On board

Yay. Settled into the exclusive upper level of the 747. Almost like a little plane inside the big plane.

Was even invited to the flight deck.

I brought the guys some sandwiches.

The crew has been terrific. And we sure appreciate the pampering. The captain explained what it has been like dealing with the local aviation authorities and detailed examples of what he described as " getting Rooskied."

When we came aboard, the purser said "Don't worry. You're home ."

Almost.

Yawn

8am. Been through security twice including 2 complete scans of us and hand luggage.  Plus the guy stared at my passport for a full 5 minutes.  I thought: "Oh no...they read the blog."

We are in a huge temporary building at the Sochi airport with what appears to be the entire population of Finland. Services...none.

Last night. Dan Palla said he was hoping to pick up a bottle of vodka at the Duty Free store at the airport. Ha. Ha ha. Ha ha ha.

A nice "Attaboy"

An email to us from the guy who's in charge of all the technical aspects of Sochi.

  Every two years as I sit here on the night of Closing - watching the world biggest television show editing and wrapping up an incredible 18 Day (or 18 Month) Journey……….

I am constantly amazed by what people can do as a team.

Whether that is the US Team, or the other National Teams, or the NBC Olympics Team.

The collective efforts of all of you certainly adds up to way more than I ever could have imagined.

This has been a longggggg road to get here……

Possibly our hardest logistical Olympics ever, and even though we knew that would probably be the case, there was no reduction in scope or simplification.

It is a testament to the incredible efforts and passion of all of you that we could pull this off so flawlessly.

When you consider how many thing had to go right to get through these 18 days… it is truly amazing!

Planning for 18 months with countless camera surveys, ceremonies mtgs, construction mtgs, telco mtgs, audio and video splits

Shipping over 120 sea containers and getting them thru customs.

Getting over 50,000 parts to the right place at the right time.

Getting 2500 visas, airplane seats, hotel rooms, and crew jackets

Serving untold number of excellent meals.

Building and Installing the IBC and the Studios in the most difficult of circumstances.

Running miles and miles of cable in the mountains and stadiums.

The mad dash of the OB units arriving 10 days before Air and the incredible efforts to get them and all of the venues ready in those 10 days.

Standing up and testing a broadcast plant that rivals the production power and complexity of any other NBC facility… one that is assembled in 65 days, tested for 14 days, Used for 28 days, and then torn down in 10 days.

Countless people working way too many hours with a passion for creating the best possible television and digital products no matter how hard it is.

12 Hrs of NBCSN per day, PR feeds till 6am, overnight turnaround edits at the venues, Streams and Apps and Highlights, and Gold Zones, Reverse Off Tubes and 4 Sheets of Curling!

Pioneering new digital workflows, and super-efficient production techniques that most companies would not try across town let alone half way across the globe.

And taking 2500 people, some who are have never met before, others who have many games under their belts, and getting them all pulling in the same direction for the most complex undertaking in sports broadcasting.

Others in the industry have come to expect this from all of us, but you all know it is anything BUT everyday, and it anything BUT just another sports remote…….

It is truly Extraordinary!!!

Thank You all for your passion and dedication to this very special project.

I feel very lucky and blessed to be a part of it.

See you back home

Travel Safe

dave

A load off my neck

Guess what we won't have to wear all the time starting tomorrow? These.

While on duty we had to wear them all the time. Even in the shower because of the surveillance cameras.

Viva la after party

Awesome closing ceremony, right? How about those fireworks?

Needless to say, now everyone goes completely nuts. Thanks to all who made it necessary for us to consume this much alcohol. You know who you are. I've got to hang out just to say and hear a few more "I love you man."  Our bus to the airport leaves in six hours. Can't wait to see my fellow walking wounded staggering aboard the flight. Sleep? I doubt it. Just a quick nap of two or three days at the apartment and I'll be ready to go to dinner in  NYC.  Stay tuned to the blog. I will include a few blurry photos of us being carried on board tomorrow.

