CITIUS ALTIUS FORTIUS
Swifter, higher, stronger. The Olympic Motto.
The 20th Olympic Winter Games (NOT Winter Olympiad - only the Summer Games have the connotation "Olympiad," because they are older and are inexplicably considered more important, hence the highfalutin appellation) begin this Friday, February 10th in the Northern Alps of Italy in a small town named Torino.
Italy is no stranger to the Olympics - Cortina D'Ampezzo (where Tom Ripley was supposed to go skiing in the Talented Mr. Ripley) hosted the 1956 Winter Olympics, and was slated to be one of three potential countries to host the 1944 Winter Games (Hitler hadn't finished trying to take over Europe, though, so these games were cancelled); Rome hosted the 1960 games.
Anyone who knows me well, and/or who has happened to discuss the subject of the Olympics with me (the two categories present a great deal of overlap) knows that I am a huge fan of the Olympics, especially the Winter Games.
My earliest memory of "these games," as a fellow Olympics fan calls them, is from 1988. That year, the Olympics were held in Calgary. One night during the Games, my parents went out to dinner and a movie. It's shocking that I remember such a seemingly mundane event. They left my brother and I, ten at the time, with a neighbors' 15-17-yr old children - babysitters, essentially. We were playing video games with the babysitters on our primitive computers while the Olympics were on the television. I remember watching, although I do not recall what event was on. Eventually, it came time to go to bed (parents set a curfew :-) By that time, I remember clearly what I was watching: the famed "Battle of the Brians" - the men's figure skating "free skate," in which the top two competitors were Brian Boitano (what would he do?) of the U.S., and Brian Orser of Canada. When it came time to go to bed, these two had yet to skate; I think that all of the other competitors had. I pled with the babysitters to stay up to watch these last two skaters (simply because I kept hearing about how important and exciting a face-off it was supposed to be, thank you very much). The baby-sitters refused. I tried going to bed but couldn't. There is a ventilator on the second floor of our house, the other side of which is at the top of the den (where I was watching the Games). I wanted Boitano (because he's from the U.S.) to win. So, about twenty minutes after I "went to bed," I took off the piece of carpet covering the ventilator, and said, "Hello?" to one of the babysitters. He said, "Aren't you supposed to be asleep?" I said, "Everything's fine." I said, "Who won?" He said, "Brian." I said, "Which one?" He said, "If I tell you, will you go to sleep?" I said, "sure." He upheld his end of the deal, and I found out that "our team" had won. By "our team," by the way, I mean the United States.
Two years earlier, the International Olympic Committee decided that, beginning in 1992, the Summer and Winter Games would be held in the same year for the last time, and that henceforth, two years after, the Winter Olympics would be held, and would then be held every next four years, and that, henceforth, the Summer Games would continue to be held every four years.
My memory of the 1988 Summer Olympics isn't much. I was caught up that summer watching the Mets make their pennant run (as Mets fans know, the Mets won the NL East, only to ignominiously lose the NLCS to the Dodgers in 7 games. Two Mets fans, much more knowledgeable about Mets history than I am, insisted in 1999 that this series was only six games long. I bet them $50 each that it was 7 games wrong. The next day, I was $100 richer). I remember Ben Johnson being stripped of his Gold Medal (my earliest cognizance of the phenomenon known as "doping," have some vague memories of track and field and boxing, but that's about it.
BTW, the 1988 Calgary Theme song was dopey - it sounded like the Paul Simon-Chevy Chase video "You Can Be My Bodyguard," but the Seoul Theme by John Williams is the single best piece of Olympic music I've ever heard. I discovered it watching the 2002 Salt Lake Games and have listened to it hundreds of times since. Close to perfection.
