Stephen Colbert Will Sponsor US Speedskating at Vancouver Olympics

Stephen Colbert, mock right-wing talk show host, loves America. He loves it so much that he's throwing his name behind the until recently sponsorless US Olympic Speedskating team. U-S-A! U-S-A! U-S-A! US Speedskating's previous sponsor, Dutch DSB Bank NV, went bankrupt in October and left the team without a major sponsor with the Olympics closing in. Fortunately, Stephen stepped up and signed a rather unique deal with the team. The show isn't paying the team any money directly. Instead, Colbert is calling on his fans to donate to the team via http://www.colbertnation.com and http://www.usspeedskating.org/.

This means the main sponsor will be emblazoned on the team uniforms as "Colbert Nation", no just The Report or Stephen Colbert himself. The games begin in February, which means that the Nation will have to step up and raise at least the $300,000 that DSB Bank would have donated. "We're highly optimistic that the country is going to get behind this and get behind the Colbert Nation and support this amazing team," U.S. Speedskating executive director Robert Crowley said. "I don't have any idea if it's going to make $5 or $500,000."

"On their enormous, billboard thighs, it will say, 'Colbert Nation,'" Colbert said in an interview before Monday evening's taping. "Be looking for that logo as it comes around the final turn. It will be easy to see because it will be in first place." Apparently the speedskaters themselves are embracing the new sponsor as Apolo Anton Ohno said that he loves Comedy Central and the Report. Ohno said he's even do a sketch with Colbert if asked and said he was excited to see how creatives the Colbert Report gets in its promotion of US Speedskating.

Colbert is also considering taking his show on the road to broadcast from Vancouver during the games now that he has a vested interest. Stephen did mention the drawbacks that he is facing as the sponsor of the team: "It still tragically involves a lot of Canadians," the comedian said. "It's kind of unseemly how many Canadians I'm going to have to be dealing with." The name "Colbert Nation" will be emblazoned on the team's uniforms and I'm sure we'll see a lot of them on the Colbert Report in the weeks to come!