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Hmm....I know I already did a daily report of my adventures in Salt Lake, but I just want to get the whole thing in one place. I'll probably be reiterating a lot of the same things, but hopefully I'll hit on some things that I didn't talk about. My time there went by so quickly, it's just a blur of taking pictures, running around with the mike, meeting people, trying to remember names, trying to be cool when I'm really in awe of the people I'm interviewing and trying to catch a couple hours of sleep a night. So this is gonna be a REALLY long post, I can feel it already! So let's start from the very beginning...a very good place to start...
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| This is how most people will remember me |
Well, I guess it all started with the Olympics. Sports Illustrated and NBC did a great job of promoting a little known sport called short track, and crowned Apolo Anton Ohno as the posterboy for the SLC games. For those of you that watched, he certainly lived up to the hype, producing some of the most memorable moments of the games. That, and the guy is pretty easy on the eyes. So yeah, the guy intrigued me. Maybe just a tiny bit obsessed - if you call sitting in Dave and Busters with a homemade Apolo pin on, making friends with the bartender so he could switch the big screen from hockey to short track obsessed, then so be it. Note: I didn't make the pin. It was a great sport to watch. Apolo didn't win 4 medals like people had wanted him to, but he did win a lot of hearts. And Apolo wasn't the only one to take home a medal - his teammate Rusty Smith also took home a bronze.
Time goes by. I meet Rusty at the Milwaukee Worlds, and we become friends. I meet Rod online, the guy who works on his website, we become even better friends. Rod and Rusty come to Chicago, we have a dinner, we hang out, we keep in touch. I'm on the Rusty forums all the time. I become an assistant webmaster on Rusty's site. Etc. Etc. Etc. Sorry, that's the super short version of how I got caught up in all of this...
And the SLC World Cup looms in the distance. Tons of fans are planning to go. Short track is still amazingly popular, even one year after the Olympics. Rod gets an idea to make a documentary on what happens behind the scenes at a competition like that. Everyone SEES what happens on the ice, but what happens off the ice? What kind of preparations do they go through? What do they do with their free time? Who are the people behind the scenes? What are these skaters really like? Have they been affected by the sports newfound popularity? So he gets started on the project. I get asked to do the interviewing, thanks to some great on the spot interviewing I did to some American Idol fans outside of the Kodak Theater after one too many Jack and Cokes. Rusty's cool with being followed around with the camera. Emails are sent out to various people within US Speedskating, the Utah Oval and NBC. Interviews are scheduled. Production meetings are planned. Lists and schedules are being made. What seemed like a simple easy project turned out to be a production. But I was excited. And I knew the Rod and Rick (the silent webmaster for the site) were a little stressed, having to find out and rent all the equipment that would be needed. And we only had one chance to get it right.
So I pack all my things and head out to Salt Lake. My plane comes in at noon, and my friend Denise comes to pick me up. We haven't really met in person before, so of course there's that weirdness when you meet for the first time. But it didn't last long. We've been writing so many marathon emails that I feel like I know her, and we got along instantly.
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| The view of the beautiful Wasatch Mountains |
I love being in Salt Lake City. It's one of my favorite cities to visit, because the scenery is so beautiful. Living in Chicago, I'm used to flatland, and I'm spoiled by the view of the lake and Michigan Avenue from my desk. But Salt Lake is so different because it's got mountains. The first time I went to Salt Lake and opened the windows of my hotel, my breath was taken away by my first sight of the Wasatch mountains. Gorgeous! It was great to be back. I must have said "Isn't it beautiful here?" twenty times during the trip.
I call up Rod and Rick to tell them I'm in town. The US Team practice started at 10 that morning, so I wasn't with the guys while they were filming. Of course, I was a bit sad that I couldn't make it to practice, but there was nothing I could do. Denise and me headed over the Homestead, which would be my home for the next 6 days.
Upon arrival, I notice that there was no free shampoo sample, giving the Homestead a very low score on my hotel rating scale. What can I say? I travel all the time, I've become a hotel snob. Although I never use the free samples, a hotel that has them marks it as a good hotel. And the room didn't come with a hairdryer, either. Good thing that there was a coffee maker and an ironing board or I would have been outta there. I also realized that the room isn't that huge. Rod had informed me that they had a LOT of equipment, and I was hoping that the closet space would be adequate enough. I called up the guys, and they said they'd meet me at the hotel. I sat and watched TV in anticipation.
