2 Months in Torino

At lunch today, four of us were discussing the seeming lack of "Olympic look" to the city. By that I mean there are not many banners, signs, flags etc., which is a shame for at least 2 reasons:

• the "look" of the games (logos) are fantastic
• no sense the city is excited about the event

Take a look at the Torino 2006 logo here and the official poster here. The medals are not my favorite, but not bad.

I arrived in Athens about 2 and a half weeks before the opening ceremonies and logos were EVERYWHERE. Maybe I'm here too early. Someone also mentioned that the Committee didn't sign a deal related hanging to posters/flags/banners until late December.

Sportnet.ca has an interesting article on the issue here. Some of the good lines:

• "Aside from plenty of steel scaffolding, colourful cranes and piles of dirt, it's tough to tell that in a matter of weeks the Winter Games will be coming..."
• "Right now, however, the Olympics are one of the best-kept secrets in sports - even in Italy."
• "Whether it's because of the focus on soccer, the lack of a home-grown star, a penchant for last-minute planning, or Turin natives' reputation for being reserved - all cited by Games officials - there's a decided lack of buzz up and down Italy's boot."