In an odd twist in the ongoing ticket wars for the Vancouver 2010 Games, organizers have settled a lawsuit with Roadtrips.com, an unauthorized ticket seller, by agreeing to funnel tickets to the Web travel company through its official travel partner, Jet Set Sports. See the story here.

As I indicated yesterday, there will be much more comment here about the ongoing series in The Times about tickets and accommodation to the 2010 Winter Games, and to the Olympics in general. But when timely questions arise that merit immediate comment, I'll take them on here.

The first is the matter of tickets available, as of right now, on CoSport's Web site. A couple commenters on the first day story about ticket availability point out that tickets for a range of events seem to be available there, so what's the big deal?

Good question. Follow this timing:

-- Early last week, in the process of final fact checks for the ticket series, I checked the CoSport Web site. It listed individual tickets for closing ceremonies and some early round hockey games -- less desireable tickets that have been on sale on the Web site for weeks or months.

-- Last Tuesday, I asked CoSport/Jet Set President Mark Lewis whether any additional tickets for individual U.S. sale were likely to appear on the Web site -- beyond those I saw there that day. (This was part of reporting for a story that will appear this coming Wednesday about remaining ticket options for fans. Watch for that if you're still interested in going.)

-- Lewis responded by e-mail that day:

Ron,

Right now it appears that the only tickets available on a stand-alone basis will be the inventory which we already have and which is already on sale. We will continue to offer that inventory for sale until it is exhausted.

The hospitality packages and the premium ticket packages are also for sale and will remain so, but we could see some additional inventory available in these areas so people should check back from time to time if they don't see something they want. Note, however, that we don't change prices so people should not wait for any type of "sale" or discount because that is not our practice.

-- Today, after the first installment of our series, I checked the Web site and found new availabilty for events long sold out on CoSport's site, such as the women's downhill, ice dancing, women's luge, and freestyle skiing, in addition to the closing ceremony and preliminary hockey tickets found there earlier.

It could be a coincidence. Who knows.

Since no further ticket allotments from the Vancovuer Organizing Committee to the U.S. general public were expected, it is likely that these new tickets came from Jet Set Sports' sponsor allotment of tickets that were being held for sale in travel packages. In other words, they are tickets CoSport already had in reserve and decided to be made available to the public. I'll leave it to CoSport to explain why they were posted now.

We have no idea how many tickets are available in the the newly available categories. So if you want one, act fast.

Meantime: If the ongoing series raises other questions you'd like to see addressed here, please send them to me at rjudd@seattletimes.com.

In case you missed it, the TImes begins a four-part series on the ticket and travel monopoly that makes attending the 2010 Winter Games in Vancouver so out of reach for most Olympic fans. It's a rare glimpse inside the secretive, multi-billion dollar world of Olympic business. Part one answers a simple question: Who gets tickets to the Sea to Sky Games -- and why. Find it here.

More pieces Monday through Wednesday at Seattletimes.com will:

-- Profile Sead Dizdarevic, the colorful, controversial man behind a ticket/travel monopoly that continues to grow in power and scope.

-- Explore the interwoven relationships between people who run the Games and people who profit from them -- raising questions of conflicts of interest that likely would not be allowed in the traditional world of business or government.

-- Examine the thriving black market for Olympic tickets, which involves one of the Olympic Games' most enduring dirty secrets.

Lots more to come on all this in future days, after the series plays out.

From Denver, Eddie Pells of the Associated Press offers the most complete look yet of the current state of malaise at the headquarters for the U.S. Olympic Committee -- not exactly the picture you want drawn 100 days out from the next Olympics. A worthy read for anyone into the inside baseball political world of those who purport to be supporting America's Olympic athletes.

Sometime on Wednesday, the official countdown clock in downtown Vancouver will strike 100 days.

Just wanted to alert any anti-Games forces reading online so they can stock up on vegetables, eggs, etc.

We KID the Canadians...

At any rate: The 100-day mark is a significant date mostly only to editors and producers, who like even numbers as excuses to look into things and issue updates. And there's some validity to that. So here goes, the latest news, by keyword topic:

COLBERT NATION: You probably heard this, and it's true. Stephen Colbert is stepping in to help the U.S. Speedskating Team replace a $300,000 sponsorship deal it lost when a DSB bank ("Deposit Savings in Bong," Colbert says), the previous prime sponsor for U.S. Speedskating, went upside down.

