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.

In the Houston Chronicle, David Barron writes about today's statements from leaders of the national governing bodies of the various Olympic sports in the U.S., calling for immediate, not eventual, changes in leadership at the U.S. Olympic Committee.

They're dragging out a big threat: A vow to take their concerns to Congress, which has oversight over the USOC when it chooses to exercise it.

And speaking of new directions for the USOC. The most insightful, interesting comments from anyone in the U.S. sports world after the Chicago bid debacle come from U.S. Track and Field's CEO, Doug Logan, interviewed here by Universalsports.com.

His main premise: The U.S. has no validity in the international world of sport because it is inwardly focused and holed-up in Colorado, not outwardly focused and reaching out to the world. It's manifested in some simple but often-overlooked ways, such as the fact that most other bid committees appearing in Copenhagen last week were multi-lingual, while the U.S. committee was not.

Quoting Logan:

"All of a sudden every four years or every once in a while there is an opportunity to bid for something that shows that you are communing with 200 other nations and they wonder why they're treated like strangers. Because they are strangers."

He makes a good point. Give it a read. Makes you think maybe his name should be up there on the list of possible USOC leadership hires.

Stephanie Streeter, the embattled interim CEO of the U.S. Olympic Committee, won't be a candidate when the USOC launches a new search for a permanent leader.

The announcement, made this morning by the USOC, comes in the wake of public calls for yet another major shakeup at the USOC from Olympic-world luminaries such as NBC's Dick Ebersol. Streeter took over the job in March after the USOC board dumped CEO Jim Scherr.

"I think it's a tiny step in the right direction," Ebersol told the Chicago Tribune this morning. "But that is totally countered by once again their (the USOC's) hiring a search firm that won't have a clue and will find some candidate from a failed American business who has some kind of reputation and trot him or her out."

Frequent turnover among USOC senior staff has been cited as a likely reason for lack of trust between the organization and the International Olympic Committee, which last week issued the American Olympic movement a stunning rebuke by making Chicago the first city eliminated in a voting process to select the 2016 Summer Games host.

Streeter also was one of the USOC execs singled out by IOC members complaining about high salaries at the USOC. She was earning in excess of $500,000, with incentives that could add another $1 million on top of that, the Chicago Tribune has reported. Other top USOC execs continue to earn more than $600,000 at the non-profit corporation.

Meanwhile, the Chicago Tribune's Phil Hersh reports that Robert Bach, president of Microsoft's entertainment and devices division (think Xbox), is a rumored favorite candidate for the spot Streeter vacated on the USOC's nine-menber board when she took over as CEO.

Expect lots of continued fallout here after the Chicago debacle in Copenhagen last week. Sadly, all this leaves the USOC as basically a headless body heading into the just-around-the-corner Vancouver Games.

Here's the news release from USOC:

United States Olympic Committee Announces Search for
Chief Executive Officer

COLORADO SPRINGS, COLO. - The Board of Directors of the United States Olympic Committee (USOC) announced today that it is forming a search committee and will formally engage a nationally recognized and respected recruiting firm by the end of October 2009 to assist in identifying candidates for the position of Chief Executive Officer. Acting Chief Executive Officer Stephanie Streeter has notified the Board that she will not be a candidate for the position.

"When we asked Stephanie to serve as Acting Chief Executive Officer in March, we did so knowing of her strong management skills and mindful that the USOC was at a critical juncture in many ways - facing the economic crisis, preparing for the Vancouver 2010 Games, and supporting Chicago in its bid to host the 2016 Games," said USOC Chairman Larry Probst. "She graciously agreed to take on the challenge and has been an outstanding chief executive.

"We were disappointed when Stephanie told us she did not want to be considered for the permanent CEO position. She has done an excellent job, and we are all very grateful for her many contributions to the U.S. Olympic Movement. We're very pleased she has agreed to stay on in her current capacity until the search for a permanent CEO is concluded and a candidate is named."

"I've enjoyed my tenure as Acting CEO, and I'm proud of everything my team and I were able to accomplish," Streeter said. "But now is the right time for me to explore new opportunities in the corporate sector where I've spent my entire career. I'm grateful for the opportunity I had and the support I received from the Board, staff and athletes. I firmly believe that together we've put the USOC in a strong financial and operating position for the future.

"With the decision now made regarding the Chicago bid, it is time for the USOC to focus its full effort on our athletes' preparation for Vancouver, and the organization's long-term strategy, as well as shaping the USOC's relationships with its stakeholders and the international community. Knowing that I am focused on returning to the corporate arena, I thought now was the ideal time to let the USOC know of my future plans and allow them to start with a clean slate."

Streeter was asked to take on the Acting CEO role during the worst economy in 50 years. Under her leadership during the past seven months, the USOC exceeded budgeted revenues by 10 percent while reducing expenses by 17 percent. A substantial portion of those savings were repurposed into a 20 percent increase in funding for winter athletes and NGBs. In addition, the USOC was able to renew sponsorships of such important partners as Adecco and Polo Ralph Lauren, while adding Deloitte and Procter & Gamble as new sponsors. The USOC also doubled government funding for Paralympic programs, and created a higher level of accountability and performance within the USOC management team.

The search committee will be chaired by USOC Board member Bob Bowlsby, and will consist of three members from the USOC Board of Directors, four members from USOC member organizations - one representative selected from the National Governing Bodies Council, the Athletes Advisory Council, the Multi Sport Organization Council and the U.S. Olympians Association - and will also include Paralympic representation. The committee will recommend up to three finalists and the USOC Board of Directors will choose the permanent CEO from among those finalists.

Before being named Acting Chief Executive Officer of the USOC, Streeter spent six years at Banta Corporation (NYSE: BN), a $1.6 billion global technology and market leader in printing and supply chain management with 8,000 employees, and 40 manufacturing locations in 10 countries. There, Streeter served as President and Chief Operating Officer (2001-2002), President and Chief Executive Officer (2002-2004), and ultimately Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer (2004-2007). The company was acquired by RR Donnelley in 2007.

Earlier in her career, Streeter spent 15 years in positions of increasing management responsibility for Avery Dennison, a $5 billion global leader in pressure-sensitive technology and office products, with more than 20,000 employees in 49 countries. She also served as Chief Operating Officer for Idealab, LLC, an internet business incubator supporting ground-breaking companies in business-to-business, business-to-consumer, and infrastructure development.

Streeter serves on the board of directors of Goodyear Corporation, Kohl's Corporation, the Green Bay Packers and Catalyst. She received her bachelor's degree in political science from Stanford University, in Stanford, Calif.

Take a look at this nice analysis of Chicago's lost bid by NPR's Howard Berkes. Central point: Chicago should've applied back in the day when you could bribe, strongarm or cajole IOC members in backroom deals -- the city's specialty.

He's being a bit tongue-in-cheek there. But he makes a good observation of something that often gets lost in the shuffle: The U.S. has not won an Olympic bid since the IOC was embarrassed by the Salt Lake bribery scandal before the Salt Lake 2002 Games. The IOC has a long memory.

One note of interest: Berkes suggests post-SLC reforms make it difficult to even count votes among IOC members. Yet Inside the Games reports that Rio's bid president claims his delegation had the votes counted -- and missed by only one -- two days before the vote.

Another factor might have been IOC distaste over those big USOC salaries, which we've written about here before, writes Phil Hersh of the Chicago Tribune.