68 Days

Celebrations all around for US Biathlon and Tim Burke. It was a week of firsts for Burke when he became the first American to win a medal in a World Cup Sprint competition by placing second and the first to medal in biathlon twice in one week. In the sprint, he went 10 for 10 in shooting and on a personal note, he made an excellent shooting instructor for my friend Miriam L. and me at the U.S. Olympic Committee's Countdown to Vancouver event in Rockefeller Center, NY a few weeks ago. Lots of luck to Tim in the Olympics!

For 68 years, after the Olympic flame was lit at the Opening Ceremonies of the Olympics, a group of doves would be released to symbolize peace. The tradition began at the 1920 Summer Olympics. It ended after the 1988 Summer Olympics when several doves were burned alive in the Olympic Flame. Not so peaceful.

According to the Sports Business Journal, the U.S. Olympic Committee approved 68 newspapers to cover the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver, which is almost half as many as the 134 newspapers that covered the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City. The U.S.O.C. had issued 481 individual passes, but 135 were returned. Furthermore, television ad sales are down from the usual amount for the Olympics. Both of these down trends seem to indicate lack of interest in the Olympics, and in winter sports in general. Some suggest that the upcoming Olympics is lacking in marketable athletes. Others suggest that it's all just due to the bad economy.