At times both a friend and foe of the United States Olympic team, Stephen Colbert will be traveling to Vancouver as a part of NBC’s coverage of the Olympics. This is excellent news. The LA Times reports that Colbert will serve as ombudsman for the speedskating arena, and the speedskating team has named him their team psychologist. What this means, I don’t know. But it’s sure to be funny.

While in Vancouver, Colbert will be recording tons of material for when “The Colbert Report” returns to the air later this month. He’ll also be joining Bob Costas to do commentary at the Games. According to Colbert, his mission for his trip to Vancouver is to find out “What is Canada? Or more importantly, why is Canada?” Good questions.

After a major speedskating sponsor went bankrupt, Colbert and his legion of fans stepped in to save the team. That paved the way for Colbert’s association with Team USA, but it hasn’t all been jokes and bobsleds. In December, speedskater Shani Davis seemed to take offense at Colbert’s ribbing of Canadians, even calling Colbert “a jerk.” Canadians have been upset by being repeatedly referred to as “syrup-suckers” and “Saskatche-whiners.” Ironically, that’s exactly the kind of thing Colbert is talking about.

However, Colbert says he’s not there to cause any problems. According to the comedian, “I’m there to celebrate Canada at this point.” Whatever the reasons, we’re just glad he’ll be there.