Olympic Briefs -- Possible Goodwill Games Revival; Pope Meets with Volleyball Organizers

Ted Turner says he is willing to revive the Goodwill Games competition he started in 1986. (Getty Images) Ted Turner is ready to revive the Goodwill Games, the Olympic-style competition he created in response to the boycotts of the 1980 and 1984 Olympics.

The entrepreneur who founded CNN told a full house at Sportaccord last week that the United States and Russia -- who formed the core of the Goodwill Games -- have 95 percent of all the nuclear weapons in the world and relations between the two countries have "deteriorated greatly."

"We were close to a war with Russia when the situation in former Soviet Georgia occurred," Turner said. "We need to have friendly contact with Russia in a sporting way. I can't think of a better way."

The first Goodwill Games were in Moscow in 1986, followed by Seattle in 1990, St. Petersburg, Russia, in 1994, New York City in 1998 and Brisbane, Australia in 2001.

Then Time Warner, which bought Turner's properties, pulled the plug.

"That was short-sighted management of Time Warner," said Turner, who eventually left the company. "If I'd have stayed there the Goodwill Games would not have been canceled. I really believe they helped to bring the Cold War to a conclusion -- in fact, I know in my heart, because I was there, it helped to bring the Cold War to a conclusion."

He even knows which network should bring back his creation.

"ESPN should be the one to do the Goodwill Games," he told an ESPN reporter in the packed audience, "and if you want me to consult for free, I'll do it."

In an often rollicking interview, Turner talked about his $1 billion donation to the United Nations, his passion for renewable energy, his thwarted quest to buy one of the major U.S. television networks, and his first meeting with Soviet athletes when he was a sailor in the Flying Dutchman Class in the 1960s.

He even got "a lick in" for his friend Harvey Schiller, president of the international baseball federation, who once was an executive for Turner Sports.

"We need to get baseball back in the Olympics," Turner said to a smattering of applause.

"Boy, that didn't go over well," he told the audience. "The Olympics without baseball is like spring without summer."

Turner then started clapping and the audience joined in. "Come on, let's hear it for baseball!"

Does Turner think the sport, one of seven trying to get on the Olympic program, has a shot?

"There's always a shot," he said. "It's one thing that the Cubans and the Americans both like. Even the Russians had a baseball team - when it was in the Olympics."

Turner competed in the U.S. Olympic sailing trials in 1964.

"The Olympics get people from all around the world together every four years," he said, "and when people get together, they get to know each other, and when they get to know each other, they're more inclined to like each other. It's much easier to hate somebody you don't know than somebody you do know, unless you've got a really unhappy marriage."

The audience laughed. "I just said that as a joke," Turner added.

In the current economic downturn, Turner said that even he has had to "cut back substantially like other folks."

"It's fun giving money away," he said, "until you run out."

But with the money he has left, Turner added, "I intend to make another fortune."

Pope Benedict XVI Meets with FIVB Organizers

Pope Benedict XVI received the organizing committee for the 2010 FIVB world men’s volleyball championship, which will be held in Italy next fall, during a promotional event in St. Peter’s Square in Vatican City on Wednesday.

Organizing committee president Carlo Salvatori, Italian Volleyball Federation President Carlo Magri and general director Francesco Ghirelli were granted an audience with the Pope. They presented the pontiff Pope Benedict XVI met with members of the organizing committee for the 2010 FIVB World Men’s Championship, which will be hosted by Italy. (FIVB)with an Italian national volleyball team shirt with S.S. Benedetto 16 printed on the back.

The event, organized by the local volleyball federations of Rome and the region of Lazio, also included 300 children playing volleyball on 16 courts set up in St. Peter’s Square.

The FIVB World Championship will be held in 10 Italian cities beginning on Sept. 24, with the finals slated for Rome on Oct. 10.

IOC Approves Hockey Canada Logo

The IOC has approved a new logo for Hockey Canada to use on its jerseys for the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver.

Details of the exact design will be revealed in the near future.

The design put forward by Hockey Canada was the fifth attempt to reach a compromise on the rule that prohibits national federations from displaying their logos at the Olympics.

“At the end we found a solution, it was accepted by everybody and I am very pleased,” International Hockey Federation President Rene Fasel said.

A few more details still need to be worked out to ensure that the jersey conforms to the IOC’s guidelines, including where the logos are placed.

BackSoftball Makes Case to ONOC Meeting

BackSoftball made its case for reinstatement of the sport in the 2016 Olympics at the Oceania National Olympic Committee General Assembly in Queensland, New Zealand.

International Softball Federation deputy secretary general Low Beng Choo of Malaysia and Danielle Stewart, a member of Australia’s bronze medal-winning team at the 2008 Beijing Games, presented the sport's case to an audience that included IOC President Jacques Rogge and ONOC President Kevan Gosper.

“Oceania is an active region for softball and I am delighted to say that the number of young people and females participating is on the increase across the region. Our global agenda perfectly matches the priorities and values for the Olympic movement recently expressed by President Rogge.” Low said.

During the ONOC meeting, BackSoftball pledged to use potential revenues from the Olympics to provide support for Oceania’s National Olympic Committees through development grants.

Briefs…

…Swimmer Rebecca Adlington of Great Britain and tennis Serbian tennis player Ana Ivanovic was nominated for the 2009 Laureus World Breakthrough of the Year Award.player Ana Ivanovic of Serbia are set to be two of six nominees for the 2009 Laureus World Breakthrough of the Year Award. Nominees will be announced April 16 along with the venue and date of the awards. The Laureus World Sports Awards recognizes sporting achievement during 2008.

…Former Olympic boxer Neville Cole has died at the age of 56. The British boxer died early Tuesday morning at the Royal London Hospital. Cole participated in the 1972 Munich Olympics and was a three-time ABA champion.

…Long Beach State men’s volleyball coach Alan Knipe was named as the coach of the United States men’s volleyball team Wednesday. Knipe will take a leave of absence from his job to coach the defending Olympic champions through the 2012 London Olympics. He takes the place of Hugh McCutcheon who is now the U.S. women’s national team coach.

Media Watch

The next Usain Bolt could be on display at this week’s high school athletics championships in Jamaica.

According to The Guardian’s Media Monkey feature, the IOC is addicted to acronyms.

Written by Ed Hula III,Greg Oshust and Isia Reaves.