All eyes on Bob Costas

The Olympic rings are seen in London on July 27. Photo by REUTERS/Pascal Lauener

Whether he actually goes through with his on-air moment of silence to honor the Munich 11 during tonight’s Olympics opening ceremonies, NBC broadcaster Bob Costas probably elevated the campaign to memorialize Israel’s slain athletes from the 1972 Games more than anyone else—even the president of the United States. The petition with more than 105,000 signatures that was begun by volunteers at a suburban New York JCC, which turned into a global movement involving heads of state and parliaments, was not enough to convince International Olympic Committee President Jacques Rogge that Israel’s murdered athletes are worth memorializing at an official event during the Olympic Games. But it probably gave the issue more publicity than had Rogge agreed to the moment of silence in the first place.