Honestly, I think I would have enjoyed blogging this article even if it had contained nothing but that reference to Stephen as Speedskating’s “sugar daddy”, but the extra info about his NBC commenting gig is a nice little bonus. From the Windsor Star:
Stephen Colbert set to join NBC speedskating coverage
By Alex Strachan, Canwest News Service
February 16, 2010 2:03 PMSir Dr. Stephen T. Colbert DFA, host of the recurring segment Cheating Death on his eponymous late-night, faux-news comedy show The Colbert Report, can now add a new title to his portfolio: assistant sports psychologist for the U.S. speedskating team.
Colbert’s not only the team’s sugar daddy; he’s now the team’s assistant head shrinker and motivator-in-chief. Or one of them, anyway.
But wait, there’s more. Thanks to a standing invitation by Dick Ebersol, chairman of NBC Sports and executive producer of NBC’s Olympics coverage, Colbert is now a fully accredited member of NBC’s broadcast team.
If The Colbert Report is to be believed – and it isn’t always – Colbert will shadow the U.S. speedskating team at Wednesday’s competition at the Richmond Oval, where he will puff out his skinny chest and stand tall for truth, justice and the American way, and cheer for a gold medal for U.S. speedskating star Shani Davis in Davis’s key event, the men’s 1,000-metre final.
. . .
No offense to you Canadians looking to see Stephen’s Creekside Park tapings tomorrow morning (note that they now suggest you arrive by 9:15 am), but I’m more than ready for it to be tomorrow night. Can’t wait to see this!
EDITED TO ADD: I had just posted this entry when I noticed a couple of lines at the end of this new article:
Colbert has also taken his psychologist role to heart.
“He keeps us light-hearted,” US long tracker Lauren Cholewinski said. “We get these funny messages from him that make us laugh.”
That? Is nine kinds of awesome.
So he’s actually sending the athletes messages in his role as psychologist? I really kind of love that. :D
Can’t wait to see his coverage!!
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Assistant head shrinker! LOL! :)
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Awww. That’s so cute! Love this article, and the fact that he’s sending the athletes messages to keep them light-hearted. He never ceases to amaze me.
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Hm… it’s all really cool but I don’t get how next week’s shows are going to work out. There will be an NY audience and he will host from NY and then show Vancouver footage? I get the thing about no guests. Can’t wait to see.
U
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I wasn’t going to say this here but… does anyone else here wonder if Stephen Colbert is now taking more credit than he really deserves? He inspired the ColbertNation to sponsor the U.S. Speedskating Team, but fans contributed the money and Stephen is putting his name on the enterprise as though he’s the Sugar Daddy.
When I was talking about it with someone, he reminded me that in 1992 the Grateful Dead sponsored the Basketball Team from Lithuania to the Olympics, and they did it themselves through one of their charities. The band didn’t ask their fans to donate the funds do the sponsoring… they were rich men. The money made *later* by the subsequent demand for basketball jerseys and the like were then included to help the cause, but it wasn’t the actual sponsorship costs. It was the band’s money, not their fans’. I tried hard to find a counter to this “argument” but I can’t. The fact that his Vancouver poster made it “All About Stephen” even made it worse. ;(
I donated to the Speedskating Team, but quite honestly I feel a bit taken in. SC could have afforded to do it himself but we did it because “Stephen wanted us to.” And he’s the one that receives the recognition and thanks and accolades. He easily could have asked us to contribute without accepting all the praise and inserting himself in the proceedings. In this case of the Olympics, I don’t believe (want?) his Colbert “character” (who would accept any unearned honors and not care) to trump what I hope is his true character.
I recognize NFZ is not a good place to criticize Stephen Colbert, but in the end the realization of this made me feel really bad and I wanted to tell people who might understand. Sorry, everyone.
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I disagree, although I appreciate your expressing yourself so civilly.
“Stephen”, the character, is obviously going to make this all about him (although even in character, his quips tend to remind people that he’s doing what he’s doing with “$300,000 of other people’s money”), but Stephen, the actor, has always put the focus on the athletes, the Olympics, and the fans. Sportswriters are calling Stephen the “sugar daddy” and other names, but that’s their perogative. The articles I’ve read about the sponsorship obviously play up Stephen’s role, but he has consistently pointed the finger at his fans.
For myself, I donated because I wanted to once Stephen pointed out the funding shortfall, but I wouldn’t have known just how bad things were if it weren’t for him. So I’m fine with the Colbert Nation sponsorship, and I’d probably even be fine with Stephen taking more credit than I feel he has to date. It’s certainly possible that I’m more inclined to give him the benefit of the doubt because of the way he’s behaved with other charitable causes (i.e. because I’ve always believed he’s championing the causes and never felt that Stephen, the man, is a glory hound), but I truly feel in this situation that it’s other people who have labeled Stephen as skating’s benefactor.
Obviously, YMMV, but I feel nothing but pride in the way the Nation stepped up on behalf of the speedskaters, and I don’t at all feel like Stephen’s tried to take that glory for himself. I felt that the Vancouver poster, for instance, was done in character (which is why it debuted on the show). And regardless of what Stephen could afford to do — something I’m not comfortable speculating about, frankly — he’s said in other interviews that he gets requests all the time from various organizations to lend his name and face to causes, so he has to pick and choose. I simply saw this as his decision to lend his support to this cause, even if his support in this instance wasn’t a direct financial contribution.
