It’s four days till Ted Hall and I depart for Vancouver.
And right now is the worst part.
(”Worst part” is, of course, strictly comparative; even the worst part is still a heckuva lot of fun …)
I have had the privilege to travel quite a bit for my job, and the most stressful time isn’t the travel itself — it’s the prelude to the travel. It’s making sure you have all the necessary equipment, all your bases covered at home, and all your collective ducks in a row before your bags are packed and there’s no turning back.
And that’s usually for a 2-3 day trip to another state; this is for three weeks in another country.
It all gives a somewhat uneasy feel to these next few days. For the past few weeks, even though the trip has been drawing near, I have been so jam-packed with work that I honestly haven’t had much time to think about it. Now it’s time to focus and prepare — I’m Santa-like in my making of lists and checking them twice, and I have already marked roughly 20 different errands I need to run before Wednesday.
But amidst the housekeeping, there’s also extraordinary excitement.
There’s the anticipation of all the great stories I’ll get to cover; there’s the desire to explore the Vancouver area, which so many folks have told me is absolutely beautiful; and, of course, there’s the exhilaration of knowing we’ll be right in the center of the extravaganza that is the Olympics.
There’s also a certain non-work assignment that I am looking forward to fulfill: the request submitted by friends, family, and co-workers to “pick me up something from the Olympics”. A few days ago, one of my co-workers cornered me in a dark crevice of the newsroom and took out his wallet; as I stood there perplexed, he started thumbing through his cash and finally snared a $20 from the pack. He then gave it to me and said the following:
“This is for pins.”
Pins?
“Yes, Olympic pins. I want as many as this will buy.”
I will do my best.
And of course, I am looking forward to keeping everyone informed throughout the Games. Ted Hall and I each have Twitter accounts (@tedhallnews & @MattPearlWXIA11), and we’ll be blogging all month long. It should be terrific.
In the meantime, Santa’s gotta get back to his lists …
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I’m getting sick and tired of everyone being sick and tired.
Well, that’s probably not true; it takes a lot to get me truly annoyed. But I do raise an eyebrow every time the Olympics comes up in conversation and someone responds, “Who cares …”
On a certain level, I understand if people are somewhat nonplussed about the Games. After all, many of the events that get such attention during the Olympics can otherwise only be found on ESPN: The Ocho. And the international symbolism that spurred such intense emotions in the past is rarely found today.
But I’m a big believer in taking things as they are — and the Olympics, as they are, are still pretty darn cool.
Blinded sports fan, you think? An NBC shill promoting the network, you say? Not in the least (I won’t be writing any Jay vs. Conan blogs anytime soon …); mine are simply the words of someone who enjoys competitive sports, finds intrigue in international competition, and appreciates the escapade and extravaganza of this rare event.
Let’s start with the most obvious positive: the sheer thrill of the sports. Yes, the bobsled and snowboarding aren’t exactly household sports — and that’s precisely why they’re so much fun to watch. You and I most likely have never raced on a luge sled, and that only adds to the mystique of how these athletes do what they do. And for the most part, the events are presented very well on TV. Have you seen the camera angles on the skeleton? It’s like they’re running a 24-style spy mission. There’s a nice balance in styles among the events – the grace of figure skating, the speed of the sledding sports, the outdoor elements at play during the ski events, and the physical punishment of ice hockey. And even though the international angst isn’t as deep anymore, I still enjoy the pure fun of following the medal count and rooting for the U.S. to climb the ladder.
And let’s not discount the subtext at play when nations compete against nations. No, it’s not war — and thank goodness, in many cases, the emotions don’t run that hot anymore — but it is a test of both our athletes and our equipment. One of the stories I have already done for this year’s Winter Games deals with the secrecy involved in protecting the technological and stylistic advances in American equipment. Countries are constantly trying to come up with the perfect recipe — in terms of sleds, skis, sticks, and any other piece of equipment at play. On top of that, other countries are always trying to steal each other’s secrets. It’s actually pretty funny — especially because, in talking to the American athletes about it, everyone sheepishly admitted getting caught up in the espionage.
But more important than anything, I use a variation of that oft-quoted Chevy Chase line to describe why I like the Olympics: “They’re the Olympics, and all these other sporting events aren’t.” See, it’s easy to deride the Winter and Summer Games for a variety of reasons, but they’re still the only competition to bring in athletes from more than a hundred nations. They’re still a major point of pride for cities that get to host them (see Atlanta, 1996). And they’re still a spectacle unlike any other in sports. And listen, I LOVE sports. I’m a Hawks season ticket holder who regularly finds himself planted on the couch with a game on the teleivision. The Super Bowl, the World Series, the U.S. Open … these are all great events. But none of them match the sheer scope of the Olympics.
Now I’m not foolish enough to deny that the Olympics are flawed in a variety of ways. But, to be fair, no sport runs without its share of issues. And at the end of the day, the positives far outweigh the negatives; more importantly, the negatives that do exist, for the most part, don’t take away from one’s ability to enjoy the sheer athleticism and competition on display.
So, let’s put down the collective Haterade for a few weeks. It’s time to appreciate and enjoy two weeks of plain ol’ fun. When it comes to the Olympics, I do care — and am proud of it.
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Sometimes life just smiles upon you.
Let’s say, for example, you have just returned from a vacation in Japan — one of the most amazing trips you have ever taken. You are already feeling pretty wonderful – refreshed and rejuvenated – and you arrive to work ready to sift through hundreds of unread e-mails and return to the daily grind. And then, let’s say, about midway through the day, your boss comes up to you and says the following:
“Hey, would you like to cover the Winter Olympics in February?”
Um, what was that?
This is normally the time where I would do somersaults across the newsroom. But when it actually happened, not looking to jump to conclusions, I held up. I asked all the questions that seemed utterly obvious but needed to be asked before I fully embarrassed myself in front of my co-workers … questions like, “You mean, in person?”
“Yes, in person.”
Then I did the somersaults.
That was five months ago, and now our departure date is two weeks away. Ted Hall and I will be in Vancouver bringing you the stories of the athletes, events, hoopla, and entertainment that make up the 2010 Winter Olympics. You can catch our work on the air all day on 11Alive.
And, of course, we’ll be hooking you up online as well.
In the weeks leading up to our departure, and then throughout our days in Vancouver, Ted and I will be blogging here at 11aliveblogs.com. We also plan to frequently update our Twitter accounts (Ted’s is tedhallnews; mine is MattPearlWXIA11), bringing you our up-close photos and thoughts from the whirlwind of the Winter Games. Check back in this space over the next few weeks as we provide a little insight into the work we’ll be doing (and in some cases have already done) and the stories we’ll be telling.
Hopefully, we might just be able to make you smile, the same way life has smiled upon us.
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