In a bit of genius through which he hopes to solicit donations, Colbert has bought ad space in the best place imaginable: right on those thunder thighs of the skin-tight speedsuits worn by racers. They'll be worn in World Cup competition leading up to the Games, beginning this weekend, but not for the Olympics -- unless Colbert opens up the really big, eight-digit checkbook and becomes an official Olympic sponsor.

A reliable source (OK, it's his Mom) says our own J.R. Celski, still recouping from having one of his razor-sharp skateblades slice open one leg like a big cotto salami, will be modeling one of the new suits on Wednesday morning's Today Show on -- where else -- NBC, which pretty much owns and runs the Olympics.

Seriously, sponsorship is a serious issue for sorts like speedskating. Some of the nation's top competitors struggle to make a living while training.

You can donate to Operation Colbert Nation's speedskating effort online here. You can see the clip of Colbert's sponsorship announcement from Monday night here.

And yes, we agree Colbert Nation should get its own spot in the (Endless) Parade of Nations in the opening ceremony. Right after St. Vincent and the Grenadines.

THE TORCH: As we speak, it is in Whitehorse, Yukon territories. By Thursday: Yellowknife, NWT. Friday: Cold Lake, Alberta. We would hate to say those places are remote, but in issuing the schedule, torchies noted that, due to the nether regions involved, they won't even be able to issue the usual video feeds on a daily basis.

So there you have it: There absolutely ARE still places in North America that are completely off the grid. Most of them are in Canada. And the torch will warm the cockles of the hearts of all 12 of those residents up there, who likely will set a new Torch Record for miles covered in Sorels.

COMCAST "LOCAL HEROES": Confession: I can count the number of nice things I've said about Comcast on the stump of one finger. But I always give credit where due. And the cable company has done its own notable solid deed for Olympians -- better yet, local Olympians -- with its own "Local Heroes" sponsorship program. The company hopes to raise $80,000 to be split between Washington's prospective Winter Olympic athletes (except Apolo Ohno, who declined to participate) and state Special Olympians.

The effort, headed up by former alpine ski great Phil Mahre of Yakima, will provide badly needed training funds for Celski, skier Scott Macartney of Kirkland; bobsled driver Bree Schaaf of Bremerton; cross-country skier Torin Koos of Leavenworth (we hope this doesn't conflict with his exclusive USA Pears sponsor deal); hockey player Karen Thatcher of Blaine, freestyle skier Patrick Deneen of Cle Elum and adaptive Nordic skier Sean Halsted of Spokane. Also on the Local Heroes team are Special Olympic athletes Kenneth Larson of Tukwila and Shelby Corno of Sammamish.

The commemorative pins fueling the fund drive are for sale for $10 at www.comcastlocalheroes.com. Take it from a pin collector: It's a cool pin. And it's a great cause. Can't think of a similar program that's ever stepped up to provide some training funds for Washington state prospective Olympians, right when they need it most. Kudos to Comcast for the effort. Although they really SHOULD be giving them all deluxe free cable as part of the deal.

A TV GLIMPSE FORWARD: Universal Sports will mark the 100-day's out mark (proving they, too, have editors and producers) Wednesday with a TV special that airs at 5 p.m. and again at 8 p.m. here in the Disadvantaged Time Zone. The show previews the winter seasons of prospective U.S. Olympians, including skiers Lindsey Vonn and Bode Miller; Ohno and Celski, snowboarder Lindsey Jacobellis and World Champion four-man bobsled driver (and all-around good guy) Steve Holcomb of Park City.

Starting Dec. 1, Uni Sports also will devote a nightly show, Countdown to Vancouver, at 5 p.m. DTZ. It'll run through Feb. 12, when Bob Costas is awakened from his hermetically sealed sleeping chamber, and The Big Network takes over.

Did we mention that Uni Sports is available locally on over-the-air digital TV channel 5.2, and also COMCAST CABLE channel 115? (Inquiring minds want to know: If Comcast winds up acquiring GE/NBC, does that mean DirecTV customers will never get Uni Sports?)

That's enough Olympic fever for one night. Someone please send Tamiflu.

You don't know how hard it's been sitting on this since it came into the inbox last night. In a news release below, the communications arm of the Vancouver Organizing Committee demonstrates that it can see into the future, describing in great detail an entire day's Olympic torch-relay events, before they ever happened.

Not only that, but the agency apparently was able to conduct some sort of unique Canadian-Vulcan mind meld with participants to gauge their reactions to the aforementioned future events. Witness the quote from VANOC CEO John Furlong about how moved he was by an experience he had not yet had.