My memories of the 1992 Summer and Winter Games are a little clearer. The 1992 Winter Games were held in Albertville, France. One day, after watching the U.S. Hockey team get crushed, I went with my brother and father to see the movie "Shining Through" to get my mind off the loss. Then when I came home I tried to get my mind off how bad the movie was. I remember buying a couple of one-liter Coke bottles with the Olympics rings and individual athletes on them while the Games were playing (I bought at least one of these bottles on the way home from the dentist while I was on my one-week mid-winter recess from school), and intended to save these bottles even if I did not win the "prize" on the inside of the cap (which I did not, of course). I rememer Kristi Yamaguchi skating to "Malaguena" (no dipthong, sorry) and winning gold; I rememer Paul Wylie's brilliant performance, skated to the tune of Henry V (Kenneth Branagh version), that captured him the silver. And who can forget Alberto Tomba, Bonnie Blair, and Dan Jansen's two ill-fated attempts at gold? It was at these games that I also first became aware that the U.S. sucks in individual luge competition. Alas, there were no curling competitions (still two Olympics away), but I rememer the terrific Opening (bubbles) and closing ceremonies, full of Gallic charm and hospitality.
The 1992 Summer Games actually were on as I entered high school. It was hard to remember, as I entered high school, anything other than entering high school, but I have some memories of these games as well. These games were held in Barcelona (pronounced Barth-e-lona by Castillianos), a drop-dead beautiful region of Spain. Spain is the home country of the former President of the IOC, Juan Antonio Samaranch, who must be addressed as "His Excellency." He was a General Franco foot-soldier way back when. Not a very nice guy, but certainly fun to watch, While everyone remembers (but would like to forget) a certain Olympian's making a mess of the pool in 1988 - one that literally could have threatened other people's lives - in 1992, another swimmer, Janet Evans, did us proud by winning several medals. I had a crush on her. I remember her appearing on a box of Frosted Flakes once the games were over. The Closing Ceremonies of these games were notable, because it was at these Ceremonies that it was announced that the next summer olympics would be held in the U.S. - in - Atlanta. 1992 was the year I finally learned to differentiate between Jackie Joyner Kersee and Flo Jo. A good games, from what I remember, but I don't remember much.
The 1994 Winter Olympics were in Lillehammer, Norway. Any serious Winter Olympics fan has to consider these games as one of the best in recent history. The Norwegians love their Winter Sports, and their love shone through during these games, which had enough intrigue, improbability and dowright fun for several Olympics.
Yes, this was the "Tonyagate" Olympics. A bitter snowstorm caused school to be cancelled the night of the ladies' short program. Nancy Kerrigan was in first place at the end of that program. Two days later, she was beaten by Oksana Baiul, who was skating with a suspicious "Olypmic-approved" painkiller. Oksana won the gold, and Nancy came in second. Tonya skated to the theme of "Jurassic Park," her skates came undone, she cried, and got another chance. At least she didn't club a judge. Pretty little Chen Lu of China (formerly Lu Chen) came in 3rd.
I was in my local Y's Teen Action Service Corps (TASC) at the time of these Games. The night before Dan Jansen was to skate in the 1000m (his last chance ever to win a medal; he was 0 for seven in four Olympic games, with two falls, two fourth place finishes, a 16th, an 8th, and a 26th) I was attending a TASC meeting. A friend and I were having a discussion about Dan. The friend said, "I hope he wins." I said, and this is a horrible confession I have to make here, "Well, it would be nice if he wins, but it would be better if he didn't skate at all and that they just let someone skate in his place because he's had his fair amount of tries." The second I made the comment, I knew it was rude and nasty, and so did my friend. He told me, "that's not how it works, and besides, what's wrong with giving him one more shot?" I said, "You're right. I shouldn't have said it."
That night, I actually prayed for Dan to win. I don't pray much. But, my prayers were answered. He did win, in what, as far as I'm concerned, is the most thrilling individual success story in Olympic history. A movie should be made about HIM. Of course, I was at school when the news of the victory broke, and was at school when the (tape-delayed) race was aired. Tape delays suck, by the way. Every Olympics has had them. Even the 1996 ATL Olympics (which are in the EST) and the 2002 Salt Lake Games.
Other great moments that year: Bonnie Blair (redux), Katya Seitzinger, Bjorn Daehle (the Winter Olympian who has won the most gold medals), Johann Olav Koss ("Koss the Boss"), Claudia Pechstein, Hermann Maier, and the fact that curling was introduced as an "experimental" game. These games were the last hurrah for Alberto Tomba and for a bunch of figure skaters who competed once the rule prohiting professionals from competing in the Olympics was lifted. Dave Letterman's mother was hilarious.
