Tales from Torino, Part 6
by Laura Fawcett |
(2/19/06) - Mother Nature has struck in one big loud bellow: It is the Olympic Winter Games, and thus, there must be winter!
Voila, it's snowing out a lot. The weather here was turning kind of predictable. Chilly and sunny. Chilly and gray. So I never bothered to check the forecast. Today I'm wearing very un-snow shoes.
I'm just an hour away from the original dance. Since Thursday, the aftermath of the men's free skate has kept us pretty busy. And that doesn't mean aftermath in a bad way. Quite the contrary. Evan and Johnny have been in high demand since Thursday, with media appearance following on top of media appearance.
On Friday, despite still feeling a little queasy, Evan was up for any media he needed to do. First up was the Today Show (with a Q and A for usolympicteam.com on the car ride over). Evan must have been feeling better and better because his appetite grew throughout the day starting with the cheese, crackers and veggie hospitality in the green room at The Today Show. His agents, Lee Marshall and Shannon Fuller, joined us there for the beginning of a long day.
After Today it was back to the Palavela for Olympic Ice. MSNBC then planned to have him live at 4:08 p.m. Unfortunately I had locations messed up, and at 3:52 p.m. realized we were still 200 yards from where we needed to be. With the MSNBC producer panicking, Evan and I power-walked to the set trying to call the agents at the same time to tell them where we were headed.
MSNBC was surprised, but we made it on time for the live shoot! That was followed by NBC News interviews, then we were picked up by ABC and shuttled over to their compound to do World News Tonight and ABC Radio. Evan was getting hungrier by the minute, because we made our driver stop for gelato before going back to the International Broadcast Center.
At the IBC, Evan did the Jim Lampley Late, Late Show, the NBC web site, and NBC radio. NBC has the best green room (that's what they call the waiting area before you go on air). It had a huge high-def TV, and lots of goodies. It's the little things that make these trips worthwhile - without green rooms I wouldn't have eaten that day.
Ohno Night
Finally, I got to see Apolo Ohno, but it still didn't almost happen. Saturday was as close to a total off-day as we can get. Besides arranging a mixed zone and meeting Jamie Silverstein at an Entertainment Tonight interview, we were kind of free. Lindsay and I took a couple of hours in the morning to visit the Shroud of Turin, or at least the replica of it. The church it resides in is beautiful. Next to the church are the remains of a Roman theatre.
We were determined to see speed skating. At 5:30 p.m. we arrived at the Oval for the men's long track 1,000 meters.
We went into the media section only to notice the vast sea of orange and chanting, singing, band playing! It was the infamous Dutch speedskating crowd!
So what did we do? No cheering allowed in the media section, and we weren't working, so we went and sat in the middle of all the Dutch with our Team USA coats. All the reports you might read are true. They were immediately friendly and welcoming; they cheer for everyone, though of course their hearts are with their home country heroes. They told us about the favorites, and let us wear some of their crazy costuming. It was cool that the results were America 1 and 2, and Netherlands third. We all went away happy (I guess we were happier with two medals!)
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We chose Apolo.
Headed back to the Palavela for short track. We were kicked out of three different sections before finding a place we could sit together. As you know, we have two different kinds of credentials and it was impossible to find somewhere both of us could go.
Apolo is one classy guy. As an American, when I watch an American not get the gold, especially a world-class athlete like him, I always feel bad. But Apolo doesn't let you feel bad for him he's thrilled with the bronze. He comes out waving and jumping up and down. Here's a guy who understands his sport and that it's unpredictable you do what you can and the cards fall where they may.
O.K., the walk from the Main Media Center to the Palavela is not fun in the slushy squishy snow.
More Things I've Learned:
- Use the Italian walking shield when you are crossing the street. That is, if you don't know when to cross and there's a car blazing down on you, follow the Italian next to you and let him block.
- Taxi drivers just want an amount close to what is on the meter. No haggling over 30 cents here.
- I ordered a mocha at the McDonald's McCafe. It was served cold. Awful.
- At the fast food restaurants, the cashiers don't hand you back the change, they put it on the counter for you to take. Sometimes there's a little dish just for this purpose. Interesting custom.
- I still haven't found a burrito. But I have learned there is a Mexican restaurant somewhere.
- I'm not the only one eating at McDonald's a lot. From what I understand the athletes are eating there in the village a lot always reliable, tasty food.
- Can't get a small hamburger at McDonald's, but can get a McBacon. (Is it me, or is this blog becoming very food-oriented?)
- When you are riding high on seeing three U.S. medals handed out, the biggest buzzkill is a 45-minute taxi ride to go one mile.
- Choosing Duran Duran over Apolo the first time was a good decision always mix up your good times.
- Always sit with the Dutch.