So finally the guys come in, and they weren't kidding about how much stuff they had. There were 2 high quality cameras, lighting, mikes, tripods, tapes, batteries, a laptop and a lot of clothes. They brought more clothes than I did! They were exhausted from their ride in (they drove 10 hours from Long Beach) and from covering practice. But the first thing that Rod says when he comes in is, 'We've got gold' and he's really excited. I didn't understand him at first, but then he explained to me that they were able to get access to a lot of things during practice, and they got some great footage. Rod gave me a brief view of the footage he got, and I was excited. It was just practice, but they got a lot of footage of everyone interacting. Rusty wore a wireless mike so you could hear their conversations. There was one point where Apolo was stretching, and Rusty came up behind him and was helping him out, and then, I got confused...'Rod? What are they doing? Are they wrestling?' Rod nods his head. My jaw drops. Here's Rusty and Apolo, just behaving like normal guys, messing around during team practice. It's nothing, but when you think about it, WOW! Yes, this is gonna be GOOD!
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| Apolo, Alex and Rusty at practice |
We all settle in for a little and grab some food. We call up Rusty to see what he's up to and he mentions that he's going to go for a jog. We head over to their hotel and go up to his room. Rod suggests that Rusty runs over the Delta Center, which is a couple blocks away, so we can do a quick interview with Rusty at the place where he won his bronze. Rusty then gets a call and asks the caller if he wants to go for a run. He gets off the phone and says, 'That was Chunks, he's coming with'. I feel a little twinge of nervousness. Yeah, in a way, I'm here on business, but there's still that little fan inside of me that's like "Whoa!" So we go to Apolo's floor and Rusty gets him from his room. I'm a little nervous because I'm wondering if Apolo will recognize me from when I saw him in Chicago. I see him, we make brief eye contact and I walk into the elevator. I get a feeling that he just might recognize me as his one-time stalker from Chicago. But hey, I'm not a fan right now. I'm a filmmaker.
So we follow them with cameras as they start jogging, and we run to the car to catch up. They're quick little buggers, because once we got into the car we didn't pick up on Rusty's wireless mike. We drove around downtown trying to get the telltale static that notified us that we were getting closer to Rusty. We were pretending that we were crocodile hunters looking for our prey. "Croikey!" Then Rick heard the static and we drove closer to where we thought he would be, but didn't see him. So we just decided to go to the Delta Center to wait for them. Rick heard Rusty coming and we finally got them in our sights, jogging around the building. They came by the car and laughed when they realized we were there waiting and filming. They stopped for a bit and talked about what happened to them at the Delta Center last year, then they were off again jogging. Me and Rod were joking around in the car as we were driving back, pretending to be crazed fans, screaming at the top of our lungs, "WE SAW APOLO! OH MY GOD! WE SAW HIM! I CAN'T BELIEVE IT! *girlish squeal of joy*" Of course, we were just kidding. Well, at least I was. We had a great laugh over it.
Once we were back at the hotel, Rusty and Apolo did some stretches outside of Apolo's room. Rusty suggested that we do the Rusty/Apolo interview then. I was a little taken aback, because I was expecting that to be one of my last interviews to do. I told Rusty that I wasn't ready and that I didn't even have my questions on me. Apolo said that he didn't know if he'd have time the rest of the week to do it, so that moment would be the best time. I had a little panic attack but I was able to keep my cool. Rod and Rick set up the cameras and started rolling. Since I was a bit unprepared, Rod started asking the questions first. After a while, I got into it and asked my own questions. It was really an incredible interview. The chemistry and the friendship between Rusty and Apolo was so incredible to see. These are two guys that have known each other for most of their lives - living together, training together, growing up together. It was so fascinating to witness the two of them interacting, talking, and joking around. And of all the interviews I've seen of Apolo, this is the most comfortable I've seen him. I think it helped that Rusty was there, that we were friends of Rusty, and that we were all just chillin' on the floor of the hotel hallway while we were doing it. But they were so at ease, Rusty calling Apolo 'Chunks' and Apolo calling Rusty 'Smitty', and we had a couple good laughs. And even though this was the professional Christine on the floor leaning against the wall, Yano, the fan inside was screaming with delight. I can't wait to share this interview with everyone! I did have one slip-up though. We were talking about celebrities and going to celebrity parties when Rick asked Apolo, "Have you ever gone to the Playboy mansion?" and the Yano fan inside immediately said "Yes" about a second before Apolo did. He had his head down, but as soon as he realized that I answered for him, his head popped up and he had a look on his face that was like "WTF?". Here comes Rusty to the rescue, who busts out laughing and embarrasses me more by saying, "Christine knows EVERYTHING that goes on!" or something to that effect. Thanks for the assist there, buddy. Unfortunately, there was no hole for me to crawl into, so I just quipped, "It was on the internet..." Or maybe I didn't say anything. I kinda blanked out for a second there. Yeah. Major cool points there. Not!