Oh, and CBS: the CBS Winter Olympic theme song (available on Kazaa; the one that opens and closes each broadcast) ROCKS! It beats the crap out of NBC's theme song. Too bad NBC didn't buy the rights. The Closing Ceremonies were unforgettable. For the first time in my life, I was seriously depressed upon the closing of an Olympics. I remember the Torch being ceremonially passed to Nagano, and, as soon as the Games were officially over, NBC aired a commercial for the Nagano games (NA-gano), and introduced the Nagano emblem - a multicolored rose petal, amidst a series of images of the town. I realized I'd be in college when those games came, but I couldn't wait.
1996 - Welcome to Atlanta! The Games are now on NBC, and John Williams is Summoning the Heroes. The U.S. Ladies' gymnastics team provides some unforgettable drama, but unfortunately, two things that go on during these games also do, but in a bad way: the downing of TWA Flight 747 (I was in my pool at the time, and saw the smoke outside; the nearest news team was set up at the nearest hotel to me, the Smithtown Sheraton), and, of course, the bombing at what is now Centennial Olympic Park. Shades of Munich, it felt like at the time. Poor Richard Jewell. I was so relieved that the casualties were minimal, and that the games went forward. I remember watching our Men's Basketball "Dream Team," our baseball team, and lots of swimming events. But I was nervous - college was coming up; this was a free summer for me, and my mind had too much time to dwell on what lay ahead.
1998 - Nagano. In early 1998, I was a a sophomore in college. I had no television in my dorm room (Actually, I did, but it got no stations, certainly not NBC). And yet, astonishingly and puzzlingly, I rememer watching the Opening Ceremonies as they aired. ("When children rule the world - tonight! When children rule the world. Terrrifically schmaltzy song.) I remember speaking to my mother about the Opening Ceremonies as they were on. I had no cell phone then. How could this be? I'd do anything to remember the facts of that day. My parents might have sent me a videotape of the Opening Ceremonies a few days after it aired, OR I might have watched it in one of our communal TV rooms. I REALLY rememer watching the Opening Ceremonies the day the games began, so maybe it was in the TV room. Part of me thinks I was home for Winter Break for these games, but Winter Break ended at the end of January, and the Games started in February. My memories of the Games, though, are so vivid. I remember watching stuff as it happened. I watched the ladies' figure skating as it happened; I talked to someone about the short program the next day. Bingo. This MUST have been done in the communal TV room and therefore the other events, including the Opening Ceremonies were too. These were the Olympics of Jim Nance, the cold bug that seemingly hit everone, the events that started late, that were rescheduled; the games of Happy Harada, Tara Lipinski, and of Bob Costas as emcee (Bob Costas is from my hometown of Commack, New York). Derek Parra and Shimizu also did well in men's speed skating and Bjorn Daehle finished his illustrious career. Oh, and there was a figure skating pairs controversy. A minor one. My parents taped a lot of the events for me, and I watched them months (some a year) later. This was a bad time in my life, but the games as always were great fun
2000: Advance Australia fair. Down to the Opera House in Sydney. This was the summer before law school. Indeed, the games were going on as law school started. By then, mercifully, I had a television, and was able to tune in to many of the events. As President Bush might say, these were the last "pre 9/11" games, and if the participants are to be believed, the most fun. Geena Davis didn't make the archery team, our basketball team wasn't a dream after all, but the U.S. still finished quite strong. Australia did well too (every country that hosts the games has some kind of home field advantage; it's amazing). I remember the lame rock/hip hop theme song for the Sydney Games, and the crappy singers at the closing ceremonies, which were otherwise a lot of fun. Embarrassing question: I'm too lazy to do research now: This was the year of Kerri Strug, right? (Please don't tell me it was 1996. I'd be embarrased or something). I am not nearly as big a Summer as a Winter fan, but this year, I watched some summer sports I'd never watched before, or only watched with a passing interest, including archery, many "athlonsa" and "cathlons," shotput, wrestling, just to name a few
2002: The Mormon Tabernacle Choir may not have had any jello shots, but I did, and these games were a blast, coming as they did in literally the middle of law school (second year, second semester). I watched just about every minute, and rememer every major event: Berehznaya and Sikhuralizdze (sp??), Sale and Pelletier skating to "Love Story," the French judge's vote being (properly) tossed, which meant the Russians had to (YES!) share the pairs title with Canada; the weak performance of the Ice Dancing Gold Medalists (also Russian, following in the footsteps of Oksana "Pasha" Gritshuk); Stefan Eberharter; the Polish Batman; Hermann Maier; Derek Parra; Casey FitzRandolph; Call of the Champions (John Williams' excellent theme song; the second-best Olympics piece of music); Sarah Hughes (Go Long Island!); Brian Shimer; Jim Shea (finally, and welcome back skeleton!); sorry Tommy Moe (you were great in '98 though), Apolo Anton Ohno (try not colliding with everyone in sight this year, please); Adam Heidt (from Hauppauge, my neighboring town; came in 4th in men's luge; as good as we've gotten); the Roots berets and apparel (I viisited a Roots store in NY - cool stuff!); a special appearance by Jim McKay; the opening and closing appearances of Mitt Romney, now governor of Massachusetts and possible 2008 Presidential candidate; curling (fun to watch, but U.S., where are you???), snowboarding, aerials (message: don't be TOOO inventive), Alicia "I've never even won a raffle before" Camplin; and the Closing Ceremonies, which were painful to watch. The games were ceremonially passed to Torino. I knew the day would come when those games would arrive, and they shall - five days from now!
