Pound Foolish, by a Furlong!

A scathing newspaper article that could have been the unraveling of Gordon Campbell's Olympic dream, ended with smiles and handshakes all around by the end of the day. Earlier in the morning, a cold wind from the East blew across the Rockies, settling over Vancouver when Dick Pound, Canadian Olympic official started tossing words like rigged and hijacked around. Throwing a bit of taint on the Vancouver candidate for the position of Vancouver Games CEO, John Furlong.

Furlong an ex-patriot Irishman, now Canadian, was the gifted orator at the final session of the IOC, he has long been credited for his hard work in getting the games for Vancouver. His closing argument for Vancouver, steeped in a glowing love of his new land, left barely a dry eye in the house on decision day. From day one, it was basically considered his job to lose, which seemed to set Mr. Pound into a blue funk. The Montreal lawyer, who has been hanging around the Canadian Olympic movement for years, took offense to a newcomer, interloping into the bureaucratic maze that is the Canadian Olympic movement.

Furlong who quite possibly is the most respected guy in Vancouver these days, was taken aback by the blistering condemnation of his skills by the pious Mr. Pound, who trashed his reputation in a press piece in the Vancouver Sun today. Apparently not the first time he has taken his self proclaimed status as a deep thinker to heart, Pound managed to annoy not only every single COC member in BC, he also spoke out of turn as Eastern members tripped over themselves to dis-associate themselves from his rant.

Paul Henderson a member of the 2010 Olympic board and a member of the IOC, said that Pound tends to like to do this. It's just, I think, totally out of order. Henderson was the point man for the unsuccessful, Toronto bid a few years ago, and speaks as though he's had more than a few run ins with Dick.

For Furlong, the decision today was vindication for the high road taken. He never said a negative word during the whole drawn out process. He now takes on a daunting challenge, a 6 billion dollar project, watched by millions of would be CEO's, one wonders if he should not have run from the job as fast as possible. Then again, the pay ain't half bad, $300,000 a year and a 25% bonus each year if the targets are met. More than enough to withstand the slings and arrows of the likes of Mr. Pound. For Gordon Campbell, getting Furlong into the office and off the front page should come as a relief. With a relatively competent point man on the Olympic project, it should be one less thing that could go wrong for him in the near future.

Saying that it's not a job, it's a cause. Furlong appears to be off and running, as opposed to the now disregarded Dick, who should learn to keep his mouth from doing the same.