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| Paul and Apolo |
But it was a great interview. It seriously lasted about 45 minutes or so, but a lot of it was just talking about whatever and chilling out. But it was definitely mind blowing. My head was reeling. The lasting impression I got from Apolo was that for as much as fans adore him, put him on a pedestal, and praise him for being a beautiful shining soul, he's just a regular guy. Nothing magical. This was the same thing that struck me about Rusty after I got to know him. Our eyes get so starry when we hear the words 'Olympic Medalist' we often forget that they are real people, doing and excelling at things that they love to do. He reminded me of some of the guys I work with, by the words that he used and his slang and his body language. I could definitely tell that he was a shy guy, but pretty playful and outgoing with people he knows. He was really cool, and I loved watching the two of them interact together. It was a good time. Definitely!
So we finish up with the video and we're pretty excited with the footage we have. We don't even know how long we were in that hallway talking, it seemed like an hour, but it could have been 30 minutes. But I think it was about 45. Anyway, we later head out to dinner at the Spaghetti Factory with Rusty and Paul Marchese. I know that Paul is their equipment manager, but the name sounds oddly familiar to me. Then I realize that he's THE Paul Marchese that makes Marchese skates, which a lot of the skaters all around the world use. In the little world that is short track, Paul's the man. He was busy the whole time he was out there, helping the team with their blades, making molds for other skaters, etc. The five of us had a good time at dinner (me, Rod, Rick, Rusty and Paul) and we got a couple good stories about Rusty out of Paul. He's a really cool guy, and for the rest of the weekend would come up to us and talk about whatever. The food was really good, too, but I couldn't finish it. Rusty, pasta lover that he is, asked me if I was done, then switched his empty plate for mine and proceeded to chow down. For some reason I had no appetite when I was in SLC. I think it was my nerves. Nervous about interviewing, nervous about the competition. Normally I eat like a horse, but I was pretty much pecking at my food all weekend. I mean, all you regular readers know how often I talk about food! And the thing that sucks is that I didn't even lose any weight. BAH! I could also tell during dinner that Rick and Rod were really tired. I think that I even caught Rick dozing off a bit. Poor guys! Such a long drive, and they had been working all day!
After dinner, we dropped Paul and Rusty off at the hotel, and went back to our hotel to catch some Zzzz's. The next day would be a very long and tiring day, so we had to get our strength together.
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| In front of the Olympic Oval |
Thursday we got up early to go and film practice. We got to the Olympic Oval and the place is huge. We did a couple exterior shots and drive by's, and even had a little impromptu snowball fight. We park the car in the parking lot and get the equipment out and I see Molly and Abigail. I've met Molly before, so it's cool to see her again. I'd say she's pretty popular in the fan circles. I forget that a whole bunch of the fans are getting together to watch the practice. We had all chipped in to get some shirts made for the team to present to them before the competition. The heads of the project had worked with Jack Mortell to find the right time and place to do the presentation. The group was also invited to come and watch practice, and the presentation would be happening right before the press conference that afternoon. I say bye to Molly and help the guys out with the stuff. As we're walking in, I see Noelle come out. I've been emailing and chatting with this gal for the longest time, and I'd been dying to meet her. She's an internet icon, you know *wink*. So it was great to finally meet her! I think we were both excited to meet each other. And Rod taped the whole thing. For some reason he wanted it on video. I think it's for his 'Short Track Girls Gone Wild' video. (and yes, that's Rod's joke).