Athens 2004 - "The Letdown Games" - both in comparison to 2000 and for me personally. These were the first games that were on when I was working full-time, so watching them in a meaningful way proved difficult. Nonetheless, much stands out: the First Israeli gold medalist; Paul Hamm; Michael Phelps; participation of one of the "Axis of Evil" countries; the Korean insistence on a do-over in the Paul Hamm contretemps, which caused new IOC President Jacques Rogge to (correctly) put his foot down, the U.S. Mens' swim team; a really cool Opening Ceremonies; and a swimming controversy too. Other than this and watching some events sporadically, my memories are dim. This was not a good time in my life, and those who can read between the lines of the message that constitutes this post and who know me can probably figure out why. Nevertheless, I knew that the next Olympics would bring up my spirits, and was the one I was waiting for:
2006-Torino!
http://www.nbcolympics.com
http://www.torino2006.com
Enjoy
The 20th Olympic Winter Games (NOT Winter Olympiad - only the Summer Games have the connotation "Olympiad," because they are older and are inexplicably considered more important, hence the highfalutin appellation) begin this Friday, February 10th in the Northern Alps of Italy in a small town named Torino.
Italy is no stranger to the Olympics - Cortina D'Ampezzo (where Tom Ripley was supposed to go skiing in the Talented Mr. Ripley) hosted the 1956 Winter Olympics, and was slated to be one of three potential countries to host the 1944 Winter Games (Hitler hadn't finished trying to take over Europe, though, so these games were cancelled); Rome hosted the 1960 games.
Anyone who knows me well, and/or who has happened to discuss the subject of the Olympics with me (the two categories present a great deal of overlap) knows that I am a huge fan of the Olympics, especially the Winter Games.
My earliest memory of "these games," as a fellow Olympics fan calls them, is from 1988. That year, the Olympics were held in Calgary. One night during the Games, my parents went out to dinner and a movie. It's shocking that I remember such a seemingly mundane event. They left my brother and I, ten at the time, with a neighbors' 15-17-yr old children - babysitters, essentially. We were playing video games with the babysitters on our primitive computers while the Olympics were on the television. I remember watching, although I do not recall what event was on. Eventually, it came time to go to bed (parents set a curfew :-) By that time, I remember clearly what I was watching: the famed "Battle of the Brians" - the men's figure skating "free skate," in which the top two competitors were Brian Boitano (what would he do?) of the U.S., and Brian Orser of Canada. When it came time to go to bed, these two had yet to skate; I think that all of the other competitors had. I pled with the babysitters to stay up to watch these last two skaters (simply because I kept hearing about how important and exciting a face-off it was supposed to be, thank you very much). The baby-sitters refused. I tried going to bed but couldn't. There is a ventilator on the second floor of our house, the other side of which is at the top of the den (where I was watching the Games). I wanted Boitano (because he's from the U.S.) to win. So, about twenty minutes after I "went to bed," I took off the piece of carpet covering the ventilator, and said, "Hello?" to one of the babysitters. He said, "Aren't you supposed to be asleep?" I said, "Everything's fine." I said, "Who won?" He said, "Brian." I said, "Which one?" He said, "If I tell you, will you go to sleep?" I said, "sure." He upheld his end of the deal, and I found out that "our team" had won. By "our team," by the way, I mean the United States.
