What a wonderful day to be alive. The birds were singing, the flowers were blooming, and the sun was shining with such warmth that a t-shirt wasn’t too daring to bare to the elements. A perfect day for going for a walk, playing catch, kicking a soccer ball around on the field, or just sitting in the grass.

In completely unrelated news, we’re holding the Winter Olympics here in a few days. You may have heard about it.

There are lots of things to like about Lululemon.

All Olympic volunteers are set to be outfitted in official uniforms for the 2010 Winter Games in Vancouver, but the extent to which that uniformity goes is impressive. VANOC, quickly becoming Vancouver’s second government here, has issued their “clean venue” policy, which means that any and all Olympic volunteers must ensure they are only wearing the garments of Olympic sponsors. That includes running shoes.

It wouldn’t be inaccurate to call them the fashion police, as teams of VANOC observers will have the power to censor anything that they believe infringes on the Olympic trademarks, and ensure venues are free of any commercial, political or religious advertising. In this equation it means those Nike shoes a volunteer is wearing would be a strict no-no. This will apply to 52,000 volunteers who will be processed and accredited by security.

But that isn’t the worst of it. VANOC is taking it’s exclusive deal with select corporate sponsors so seriously, that they’re threatening companies who attempt to take advantage of the Olympic Games to spur economic growth for themselves.

You remember those justifications about the Olympic Games being good for business and commerce, right? Well, as it turns out, they meant it will be good for the business and commerce of registered Olympic partners and their corporate trademarks.

VANOC has publicly rebuked Vancouver’s Lululemon for selling a special edition clothing line which celebrates a “cool sporting event” taking place in British Columbia. It doesn’t use any registered Olympic logos, which are forbidden, or even make mention of the Olympic Games at all, but that has still raised the ire of VANOC.

“We expected better sportsmanship from a local Canadian company than to produce a clothing line that attempts to profit from the Games but doesn’t support the Games or the success of the Canadian Olympic team,” stated Bill Cooper, director of commercial rights management for the Vancouver Olympic organizing committee.

Lululemon is a Vancouver-based company founded here in 1998, that has 100 stores across Canada, the U.S., Australia and Hong Kong. VANOC accuses Lululemon of harming the Olympic Games by marketing sporting apparel that would confuse customers into thinking they were sponsors of the Olympics.

In fact, local Vancouver company Lululemon lobbied to be an official sponsor for the Olympic Games, but lost out to the retail arm of American private equity firm NRDC Equity Partners who own The Hudson’s Bay Company, the official retail brand of the Games. For Lululemon’s part, they released a statement based on VANOC’s tirade:

“We will continue our support of both local and world-class athletes in our hometown of Vancouver, across Canada, and in communities around the world throughout this coming year and in the years ahead.”

VANOC’s Bill Cooper said it has no intent to sue Lululemon, but the Canadian company might have grounds to sue VANOC based on the statement that the company “doesn’t support the Games or the success of the Canadian Olympic team.” According to the Lululemon website itself, it has a long history of sponsoring Canadian athletes, and in fact has a “Lululemon House” stationed by Whistler’s athlete’s village, and has hosted 200 athlete’s and their families in the past year as they train for the Olympic Games.

From a Gary Mason article in the Globe and Mail, Whistler residents discuss the massive financial and ecological drain of hosting part of the 2010 winter Olympic Games. A highlight of the unintentional irony:

Environmentalists were angry when a sensitive wetlands habitat became the chosen site for a new bus facility that will be used to accommodate a fleet of hydrogen buses Premier Gordon Campbell promised to showcase at the Games. Even the mayor admits an Olympic deadline forced a decision on the location that wasn’t the best. Then, more trees had to come down near the town centre to build Celebration Plaza, where Olympic medals will be handed out.

Yes, because nothing says environmental sustainability like inviting several million people to come and watch a sporting event in hydrogen buses.

Read the comments, too. The rage over the imminent Olympic Games is palpable. But hey, we all know what the Olympics did to put Lillehammer, Norway, on the map, right? Er, right?