A COMPLETE OUTRAGE AND LAUGHABLE WASTE OF MONEY.


I am in no way busting on the artist; indeed, my heart goes out to him for having been tapped to paint such an enormous and useless thing on such a difficult canvas, in such hot and varying weather, dead in the center of lightning alley.


I came across the article below last night; I enlarged the words that really stuck out to me:


- First, if this guy has been the mouthpiece of the USOC for a quarter of a century, THAT FOOL SURE CAN'T WRITE FOR SHIT.  It's all one giant rambling paragraph...is that some kind of guy's sport's talk?  No, it's not, because they don't write that way in Sports Illustrated.  Some great impression his writing makes - Not.


- The marriage of the City of Colorado Springs to the USOC??  WTF does that mean?


- So the USOC is now our city's "brand?"


- USOC staff are becoming members of numerous boards across the city - oh???  And that's a good thing, why?  Thoughts of Bruce Jenner's plastic surgery face and his high falutin' friends moving in and taking positions of power in our city is not a comforting thought.


 - "and where leading citizen Bill Hybl served as USOC president twice, leading the organization through crisis and on to glory, and now to the commitment by the USOC to continue to call the city its home for decades, with all the attention, huge economic impact, prestige and pride that accompanies it.”…………..this simple, gorgeous rooftop mural finally brings it all together, and it’s time…………this city has struggled for years with an “identity,” and its “brand,”…………..I think we have it now."




Quick:  somebody commission a giant golden statue of Bill Hybl!!!


HORSE PUCKEY.


I encourage you all to take a look do a search for the term "Olympic Movement".  Search this, too:  "Olympic Movement" & pagan.  


One of the last things Mitch Christiansen said to me was, "Look at Banning-Lewis Ranch."  


I have, and it leads me into one big circle.


Mark my words, friends...something's not right here.  

• Doesn't anybody care that it appears as though the USOC (started by Hybl in 1978) only pretended to want to leave Colorado Springs, and the El Pomar Foundation (helmed by Hybl) only pretended to grant the USOC so much generous funding to keep them here FOR SHOW...and a WHOLE LOTTA TAXPAYER MONEY?
• Why did Frank Aries promise to build the Olympic Hall of Fame at Banning-Lewis Ranch way back in 1979? 
• Why am I able to find so little information about what became of Aries, the man with the Greek/zodiacal surname that with a single letter can be so easily changed? (Baries, Caries, Daries, Earies, Faries, etc.)
• Why am I led to believe there's a deeper USOC connection to the unsolved murder of Barbara Freyschlag, socialite, business woman, and wife of K.G. Freyschlag, then-president for the Colorado Springs Chamber of Commerce?  (K.G. had returned from a business trip to Reno, Nevada arranging accommodations for a Colorado Springs group trying to persuade the USOC to pick Colorado Springs as the home of the Olympic Hall of Fame, when he came home to discover his wife had been shot in the kitchen of their home at 2222 Constellation Drive)
• What's with the Skyway area, where all the streets are named after constellations and signs of the zodiac?
• Why do I see witches, pagans, astrology, the USOC, Tutt and Penrose money in and around the America the Beautiful Park Eye of Horus geoglyph?
• WHY DON'T THE OLYMPIANS MIND STAYING SO CLOSE TO THE POWER PLANT?

Too much time, too much money, too much secrecy, too much oddity - just too much.

Something's not right, and hasn't been, and won't be.

What happened to Freyschlag might happen to me.

Evenso, Spydra has spoken.

  

Here's A High-Five For America's Olympic City!

