From food and pins to hockey shots and stories that keep changing
02/25/2002
Overheard conversation
The following conversation actually took place in the Main Media
Center's convenience store. The names will remain anonymous:
Checkout lady No. 1: Have you seen our new dollar coins?
Italian media woman: No. Who is that woman on them?
Checkout lady No. 1: That's Sacagawea. Do you know who she is? She led
the Indians to America.
Checkout lady No. 2: Are you sure?
Checkout lady No. 1: Yeah, I think she led them to America. From
America? To America? Something like that.
Reporter: Actually, I think she led Lewis and Clark across America.
Italian media woman: She led Superman across America?
Reporter: No, Lewis and Clark. They were explorers in the American West.
Italian media woman: Oh. Okay.
Checkout lady No. 1: Are you sure? I think she led the Indians to
America.
Checkout lady No. 2: Honey, the Indians have always been here. Nobody
had to lead them here.
Checkout lady No. 1: Hmm. Learn something new every day.
Venue snack food
The flavored hot pretzels at the Salt Lake Ice Center were to die for.
Two versions tied for the top spot – the cream-cheese-filled pretzel and
the jalapeno twister.
Best hockey shot
In a 5-0 win over Belarus in the final game of pool play, Team USA
forward (and former Star) Brett Hull came up with the most incredible
shot of the tournament. Hull fielded a rebound off the backboard and,
with his back to the net, shoveled the puck between his legs and into
the net.
"That's just stupid talent," said teammate Jeremy Roenick.
Reason to subscribe
As reporters were going through yet another security check on the final
Saturday night of the Games, a soldier with the rifle noted that one
reporter worked for The Dallas Morning News.
"You know the Big Guy in Washington gets that delivered every morning,"
the soldier said. "They fly it in, special."
"Big guy," the reporter thought. Who's that Michael Jordan? Jaromir
Jagr? Daniel Snyder?
"You mean, the Big Guy who used to own the Texas Rangers?" the reporter
finally said when the light bulb went on.
"Yeah," the soldier responded, "is there any other Big Guy?"
Jamaica redux
They once made a movie about the Jamaican bobsled team's pursuit of
Olympic glory.
Someone should consider the four-man sled of Chinese Taipei, which on
Saturday finished 10.25 seconds behind the winner.
Chinese Taipei even finished behind Monaco, driven by Prince Albert.
This despite the fact that Monaco's sled crashed during heat three and
skidded more than 100 yards, albeit across the finish line to earn an
official time.
Body and soul
As a proud sponsor of the Olympics, McDonald's pretty much has a
monopoly on the fast food you can get inside the Main Media Center.
That easy access probably isn't a good thing for journalists that have
to grab a quick bite between events. At least McDonald's also passed out
free reporter's notebooks filled with exciting McFacts.
So they got into not only our bodies but also our heads. How else would
we know that in Japan, the chain's spokesclown is named Donald McDonald
for easier pronunciation?
Outlook on controversy
Russian pairs skater Anton Sikharulidze believes the judging furor and
other controversies were a publicity gold mine for the games.
Sikharulidze and partner Yelena Berezhnaya played down the uproar over
their victory, the first in a series of events that angered Russian
Olympic officials. Though many Russians resent the decision to give a
second gold to the Canadian pair of Jamie Sale and David Pelletier,
saying it showed an anti-Russian bias, Sikharulidze doesn't agree.
"No one has asked me to cut off a piece of my well-earned medal and give
it away," he said. "Even if six more gold medals were awarded it would
not have decreased the value of my victory. Myself, I feel great."
Olympic tradition
The Olympics are full of tradition, from the "Let the Games begin"
kickoff to extinguishing the cauldron at the closing ceremony.
But there is one tradition that needs to be changed.
At an event cluttered with easy-to-set-off metal detectors, it's time to
reconsider pin trading.
Story caught on tape
On the Tuesday night she and hobbled brakeman Gea Johnson finished fifth
in women's bobsled, Jean Racine insisted she never considered
replacement options after Johnson pulled a hamstring on Saturday.
"I made a decision on Saturday and stuck with it," Racine said.
On Wednesday, gold medal-winning brakeman Vonetta Flowers revealed that
Racine had phoned her to ask if she would consider jumping from the No.
2 USA sled and driver Jill Bakken. Flowers told her that she was loyal
to Bakken.
For the record, Racine denied that she called Flowers. Of course, she
also insists that her dumping of first partner Jen Davidson nine days
before the U.S. Trials was not a betrayal of their friendship.
Job of sticking to a
story
French pairs figure skating judge Marie Reine Le Gougne told more
stories than the Brothers Grimm during her stay in Salt Lake City.
Let's see ... the woman says she was "pressured" to vote for the Russian
pair, but in various recountings, Le Gougne has said her own national
skating federation pressured her; the head of the French figure skating
federation pressured her; no one pressured her, and – the latest –
Canadians pressured her.
Conclusion: the pressure got to her, in one way or another. For some
reason, the woman felt it imperative to snag headlines.
Sales job
At the post skeleton-race news conference, women's gold medalist Tristan
Gale was trying to sell the sport, saying how accessible it is despite
its extreme image.
"I encourage everyone to try it," she said. "Normal people can do this
sport."
But Switzerland's Gregor Staehli, the men's bronze medalist, quickly cut
her off.
"Don't believe her," he said. "Look at us. Do you really think we are
normal people?"
Proof that life isn't
fair
U.S. women's No. 1-ranked bobsled driver Jean Racine reportedly earned
six figures in endorsement deals before the Olympics. She finished fifth.
U.S. women's No. 2-ranked driver Jill Bakken earned no endorsement money
but won the gold medal. Now Bakken can't even cash in on her Olympic
glory. She is a member of the Armed Forces' World Class Athlete Program
(as a U.S. Army National Guardsman) and is not permitted to earn
endorsement money.
Beret acquisition
The Salt Lake City-area prison inmates sorting glass from trash at a
recycling plant for $1 an hour didn't have expectations of getting in on
any Winter Olympics action. But then a cardboard box of those coveted
blue berets – the American Olympic Team ones being scalped for up to
$120 each – rolled across the conveyor belt.
Larry Redmond, knowing he'd struck gold, snatched them up and stuffed
them away.
"You feel like now you've been in the Olympics," said the grinning
36-year-old. "When I get out of [prison], I'll say that I was a waste
engineer, helping recycle things for the Olympics."
Redmond is not allowed to wear a beret on the job and was not supposed
to keep the souvenirs. But don't tell that to his sister, who soon will
be the lucky recipient of the hottest retail item at the Winter Games.
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