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February
8-17 , 2002: 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City, UT
A
Gold Medal Vacation
Part
1 • Part 2 • Part 3: Ringing It
Out
After
six straight days of events, we were positively spent. Physically exhausted from
our early wakeups and our regimented schedule, mentally weary from the security
checks and from living out of port-a-potties and concessions lines while wearing
ski outfits, having to glance at our ticket lanyards to remember what day it was.
We needed a vacation from our vacation; it was time to go home.
But
even as we returned to New York, we retained some sense of our Olympic immersion.
We tuned into the Games nearly every night, still clutching at the narrative threads
of the bigger stories, anticipating each big event and rooting for our favorite
athletes. Moreso than for millions of other viewers, these had become OUR Olympics;
we had been there and conquered them, and we had the souvenirs, if not the medals
themselves, to prove it.
At
the outset of these Games, Salt Lake City was seen largely as a bland and boring
setting compared to the quaint alpine villages which hosted past Winter Olympics.
But whether it was magic in the snow or mayhem on the ice or mischief behind the
scenes, the events in Salt Lake proved anything but boring. The city, with the
help of the Olympic organizers, succeeded in transcending the controversy of its
selection, rising to the challenge of hosting the Games by transforming its image,
even if only temporarily.
From
the brilliantly-lit Olympic rings on a hill overlooking the city to the oversized
murals blanketing the downtown buildings, bathed in an icy glow, from the futuristic
Medals Plaza to the intimate arenas which served as ad-hoc hillside villages for
two weeks, Salt Lake succeeded in evoking an aura of Olympic grandeur. Contrary
to the commercial-saturated television coverage, the venues were virtually advertising-free,
covered only by Olympic logos and colorful national flags (corporate-branded outerwear
seemed to be the main vehicle for promoting one's company).
To
experience all of this firsthand was to marvel at the way the pieces came together
in a sum greater than their parts. The logistical ordeals each of us as spectator
endured — the buses, the security, the port-a-potties, the concessions —
bonded us together as we watched these events unfold for all the world to see.
Extrapolating
back to my baseball experiences, I'd place the combination of intensity, excitement,
sense of history, and degree of difficulty in the events we attended as on par
with attending nine postseason games in Yankee Stadium in six days under last
fall's heightened security conditions.
In
the end, my "Experience of a Lifetime" — having the Winter Olympics come
to my humble hometown — lived up to the billing. And Salt Lake City, for
perhaps the first time in its history, proved The Cool Place To Be. The next time
somebody asks me where I'm from, I'll remember that.
Final
Score: 6 hot dogs, 4 cheeseburgers, 3 BBQ beef sandwiches, 2 burritos,
4 cinnamon buns, two dozen snack-sized bags of Oreos, Nutter Butters, Fig Newtons,
Chips Ahoy, and Rolled Gold Pretzels, one dozen granola bars, 1 bag of Bugles,
countless sodas, bottles of water, cups of coffee, and juice boxes. 8 rolls of
film, 3 digital video tapes, 4 souvenir programs, 3 daily programs, 5 magnets,
4 ticket lanyards (compliments of Mrs. Jaffe), 4 pins, 4 pair socks, 2 cowbells,
2 thermoses, 2 posters, 2 scarves, 2 toy snowboards, 3 long sleeve t-shirts, 2
short sleeve t-shirts, 2 glow sticks, 1 large Austrian flag, 1 dinky French flag,
1 mug, 1 headband, 1 cap, 1 boxer shorts, 1 souvenir pen, 1 pair ear bags, 1 inflatable
pool disc, 1 wool hat, 1 Mormon wife (reported), 1 Roots Team Canada shaving kit,
0 Roots USA berets, 0 American medals, and a great time had by all.
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