    By: Mike Moran

    June 15, 2011 

Approximately 112,000 cars or other vehicles pass the downtown Colorado Springs exit at Bijou and I-25 every day, both North and South-bound combined, according to the Colorado Department of Transportation………..do the math over a month, and, well, you get a riveting picture of how many motorists and passengers might be drawn to look at the gorgeous mural that will be painted soon on the rooftop of a building facing the highway just west of our downtown as they drive by………..Colorado Springs is celebrating its 33^rd year as the home of the United States Olympic Committee, our city where Olympic and Paralympic Dreams begin for American athletes, now over 350,000 in those three decades and change………….the Springs is “America’s Olympic City,” and nobody else is, or will be………..it’s a new era in the warm marriage of the city and the USOC, and hats off to the City Council for approving this project, which is targeted for completion by the July 4-10 U.S. Women’s Open at The Broadmoor, with thousands of visitors coming to the city from across the nation………Council member Lisa Czelatdko told The Gazette, “I think we need to start having people recognize that we are unique.” We have the United States Olympic Committee here. It’s a nationally recognized symbol. Let’s utilize it.”…………kudos as well to marketing and advertising agency Vladimir Jones and Chuck Murphy, a constant go-to guy for scores of worthwhile local endeavors, for their contributions………….one can feel the energy and the buzz going on in the city now related to its uniqueness where sports is the subject, and its vast potential for economic impact, quality of life, and the vital “brand” of the city being worked on in various corners and offices………….take a look at the next 75 days of summer in Colorado Springs, and you will see what I am speaking about………..the USA National Boxing Championships (June 20-25), USOC Community Celebration Day (June 25), 89^th Pikes Peak International Hill Climb and Fan Fest (June 24 and 26), Sports Corp College Football Kickoff Lunch (June 29), U.S. Women’s Open (July 4-10), and the 2011 Rocky Mountain State Games (July 22-24 and July 29-31)………….and the mammoth USA Pro Cycling Challenge first stage (August 22)……………thousands of visitors will come to watch, cover or compete in these major events, and see the mural and get the message…………the USOC is thrilled with its new downtown headquarters for its staff and leadership, and in return, CEO Scott Blackmun and his team are returning the gesture aggressively…………USOC staff are becoming members of numerous Boards across the city, major events are being delivered to the city, including the USOC National Coaching Conference next week, the prestigious U.S. Olympic Assembly in September, and the IOC Athletes Forum in October………the organization had donated thousands of dollars to city sports and recreation programs, and will conduct eight free youth sports clinics around the city on the June 25 Community Celebration Day, while partnering on numerous events and activities with local businesses and agencies………..recently, I wrote about this vital relationship between the City and the USOC and the backdrop in which it developed since 1978……. “ours is the city where the 1980 U.S. Olympic Ice Hockey team was selected, trained and then staged the “Miracle On Ice,” at Lake Placid………….where Calvin Smith and Evelyn Ashford set world records thirty minutes apartin the 100meters at the 1983 National Sports Festival……..where the USOC voted under pressure to stay home from the 1980 Olympic Games in Moscow, but then stood up to restore itself, help bring the Games to Los Angeles in 1984, and saved the Games……….where more than 350,000 American athletes have come to train and chase their dreams since 1978………..where 22 of the USOC National Governing Bodies have their headquarters and call home to that sport- Ice Hockey, Wrestling, Swimming, Basketball, Boxing, Figure Skating, Triathlon, Cycling among them, and the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency………..where the immortal Jesse Owens gazed at Pikes Peak in the fall of 1979 and said “Maybe, some day, we can all come together on the victory stand, set aside our differences, and be champions”…………. Where four-time Olympic discus champion Al Oerter and legendary swimming champion Mark Spitz set out to begin a comeback after forty and chase another dream………..where Wilma Rudolph coached young girls on the track……….where Mary Lou Retton, discouraged over her performance in 1983, thought of retiring, but changed her mind over breakfast and triumphed………….where a young Michael Jordan hit jump shots and showed us a glimpse of brilliance, playing in the National Sports Festival in town, as did stars like Greg Louganis, Florence Griffith Joyner, Sippy Woodhead, Willie Gault, Bart Conner, Mike Eruzione, Jim Craig, Mark Johnson, Linda Fratianne and Kurt Thomas……….where Peggy Fleming, Amy Van Dyken, Apolo Ohno and Rulon Gardner trained and lived for their triumphs……….where Olympic decathlon champion Bob Mathias directed activities at the Olympic Training Center………… where more than 35,000 athletes of all ages and skill levels came in 2005, 2007 and 2009 to compete in the State Games of America……..and where leading citizen Bill Hybl served as USOC president twice, leading the organization through crisis and on to glory, and now to the commitment by the USOC to continue to call the city its home for decades, with all the attention, huge economic impact, prestige and pride that accompanies it.”…………..this simple, gorgeous rooftop mural finally brings it all together, and it’s time…………this city has struggled for years with an “identity,” and its “brand,”…………..I think we have it now.

Mike Moran was the chief spokesman for the United States Olympic Committee for a quarter century, through thirteen Games, from Lake Placid to Salt Lake City. He joined the USOC in 1978 as it left New York City for Colorado Springs. He was the Senior Communications Counselor for NYC2012, New York City’s Olympic bid group from 2003-2005 and is now a media consultant and works with the Colorado Springs Sports Corporation. www.coloradospringssports.org.  He can be reached atmike@thesportscorp.org

USOC tidbits

First up:  The Gazette's Brian Gomez, shedding light upon USOC matters about which I was unaware...

...and then I return the favor, with a video that answers Gomez's question as to
why Kazakhstan could actually be a serious Olympic City contender.

Last but not least,  a couple of pieces of eye-candy.






Don't you just love the gender-neutral, metrosexual appeal of Wenlock and Mandeville?
(man-devil?)
I know I do.

Just an fyi to wrap things up.

