Sports

2006 Winter Olympics

Turin tidbits

Compiled from staff and wire reports
Published February 17, 2006

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THUMBS UP

The Switzerland men's hockey team. Led by Avalanche goalie David Aebischer, it spiced up things early by beating the high-powered Czechs.

THUMBS DOWN

The U.S. Nordic combined team. After finishing a disappointing seventh, one guy blamed another team member and the coaches, the blamed guy sniped back, the coaches tried to keep everyone calm, and none of it will make the American public care any more than the minuscule amount it already does.

QUOTE

"I think it's by far the biggest win in Swiss hockey - since I've been playing. Even in history," Mark Streit, 28-year-old Swiss defenseman, not adding that it wouldn't take much to get the biggest win in Swiss hockey history

BY THE NUMBERS

1 -- athlete thrown out for doping 7 -- total doping cases in Salt Lake City in 2002

380 -- drug tests conducted since the Turin athletes village opened Jan. 31

1,200 -- samples that have been drug-tested, a 72 percent increase over Salt Lake City

OUT OF BOUNDS

THE CULTURAL DIVIDE

Maybe world peace and understanding can never be achieved: Europe's most popular televised winter sport is biathlon.

BIGGER THAN GLOBAL WARMING!

Turin organizers rejected a request from environmentalists to turn down the Olympic flame to mark the first anniversary of the Kyoto Protocol on global warming.

The flame might go out if they do, they say.

"It's not the same as using a burner at home," organizing committee spokesman Giuseppe Gattino said.

The cauldron in which the flame burns consumes 1,500 cubic meters of natural gas per hour. In an effort to prove that the organizers aren't totally insensitive to the planet, Gattino pointed out that gas consumption is half of what organizers expected.

YOU CAN START WORRYING ABOUT SECURITY NOW

The U.S. Olympic Committee issued an official pass to Alpine skier Daron Rahlves' dog because, spokesman Cecil Bleiker said, "We thought it would be a little bit of a joke for the dog to have a pass."

The pass for the dog, a Siberian husky named Chevy, reads "Chevy Rahlves/Skiing/Security" and includes his picture. And at least Chevy is taking it seriously. He dutifully wears the pass around his neck wherever he goes in Sestriere, where the Alpine events are held.

The pass does have a function, of sorts. It lets USOC security know Chevy should be allowed into the team's hotel and office areas.

Uncredentialed strays, however, will be forced to become hunting dogs for Dick Cheney.

INSTANT MESSAGES

Interesting chat this week with a representative of a delivery service. The office had shipped something to my hotel last Tuesday and, a week later, it had still not arrived. When I called the toll-free number for the delivery service in the U.S. and asked why my three-day delivery had not yet arrived, the woman said they do not guarantee the speed of overseas deliveries. When I asked her to find out when it might be delivered, she said I would have to call their office in Italy because she had no way of knowing. "So what you're telling me is your overseas delivery service is crap," I said with much irritation. "Yes," she said, "that's what I'm telling you." Okay, as long as you're honest.

- JOHN ROMANO

Here's what I like about the Olympics. As I walked along the river toward the skating rink Thursday night, there was a large, rowdy group of Swiss fans gathered by a newsstand by the park. It was hours before the competition, but they were chanting and blowing a large, bloated horn and clanging their cowbells. I have to tell you, for a minute there, I thought I was back in Starkville.

- GARY SHELTON

[Last modified February 17, 2006, 02:15:35]

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