Postcard from London: World’s media gathers for the Games

This is one wall that greets you when entering the Olympics’ main press center, where the world’s media will gather daily to report on the Games.

The London Olympics begin with Friday night’s Opening Ceremonies, meaning 21,000 accredited media are about to go more than two weeks without sleep while communicating in some form or another with an audience of 4 billion people.

Media are asked to sign the wall. I did so with “RIP Blumer,” in honor of Bob Blum, the Las Vegas media member who died at age 91 last week. Bob was nothing but gracious to me since my arrival in Las Vegas six years ago. I also think he would have enjoyed being here, if for nothing else than to convince the European press that this whole debt crisis would have never reached such a devastating level had Blum’s close friend, Al Davis, the Oakland Raiders principal owner, been in charge of the finances before his death in 2011.

(Ed Graney is covering the Olympics in London for the Las Vegas Review-Journal. Follow him on Twitter: @edgraney. More Olympics coverage can be found at lvrj.com/olympics.)