Out the door

Every time I work an Olympics, it is a strange feeling walking out of the IBC for the last time.  Saying goodbye to the people you have been joined to at the hip for a month. Tonight at a little after 11 I walked up to my boss Mark Levy and said "I'm going to be on the midnight bus unless… You have a Taser." Luckily he did not.

Almost outta here

Soon  these will be dark.  But even if they're not, I will be gone .  To lucky row 13.

Zzzzzz

Just got back to the hotel after my longest day yet. 14 hours. The final few hours just waiting around to voice a promo. But as I dozed off on the bus ride home, I realized it's 3:30 AM on Sunday. That means technically I'm leaving tomorrow. 

I also must be fairly high up in the pecking order because I got on the first flight out of here on Monday. All the stars will be on board. If this baby goes down my name will be in very small print. 

Tomorrow we have to get our boarding passes and check our bags at the hotel in the afternoon. Which means I'll be rid of my giant suitcase, my kitschy Sochi backpack and teddy bear, and my NBC talent suitcase crammed with wardrobe until I wrestle them out of EWR.

Dimitri my new Russian bartender friend got kind of choked up tonight and said he would miss us. Which is amazing because even I won't miss us. The bar at the hotel is open 24 hours a day because of the staggered shifts of media workers. It is certainly different having an after work cocktail at 3 o'clock in the morning. But when the place is mobbed, which it usually is, it feels perfectly normal.

Follicles of Sochi

Comparing Olympic beards with Jim Thompson of Osterville, Ma.

The agony of defeat

Me with Max pointing ourselves out in the replay of the NBC employee Cross-Country ski race.

NBC Olympic facts

What does it take for NBC to broadcast the games from Sochi?

120  40 foot shipping containers shipped to Sochi by boat.

85 tons of air freight

43,000 pieces of inventory

9 NBC Mobile unit trucks

2 studios

2 control rooms

45 edit suites

60 video servers

40,000 cables totalling a million feet

2300 terrabytes video storage storing 60,000 hours 

150 cameras

3,000 people

A super fast fiber-optic connection to send all kinds of high-bandwidth video at the same time back to the States...

And 2 tons of pork  products.  Plus complete kitchen, all food imported from London, and the food service staff operating 24 hours per day. And, oh yeah… Our notorious Starbucks. Even a fully staffed medical office just for the NBC personnel on site.

All built and meticulously tested to be used for 18 days and then torn down.

Come Monday, the load out begins.  Wish I could hang out to help.

The next to last supper

Great news. Pork!

Matt and Bob

http://bleacherreport.com/articles/1968699-matt-lauer-jokes-about-bob-costas-eye-following-his-infection?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=newsletter&utm_campaign=webs-best-sports-lists

Time to pack

Are we ready to go home?
Mason said:
"Sochi is the reason rear view mirrors were invented."

The finish line looms

Map of the NBC facility in Sochi.  In true American fashion, we take up the most square feet.

Unplug the yellow wire....no, the other yellow wire

Ciao, baby

2:15 am.  A compliant Italian journalist observes the "No cell phones" sign on the bus.

This just in....

Vital change on Continuing Coverage version Alpha. The word "and"was just changed to "plus." Listen for it at home.

Huh?

Just passed a monitor displaying this.

Fat, salt, sugar

To keep late shift worker's eyes open...

A s'mores station in the commissary at midnight.

Please note

If you don't understand this, take a course in broadcast graphics.

A taste of home

For all who await another dose of my sardonic wit...sorry.

They may have finally run out of pork.  So we are eating a turkey dinner and watching the USA-Canada hockey game.

Back to you later.

Go USA!

It's the next to next to last day

From Max and the Olympic archives...

Mary Carillo badminton rant, Athens 2004.  Enjoy.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cZDn0U0w78k

More curling

Max sent me this link.

I command you, click upon it. It is worth your time.

http://www.wimp.com/soundscurling/

My crazy job

A window into my life here:

Every day in addition to our normal pile of sponsored elements, still to come promos, daily O-zone program, network promos that run outside of coverage, etc., we have to record 5 versions of Continuing Coverage promos. If any part of it is changed, we have to redo five different versions.  And it happens at least once every day.