Needless to say, this has all sorts of applications. (Note to media ethics experts: Are we bound to honor an embargo on a description of news that, god forbid, might never occur? In the interest of international harmony, we chose to play it safe.)

Here's the release in its entirety,unaltered. Save it for your next game of Mad Libs.

EMBARGOED until 10:45 am (Pacific Time) October 30, 2009 - (XXXXX) celebrated as first torchbearer with start of Vancouver 2010 Olympic Torch Relay's 45,000-kilometre journey across Canada.

Embargoed news release until 10:45 am (Pacific Time) on October 30, 2009
to assist media with story preparation. A final version with full
torchbearer details will be issued once embargo is lifted

VICTORIA, Oct. 30 /CNW/ - The Vancouver 2010 Olympic Torch Relay is officially underway with Him/Her revealed today as the first torchbearer to hold the Olympic Flame aloft on Canadian soil at the start of the historic 106-day journey celebrating Olympic Spirit and Canadian pride from coast to coast to coast.

XX, a (insert description here) was quickly joined by (short description) XX, (short description) XX, and (short description) XX who took turns carrying the flame as it left the grounds of the British Columbia Parliament Buildings in Victoria, BC, and set out on Day 1 of its odyssey across Canada.

XXX was especially chosen to kick-off the relay to highlight and celebrate (XXX).

Upon the relay's conclusion on February 12, 2010 with the start of the Vancouver 2010 Olympic Winter Games, the flame will have burned brightly in over 1,030 Canadian communities and reached within 900 kilometres of the North Pole.

"The flame embodies the Olympic ideals of excellence, friendship and respect. These values resonate deeply with all Canadians," said Stephen Harper, Prime Minister of Canada, as he welcomed the flame at the public ceremony in downtown Victoria.

"The Olympic Flame will be travelling across Canada on the longest torch relay within a single country in Olympic history. With nearly 200 communities across Canada participating in local celebrations, this is a chance for Canadians from all parts of our great nation to share in the excitement as we count down to the Games' opening day."

With the glow of the Olympic Flame guiding their way, a ceremonial party of First Nations chiefs paddled across the waters of Victoria's Inner Harbour this morning towards the public welcoming ceremony cradling the flame from the dramatic jutting bow of a traditional canoe.

On shore, onlookers waved Canadian flags as they lined the harbourfront and sweeping green lawns of the British Columbia Parliament Buildings craning for their first look at the flame.

Traditionally painted with a Salish sea wolf on the blade-like bow, the Four Host First Nations canoe carrying the flame - a 13.5-metre ocean-going craft hand-carved from a single towering West Coast red cedar - was flanked on the historic voyage by two other canoes manned by representatives of the local First Nations who sang traditional songs.

Before docking, the Lil'wat, Musqueam, Squamish, and Tsleil-Waututh chiefs asked permission to come ashore and passed the Olympic Flame, protected in a miner's lantern, to fellow leaders of the Songhees and Esquimalt nations upon whose traditional territories the Parliament Buildings stand. After a brief ceremony conducted in accordance with Salish protocols, the chiefly procession then carried the flame to a stage setup on the grounds for the start of the welcoming ceremony, accompanied by Aboriginal flame attendants Dina Ouellette and Aronhiaies Herne.

In a tribute to Jack Poole during the ceremony, the crowd bowed their heads in a moment of silence. The chairman of the Vancouver Organizing Committee for the 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games' (VANOC) board of directors passed away last week just hours after the flame was lit by the sun in Olympia, Greece.

To honour his memory, Poole's wife, Darlene, ignited a small torch with the Olympic Flame and set the 1.2-metre community celebration cauldron ablaze on stage. This same cauldron will be lit in nearly 200 celebration communities across Canada as part of the Vancouver 2010 Olympic Torch Relay, which officially starts today.

"What a magical moment," said John Furlong, VANOC's Chief Executive Officer. "We are embarking on an odyssey that we hope will shine a bright light on the people and places of Canada, starting right here in Victoria. For 106 days, we will have the time of our lives finishing back here in British Columbia for an Olympic Winter Games we hope will be marked in history as among the best."

Earlier this morning, at approximately 7:15 am (Pacific Time), the Olympic Flame touched down on Canadian soil at Victoria International Airport after flying for almost 24 hours on board a Canadian Forces CC-150 Polaris (Airbus A-310) aircraft from Athens, Greece, where the flame was entrusted to Canadian officials for the Games by members of the Hellenic Olympic Committee.