Two years earlier, the International Olympic Committee decided that, beginning in 1992, the Summer and Winter Games would be held in the same year for the last time, and that henceforth, two years after, the Winter Olympics would be held, and would then be held every next four years, and that, henceforth, the Summer Games would continue to be held every four years.
My memory of the 1988 Summer Olympics isn't much. I was caught up that summer watching the Mets make their pennant run (as Mets fans know, the Mets won the NL East, only to ignominiously lose the NLCS to the Dodgers in 7 games. Two Mets fans, much more knowledgeable about Mets history than I am, insisted in 1999 that this series was only six games long. I bet them $50 each that it was 7 games wrong. The next day, I was $100 richer). I remember Ben Johnson being stripped of his Gold Medal (my earliest cognizance of the phenomenon known as "doping," have some vague memories of track and field and boxing, but that's about it.
BTW, the 1988 Calgary Theme song was dopey - it sounded like the Paul Simon-Chevy Chase video "You Can Be My Bodyguard," but the Seoul Theme by John Williams is the single best piece of Olympic music I've ever heard. I discovered it watching the 2002 Salt Lake Games and have listened to it hundreds of times since. Close to perfection.
My memories of the 1992 Summer and Winter Games are a little clearer. The 1992 Winter Games were held in Albertville, France. One day, after watching the U.S. Hockey team get crushed, I went with my brother and father to see the movie "Shining Through" to get my mind off the loss. Then when I came home I tried to get my mind off how bad the movie was. I remember buying a couple of one-liter Coke bottles with the Olympics rings and individual athletes on them while the Games were playing (I bought at least one of these bottles on the way home from the dentist while I was on my one-week mid-winter recess from school), and intended to save these bottles even if I did not win the "prize" on the inside of the cap (which I did not, of course). I rememer Kristi Yamaguchi skating to "Malaguena" (no dipthong, sorry) and winning gold; I rememer Paul Wylie's brilliant performance, skated to the tune of Henry V (Kenneth Branagh version), that captured him the silver. And who can forget Alberto Tomba, Bonnie Blair, and Dan Jansen's two ill-fated attempts at gold? It was at these games that I also first became aware that the U.S. sucks in individual luge competition. Alas, there were no curling competitions (still two Olympics away), but I rememer the terrific Opening (bubbles) and closing ceremonies, full of Gallic charm and hospitality.
The 1992 Summer Games actually were on as I entered high school. It was hard to remember, as I entered high school, anything other than entering high school, but I have some memories of these games as well. These games were held in Barcelona (pronounced Barth-e-lona by Castillianos), a drop-dead beautiful region of Spain. Spain is the home country of the former President of the IOC, Juan Antonio Samaranch, who must be addressed as "His Excellency." He was a General Franco foot-soldier way back when. Not a very nice guy, but certainly fun to watch, While everyone remembers (but would like to forget) a certain Olympian's making a mess of the pool in 1988 - one that literally could have threatened other people's lives - in 1992, another swimmer, Janet Evans, did us proud by winning several medals. I had a crush on her. I remember her appearing on a box of Frosted Flakes once the games were over. The Closing Ceremonies of these games were notable, because it was at these Ceremonies that it was announced that the next summer olympics would be held in the U.S. - in - Atlanta. 1992 was the year I finally learned to differentiate between Jackie Joyner Kersee and Flo Jo. A good games, from what I remember, but I don't remember much.
The 1994 Winter Olympics were in Lillehammer, Norway. Any serious Winter Olympics fan has to consider these games as one of the best in recent history. The Norwegians love their Winter Sports, and their love shone through during these games, which had enough intrigue, improbability and dowright fun for several Olympics.