USOC - Colorado Springs History

From "The Sports Corp"

1976- With Robert K. Kane as President, and based on directives from the President’s Commission on Olympic Sports named by President Gerald Ford in the aftermath of problems for athletes at the Montreal Games and an ongoing squabble between the NCAA and the AAU related to selection and rights to compete, the USOC seeks to relocate from 57 Park Avenue in New York City and to establish Olympic training centers and a new national headquarters.

1977- USOC selects Colorado Springs for national headquarters over Baton Rouge, LA, and establishes Olympic Training Center at old ENT AFB facility with 35 acres. (The first training center was opened in Squaw Valley, Cal., in early 1977) Olympic legend Bob Mathias is hired to run the Colorado Springs OTC, which welcomed its first athletes in August. The El Pomar Foundation gives the USOC a check for $1 million to seal the deal and the move of Olympic House to the city. IOC selects Los Angeles to host 1984 Olympic Games, backed by USOC’s silent commitment of $25 million against a shortfall.

1978- USOC, now chartered by the Amateur Sports Act in Congress stages first National Sports Festival in June. Olympic House opens on August 1 with Col. F. Don Miller as Executive Director and less than a dozen USOC staff relocate from New York City. More than 25 National Governing Bodies also set up shop in the city, most on complex. USOC quadrennial budget is $19 million. USOC hires CU sports information director Mike Moran as its first executive staff addition from the region.

1979- USOC Stages 2^nd National Sports Festival in Colorado Springs with NBC Sports televising the action.

1980- Lake Placid host the Olympic Winter Games and hockey team records the “Miracle on Ice.” President Jimmy Carter reveals demand that USOC boycott the upcoming Moscow Games unless Soviet troops leave Afghanistan.

USOC House of Delegates votes not to participate in the Olympic Games in Moscow after Carter Administration pressure, April 12 at Antlers Hotel. USOC receives deed to Olympic Complex from Springs Industrial Foundation.

USOC funds dry up and organization faces bankruptcy and staff cuts. Don Miller reaches agreement with White House for $10,000,000 emergency grant to save the organization in the boycott aftermath. USOC does not receive the money until 1981 after Ronald Reagan is in office.

1983- USOC Stages Sports Festival in Colorado Springs after San Diego opts out. USOC builds first “new” facilities in Colorado Springs, a multi-sport Sports Center with six gyms and seating for almost 3,000, and the 7-11 cycling Velodrome in nearby Memorial Park: Cost $12.9 million.

1984- USOC backs Los Angeles with $25 million shortfall guarantee and Games produce $227 million surplus. USOC and NGBs receive $143 million of surplus and USOC creates U.S. Olympic Foundation with its share. Financial health is restored. William E. Simon is USOC President since 1980.

1985- USOC Executive Director F. Don Miller retires after leading organization’s relocation and growth in Colorado Springs. He becomes first President of new U.S. Olympic Foundation, with offices in the city. Gen. George Miller (USAF Retired) hired as successor to Miller.

1986- USOC hires John Krimsky, Jr., as chief marketing and fund-raising executive after 27 years at Pan American Airways. He raises more than two billion dollars over the next thirteen years for the USOC, which enjoys its greatest period of growth, to almost 600 employees, a significant new share of U.S. TV rights for the Olympic Games, enhanced sponsor packages and revenue, quadrennial budgets near $500 million, and training centers in Colorado Springs, Lake Placid, and Chula Vista, CA.

1991- Bill Hybl of Colorado Springs selected as Interim President of USOC after turmoil forces resignation of Robert H. Helmick. Hybl creates first USOC Ethics Committee and restores order.

1996- Hybl elected USOC President through 2000; Atlanta stages Centennial Olympic Games and USOC-Atlanta joint marketing effort produces record revenues for the USOC.

1997- USOC opens new, state-of-the-art facilities in Colorado Springs complex, including athlete housing, dining hall, fieldhouse, aquatics center and visitor center, sports medicine center with $23.8 capital construction effort. Some 8,000 athletes now use facility annually.

1998- Olympic Complex Visitor Center welcomes one millionth visitor. Salt Lake bid scandal erupts and USOC reforms its bid city selection process after President Bill Hybl appoints review commission chaired by Sen. George Mitchell. IOC follows with similar reforms.

2000- Norman P. Blake becomes USOC Chief Executive Officer, but resigns after only 10 months in the post. Scott Blackmun is named Interim CEO.

2001- November 1 - Lloyd Ward is named CEO of the USOC and serves until his resignation in March, 2003.

2002- Salt Lake City stages successful Olympic Winter Games and U.S. athletes finish 2^nd in the overall medals table, the best finish in history by America’s winter sport athletes.

May 23- USOC President Sandy Baldwin resigns; Marty Mankamyer assumes the post

Nov. 2- USOC selects New York City as its 2012 Olympic Games candidate city in meetings at The Broadmoor Hotel, San Francisco is the runnerup.

