On The Sidelines

CBS Television ran into trouble on several fronts over their coverage of the Winter Olympics at Nagano which ended last weekend. Leading executives at the US corporation condemned the decision to allow the station's presenters and reporters in Nagano, including those working for the news department, to wear clothing supplied by Nike.

The mistake was described as an error of judgment by senior editors, but defended by many of the producers at the Games on the basis that presenters of most sports programmes in the US accepted free clothing.

Most controversial, however, was the decision of the station's 60 Minutes programme to give IOC chief Juan Antonio Samaranch a tough ride over his alleged links with the Franco regime in Spain. Samaranch, accustomed to getting soft rides from companies with a financial interest in the Olympics, was taken aback to be quizzed about his past, declaring afterwards that "I felt like I was in an ambush".

He subsequently appealed to the station's boss, Michael Jackson, to force the programme's producers to do the interview again but Jackson declined. Expect NBC to get the Games when the deal comes up for renewal.

A Japanese firm that reportedly runs "love hotels" has brought two bobsleighs used by the cash-strapped US Virgin Islands Winter Olympic team, it was reported this week.

The Japan Times said the team sold their three bobsleighs - a four-man and two two-man - because they could not afford to transport them out of Japan and needed money to repay loans they took out to go to the Nagano Games.

Japan has thousands of so-called "love hotels" which are used by couples, including married ones, seeking privacy in a country where most people live in small apartments. In a bid to attract customers, the hotels often offer theme settings, such as a "Cleopatra Room", a "Jungle Room" or a "Water Room", to spice up love-making. Bobsleighs, raced by the Virgin Islands at Nagano, are expected to become major attractions.

When Germany and Brazil, the European and World champions respectively, agreed to play a football friendly against each other next month in Stuttgart, there was one major problem which had to be hammered out.

Brazil are not just sponsored by Nike but are effectively managed by the sportswear firm in a deal which gives the American firm a considerable amount of control over their fixtures and media coverage.

The Germans are heavily backed by Addidas, a German company which would be embarrassed to see a foreign competitor upstage it by achieving a high profile at such a game.

After prolonged wrangling, however, a compromise was reached. When the game is played it will be covered for television from both sides of the pitch with all of Addidas's advertising facing the cameras for German television and Nike emblazoned across the boards which will face the South American TV crews.

It is, as it happens, a rather low-tech solution to what seems certain to become an increasingly common problem over the next few years. Already the technology exists for television companies to artificially replace whatever perimeter advertising is in place with different product placement for their own market.

Britain's Channel 5, meanwhile, who have the rights to the Germany/Brazil game should benefit as two sportswear companies battle it out to get them to take the match from their side of the pitch.

While Nagano's downhill ski course became caught up in an environmental controversy, the athletes accommodation for the next Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City has already been tied to, of all things, defence spending in the United States. A central part of the plans for the Salt Lake City Games is that an army base, Fort Douglas, is closed and turned into housing for the competitors. President Clinton this week attempted to push defence cuts, which include the camp's closure, through the Senate. The Senate, however, was having none of it, restoring a total of $287 million in spending to the budget and delaying, for the foreseeable future, the start of refurbishment work on the site.

Pirinya Kaibusaba is the latest sensation in the world of Thai professional kickboxing, winning his Bangkok debut this week in front of a sell-out crowd of more than 10,000.

The 16-year-old has long-been rated as a highly-promising welterweight, but his popularity appears to have a somewhat more bizarre explanation - at the weigh-in before his most recent victory, Kaibusaba showed up wearing make-up. He subsequently became involved in a row over his attire and then shocked the assembled crowd by breaking down in tears. He recovered his composure sufficiently to comfortably over-run Oven So Boonya in five rounds at the city's Lumpini Stadium.

One of the latest sports organisation to set up shop on the web is Dublin's Athletic Union League which runs competitions for senior, under-21 and youths in the Dublin area. Anybody wishing to check results from the AUL's leagues or cups can drop in on their site at www.clubi.ie/aul

It's a decade now since students at Blackrock College in Dublin started selling St Patrick's Day badges to help raise funds for GOAL's work overseas and since the project started more than £500,000 has been raised. This year's badges are now on sale with more than 80 schools helping with the distribution and newsagents across the country selling them over the counter as well.

Having performed for their fellow professionals on the PGA Tour for many years, Jake Trout and the Flounders (aka Peter Jacobsen, Payne Stewart and former tour pro Mark Lye) will release their debut album in early summer. Called I Love To Play (the title track is a take off of Randy Newman's I Love LA), the album will contain 12 tracks, including such timeless classics as Love the One You Whiff (based on Crosby Stills & Nash's Love The One You're With), Metal Wood (Otis Redding's Knock On Wood) and It's In The Hole (Huey Lewis & The News's Heart and Soul). I Love To Play is actually the group's second LP, the first having sold around 25,000 when sold at tournament charity gigs.

This one, however, is to be released and distributed by EMI-Capitol who have kitted the CD out like an unattractive golfer and are marketing the album more aggressively. In terms of musical talent (we use the term very loosely indeed), Jacobsen, who wrote the lyrics and is reported to be competent enough on guitar appears to be the driving force behind the group. The others, it seems, play guitar, harmonica and, er, hum, as required. Like all great bands, though, the Flounders live under the shadow of a split - Lee Rinker, who started out with the group, departed early on. Musical differences no doubt.