Yes, this was the "Tonyagate" Olympics. A bitter snowstorm caused school to be cancelled the night of the ladies' short program. Nancy Kerrigan was in first place at the end of that program. Two days later, she was beaten by Oksana Baiul, who was skating with a suspicious "Olypmic-approved" painkiller. Oksana won the gold, and Nancy came in second. Tonya skated to the theme of "Jurassic Park," her skates came undone, she cried, and got another chance. At least she didn't club a judge. Pretty little Chen Lu of China (formerly Lu Chen) came in 3rd.
I was in my local Y's Teen Action Service Corps (TASC) at the time of these Games. The night before Dan Jansen was to skate in the 1000m (his last chance ever to win a medal; he was 0 for seven in four Olympic games, with two falls, two fourth place finishes, a 16th, an 8th, and a 26th) I was attending a TASC meeting. A friend and I were having a discussion about Dan. The friend said, "I hope he wins." I said, and this is a horrible confession I have to make here, "Well, it would be nice if he wins, but it would be better if he didn't skate at all and that they just let someone skate in his place because he's had his fair amount of tries." The second I made the comment, I knew it was rude and nasty, and so did my friend. He told me, "that's not how it works, and besides, what's wrong with giving him one more shot?" I said, "You're right. I shouldn't have said it."
That night, I actually prayed for Dan to win. I don't pray much. But, my prayers were answered. He did win, in what, as far as I'm concerned, is the most thrilling individual success story in Olympic history. A movie should be made about HIM. Of course, I was at school when the news of the victory broke, and was at school when the (tape-delayed) race was aired. Tape delays suck, by the way. Every Olympics has had them. Even the 1996 ATL Olympics (which are in the EST) and the 2002 Salt Lake Games.
Other great moments that year: Bonnie Blair (redux), Katya Seitzinger, Bjorn Daehle (the Winter Olympian who has won the most gold medals), Johann Olav Koss ("Koss the Boss"), Claudia Pechstein, Hermann Maier, and the fact that curling was introduced as an "experimental" game. These games were the last hurrah for Alberto Tomba and for a bunch of figure skaters who competed once the rule prohiting professionals from competing in the Olympics was lifted. Dave Letterman's mother was hilarious.
Oh, and CBS: the CBS Winter Olympic theme song (available on Kazaa; the one that opens and closes each broadcast) ROCKS! It beats the crap out of NBC's theme song. Too bad NBC didn't buy the rights. The Closing Ceremonies were unforgettable. For the first time in my life, I was seriously depressed upon the closing of an Olympics. I remember the Torch being ceremonially passed to Nagano, and, as soon as the Games were officially over, NBC aired a commercial for the Nagano games (NA-gano), and introduced the Nagano emblem - a multicolored rose petal, amidst a series of images of the town. I realized I'd be in college when those games came, but I couldn't wait.
1996 - Welcome to Atlanta! The Games are now on NBC, and John Williams is Summoning the Heroes. The U.S. Ladies' gymnastics team provides some unforgettable drama, but unfortunately, two things that go on during these games also do, but in a bad way: the downing of TWA Flight 747 (I was in my pool at the time, and saw the smoke outside; the nearest news team was set up at the nearest hotel to me, the Smithtown Sheraton), and, of course, the bombing at what is now Centennial Olympic Park. Shades of Munich, it felt like at the time. Poor Richard Jewell. I was so relieved that the casualties were minimal, and that the games went forward. I remember watching our Men's Basketball "Dream Team," our baseball team, and lots of swimming events. But I was nervous - college was coming up; this was a free summer for me, and my mind had too much time to dwell on what lay ahead.