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| Denise, me and Noelle |
We went into the lobby and there weren't too many fans in there yet. We went inside and set up camp next to the ice, where the athletes were getting ready to go on the ice. It was kinda weird to be there among them while they were getting ready. I had an urge to take pictures, but I didn't because I wanted to be invisible. Dude, if I was getting ready for practice I wouldn't want some chick up in my face snapping away. Ohh...but I was surely tempted! Especially when the skinsuit zipper was pulled down and you could see their chests (sorry guy readers, I'm talking about the guy skaters, not the gals). So I was cool with snapping away while they were on the ice. Unfortunately, my pictures from practice didn't come out so great because I was still fiddling around with the settings on my camera, and trying to get the focus right as they're coming around the turns. I also was SO close to some of the skaters there, and had some really great photo opportunities, but I was a chicken, and I didn't want to be a bug. I was just happy to be standing there soaking it all in.
Me and Spielberg (a.k.a. Rod the camera guy) then went into the lobby where the fans were waiting to be let into practice. We interviewed the head of the project, Julia, and her right hand man, Neil. I also got to meet a lot of the other fans, but it was kinda weird because here I am, walking around with a mic and a guy with a video camera. There was a whole mass of people whose faces I somewhat remembered, and I tried to meet as many as I could, but I was just a little overwhelmed by everything. So if I saw you and didn't say 'HI', I'm sorry! We went downstairs and drew names. Whatever name you drew would be the person you would give the shirt to. I picked out Stephen Gough, the coach. But then I realized that I didn't know if I'd be around for the presentation or not, so as much as I wanted to give the t-shirt to the head honcho, I didn’t want to commit the time. In my place it was decided that Noelle give it to Gough since she had already met him. After that, everyone went to the bleachers to watch the practice, and I went back to my post on the other side, waiting for Rod to tell me what interviews to do.
I got a chance to interview Jack Mortell, the team leader (I believe that this was my first real interview of the day). He's the person that gets all of the information about an event together for the team and makes sure that everything runs smoothly. He did a great job of it in Salt Lake. He was very open to working with the fans to do their presentation, and he helped us out a TON when it came to getting information about what the skaters would be doing as well as the schedule of events. Without his help and support, we couldn't have gotten the great footage and access we had.
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| Joey, Apolo and Rusty |
After that, I talked to Joey Cheek, a long track speedskater who won a bronze in the Olympics. Dude, this guy was tall. He had to be at least 8 feet tall. Ok, maybe I'm exaggerating a bit. He's a friend of Rusty's and was around when Rusty tried out long track in Salt Lake City last year. I guess Joey stopped by practice to hang out with the guys. You could tell that they all got along pretty well (Joey had also trained in Colorado Springs with Apolo last year for a couple weeks). Joey's a cutie, and we had a pretty good interview. I asked him for some dirt on Rusty, but he gave me nothing. He said that Rusty's got some stuff on him, too, so he wasn't giving out any information. Hmph. Chicken!
Steven Bradbury, the skater who won the 1500m that Apolo fell in, was also at practice. I had a really laid back interview with him, sitting on top of the pads along the rink. He'd been skating for a LONG time and even though his gold medal was a surprise to most people, I think he deserved it. I was a little giddy talking to him. I really wasn't prepared for him to be there, so I had no questions ready. I had heard he was doing the commentary for NBC, which I thought it was a great idea. I really didn't know what to say. So I really just made up questions as I went along. And he was SO cool and really laid back. Rod had told me that I was acting very much like a fan during this interview, probably because I was gushing a bit. Seriously, I don't even remember what I asked him. But this guy is cool. Can't wait to hear his comments on NBC.
At the end of practice, I spotted Corin taking pics on the side. He and his wife Torrie had taken me out when I was in Denver, and it was great to see him again. I asked him where Torrie was and he said that they had forgotten their tickets at home. I mentioned that since we had press passes that we wouldn't need tickets. But Corin was told that he would need tickets even though he had a press pass. I had a little freak out, since I had forgotten my tickets at home. I spent a couple minutes on the phone with Smith's Tix, and they said I could pick up a replacement set of tickets for a $5 service fee per ticket at their office. However, Rod had talked to Frank Zhang, who was in charge of the press passes, and he verified that the press did not need tickets, which was a relief for me. Having a press pass may seem like an easy way in, but I have a feeling that after SLC it's going to be more difficult to get one.