They are voiced to music then sent to an editor who inserts appropriate pictures and graphics. Then they come back to audio and get a final mix then are sent for a last review and airing.

We completed V.1 which included shots of 2 Russian female skaters but no mention of their names.

They were revised to V.2, which included their names in the narration. New voice track recorded. Pictures revised, audio remixed, resubmitted.

Bounced back to us.  Russian names not sounding Russian enough.  Russian language expert from research coaches me on perfect pronunciation.  Recorded, edited, remixed, resubmitted.

Bounced back again from Control Room.  The complaint?  I sounded "Too Russian."

Final verdict...back to pictues of the ladies with no mention of their names.

3 hours of work for a bunch of people, and back to what we started with.

To recap:

"Don't read these names."

"Read these names."

"Read these names better."

"You read these names too well."

"Don't read these names."

The script is creased because I just had to fold it up and stick it in my pocket. It is the only script I've ever left work with. Next time you see me I'll say both of their names perfectly. You will be impressed. 

But still it's getting pretty exhausting for all of us.

That kind of situation leads to this...

Swine time

Here are the commissary steam table finalists...courtesy of Max.

Curlingmania

Max does it again....

What could be better than Sir David Attenborough describing curling?

I mean, I could think a few things, but this is still pretty cool...

http://mashable.com/2014/02/18/david-attenborough-curling/

Doing my part

I saw the sign and thought it was a command.

A Netflix "must watch"!

Thank you to Peter Steep, Who suggested an astounding movie. I'll attach a link to the trailer. It looks incredible.

http://youtu.be/J--TDEHizVA

Helpful hints for tourists

According to the helpful guest guidebook in my room, here are some things you should be aware of if you plan to take your two weeks in Sochi and occupy this hostelry...

1. Live poultry and livestock are not permitted in your room without permission from the hotel administration.

2. it is prohibited to "wash the outerwear in the hotel rooms."  Apparently the innerwear are okay.

3. Check out time is 12 AM. "Wake up honey, it's midnight. Time to check out."

PS- if you want to stay here it's important to know the pecking order for available rooms. Here it is:

The last few innings

Five more days to go. But for some reason this time everyone else is more burned out than me for a change. Saying things like "I'll never do this again."in part I agree. I doubt I'll ever come to Sochi again unless it's at gunpoint. After doing this so many times I guess I've adapted. Like a cockroach. But I sure am looking forward to seeing my loved ones, Raiding the refrigerator, cooking my own food, using a real plate and eating with the metal knife and fork, dozing on the couch. Working anything less than 12 hours per day, and having a day off more than once a month.

 Also, someone tipped me off on how to access united airlines seat selection for our trip home. When I looked at the seat map, I could pick any seat I wanted. So I went online and found the best seats according to various travel websites. If you're interested I chose 15 A on the upper deck of the 747–400. I checked back today and their site still shows me with that seat assignment. We'll find out. If I pull this off I'll let you know. I probably won't get any sleep the night before so any lie flat bed will  do. I am even willing to drool on someone's shoulder in the center seat of coach.

Since most of us working here have done this at least a few times, it's fascinating to talk to the newbies. Especially about three quarters of the way through as we are. Nikki the editor was talking to an intern about the long hours we work. She said this kid looked up at her with wide eyes and said plaintively "it's like we LIVE here."

That's it, Sherlock.

I also heard that four fellow employees  who are staying near me swam in the Black Sea yesterday. Had I known of this excursion I certainly would've joined them. Hey, there's still time.

I hope they avoided the area of the raw sewage drainage canal. I will keep an eye on the Sickbay for the next couple of days.

Keep a lid on it

Thanks a lot, Wall Street Journal!

I guess this is where I am

I wish I'd brought a GPS just to hear it say this place.

Local color

Congratulations, Amy!

