Good evening, everyone, and I hope you’ve enjoyed your weekends. This article from the Vancouver Sun brought a smile to my face as we head into the next work week; it seems that no discussion of the Olympics is complete without determining what people think of Stephen Colbert, and we get opinions from NBC stalwarts Bob Costas, Mary Carillo and Dick Ebersol in this installment.
Olympic ‘saviour’ Stephen Colbert slammed as jerk, hailed as genius
By Alex Strachan, Canwest News Service
January 10, 2010 2:02 PM. . .
Saviour or jerk, which is it?
“He is not a jerk,” Costas said, with a straight face. “He’s a genius.”
Costa has been an occasional guest on The Colbert Report in the past, where he learned to appreciate the cut and thrust of Colbert’s candour in conversation. The truth can hurt, and so can truthiness.
“I’ve long been a fan,” Costas said. “I don’t know that the Olympics needs saving but it certainly gets a boost from Stephen Colbert. Shani Davis is mistaken.”
Carillo described Davis as a speed-skating phenomenon, but Colbert is “hilarious,” she said. “I cannot imagine our friends up north taking anything he says too seriously.”
“Remember,” Costas added, deadpan. “Speedskating lacked the requisite trash talk that distinguishes most modern sports, until Stephen came along.”
. . .
Poor Shani Davis; he’s getting way too much ink about that “jerk” remark, IMO (and I’m guilty of adding to it too, I know). That said, I love that people are rallying to Stephen’s defense — not that he really needs it — with such fine words of praise. And I can only agree with Dick Ebersol’s comment about Stephen’s “astute marketing mind”; it’s so much fun to be a part of the Colbert Nation when Stephen brings us along on these wild rides!
I love that Bob Costas called him a genius. And I also like the comment from Ebersol about Stephen having “the most astute marketing mind on the entire planet” – I couldn’t agree more. Stephen signing on to sponsor the Speedskating team has turned out to be one of the best decisions for the show he’s ever made. Then there’s the fact that it was just a nice thing to do. :)
I can’t wait to see the Shani vs. Stephen race! Hopefully they’ll air that this week.
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Carillo described Davis as a speed-skating phenomenon, but Colbert is ?hilarious,? she said. ?I cannot imagine our friends up north taking anything he says too seriously.?
Too bad a lot of my fellow Canadians are taking him seriously :(
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I think my favorite thing in that whole article is the fact that Stephen added Trash Talk in speed skating.
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I definitely agree that Shani’s comment is taken way, way out of context…but hopefully when the games start, everyone will forget about that and focus on the sport.
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I can’t wait for the segment w/ Shani to air. I think that will help to clear up any misconceptions some may have regarding Shani, Stephen, Speedskating and The Olympics…I hope! :) Sense of humor required!
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Frankly, I can’t wait to see the Shani segment, I have feeling it’s gonna be massive. ;P
Also, I too love that Stephen has brought “trash talk” to the sport of speedskating. Haha!
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