Yesterday may have been Major League Baseball’s official Opening Day, but here in Colorado Springs, one could also say it was Opening Day for the United States Olympic Committee (USOC) and the Scott Blackmun Team.

And if the announcements by the USOC are any indication of what is to come from Blackmun and his batting order, they had better move the outfield walls a lot farther back.

The Olympic Winter Games in Vancouver, along with the Paralympics, are just complete, and now you see the first real look at the Blackmun era and rock solid evidence of his strong message to the community at a March 25 reception that the organisation was committed to being a better neighbour and guest of our city than at any time in the 32 years since Olympic House was relocated from New York City to the shadow of Pikes Peak.

You may recall that the USOC made an important pre-Vancouver announcement that it was bringing its largest and most important annual gathering, the US Olympic Assembly, to Colorado Springs for the first time this September, and later, that it was going to spiff up and raise the profile of this big session of the Olympic family, sponsors, athletes, National Governing Bodies, International  VIPs, media and more. No more Dallas, Chicago, Phoenix, Orlando, or (oh,please!), La Jolla. It’s coming home where it belongs.

But yesterday in our burg, the USOC hit a pair of massive home runs that sent a compelling, honest and clear message to the citizens and the business community. Blackmun opened the day by revealing that he was closing the Irvine, California, office of the USOC’s international relations division, a creation of former chairman Peter Ueberroth, and bringing it back to Colorado Springs and the about-to-open new downtown offices.

This is a huge message as well to the International Olympic Committee, which, as I write, lists the USOC’s official address on its website as 19600 Fairchild Road, Suite 270, Irvine, CA 92612, not One Olympic Plaza in Colorado Springs, and has for the last five years.

Hello, Lausanne! 

The USOC opened Olympic House in Colorado Springs on August 1, 1978, and it never left. Makes me wonder what Juan Antonio Samaranch and Dr. Jacques Rogge thought they were doing when they visited us in Colorado Springs during my tenure as chief spokesman from 1978-2003.

But the grand slam came yesterday afternoon at the Hillside Community Center when Blackmun stood next to the Mayor to announce that the USOC and Colorado Springs-based National Governing Bodies (NGBs) USA Archery, USA Basketball, USA Hockey, USA Judo, USA Swimming, USA Table Tennis, USA Triathlon and US Figure Skating were coming forth with a $250,000 (£163,000) grant to benefit the City’s youth sports and recreation programmes over two years.

This simple and caring message will mean much to kids who want to take part in positive 2010-2011 sport programmes in boxing, basketball, swimming, Paralympic sport, in-line hockey, judo and vital summer camps at three community centers, each in danger of extinction because of the city’s widely-publicised budget woes.

"This announcement will fill a gap that exists and allow young people to participate in programming that enhances their childhood and makes our community stronger," said Blackmun. "The USOC and our affiliated NGBs have a special obligation to the people of Colorado Springs, and this grant is just a step along the way in demonstrating our long-term commitment to this great city."

Yesterday afternoon in our city, the USOC met the issue of its commitment to its hometown head on, as well as telling our long supportive city and its hard-working residents that its appreciates the three decades of hospitality, support, love and pride. Yes, there’s still work to be done, more of the same stuff that came out today, and it will take time to rebuild trust and confidence.

What began here in that summer of 1978 took a big step forward today, one that looks like just the first game of a long and rewarding season.

Mike Moran was the chief communications officer of the USOC for nearly 25 years before retiring in 2003. In 2002 he was awarded with the USOC's highest award, the General Douglas MacArthur Award. He worked on New York's unsuccessful bid to host the 2012 Olympics and is now director of communications for the Colorado Springs Sports Corporation.