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Ms. I provided a wonderful response and my feelings mirror many of the points she made. I think the duality of character/person is something that is easily misconstrued by those who may write about these events without watching the show or knowing the intricacies of the character or performer. And, I readily admit, those lines can become blurry. Does that make sense? I think that is why, in most of the articles and interviews I have seen, Stephen points back to The Nation as the sponsor and the reason the sponsor logo was “ColbertNation” not “Colbert Report.” I think he truly wanted it to be something we could all support together in the Spirit of the Olympics. Nations field teams and so, The Colbert Nation could as well- in a sense.
What I appreciate most of all about your post is that you brought the conversation here and felt comfortable enough to vent your thoughts and frustrations in this space. That is fantastic! Thanks!
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I think it helps to remember that without Stephen’s involvement, the Colbert Nation sponsorship doesn’t happen. The fact that he’s giving his time and energy to this is just as important as any financial contribution, because he’s using his considerable influence to accomplish something good.
I don’t see it as Stephen (the real person) taking any credit for himself, but for the comedy aspect to work, it has to be all about “Stephen” the character. So I’m okay with that, because clearly the comedy was supposed to be part of the equation from the start. But I do wish the media would do a better job of pointing out that it was the fans who provided the actual financial assistance.
I completely see your point, although I don’t agree with it. My “reward” for donating to US Speedskating is not to get praise from anyone, but to see the team perform well and maybe bring home a few medals. I know the team is very grateful for the Colbert Nation sponsorship, and that’s all I need in return. I’m very proud to be a sponsor of the team, and I’d feel that way regardless of Stephen’s involvement. But I’ll admit it’s a lot more fun because he is involved.
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Well thought comments, however, whenever he is told by interviewers he sponsored the team, he is very quick to say, “No, it was the Colbert Nation who sponsored US Speedskating”. Stephen the non-character, is very quick to say it is his fans who are the real Heroes.
He just lends us his name.
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I agree with all of the other points here, and also want to mention that I think the point was for *fans* to contribute so that they could feel they had a stake in the sport. It’s the luxury and fun of thinking, hey, my ten dollars might have helped buy Shani’s skates! or something along those lines. If the real Stephen had doled out all of the money himself, and then said, look what I did, people wouldn’t feel nearly as involved, and his look-at-me-ness would have totally turned me off. Fortunately the real Stephen has never, to the best of my knowledge, donated so much so publicly, and I honestly don’t think he ever would. So if the real Stephen wouldn’t do it, that leaves “Stephen Colbert” the character. And I don’t think “Stephen Colbert” the character would ever have sponsored anything so expensive. Although “he” always mentions how wealthy he is, “he” also searches relentlessly for tax write-offs (“I’ve got a guaranteed money-loser: a theater bringing Shakespeare to the Ojibwe” – a Classic Colbert tip from an episode a very long time ago; if you don’t know what episode this is, I’ll search it out for you, because it’s outrageously hilarious). So also from a creative / artistic standpoint, it wouldn’t have worked to have the character donate the money. The fact that “Stephen Colbert” the character is totally excited about using other people’s money and getting the glory is part of what’s so hilarious. It’s a man acting as an outrageous character who is interacting seamlessly with the real world, and that’s what’s so weird and cool and different about not just the show, but this whole speedskating venture.
Also keep in mind that the US Speedskating team needs a sponsor long-term. Nothing has been announced yet, but it’s possible that the show may try to help, and raise hundreds of thousands of dollars over a few years for the 2014 games – the kind of money that I don’t think even Stephen would feel comfortable doling out. So if Stephen and his staff want to even keep that option open, they have to go to the fans from day one. They couldn’t have Stephen or “Stephen” sponsor one year, and then let the viewers pick up the tab later. That would be kind of awkward. So remember, this may turn out to be more than a one-time deal.
I guess, to sum, one has to feel comfortable in knowing who the real Stephen is, and who “Stephen Colbert” is. I’ve read enough interviews and watched enough tape of the real Stephen to feel confident in his motives and his selflessness.
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No need to apologize – I do appreciate such a well-thought out post. :)
I do disagree with you, but I won’t mirror everyone else’s comments. I do know that whenever Stephen is asked about the sponsorship, he *always* credits the fans and Colbert Nation for putting up the money and for taking such an interest in the sport. For example, when he was on Letterman, Dave had said that Stephen was sponsoring the team, and he corrected him by saying that it was the fans that were doing all of the good work. Plus, when Katherine Reutter was on the show, she had first thanked him for all that he’s done, and he responded by saying that it was actually Colbert Nation that did everything, not him. I think it’s more that Stephen is representing us in a way. He could have easily just donated some money to them, but instead he wanted to get all of us involved so that we had a stake in the whole thing. I do know that US Speedskating needs a long term sponsor, but without Stephen jumping in a realizing that the Nation could sponsor them, we wouldn’t have donated anything at all.
Good conversation guys. :)
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