Cheers and Jeers for the Olympics

Author: Peter Yordan

Like some far-traveling and exotic relative, the Olympics have blown in and out of our collective sporting lives over the past few weeks. The Olympics have always occupied a unique and prestigious place in the pantheon of sport. Every four years they bring together the nations of the world for a whirlwind of pageantry and athletic spectacle. Few triumphs are as definitive as a gold medal, and few failures are as bitter as a fall after four years of preparation. The Winter Olympics have always held a special place in my heart. My first Olympic memories are of the games in Albertville in 1992. I remember being inspired to fashion a luge out of a sled and a pair of hockey sticks. My design didn't survive the first test run, but I was hooked on the kooky sports and low-key atmosphere of the Winter Games for good.

Flash forward 10 years to Salt Lake City. It was with barely restrained glee that I set out my TV schedule to maximize my Olympic intake. I was more than willing to put up with Bob Costas' heavy make-up and relentless posturing in order to see all of my old friends like biathlon and short track speed skating again. And the Olympics really did provide two full weeks of compelling entertainment, drama and acrimony. If you are patriotically inclined, the USA came away with a record total of 34 medals, which is well over twice as many as their previous best medal count. There were plenty of dark moments as well, beginning, of course, with the bidding scandal which almost sunk these games two years ago, and ending with judging scandals and doping charges which threatened at times to consume the games. To everyone's relief, however, there were no terrorist threats against the Olympics, leaving people free to revel in the accomplishments of their athletes of choice.

Here are my personal highlights and lowlights — my cheers and jeers — from the 2002 Winter games.

Cheers to President Bush for bravely taking part in the opening ceremony and standing amongst the American athletes. Jeers to lighting the fire within, the lamest slogan ever. Cheers to Willy Nelson for his singing in the closing ceremony, and jeers to those ridiculous talking dinosaurs also in the closing ceremony.

Cheers to Bode Miller, whose hard-charging skiing style is inspiring, even if it probably cost him a third medal in slalom. Cheers also to Janica Kostelic of Croatia, who became the first alpine skier ever to win four medals in one games. I got a kick out of how she couldn't help grinning every time she nailed a turn on her final Giant Slalom run.

Cheers to 5'4" speedskater Derek Parra, who reminded everyone that you don't have to be some six foot Nordic wonder to win a gold medal. Cheers also to Stephen Bradbury of Australia, who won a gold medal in short track speed skating when everyone ahead of him fell in the last turn. Jeers to the American crowd, who booed the winner when Apolo Anton Ohno was beaten in a race — real classy.

Cheers to Michelle Kwan, who was dignified and graceful in defeat. Jeers to Sarah Hughes, whose peppy, grating personality reminds me a lot of Scott Hamilton. Cheers also to Sasha Cohen, whose long program rendition of Carmen was one of the more original and dramatic performances we've seen in a while. Cheers to Jamie Salé, who had the cutest, um…accent, in the Olympics. Jeers to ice dancing, which is the most unwatchable sport in all of the Olympics.

Cheers to curling, which is a sport I will never, ever make fun of again. The lunch hour telecasts in Hamlin got me hooked. Anyone else want to start a curling club at Middlebury? Jeers to freestyle skiing and aerial skiing, which are getting old just as fast as they are running out of new tricks.

Cheers to the hockey tournament. I could have written an entire piece on hockey alone. The games were great, heart-stopping entertainment, proof of why everyone pushed so hard to get NHL stars to play in the Olympics. Imagine if Shaq and the rest of the Dream Team had to play five other equally good dream teams in basketball, and you'll get a fair idea why this whole tournament was so great. Jeers to the U.S. biased refereeing in the women's hockey final, which would have resulted in another embarrassing judging scandal if Canada hadn't won.

Cheers to the CBC, for its consistently excellent Olympic coverage that shames the American networks. Jeers to Don Cherry, who throughout the hockey tournament proved himself to be both a sore loser and a bad winner with his rude and xenophobic rhetoric.

Jeers to the Russian Federation and the South Koreans for their divisive and bitter complaints, and jeers to the American media for their pressure tactics. A pox on both your houses.

And cheers to the greatest Olympic sport of all, which is French-baiting. When in doubt, blame it on the French judge. So good-bye Olympics, like the children of light say, happy trails until we meet again.