Next to Max, you're my best cub reporter. But then, next to Max you're my only other cub reporter. Today Max and I were watching the bobsled competition. I told him there's a rule that there's no talking in the bobsled. We speculated if talking were allowed what would be said. Max suggested "Are we there yet? Are we there yet? Are we there yet?" Nonetheless, Amy was watching the coverage and saw a freestyle skier who hails from Madison Connecticut. I'm not surprised, given all the suitable freestyle skiing hills located all over Madison.

Traffic report

It's 2:15 am. We have been sitting at a standstill on the L.I.E. for 25 minutes.  The Lenin Island Expressway.  Okay, I made that last part up. No doubt a multi car Gaz-Skoda pileup.

Maybe our hosts are trying to make us feel at home... like we're in L.A. Maybe they finally read my blog.  As long as I dont miss my flight next Monday, I'm cool with it.

Bob time

Great news, America!  Mr. Costas returns tonight.  I got a laugh out of him when he came in to voice the primetime open.  I said "Bob!  Thank God you're back."  He said "Why?  Are the fill-ins not cutting it?"  I said: "Let's put it this way...last night the host was Willard Scott." 

Your highness

Today while I was recording a promo we had a special guest in the audio room. Prince Albert of Monaco. Later when I was telling Gary of our distinguished guest he said "who was here?"

I replied "Prince Albert."

He said "was he in a can?"

Oh, no!

A bunch of events were cancelled today due to fog on the mountain. Which means a merdeload of extra work for us revising promos, bumpers, etc.

Meanwhile, on NBC please enjoy "Trout Fishing in Canada."

Star sighting

I was walking down the hall about an hour ago and ran into Bob Costas. He said "hello Bill." He looked good and I assume he's feeling better. Although his seeing-eye dog did growl at me.

Good to know

Opened my Iphone calendar and this showed up.

Belly of the beast

This is Ingest... Which is what most of us spend our time doing here.

My front yard

From today's Times, a perfect take on my walk to work:

http://nyti.ms/NR0LtG

Hotel Del Sochinado

Barricade the doors!

From Max...

Our secret is out...

http://on.wsj.com/1iYcvVA

Crumbling infrastructure part two

4:22 AM. The first inch or so of my barely lukewarm Russian bath. I can hardly wait.

The Iceberg

USA! USA!

It was great to see the US hockey team defeat the Russians in a shootout.

Speaking of teams, everyone seems to be relaxing as we enter our final week. On my fifth trip to the Olympic Games, I'm spending time with most of the same people I worked with back in Torino. The A-Team of television. The writers, producers, editors, audio mixers, camera people, lighting people, wardrobe people, control room people, and especially the technical people.

Most of us can fake our way through at least part of our jobs. But not the people charged with putting this place together and keeping us on the air. Because if something doesn't work, they have to make it work. And they do it every time. So far. (Sorry, don't mean to jinx you.)

Day 13. Infrastructure crumbling

Yesterday, there was no hot water at the hotel.

Today there is no internet.

Only 8 work days left after today.  Bathing and Facebook are way overrated anyway.  But if the bar runs dry, there will be panic in the streets.

Here's your five day

Friends on the East Coast take heart. It's going to be really cold here tomorrow. The high is only going to be 63.

Smile!

If you look closely you can see Max and me in this photo. Max is the one on the left holding the cheeseburger.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/gsfc/12482463344/

Main Street NBC

As you can see, they're not big on ceilings here.

This just in...

NBC loves me!

Jimmy Olsen does it again

From Max, who may soon earn a place on the Masthead...

Early leader in the clubhouse for weirdest Olympic story...

The representative from Tonga, born Fuahea Semi, changed his name to Bruno Banani, which is the name of a German underwear company, so he could be sponsored to compete in the winter Olympics. 

What's next, Fruit O'Daloom from Scotland in skeleton?

Calvin Klein and Hugo Boss in the two man luge from St. Lucia?

