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and patience in putting up with the original “Baron.” It was a great ride from discovering the ease of research via the internet, to meeting like minds halfway across the world even if only in the ether, to, for the first time, even corresponding with a source in jail serving out a sentence.

      Also, because there are conflicting or misaligned versions of various accounts, I hope you will forgive me should you find any errors or discrepancy. I have tried to be as factual and accurate as humanly possible but even the most venerated of sources, e.g., the IOC and NBC websites, contain errors; or one of the foremost Olympic memorabilia dealers who would not clarify her conflicting statements. Should you find any incorrect facts, kindly notify me at [email protected], and I will attempt to rectify them for future editions. I regret that I could’ve included so much more material for this 3r^d edition/2012/eBook version but there was also a certain economic break-even point between abundance and affordability to abide by.

      About this 2012 edition: please note that because this book is prepared months in advance of the actual London 2012 Games, this edition would not contain any photos or material of how the actual London ceremonies will transpire. I can only include what is, for the most part, already publicly disseminated.

      Finally, this book may never ever be complete in the traditional sense of the word because as I realized each time I was ready to ‘close’ up a certain edition, new material would always show up. I could never really bring the curtain down because new facts would emerge every day, earlier riddles and unexplained situations would suddenly have answers, errors would have to be corrected, and updates were begging to be included. In a way, it was always a continual joy.

      Myles Garcia

      Hayward, California, U.S.A.

      1^st print edition: October 2009

      1^st eBook edition (2012): March 2012

      Chapter ONE

      No Earthly Spectacle Quite Like It…

      What . . .

      •Captures the world’s imagination once every two years?

      •Costs anywhere from $50,000,000 -$100,000,000 to produce?

      •Uses a cast of thousands and is staged only once ever?

      •Is not even the main event but merely a lead-in to the main event?

      •Employs some state-of-the-art technology never before publicly seen?

      •Is watched by at least two and a half billion people (by conservative estimates)?

      •is staged merely to satisfy the requirements of an artificial, self-appointed organization; and

      •Serves no mundane, material purpose other than to herald the Opening of a sports tournament?

      Why, an Olympic opening ceremony, of course!

      As befits an organization represented by a logo of five interlocking rings, Olympic ceremonies, by all accounts, are the ultimate five-ring circus. But firstly, for the sake of expediency, let us become familiar with some commonly used Olympic terms and acronyms.

      Olympic acronymo-logy:

      The IOC – the International Olympic Committee - the international, nonprofit, self-governing, self-assigning body which owns and controls the Olympic Games and anything associated with it. The organization owns the global rights to the five interlocking rings logo and is based in Lausanne, Switzerland. Think of this as the mother ship.

      The IOC is, technically, not connected with the United Nations. However, the IOC claims to have a “Permanent Observer” status in the world body (although the U.N. website does not show this). The IOC maintains its own designations of its member countries, (e.g., the United Nations recognizes the “United Kingdom,” but the IOC lists them as “GBR – Great Britain”).

      NOC – National Olympic Committee(s) – The designated representative body of a recognized (by the IOC) member nation that reports to the IOC and conducts the affairs relative to fielding a team to the actual games (e.g., the USOC - United States Olympic Committee, the BOA – the British Olympic Authority, the COC – the Canadian Olympic Committee, CNOSF - Comité National Olympique et Sportif Français, HOC – the Hellenic Olympic Committee, etc.. These would be the baby ships that report to the IOC mother ship.

      Just as the list of Olympic nations does not align exactly with the UN member nations, having an NOC does not immediately signify that that nation has a voting entity in the IOC. The IOC is composed of individuals who, since they represent the IOC to their home countries, are hand-picked by the IOC to join its august ranks. For the 115 IOC members, the most important collective task during their active years is picking the future host cities of the Olympic Games.

      IFs – International Federations -- These are the organizations which govern, manage, draft the rules and regulations concerning an individual sport (e.g., IAAF – International Amateur Athletics Federation (track and field), FIFA - Fédération Internationale de Football Association (soccer); FINA - Fédération Internationale de Natation (swimming); ISU – International Skating Union (figure and speed skating), etc. Like the IOC, most IFs are headquartered in Switzerland.

      OCOG – an Organizing Committee for the Olympic Games. Once a host city is selected by the IOC, the city (or its designated body) enters into a contract with the IOC to stage the Games for the IOC. Immediately, an Organizing Committee is established to get on with the serious business of organizing the Games seven years hence. The Organizing Committees take on names like ACOG (Atlanta Committee for the Olympic Games), ATHOC (Athens Olympic Committee), BOCOG (Beijing Organizing Committee for the Olympic Games), LOCOG (London Organizing Committee for the Olympic Games), VANOC (Vancouver Organizing Committee), etc.

      “OCs” – Olympic Ceremonies (as a whole)

      “OC” or o/c – Opening Ceremony

      “CC” or c/c– Closing Ceremony

      “SOGs” – Summer Olympic Games

      “TOP” – The Olympic Programme – the top-tier of Olympic sponsorship wherein a company, as a sponsor, has global rights to use Olympic iconography and being associated with the forthcoming Olympic Games. TOP partners include Coca-Cola (the oldest, longest continuing), Omega (the second oldest but not continuing sponsor), McDonald’s, Samsung, GE and Visa. (The IOC limits these global TOP spots to about a dozen companies so as not to dilute the brand. In late 2008, due to the global economic meltdown, Johnson&Johnson, Kodak, Chinese computer giant Lenovo and ManufacturersLife withdrew from IOC sponsorship. Going into the 2014-2016 cycle, the other, remaining TOP partners were: Acer, Atos-Origin, Dow Chemical, Panasonic and Procter & Gamble.) These TOP partnerships do not come cheap: for a four-year period covering two Games (a summer and a winter), they now average anywhere from $80-100 million apiece. For all that, TOP partners, of course, get the best seats in the house for the best events during the Games. Partners are different from Sponsors or Suppliers, which are less expensive categories.

      “WOGs” – Winter Olympic Games

      “YOGs” – the Youth Olympic Games

      Some other acronyms within the Olympic world worth knowing about:

      IPC - International Paralympic Committee

      ASOIF - Association of Summer Olympic International Federations

      AIOWSF - Association of the International Olympic Winter Sports Federations

      ANOC - Association of National Olympic Committees

      The regional spheres within ANOC are:

      ANOCA - Association of National Olympic Committees of Africa

      OCA - Olympic Council of Asia

      PASO - Pan-American Sports Organisation

      ONOC

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