Shown below is the single most important possession I'll have over the next three weeks: My Olympic credential.
Officially, it's known as the OIAC: Olympic Identity and Accreditation Card. It serves as my visa to enter China -- which in itself makes it just about priceless -- as well as my pass to enter the media village, media center and all sporting events (with restrictions; more on that momentarily).
This one is about 4 1-2 inches wide and 7 inches tall, which is roughly the same size as the OIACs from my other four Olympics, as you can see in the second photo below.
This one is different because it's yellow instead of white, and in a little bit of a change from past procedure, it's already been laminated. Historically, we arrive with a cardboard or plastic credential; a hologram sticker to avoid counterfeiting is added, and then it's laminated. This one already has a hologram, too; it's over the headshot, which is why it looks a little hazy in the photograph.
You'll notice it doesn't yet have a lanyard, the around-the-neck thing that you can see a bit of on the other credentials. That's also something we get when we arrive, and it is usually colorful and quite complex -- one more piece of the anti-counterfeiting effort, I suspect.

About the only time I won't be wearing this is when I'm sleeping or showering. Other than that, it's omnipresent. It's my admission ticket to the media-only transport system, allows me free passage on all public transportation within Beijing and, for all I know, will allow the authorities to track me at all times. (Not that any of us are paranoid about the way things work in China, mind you.)
And, of course, it gets me into events. A handful of credentials are specific to a single sport -- if you're from a cycling magazine, you might get one that only lets you into cycling -- but the little infinity sign (the sideways 8) makes this an all-event pass.
That still doesn't get anyone into anything, though. For high-demand events -- the opening and closing ceremonies, for example, men's basketball between U.S. and China (I'd guess) or anything where the number of journalists might exceed the capacity of the press area -- there's an elaborate ticketing procedure. In our case, the USOC gets a set number of tickets and distributes them to the U.S. media, based on a formula including size of the publication, regularity in covering non-Olympic events (this is one reason it was important for Scripps-Howard to have representative at the track and swim trials) and the involvement of hometown athletes. Our Scripps-Howard team will likely get one ticket for those, at best. (In Turin, I was on the standby list for the men's hockey final, but finally ended up getting a ticket.)
Anyway, that's the OIAC. It is -- just about literally this time around, given the color -- the golden ticket.

As is often the case, there were some good things that just didn't fit Wednesday's column on George Contreras and his experiences coaching American football in Italy. So I'll pass them along here:

Contreras, in saying that any graduating college player should consider playing in Europe -- "An American player who's a decent college player is going to be an impact player in Italy," he said -- noted that there are certainly plenty of opportunities. There are 59 teams in Italy -- although many are allowed just one import, instead of the three on Contreras' Catania team and the other top-division squads -- and leagues all over Europe.
Not every experience is equal, of course. While Catania went out of its way to make things enjoyable for the Americans, not all teams are as hospitable -- and that's for anyone, not just the imports. While Catania flew to most of its games, one opponent came to play Catania via a 16-hour train trip, arriving two hours before the game and leaving immediately afterward for an overnight 16-hour trip home. Apparently, Contreras said, the owner was upset with the team.
Beyond that, though, there are other things to consider.
"Guys have to figure out what they want to do," he said. Catania is noted for its nightlife, while players in some of the colder cities in Northern Italy said there wasn't much going on in the evenings. "They need to recognize those types of dynamics." Before joining Catania, he also talked with a team in France, which offered less money to live in a more expensive area.
And while the money isn't huge -- in Catania, it was a thousand Euros a month -- that goes a long way when housing and a rental car are part of the deal.
Oh, and with the current exchange rate, Contreras has one other tip: "If you're going, be sure to sign your contract in Euros."

Jason Johnson, the Catania quarterback who, like Contreras, had a very entertaining blog about his time in Italy (Johnson's is called "Really Playing for Pizza") contends that Contreras has actually agreed to go back to Italy "because of Linda."
This might be news to Contreras' wife Laurie -- who will join Contreras next season -- so Johnson quickly offers an explanation.
"Any beach you go to in Sicily," he says, "there are Chinese women offering massages. They'll come up and go, 'Massagee? Massagee?'
"At this one beach, there's this one lady, the very first woman who ever came up to him, and her name is Linda. They had this long conversation, and he would seek her out every day. ... Other than cannoli, it might have been his favorite thing on Sicily, Linda and her five-dollar massages."
Contreras' blog, Coaching for Pizza, had some truly outstanding photographs, and Johnson was also quite happy to explain how Contreras managed some of these slice-of-life photos with a modest point-and-click camera.
It seems Johnson's wife Christie was, as he put it, "George's decoy.
"Seventy-five percent of the photos ... just off screen to the left would be Christie fake-posing in front of anything George actually wanted to get. It was George's way to document Europe without Europe knowing. So he would have Christy posing in front of semi-nude bathers or two old grandmas sharing a meal together. ...
"My secret (Johnson also had some spectacular photos on his blog) was that I had a longer lens, so I could be across the street and capture a moment. But George would basically have to be right up next to someone."
Johnson -- who served as offensive coordinator while Contreras was defensive coordinator -- also recalled that, with Catania having no practice jerseys, assessing practices could be a bit tough in the early days.
"For the first month, before we knew guys' names," he said, "we could only refer to them as what jersey they were wearing in practice. So we would come off and say, 'Oh my gosh, did you see the move Ricky Williams put on Deion Sanders out there?' Or 'Did you see neon orange today? He was really good.' "

Since he's going back next season, Contreras left one suitcase full of belongings in Catania. At least, he thinks he did. In looking at Johnson's blog -- which features a number of entries on the quarterback and his wife sheparding home a ridiculous amount of luggage -- he notes that the red-and-blue suitcase he left behind is front and center in a number of pictures.
"I guess he just liberated it," said Contreras.
But the contents were left behind?
"I don't know," he said. "I've been calling Jason to find out, but he hasn't answered me yet."