Bill St. James changes to Yves Saint Laurent and competes for Monaco?

http://espn.go.com/olympics/winter/2014/luge/story/_/id/10426001/2014-sochi-olympics-bruno-banani-part-athlete-part-gimmick

Re: Oink!

Who says Germans are boring?

From my intrepid cub reporter Max...

A car crash with a German skier and his biathlete girlfriend, Miriam Goessner, who recently become famous for her recent spread in the German edition of Playboy...

The german police have opened an investigation...

his doctor clears him to ski...

the police wish him well...

will he face prosecution for leaving the scene of the crime?

can he recover from the injuries to win a medal?

and of course the biggest question...how long did it take you to come back and read the rest of this after googling the German edition of Playboy?

the story from CBS sports..

http://sochi2014.cbssports.com/article/BREA1D0AA/Neureuther-escapes-serious-injury-in-car-crash

Love is in the air... And on the door

Brainiacs

Need to learn how to pronounce the name of a Russian athlete that is spelled like a tray full of Scrabble letters? This is Research and these people can find the answer if they're not too busy checking their Facebook page.

Day 13...Eat, work, eat, eat,sleep, eat,repeat

Last night I got to say hi to Joss Christensen, Gus Kenworthy, and Nick Goepper.  There are three guys who swept the slopestyle event for the US. When I ran into them it was about 3 AM in the hotel. They all looked stunned and were still wearing their medals around their necks.  Good job, boys.

Real Russian hockey

This video may not be for all of you, but if you have 10 minutes or so to spend it's pretty incredible to watch. That's all I'll say.

http://youtu.be/ZxzkibD2PnA

The greatest sports open in history

Thanks to Matt Allen for this link to a video which is played to start each game at the University of Alaska's home rink.

http://youtu.be/8THGqrjUDGI

My Jimmy Olsen

My coworker Max has a nose for news. Here are some of the Olympic stories he sniffed out for you today. Please click on the links. He spent a lot of time on this while he should have been working.

http://extramustard.si.com/2014/02/08/alexey-sobolev-snowboarding-sochi-2014-winter-olympics/?sct=obinsite

http://extramustard.si.com/2014/02/08/british-bobsledder-elevator-shaft/

http://extramustard.si.com/2014/02/12/bob-costas-eye-infection-conan-video/?xid=ob_blogs

That's it for now. Good night and good news.

More medals.....a word from our sponsors

The guy I do the billboards with, who shall remain Mason, suggested that the one thing I should not do on my blog is to insult the sponsors.  Screw it.  Here goes:

Dumbest sponsor billboards-

The gold goes to..."Charmin.  Enjoy the Go."

The Silver to....."J.C. Penney.  When it fits, you feel it."

And the Bronze..."Diet Coke.  You're on."

Congratulations to all!

Day 12. All downhill from here

I was listening to a news radio station in Washington, D.C.this morning as I sunbathed again and had breakfast. It's even warmer here today.  Shirtsleeve weather. They are expecting up to 18 inches of snow in the D.C. Area.  They referred to it as "Snowchi." Meanwhile I appear to be getting an actual tan.

Big day. Fewer days ahead than behind on my assignment. I even have enough socks to last until I get home. Oops. Gotta go.  Just arrived at work.  Time to record "Brought to you by" 100 times ...

Mount the podium

As we approach our final week of coverage, it's time for my customary and proprietary private Olympic medals.

Our first category: most boisterous crowds by nationality in the media bar at 3 AM.

The gold-medal goes to… Australia!

The silver… in a real upset… Canada!

Barely eking out a bronze… The US!

Just missing out was Great Britain.  Points were deducted for a lack of fist bumping and backslapping.

Finishing fifth....Germany...hey, I'm half German so that hurts. I'm also half Irish. If they were here they would've topped the medals stand.

Don't tell the authorities

2am.  Waiting for bus.  Stray dog that avoided apprehension finds Mc Donald's leftovers.  We're all rooting for you.

Re: Oink!

I rest my case.

Another casualty

Justin is given a decent burial.

Appropriately beneath the audio console.

47 channels and nothing's on