1998 - Nagano. In early 1998, I was a a sophomore in college. I had no television in my dorm room (Actually, I did, but it got no stations, certainly not NBC). And yet, astonishingly and puzzlingly, I rememer watching the Opening Ceremonies as they aired. ("When children rule the world - tonight! When children rule the world. Terrrifically schmaltzy song.) I remember speaking to my mother about the Opening Ceremonies as they were on. I had no cell phone then. How could this be? I'd do anything to remember the facts of that day. My parents might have sent me a videotape of the Opening Ceremonies a few days after it aired, OR I might have watched it in one of our communal TV rooms. I REALLY rememer watching the Opening Ceremonies the day the games began, so maybe it was in the TV room. Part of me thinks I was home for Winter Break for these games, but Winter Break ended at the end of January, and the Games started in February. My memories of the Games, though, are so vivid. I remember watching stuff as it happened. I watched the ladies' figure skating as it happened; I talked to someone about the short program the next day. Bingo. This MUST have been done in the communal TV room and therefore the other events, including the Opening Ceremonies were too. These were the Olympics of Jim Nance, the cold bug that seemingly hit everone, the events that started late, that were rescheduled; the games of Happy Harada, Tara Lipinski, and of Bob Costas as emcee (Bob Costas is from my hometown of Commack, New York). Derek Parra and Shimizu also did well in men's speed skating and Bjorn Daehle finished his illustrious career. Oh, and there was a figure skating pairs controversy. A minor one. My parents taped a lot of the events for me, and I watched them months (some a year) later. This was a bad time in my life, but the games as always were great fun
2000: Advance Australia fair. Down to the Opera House in Sydney. This was the summer before law school. Indeed, the games were going on as law school started. By then, mercifully, I had a television, and was able to tune in to many of the events. As President Bush might say, these were the last "pre 9/11" games, and if the participants are to be believed, the most fun. Geena Davis didn't make the archery team, our basketball team wasn't a dream after all, but the U.S. still finished quite strong. Australia did well too (every country that hosts the games has some kind of home field advantage; it's amazing). I remember the lame rock/hip hop theme song for the Sydney Games, and the crappy singers at the closing ceremonies, which were otherwise a lot of fun. Embarrassing question: I'm too lazy to do research now: This was the year of Kerri Strug, right? (Please don't tell me it was 1996. I'd be embarrased or something). I am not nearly as big a Summer as a Winter fan, but this year, I watched some summer sports I'd never watched before, or only watched with a passing interest, including archery, many "athlonsa" and "cathlons," shotput, wrestling, just to name a few
2002: The Mormon Tabernacle Choir may not have had any jello shots, but I did, and these games were a blast, coming as they did in literally the middle of law school (second year, second semester). I watched just about every minute, and rememer every major event: Berehznaya and Sikhuralizdze (sp??), Sale and Pelletier skating to "Love Story," the French judge's vote being (properly) tossed, which meant the Russians had to (YES!) share the pairs title with Canada; the weak performance of the Ice Dancing Gold Medalists (also Russian, following in the footsteps of Oksana "Pasha" Gritshuk); Stefan Eberharter; the Polish Batman; Hermann Maier; Derek Parra; Casey FitzRandolph; Call of the Champions (John Williams' excellent theme song; the second-best Olympics piece of music); Sarah Hughes (Go Long Island!); Brian Shimer; Jim Shea (finally, and welcome back skeleton!); sorry Tommy Moe (you were great in '98 though), Apolo Anton Ohno (try not colliding with everyone in sight this year, please); Adam Heidt (from Hauppauge, my neighboring town; came in 4th in men's luge; as good as we've gotten); the Roots berets and apparel (I viisited a Roots store in NY - cool stuff!); a special appearance by Jim McKay; the opening and closing appearances of Mitt Romney, now governor of Massachusetts and possible 2008 Presidential candidate; curling (fun to watch, but U.S., where are you???), snowboarding, aerials (message: don't be TOOO inventive), Alicia "I've never even won a raffle before" Camplin; and the Closing Ceremonies, which were painful to watch. The games were ceremonially passed to Torino. I knew the day would come when those games would arrive, and they shall - five days from now!
Athens 2004 - "The Letdown Games" - both in comparison to 2000 and for me personally. These were the first games that were on when I was working full-time, so watching them in a meaningful way proved difficult. Nonetheless, much stands out: the First Israeli gold medalist; Paul Hamm; Michael Phelps; participation of one of the "Axis of Evil" countries; the Korean insistence on a do-over in the Paul Hamm contretemps, which caused new IOC President Jacques Rogge to (correctly) put his foot down, the U.S. Mens' swim team; a really cool Opening Ceremonies; and a swimming controversy too. Other than this and watching some events sporadically, my memories are dim. This was not a good time in my life, and those who can read between the lines of the message that constitutes this post and who know me can probably figure out why. Nevertheless, I knew that the next Olympics would bring up my spirits, and was the one I was waiting for:
2006-Torino!
http://www.nbcolympics.com
http://www.torino2006.com
Enjoy
posted by EnterCenter at 8:44 PM
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