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| Interviewing Julia about the shirt presentation |
I don't remember if I did any other interviews during practice. After it was over, Caroline Hallisey came up to Rod and asked if now was a good time to do an interview. Heh, that's what WE'RE supposed to be asking! She was such a sweetheart - she was one of the few people who had emailed us back and agreed to an interview. So Rod flagged me down (I think I was still in a daze, watching the now empty rink) and I went over to them with my mic. The first thing that struck me about Caroline is how pretty she is in person and up close. Those helmets really don't do a girl any justice. Unless you're Alanna Krause. But I had a great interview with Caroline. Out of anyone on the team, she's known Rusty the longest, and he's even taken her out surfing. She was great to talk to, even though she didn't answer my now generic "So do you have any embarrassing Rusty stories?" question. Why do they live in fear of this guy? He's skinny! He can't hurt you! :P
After our interview, we scurried upstairs to where they were doing the fan shirt presentation. Each person came up and handed their skater the shirt. It all went pretty smoothly. I think the team really was touched by the fans’ thoughtfulness. I'm sure this wasn't something that was ever done before. Melinda is the one who got to give Rusty his shirt, which is pretty funny, because Melinda skates at Rusty's rink, and she already knows him. It was really cute when he came to the realization that she was the one presenting to him, because she didn't even have to say her name, and he was like 'Thanks Melinda!'
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| Caroline Hallisey speaks |
Next up: the press conference. It was a lot more low-key than I thought it would be. I remember seeing pics of the press conference for the team right before the Olympics and the crush of reporters holding up mics and cameras trying to get to the skaters. For some reason, that's what I was expecting. I even worked out my upper body strength a bit so if need be I could body check someone into the wall if they got in my way. But all that for nothing. We sat in chairs and everyone calmly asked questions. Most of the questions were directed towards Apolo, but a couple were directed towards other team members. I felt really bad for the girls, though, because no one really asked them a question. Noelle and me were racking our brains trying to think of a question to ask them, but all the questions we thought of were already answered during the introductory questions. If I was them, I would have brought a book to read. Or maybe knitted someone a sweater. Or filed my nails. Anything to avoid sitting up there and listening to people ask Apolo the same questions I've heard people ask him a thousand times before. There were some pretty good questions asked, though. One was asked of the rest of the team, and it was something like "How is it being in Apolo's shadow? Do you ever get jealous?". Apolo was holding the mic, and no one stepped up to answer, so he started waving the mic in circles. It was kinda cute. Then Rusty took the mic away and said "Whatever fame Apolo is getting is good for our sport. And when he wins, we're happy he wins. Do you get angry or jealous when your friends win? No. You're happy for them." Or something like that. But it was a great answer to a tough question. Rusty is a great public speaker. Now if he could only work on his use of punctuation. *evil grin*
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| Melinda, me, Susan G and Anita |
Afterwards, the crew split up, because I wanted some quality time with some of the girls. Melinda drove Noelle and me back to the Homestead to get ready for the fan dinner. I got changed and all prettied up and Denise gave Noelle and me a lift. We were so busy chatting away in the car that we failed to tell Denise the right exit, so we went a couple miles out of our way and came to dinner late. Joanna, who did a fantastic job of picking a place, making the reservations, and finding a stress free way for the money to be collected, put this fan dinner together. About 35 people went (probably more than that) and it was a great time talking to other people and getting their insights on how their trips were going so far. There were some singers that were walking around the restaurant with guitars, and Abigail got up and sang with them. For more than one song. That girl kicks ass. The singers came up to me later on and asked if I wanted to sing and I said sure, if it's closing time and you want everyone to leave in horror. I'm not a singer. That's Fatima's job. Of course, I had a couple drinks (I can never say no to a margarita) so I was feelin' good. Rod came by and we did a couple interviews. I have NO idea how they turned out, and chances are, I'm a babbling idiot during them because I don't even remember what I asked people. All I remember is laughing a lot and Rod offering me 3 sticks of gum to dance on the booth for his 'Short Track Girls Gone Wild' outtakes. I also got to watch Rod work his magic as he chatted it up with the ladies and told them about the video. I could almost hear him whispering into their ears, 'I can make you a star, baby! Just stick with me!' But it was great he came by. He really hyped up the group about our video.