Dec. 31- Mike Moran retires as USOC Chief Communications Officer and becomes Senior Communications Counselor for NYC2012, New York’s Olympic bid group and also Chair of Edelman Public Relations Olympic practice. Darryl Seibel is selected as Moran’s successor.

2003- Feb. 5 –Marty Mankamyer resigns post as USOC President; Univ. of Michigan Athletic Director Bill Martin named Interim President

March 1 – Lloyd Ward resigns as USOC Chief Executive Officer; Jim Scherr assumes interim role.

August 1- USOC and Colorado Springs celebrate 25^th anniversary of relocation from New York City.          

2004- June 15 - Peter Ueberroth named Chair of the new USOC Board, which has only eleven members, down from 125 in 2003, after major reforms.

2005- December- USOC names Jim Scherr as Chief Executive Officer

July 5- IOC selects London as host for the 2012 Olympic Games. USOC nominee New York City is eliminated in the second round of voting.

Olympic wrestler Jim Scherr named USOC Chief Executive Officer after serving interim term since March, 2003, following Lloyd Ward’s departure.   

2006- More than 400,000 athletes have used the training facilities in Colorado Springs, which is also home of 22 National Governing Bodies of Olympic Sports, and 54 national or international sports organizations.

Colorado Springs named a USOC Community Partner city after raising $250,000 as part of the effort by

The Colorado Springs Sports Corporation and its partners.

2007- It’s the 30^th Anniversary of the opening of the U.S. Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs. (August) USOC names a building on the Olympic Complex after the late Bob Mathias.

USOC selects Chicago as the nation’s Candidate City for the 2016 Olympic Games on April 14.

With support from the USOC Community Partner Fund, the State Games of America return to Colorado Springs. A record 10.803 athletes from 47 states participate. 

The U.S. National Boxing Team selects Colorado Springs as its residence and training site for the year leading to the Olympic Games in Beijing. It’s the sport’s first resident program in almost a decade.

2008- March 31, The USOC selects Colorado Springs to be its national headquarters for at least 25 years in historic announcement following acceptance of city’s incentives package.

30^th Anniversary of USOC headquarters relocation from New York City to Colorado Springs (August 1)

Oct. 2 –Larry Probst selected as USOC Chairman

2009- March 5, Jim Scheer abruptly resigns as CEO and is replaced by Board member and former corporate executive and USOC Board member Stephanie Streeter on an acting basis through the 2010 Olympic Winter Games. Chief Communications Officer Darryl Seibel resigns on May 5.

The controversy over the city’s financial commitment to the retention of the USOC and the construction of a new downtown headquarters and Olympic Training Center upgrades widens.

October 2- Chicago is ousted in the first round of the IOC process for the selection of the host city for the 2016 Olympic Games and the USOC comes under withering fire for its souring relationship with the IOC and its impact on the Chicago bid.

Stephanie Streeter announces that she will not be a candidate for the USOC’s CEO position and a national search is launched.

2010- Jan. 6 - Scott Blackmun is selected as the USOC’s Chief Executive Officer after a national search and soon announces that the organization’s most important annual gathering, the U.S. Olympic Assembly, will be staged in Colorado Springs in September, a positive signal to the citizens and leaders in the city about the USOC’s commitment to its hometown. Patrick Sandusky is named as Chief Communications Officer on February 3 after serving in an acting role for several months.

Blackmun moves quickly to make a public commitment to repairing the USOC’s relationship with Colorado Springs, closing the Irvine, CA, International relations Office and relocating it to the new downtown Colorado Springs headquarters building.

USOC moves into new downtown headquarters in April, relocating more than 200 employees to the new location from the Olympic Complex in mid-town.

Blackmun announces a menu of community outreach efforts and programs designed to support the USOC’s commitment to Colorado Springs, including several major meetings, citywide events, staff participation with local organizations, and communication.

Behind the USOC

The $28,000 roof-top mural advertisement for the USOC really had me in a lather, so I decided to poke around a bit, and was surprised to see the name "William Hybl" again and again.

So, then why all the big hullaballoo about "keeping the USOC in Colorado Springs"?  I mean, from the looks of things, it *started out* in Colorado Springs...36 First Street, Colorado Springs, Colorado 80906 to be exact; that's a block away from the Broadmoor.  

And why all of the whining and crying about who pays for what with the USOC -- GIMMIE A BREAK, THIS GUY IS LOADED...and yet they quibble about who will pay to light the USOC sign???

I'll admit, I don't know much about Non-Governmental Organizations (though I'm learning quickly) -- someone take a look at the documents below and clue me in; indeed, say something, anything, to take away the bitter Hybl taste in my mouth.

usof_artofinc

36 First

usoc_artofinc