Alan Abrahamson has the background at Universal Sports. USOC board chairman Larry Probst — whose own status may be endangered — talks about a dramatic change in thinking and engagement with the rest of the Olympic world.

It’s astonishing it’s gotten that bad.

I’m not sure whether this is audacity or chutzpah. Or some of both.

But it can’t hold a candle to CONCACAF czar Jack Warner’s calls for a global soccer salary cap.

I wonder how hard Florentino Perez was laughing.

“Incredibly, Schwarz never tells us that this was a telephone survey of former players. No players were examined. None was given a formal diagnosis. There was no control group. If not for Aiello’s quote, we’d never know this was a survey, not a scientific study.

“Schwarz also failed to talk to the authors of the study.

“He did quote several experts who said the report is important. And he noted that the findings are consistent with previous research done at the University of North Carolina. That’s helpful, but not a substitute for more carefully reporting what was done in this study.

“He also said that the findings ‘could ring loud at the youth and college levels.’ If that’s true, it will be because the Times put this on the front page, not because the findings are conclusive enough to demand an immediate overhaul of youth football programs.”

Even Schwarz’s follow-up story left some holes:

“With this story, the Times continues to over-state the importance of the findings. Schwarz has still not spoken to the authors of the study to get their interpretation of it.”

But here’s a sobering thought:

Two years after playing host to the World Cup, Brazil will get the Summer Olympics — a tall order for any nation. And there are plenty of legitimate organizing concerns about the former.

A good instant analysis from Tripp Mickle at SBJ:

“Rio expects to generate $2.8 billion in revenue, which includes $570 million in domestic sponsorships. The sponsorship figure is half as much as Chicago expected to generate. Chicago’s bid team expected the Olympics to generate $3.8 billion in domestic revenue, including $1.2 billion in sponsorships. All of the sponsorship revenue offered an opportunity for sales and consulting agencies to provide corporate partners with sponsorship analysis and activation planning. But those opportunities will never come to fruition. As a developing country, Rio still represents an intriguing sponsorship opportunity for global corporations.”

The International Olympic Committee has narrowed the choices down to Rio and Madrid.

The Obama charm offensive made no difference at all.

Ann Killion’s got a tough-minded assessment that hurts badly, and since it’s my hometown. But it’s very, very true:

“Then there’s the harsh reality of the past two Olympic Games held in the U.S. – they were both total embarrassments.  Right now on CNN, A.D. Frazier – the former COO of the Atlanta Games – is speaking and he seems quite shocked at the rejection of Chicago. But he should probably take some of the blame.

“The Atlanta Games were a disaster of crash commercialism, poor organization, with a bombing and murder added to the mix. The sour taste from Atlanta lingers, 13 years after the Games were held.”

Not surprisingly, Dave Zirin attributes the distaste to the 43rd Commander-In-Chief:

“The global community, after eight years of sneering contempt from Washington DC, isn’t ready to rinse with the Obama mouthwash.”

The rest of his post is just as execrable.

“During ESPN’s Old Spice High School Showcase Presented By Nike, the commodities will be offered up on national television, along with after-shave and athletic apparel.”

“I swim against the contemporary tide on another issue as well. I believe the game story is the heart of sports journalism. The games are the beginnings of all our reporting on personalities, controversies, issues. We cared about Michael Jordan not because he was tall, good-looking, and charming, but because he could play a game better than anyone else ever had. To ignore the games is to tell stories with no foundation. Worse, newspapers and websites that give short shrift to game stories have surrendered to other media in the battle for public attention.”

“There are some referees who are already worried about mortgage payments and others who have already moved their kids from private to public schools.”

Another source tells Wilbon:

“You’ve got different owners than you had in 1995. You’ve got harsher economic times. You can’t sell sympathy for people making between $90,000 and $300,000-some dollars when some season ticket holders have lost their jobs. They’re in a helluva predicament. Owners wanted to fire 10 [referees] already. . . . There’s a segment of owners and some league executives who are quite willing to let this happen.”

“In July 2002, shortly after the Red Sox slugger died at age 83, technicians with no medical certification gleefully photographed and used crude equipment to decapitate the majors’ last .400 hitter.

“Williams’ severed head was then frozen, and even used for batting practice by a technician trying to dislodge it from a tuna fish can.”