The dinner ended at about 10-ish, and we wanted to do something afterwards. I really felt like going out dancing. We had heard that Port of Call had some dancing there, so a couple of us headed out there. But before heading out, I needed to arrange something with Rusty so we stopped by his hotel first. We sat down in the lobby and chatted with him for a bit, and we all took silly pictures and whatnot. I had a pic taken with him (which didn't turn out as I had expected it to) and the other gals did, too. Noelle had an Apolo button on that someone had made for her at the dinner, and when she posed for her picture with Rusty he immediately saw it and he tried covering it up. She had no idea what he was doing, and to her, it looked like he was trying to cover her boob. So they're both totally laughing about it, and Noelle doesn't even realize why until after the picture was taken. She was SO embarrassed knowing that she took a pic with Rusty and she had that Apolo button on. THE NERVE!!! *evil grin* I believe that Rick might have the incident on film. We all said our goodbyes and he went off to get some rest for competition the next day.
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| Me and Rick joke around with Rusty |
We headed out to Port of Call, and as soon as we came in, it was a definite sausagefest. This place was a very manly-man place. Big, gruff, manly men were on the main floor. We went around a bit and discovered that there wasn't any dancing. So we just went downstairs, found a table, had a couple drinks and talked. We shared stories, observations, and digital pictures. Gotta love the instant gratification. It was nice to chill for a bit and we had some good laughs.
Afterwards, I went back to my room, and I found out that Rick had picked up Lanie, his wife, from the airport. (Yes ladies, Rick the cute silent camera guy is married - but don't worry, I'm taking applications for anyone that wants a piece of the stud that is Rod). We talked for a bit and then I hooked up my computer and got to work posting up my pics. Next day was a pretty early day, since we were going to film the team breakfast.
We got up early to go and film the team breakfast. When we got there, everyone was already sitting down, getting ready to eat. Rod and Rick had the cameras out, and to tell the truth, I kinda felt dorky for being there, because it's not like I was doing any interviewing or anything. I think Lanie felt the same way. Almost like the groupies of the film guys. I tried not to make any eye contact with anyone and just pretended that I was invisible. However, for all you Apolo lovers out there, his hair was nice and fluffy in the morning. I know you gals like details like that. Anyway, me and Lanie just sat down in a booth and started talking, and debating about going shopping because we really didn't want to be there just watching the team eat. But then the waiter came by and asked us if we were eating, and well, since we were there already, we decided to get some food. The food was alright, but for a buffet, it wasn't that great. Rick and Rod had breakfast, too, and Rusty pulled over a chair and chatted a bit while we ate and gave us the lowdown of what was happening that day.
Once we were done with breakfast and after a fun chat with Paul Marchese, we went up to Rusty's room to do some filming of his daily diary. Pretty much every day he gives his impression of what's to come for the day ahead. Then we just lounged around for a couple hours and watched this direct to cable movie called 'Cheats'. It's one of those movies that you would NEVER rent, and you would NEVER plan on watching, but you're just too lazy to get up and look for the remote to change the channel and by the time you figure out that watching this movie is a waste of two hours of your life, you realize that you actually care about these characters and you want to know what happens at the end. I think Izy loved it, he'll probably buy it on DVD if it ever comes out. He was enthralled.
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| My cousin Karen and me |
In the afternoon, we went to pick up my cousin Karen. She is totally an Apolo fan. When she came in she was so excited about seeing Apolo and the competition and everything. We grabbed some Panda to eat before the competition and went home and got her settled. After some rest, we headed back out to the Oval. When we got there, it was about 2 hours til the competition started, and there weren't too many people there yet. Lanie and Karen staked out some sweet seats, and I checked out the action in the press section. It was kinda funny in the press section, because it was just the web-affiliated people that were sitting there. During the competition I noticed that the press area was great for taking pictures, because you're right there along the ice, right before a turn. But the feeling in the press area was a lot more subdued. You don't really get riled up about the races like you do when you're sitting among the rest of the fans. It just didn't feel right jumping up and screaming "Get your ass in gear, Rusty!" while I was sitting there. So I ended up sitting by the rest of the Rusty cheering section.
