Sochi.ru Reveals "Look of the Games"

What, you didn't know that the 2014 Winter Games had an official look?  Hear me now and believe me later.  From Sochi.ru:

At the heart of the Look of the Games concept design lies the principle of the "patchwork quilt" - a combination of 16 designs representing the most famous traditional Russian arts and crafts, ranging from Gzhel to Khokhloma. The Look of the Games concept is the visual embodiment of the Sochi 2014 Olympic Winter Games philosophy and is intended to express the character of modern Russia whilst at the same time introducing guests from all over the world to traditional Russian hospitality.

So, uh, that's what it is.  Feel free to read the article further if you really like being confused or you love reading Rhetoric 101 papers about symbolism in "The Heart of Darkness;" lines like "it [the look] portrays emotion and moderation, tact and expression; in short - the Russian character that is inherent in every resident of the host country."   I'm serious; there's a full description of all 16 designs if you click that link, so caveat emptor.  And if you really get off on pain, here's a site that'll talk to you about the Olympic look all the way back to Lillehammer in 1994. 

I've written in the past about Olympic sponsors (and I'm too lazy to link to them), so it should be known that Bosco Sport, a Russian sport apparel manufacturer, is the proud sponsor of the look of the Games.  Bosco Sport, which is part of a larger consortium, has a motto (The Beauty of Success) and the exclusive rights to outfit all Russian Olympic and Paralympic teams and has since Salt Lake in 2002.  I've been unable to locate exactly how much Bosco is paying to sponsor the look but, suffice it to say, I'm sure it ain't cheap. 

And if you still want to get in on the action, well I'm happy to report that it's not too late.  Sochi.ru is still taking on partners so, if you know someone who'd like to be the official confectionery of the 2014 Olympics, the time is now. 

Two Major Russian Businesses Snub (sort of) Sochi Olympics

And I do mean, sort of.  Russian diamond giant Alrosa and state-owned/run/controlled Gazprom, the largest extractor of natural gas in the world, declining to sponsor the 2014 Winter Olympics.  Now, USA Today's headline is a bit disingenuous, considering that Gazprom will be sponsoring the Russian Olympic team, just not the Olympics proper (fyi, Gazprom sponsors soccer teams in Germany, Serbia and Venezuala).  Alrosa, on the other hand, pulled out of a $100 preliminary deal and will instead pursue a sponsorship deal for the 2018 World Cup. 

That's all well and good but I thought the article's tone was interesting; that is the idea that the loss of this $100 million dollars due to Alrosa pulling out is no big deal because organizer Dimitri Chernyshenko has another $200 million in deals lined up, all of which will contribute to what USA Today calls "record revenue."  By their count (and I've been able to verify some of this, thanks to Google), Sochi's organizing committee has already secured $1.1 billion in sponsorship deals. 

Why is this interesting?  Well, for me it's because it pushes the "record revenues" theme (which Russia surely loves) while omitting the part where they are spending more than $30 billion to build and stage the damn Games, which is far and away the highest figure in Olympic history.  $1 billion is a drop in the bucket.  But maybe that's just me being crabby.