Stephen Colbert in the Zeitgeist – November 10, 2009

Greetings, Zoners! Wasn’t last week kind of a wild ride for the Colbert Nation? Not only did we get two personal appearances from Stephen, but holy ice skates, Batman, the Colbert Nation is now sponsoring the U.S. Speedskating team! Stephen come up with a great way to help out some of our talented and deserving athletes, and it’s also a way to have fun with the upcoming Winter Olympics and promote a sport that doesn’t get much attention in non-Olympic years. That was the main news from last week, but a few other things managed to find their way into the news, too, so here’s your zeitgeist for November 10th.

U.S. Speedskating

Oh yeah, the ripples from this one will be continuing for a while yet. Here are the latest tidbits related to the Colbert Nation sponsorship story.

• Colbert’s attack on Olympic ice access brushed off – CBC News

  Vancouver Olympic officials are defending themselves after an attack by U.S. comedian Stephen Colbert, who accused Canadians of cheating by preventing U.S. athletes from getting enough ice time on the Richmond, B.C., speedskating oval.

  VANOC’s Renee Smith-Valade said she gets the jokes, but the American team and all other international teams are being treated fairly. “He’s just trying to push our buttons. I like Stephen Colbert, I think he’s funny,” said Smith-Valade.

• Sponsorship: Putting the firm in a positive light – New Brunswick Business Journal

  When comedian and news satirist Stephen Colbert announced on his show, The Colbert Report, Monday night that his fan club is sponsoring the U.S. Olympic speed skating team, he made a move that will gain exposure for the show and engage his audience, some marketers say…

  “Is it going to do more than $300,000 worth of marketing for the show? Yes,” says leading Canadian marketer Mitch Joel, president of Montreal-based Twist Image. He says the sponsorship is a “feel-good” campaign that will benefit everyone involved from the athletes, to the show and its fans. “You’re not just supporting the U.S. speed skating team, but you’re supporting America and you’re supporting Stephen Colbert,” Joel says.

• This short blurb from Go Fug Yourself offers a suggestion for one way to raise more money faster: Stephen Colbert wants to save the U.S. Olympic Speed Skating team by raising enough cash to sponsor it… We love you, Stephen. Also, you’d raise a lot more money if you promised to wear the unitard on-air. Trust us. We’re fashion bloggers.

And in non-speedskating news…

• Slide Show: A Room with a View – The New Yorker

  In Matteo Pericoli’s new book, The City Out My Window, he has sketched the views from the windows of sixty-three New Yorkers, including Stephen Colbert. Stephen’s view is #4 in the slide show, with this caption: “Because my studio is directly across from a windowless telecommunications skyscraper whose peak bristles with microwave transmitters, when I think of my view mostly I think about cancer, so I try not to think about it at all.”

• Springsteen flushed – New York Post (Ms I linked to this story in the comments for DB’s post of the backstage video from Stand Up for Heroes, but I thought it was worth highlighting here in case you missed it.)

  Bob Woodruff was interviewing Bruce Springsteen backstage at the Stand Up for Heroes benefit Wednesday, but made the mistake of taking it too near a bathroom. A spy reports, “Every time Springsteen started speaking, the toilet began flushing. They restarted the interview, but the loud flushing continued.” Turned out Stephen Colbert was sabotaging the audio on purpose — to much amusement.

• Scenes from a book tour – ESPN.com: Recent TCR guest Bill Simmons offered this comment on his appearance, in with notes from the tour to promote The Book of Basketball: the NBA According to the Sports Guy: While I was waiting in the green room at “The Colbert Report,” Stephen Colbert popped in to say hello and said, “It’s nice to finally meet you!” I had to remind him that I had appeared on his show in 2005. In his defense, I was so forgettable that I would have forgotten me, too. This time went better. There’s a 53 percent chance he will remember me the next time.
• Another recent TCR guest, physicist Brian Cox, tweeted/twittered/twatted (pick the verb of your choice) his reaction to the interview on Oct. 28th: Got to say that my interview on Colbert was the most enjoyable I’ve ever done. I have honestly never been asked such intelligent questions!

Bonus picture!

I came across this little gem and couldn’t remember where or even if I’d seen the photo on the left before. Maybe one of you younger Zoners with a better memory than mine will recall it? From FunnyJunk.com, a “then vs. now” comparison of Stephen Colbert:

(h/t DB, Ms I, Katt, and Twitterer @hellocontrol for the link to the Room with a View slideshow)

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• Colbert Nation sponsored US Speedskater wins World Cup event
• VIDEO: Stephen Colbert outside the RNC, Philadelphia (2000)
• More on Colbert Nation’s sponsorship of the US Speedskating team
• Guest alert: Speedskater Joey Cheek on ‘The Colbert Report’ tomorrow!