Torino - Signing Off

It's been a long haul. The Closing Ceremonies are over and we are just packing up and getting ready to head home. Thank you all so much for reading my blog, and for your supportive comments and emails.

I've never had a smoother Olympics from the COMM's point of view, and although NBC had some issues with the extensive use of High Definition (HD) programming, I think in general they are very pleased with how things worked, and the ratings for their network and cable shows.

Because there are so many "day part" shows on the various NBC channels, and there so many people involved in getting these shows on the air, they spread the closing credits out across all channels. Obviously, the most important people get their credit at the close of the Prime Time coverage. This year, the Engineering and Maintenance staff got their credit on the USA channel (at 6pm EST yesterday).

Tony's friend Nick, who I went to the hockey game with, is now back in the US and used TIVO to capture the closing credits, and sent us this image...



As usual, NBC managed to screw up my name, but at least they got it right on the Sports Emmy award I received last November for NBC's Technical Team Studio during coverage of the 2004 Summer Games in Athens.

We also have been receiving a series of encouraging emails from NBC Sports and Olympics Chaiman, Dick Ebersol. Here is a copy of the last one...



Lastly, I want to thank all the members of the COMMs crew here in Torino...



From left to right, me, Tony Kremer, Chuck Roberts, Bob Gilmartin, Jess Heimlich (Project Manager), Craig Slayton, and Jeff Baker. Jeff has also been posting of his Torino adventure on his web site (which I list in the links section of my side bar).

These are all great guys, and fun to work with. We all bring some expertise in various areas which is part of the reason that things run so smoothly in COMMs.

Thanks again for reading. Looking forward to seeing you all at home.

Susan, Connor, and Caitie, I miss you lots and I'll be home soon.

Love you! - Sean

Torino - The Penultimate Post

The competition is over, and the Closing Ceremonies are in full swing. There is a presentation from Vancouver 2010, and the Mayor of Vancouver takes the Olympic flag from the Mayor of Torino. Vancover's Mayor is a parapalegic, having broken his neck in a ski accident at age 19. He said, to Jimmy Roberts of NBC, that it was kind of ironic that they sent "Vancouver's worst skier" to represent the city, so he obviously has a sense of humour.

This has been the best Winter Olympics ever for Canada, finishing in third place in the medals with 24 (7 more than in Salt Lake, and only one fewer than the US). We should be in good shape to do our best in Vancouver in 2010.



I've been impressed with the City of Torino, after a kind of dull start, I've come to appreciate what they have to offer. They have been working on developing a tourism industry, and it is obvious that they still have some work to do. There are treasures to be found here, but finding them is difficult, and there is rarely any English signs or literature. They also seem to have missed a large economic opportunity as there is very little merchandise to be found (case in point, going to the hocky game, and finding that there were no flags, T-shirts, or any memorabilia for the teams playing).

Torino is the largest city, at 900,000, to host the Winter Olympics. There are over 2600 atheletes (and an equal number of coaches and officials) from 80 countries, participating in 15 disciplines (a total of 84 events). The media contingent numbers over 10,000 (including about 3000 from NBC alone).

There were some great moments in sport: a Norwegian coach giving a pole to Canadian cross-country skiers, enabling them to stay in the race and get a silver; a Kazakstan skier missing a gate during the slalom, stopping, climbing back up to the gate, and then finishing the race (43 seconds behind the leader), rather than be disqualified; Jeff Bean losing BOTH skis during an aerial run; and of course, American Joey Cheek, donating his speed skating, gold medal, USOC prize money of $25,000 to the Right to Play charity.

And some not so great moments: the American snowboarder who lost the gold by falling during a "hot dog" move when she had a huge lead; the feud between American speed skaters after one pulled out of the team relay to focus on his own race (in which he won gold); plus all the falls, crashes, and injuries in luge, bobsleigh, downhill, and figure skating.



I meant to get this part in earlier, but never really found the right place, so here is a brief history of Torino. Torino was home to Europe's oldest dynast, the House of Savoy, who ruled over the region and expanded their territory through marriage rather than by traditional conquests. The city was once a Roman outpost, guarding the gateway to Gaul (France), and was also the first capital of a united Italy, when the Dukes of Savoy first became Kings of Sicily and Sardinia, an finally all of Italy in 1861, after Vittorio Emanuelle II helped unite all the Italian states into one nation.

