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Stephen Colbert Raises Money for NBC Sports $200M Olympic Debt

Jan 21, 2010, 6:40 PM UTC

â†µStephen Colbert has been a huge advocate this year for the Winter Olympics. His show is the official sponsor of the U.S. Speedskating team and in a recurring bit over the last few months Colbert has tried to qualify for the U.S. Olympic team in a variety of different events. From luge to curling, Colbert has been trying in every way possible to make the Olympic team, in hilarious fashion. â†µ

â†µâ†µOn last night’s Colbert Report, the host had his dream fulfilled, as he finally made an Olympic squad. Faced with racing Shani Davis for the final spot on the U.S. Speedskating roster (note: he lost), Colbert was named the assistant sports psychologist to the U.S. Speedskating team. It actually sounds pretty legit, as Colbert will be on location in Vancouver and, presumably, embedded with the team his show sponsors. It’s really quite awesome. â†µ

â†µâ†µAwesome too, was Colbert’s shot at NBC. With his guest for the show NBC Sports executive Dick Ebersol, Colbert pledged to raise money for another “charity” in NBC. â†µ

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â†µColbert set the donation threshold at $200 million and was “confident” that if they reached their goal, Bob Costas would do interviews with the Colbert Nation logo on his forehead, or if more was raised, somewhere else on his body. Ah, Photoshop.â†µ

â†µ There's also the clip of the interview where Ebersol invited the host to be part of the NBC team for the Olympics, handing him a sweater-vest to seal the deal. Colbert shot back, asking Ebersol if he had a title in mind for his new position with NBC, suggesting, "I kind of like 'host of the Tonight Show,'" before asking him when that situation will finally be resolved. â†µ

â†µâ†µEbersol, who has taken nearly as much heat as Jeff Zucker in the last few weeks over the late-night embarrassment at NBC, didn’t seem too comfortable with that line of questioning and tried awkwardly to deflect from providing any real answer. But nothing could top Colbert telling Ebersol the “phone banks have been lighting up” before presenting him with a giant check for ... $1.89.â†µ

â†µâ†µOf course, Ebersol took the opportunity to flirt with the woman presenting the check while they all had a nice big laugh. As the saying goes, it’s all fun and games…until everyone loses their jobs. â†µ

â†µâ†µOnly $199,999,998.11 to go, NBC!â†µ

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This post originally appeared on the Sporting Blog. For more, see The Sporting Blog Archives.

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