The flame was carried off the plane in a miner's lantern by Gregor Robertson, mayor of Vancouver: the Host City of the Games, as the stirring skirls of a solo bagpiper filled the early morning air. The Canadian prime minister and British Columbia Premier Gordon Campbell were among the dignitaries on hand for the flame's arrival celebrated with a 50-member honour guard and a flyby of four CF-18 jets from the 409 Tactical Fighter Squadron streaking overhead in a classic box formation.

The same jets soared overhead at approximately 10:40 am as VANOC revealed the identity of XXX as the first torchbearer to carry the flame in the Vancouver 2010 Olympic Torch Relay, presented by Coca-Cola and RBC and supported by the Government of Canada. As the audience cheered, he/she ran through the crowd proudly carrying the curved metre-long winter white torch, officially starting the 106-day relay's 45,000-kilometre journey across Canada.

Moments later on Belleville Street, near the British Columbia Parliament Buildings, the first torchbearer flame handover took place - the first of 12,000 such exchanges marking the passing of the sacred fire to a new torchbearer. All 12,000 torchbearers will carry torches designed and manufactured by Bombardier and wear white uniforms accented with bright bursts of blue and green on the jacket's left arm, provided by the Hudson's Bay Company as keepsakes of their moment in Olympic history.

"The Olympic Torch Relay brings the spirit and energy of the Olympics to communities throughout British Columbia and across Canada," said Premier Campbell. "With the arrival of the flame on Vancouver Island, we are marking the start of an historic journey that will connect all Canadians and focus the eyes of the nation and the world on British Columbia when the relay ends here in just 105 days to kick-off the Vancouver 2010 Winter Olympic Games."

Today on Day 1 of the relay, the flame will visit 11 communities and places of interest in the Capital Regional District of the province and be carried by 147 torchbearers over 90 kilometres on foot, bike and boat. Among the areas visited are XX Aboriginal communities - the first of more than 100 First Nations, Inuit and Métis communities the flame will visit across Canada. More than 600 Aboriginal people are also playing important roles in the relay, such as torchbearers and honorary elder fire keepers.

Tonight, the Parliament Buildings in Victoria will once again welcome the Olympic Flame - this time as the site of the first community celebration of the 2010 torch relay. The celebration will include dance, theatre, visual and performance art, multimedia technology, and pyrotechnics. Members of the Victoria Symphony and hundreds of First Nations drummers and Les Cornouillers dancers will perform as the Parliament Buildings are painted in light with massive projections. Jeneece Edroff, 15, will light the community celebration cauldron on stage after she was selected by the community as their final torchbearer of the day.

Just a quick note here to pass on the announcement from U.S. Figure Skating that individual-session sales for the U.S. Figure Skating Championships, Jan. 14 to 24 in Spokane, go on sale Saturday morning.

Tickets for the Nationals, which this year double as the Olympic Trials for the 2010 Winter Games in Vancouver, will be offered up online or by phone beginning at 10 a.m. PST.

It's the first availability for tickets by individual sessions, rather than in packages. Prices range from $15 for novice events to $108 for the women's free skate.

Notable events expected to be available:

Friday Jan. 15: Men's short program.
Thursday Jan. 21: Women's short program
Sunday Jan. 24: Skating spectacular.

TIckets can be had at www.spokane2010.com, by calling 888-SK8-2010, or visiting the box office at Spokane Arena. Some ticket packages combining events (best value!) remain available.

Don't dawdle. These tickets are expected to go fast. It might be your last chance to watch Sasha (not Baron) Cohen compete. Or not.

Frosty night temperatures notwithstanding, it's a bit early to be dragging the XC skis out of the closet. But that doesn't stop die-hard Olympic skiers like Torin Koos of Leavenworth, who's prepping for his third Olympics at a training camp in Lake Placid, NY.

How do skiers train off snow? Easy. On roller skis. Lots of winter sport athletes use them, including the Nordic combined guys, who will compete in the U.S. Nordic Combined championships at Lake Placid's Flaming Leaves Festival this weekend. Those athletes use the 1980-vintage ski jumps, covered with plastic matting, and use the roller skis on paved trails for the XC ski portion of their competition.

Trivia Time: Koos, who races with a "USA Pears" patch on his hat, is one of two Washington state Olympians sponsored by something found in the produce section of your local supermarket. Can anyone identify the other? C'mon, people...

Torin today sends along a nice video of training in Placid in the fall. Check it out here.