SALT LAKE CITY -- But enough about the judges. Let's get to the real issue in figure skating. The costumes.Really. As a man, I can be silent no longer. If the women want to skate in flamenco red and baby-doll blue -- fine. Who am I to complain? I stopped understanding women's clothing when the miniskirt went maxi.But watching my fellow males skate in leprechaun vests, tan boots, sequined belts and puffed sleeves that haven't been seen in athletic competition since Sir Lancelot jousted King Arthur -- well, that's it.I'm putting my skate down.
SALT LAKE CITY -- "REPRESENTING THE UNITED STATES, TODD ELDREDGE."They come to the Games in search of a name. "Olympic champion." "Olympic gold medalist." No matter the sport, no matter the nation, the dream is the same: Everyone wants new syllables.
MITCH ALBOMSALT LAKE CITY -- He couldn't stop giggling. It kept gushing from his mouth, this high pitched "huh-huh-huh." As he held his skis aloft --"huh-huh-huh" -- as he hugged his coach -- "huh-huh-huh" -- as he waved to the crowd of screaming Swiss countrymen, waving flags and clanking cowbells."SI-MON! SI-MON!""Huh-huh-huh!"Up in the sky, just moments earlier, Simon Ammann had been huge, a giant, riding the wind for 436 glorious feet.Now, back on earth, he was Harry Potter.A giggling Harry Potter.
SALT LAKE CITY -- The big boys parachute in today, as stealthily as a special ops maneuver. They drop from Dallas, Los Angeles, Chicago. They hit the ground running and are whisked to headquarters. They get their uniforms, their instructions, their heavy equipment.They get one practice.Then their games begin.Welcome to the Olympics, NHL players. Nice of you to join us. Of course, we've been going for nearly a week now.The Opening Ceremonies? Beautiful. Too bad you couldn't march in them. Heck, you couldn't even watch them. You were busy playing NHL games.
Mitch Albom writes about running an orphanage in impoverished Port-au-Prince, Haiti, his kids, their hardships, laughs and challenges, and the life lessons he’s learned there every day.