My lasting impressions will be of the grand piazzas and glorious churches scattered through the city, oh yeah, and the chocolate, gelato, pastry, pasta, and pizza!

Torino - Mountains and Mole-hills

Ok, I never did get out to the mountains, and unfortunately, the weather this past week has been miserable, and I never did get to go up into the Mole Antonelliana. The forecast for this morning was also lousy, and I decided to sleep in rather than try getting out again.

However, when I woke up, it was partyly sunny, and I hurriedly got up to head downtown. I made my way to the Mole but it was 10:30am by the time I got there and found a large line waiting to get inside. Then, I got a call from COMMs on my cell about a problem that I could have talked them through, except that my cell phone battery promptly died. So, I had to scratch the Mole off the list, and head back into work. Some things are just not meant to be.

The Mole Antonelliana was supposed to be a Jewish synagogue, started in 1863, but purchased by the City of Torino, and completed in 1889. At 549 feet, it is the tallest brick and mortar building in Europe. It also houses the Museum of Cinema (a strange pairing).

Let's start back at Monte Dei Cappuccini, in the hills on the east of the river Po. From the observation deck, you get a nice view of the river, and the most famous of the bridges that span it...



Looking out across the river, you can get a terrific panoramic view of the entire city...



Zooming in on the Mole, you can also see the Cathedral of St. John the Bapist (where the Shroud is kept) in the upper left corner. On a clear day (which we didn't get many of) you can also see the Alps in the background (which would have made this a spectacular shot...



Walking down from the hills, and across the bridge back into the downtown area, I had another great view of the river Po...



Finally, here's a close-up shot of the Mole from the street where the entrance is, and taken this morning, just before I had to head back into work...

Torino - More Beautiful Churches

In Athens, there were hundreds of churches, pretty much on every corner, some of them dating back to 1100AD. They were beautiful, but most of them were small. In Torino, most of the churches are huge, and elaborately decorated on the inside, even if sometimes the outside looks rather plain.

It's funny, you can get so used to seeing such beauty, that you might walk into a 500 year old church and just think, OK, here's yet another gorgeous churh (yawn)...

Earlier, I had shown a photo of the twin churches of San Carlo and Santa Christina. Here's a closer look at the facade on the front of Santa Christana (one of the few churches I have seen with a lot of attention paid to the outside of the building)...



Around the back, there is an enormous statue and fountain, presumably of Santa Christina herself (although it seems odd to show a Saint in the nude?). You can't really get a good idea of the scale from this photo, but her arm is about the same size as me...



Inside the Santa Christina, the church is spectacularly decorated from floor to ceiling...



Next door is San Carlo, which has a similar statue and fountain at the back. It's facade is less elaborate that Santa Christina, but the inside is comparable in beauty...



Further east, and across the river Po, there is the Chiesa della Gran Madre di Dio (Church of the Great Mother of God). It is a commanding looking building at the foot of the bridge facing the river...



The inside is cavernous, and more sedately furnished than the twin churches...



From the Gran Madre, you can walk up into the hills on the east side of the river. Whereas the west side of Torino has the downtown and many, many apartments, and blocks and blocks of portico'd shopping districts. The hills on the east side are more sparsely populated, and contain many more standalone houses (BIG houses), so this appears to be the affluent suburbs (kind of like the Hollywood hills, I would guess).

On the way up into the hills, there is the Monte dei Cappuccini (Cappuccino Monks) and the church of Santa Maria del Monte...



The church is lit up at night (you can see the glowing discs suspended in the air in the picture), and the inside is, again, bigger than you might expect, and just as beautiful...



The church is attached to a museum dedicated to the mountains, and the history of the exploration of the alps. There is an observation deck on top of the museum that has spectacular views of the city (see my next post).

Here's one last photo of a pretty good looking church...



OK, that one's not in Italy, it's Trinity United Church in Newmarket!