Hamilton Nolan takes a blunt look at the Spanish Olympics basketball team (men’s), and its terrible sense of humor. If only we had the PR Play this week…

China’s well publicized media restrictions are putting the press covering the Olympic Games in the spotlight. Thus, the internal PR staff at architecture firm RMJM Hillier is conducting outreach to architecture and media trade press about the Beijing Olympic Green Convention Centre, which it designed.

Aside from the center’s status as the largest press headquarters in Olympic history, RMJM Hillier is publicizing its amenities and numerous green features, such as rain water collection units and an ice cooling and ventilation system, said Neill Coleman, the UK-based firm’s communications manager.

“We obviously see the controversy as something drawing attention to the role of media and press around the Olympics, and where all of that is happening is the media center, and that’s something that is therefore of more interest in these games than it has been,” he said. “In terms of us directly commenting on politics, that’s clearly not our role.”

Curt Blakeney, the president of Edge PR in Phoenix, AZ, launched MadGame.com, a sports video-sharing and social-networking Web site, along with Jim Smith, CEO of Web design company Oculus Networks.

Launched July 1, the PR plan for the Web site included a local push to get members and visitors in the Phoenix area, Blakeney told PRWeek. A national push to newspapers and publications about sports and online initiatives will kick off in September, to coincide with the start of the football season.

Anyone who believes in the adage that all publicity is good publicity would award Brett Favre and the Green Bay Packers high marks for their combined drama. As long as the gunslinger continues to shine a light on the Packers camp, people will care during a time where no one, but the most ardent football fans would be paying attention.

The preseason is a long season. The Packers will be able to regain its pysche eventually. For now, enjoy the buzz.

The Hispanic Public Relations Association (HPRA) is launching a new awards program, specifically for PR campaigns that target Hispanic and Latino audiences. The PRemio Awards and Scholarship dinner will take place on Oct. 2 in Los Angeles, and the organization is accepting entries for the best Hispanic PR campaigns through Aug. 22. The categories are technology, health and/or beauty, food and beverage, public affairs, financial and investor relations, nonprofit, and sports. For more information, including a downloadable entry form, visit the HPRA’s Web site.

Harris Interactive released the results of a study they’ve conducted that finds the majority of Americans and nearly half of Canadians are not interested in attending the Olympics in China. Online surveys conducted in the US and Canada show that 57% of Americans wouldn’t want to attend the Games in Beijing and 48% of Canadians would take a pass. (Harris Interactive conducted online surveys of 2,454 Americans and 1,009 Canadian adults between June 9 and 16.) Read more »

Nike will forgo its iconic logo in the Olympic pool when its sponsored athletes wear Speedo’s LZR Racer, a suit that reduces a significant amount of drag in the water and has, since its launch in February, broken 31 world records. Nike will still have branding opportunities with its swimmers’ caps and footwear outside the pool.

According to Dean Stoyer, US media relations director at Nike, the company proposed the change based on ongoing conversations with the athletes. He told PRWeek that it will not affect the terms of the sponsorship or Nike’s communications strategy. However, he did say “we feel we need to be up front, address it, and be clear” in one-on-one conversation.

“While it has an impact on our position with swimming innovation today, we never rest on our laurels. If anything, it’s more of a wakeup,” said Stoyer.

He explained that the situation had been reversed at the Athens games, when Nike launched breakthrough technology that prompted ten swimmers who were not sponsored by Nike to wear the Nike suit and break records.

On the other side of the pool, Craig Brommers, VP of marketing at Speedo, said, “This just give the [Speedo] story more legs.”

New Yorkers woke up this morning to the news that the New York Mets had fired its coach Willie Randolph. This wasn’t a surprise; after the team’s historic collapse last fall and disappointing start this season, New York media have had a field day putting Randolph on death watch. What was surprising was the timing; the team had just made a trip to the West Coast and Randolph, along with pitching coach Rick Peterson and first base coach Tom Nieto, were fired after the Mets actually won a game against the Anaheim Angels.  But with the news release being sent out after 3am ET, it was way too late for it to make the back page of The New York Post or Daily News. And while Web sites, radio hosts, and TV sportscasters will be dissecting this decision ad nauseum today, the back pages of those two papers still carry significant weight among  New Yorkers. So, one has to wonder if the timing of this firing was more of a media strategy than anything else.

In the midst of the NBA Finals between the Boston Celtics and Los Angeles Lakers, the NBA had to turn its attention to the controversy surrounding several previous playoff games, including the 2002 finals between the Los Angeles Lakers and Sacramento Kings, courtesy of disgraced referee Tim Donaghy.

While the NBA’s reputation might be taking a hit now, some say the accusations are unlikely to cause permanent damage. Others, though, want the league to step up its defense to retain the confidence of fans.

NBA Commissioner David Stern has called Donaghy’s allegations “baseless.”

Forget UPS. Hooters jumped in as a sponsor for horse Big Brown, as the Belmont Stakes take place this weekend. The Hooters logo will be emblazoned on the leg of jockey on Kent Desormeaux. If the horse wins this Saturday—and therefore wins the Triple Crown—Hooters girls will be there to congratulate him.

“UPS wanted to be the exclusive sponsor and we offered them every possible way to do [that], and they basically turned it down,” said Kelly Wietsma, spokeswoman for Big Brown’s owner, IEAH Stables, according to the New York Daily News. “We have a great relationship with UPS, but Hooters has a great plan to have 450 of their restaurants doing a Big Brown day.” Read more »