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| Rusty rounds the corner |
The first day was not a great one for the Americans but races themselves were pretty good. In the 1500m race, Rusty's first heat was a pretty exciting one. He hung out in the back for most of the heat, but made some awesome passes at the end to win his first heat. Later on, Apolo got DQ'd in his semi-final heat for impeding. Derek had a great semifinal heat, where he tripped up a couple times, and at one point he had fallen on his knee, but kept going and got up. He fell in the race, but it was later discovered that he was impeded, so he was advanced. Rusty and Derek made the finals (way to go Derek!) but in the end, Rusty just could not get by the Canadians and got fourth. But it was a great effort and a great race! You could see during the races that a lot of athletes were having a hard time with the ice. More than once I saw Rusty and Apolo lose the ice from under them. I guess the ice was a bit brittle that first day, and the heavier racers (like Rusty and Apolo, and I'm not saying they’re FAT or anything) could really feel it. The crowd was totally into it, though, and hardly seemed to notice. They would go CRAZY every time Apolo stepped on the ice, and the other US athletes would get some wild cheers, too. There was so much energy in the place, you could totally feel it. It was pretty cool.
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| Me, Lanie and Karen in the stands |
After the competition, we headed out for some food over at Chili's. We had some great times there - I don't remember the last time I laughed so hard. (ok, I do, it was when me and Fatima were putting up the Christmas tree and I was doing my dorky loser dance to House of Pain's 'Jump Around' and I was so into my dorkiness that I accidentally drooled while dancing) My stomach was so sore after that. We talked about boob jobs, big lips, Britney Spears, being Mormon, talking to our desserts and Chuck E. Cheese. We were enjoying ourselves so much that we didn't notice that the restaurant was empty and we were the last people left. It's always a good feeling when you get along so well and you have such a great time with people you've just met. Good times! And I was told I look like Lisa Ling, from 'The View'. Do you think so? I don't...but hey, it's a compliment. I'll take it!
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| Apolo's 500m start |
Saturday we came to the Oval a little later than usual. Actually, looking back on it, I don't have too much of a recollection as to what happened on Saturday. Can someone remind me? My memories are fading fast.
Saturday was the day for the 500m races and the men's relay semi-finals. The 500m is Rusty's best distance. However, after his quarterfinal he was mangled up a bit, and there weren't any calls made. Doesn't seem like the poor guy can ever get a break. The Rusty cheering squad we had going on wasn't in the best of spirits. Good thing Apolo made it to the finals, though, but once again, he DQ'd. We were getting pretty concerned for the US team. Canada was going pretty strong, especially Amelie Goulet-Nadon, who not only is a fantastic skater, but also has one of the sweetest smiles I've ever seen. And can I get a hubba-hubba for Jean Francois Monette, Canada's Ben Affleck on skates?
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| Rusty prepares for the 500m |
The relay made up for the team US DQ's that day, because it was an AWESOME race. China and the US were neck and neck for most of the race. Coming into this competition, I've been wondering about the strength of the Chinese B team, and how it would affect our relay chances. I know that Canada has an AWESOME relay team, but I was expecting the US to get at least a silver. Before SLC, when the China B team decided to come, I had no idea how they would factor into the relay medals. But after seeing the team perform in the other distances, I knew that we'd have a tough opponent in the relay. So watching the semi-finals for the relay with China in our heat was incredible. I had been wondering if the team can do well in the relay with Rusty training out in California and the rest of the team training in Colorado Springs. But the team worked well in the relay. The crowd was in a frenzy and on their feet watching the race. We were screaming our lungs out. It was awesome!
During Saturday's competition I got to meet Stephanie, whom I've been helping out with her magazine. It was a joy to finally meet her, and I only wish we had a chance to talk more about the project. It was cool that she was able to make it, since earlier in the week she had found out she couldn't go. But nothing can stop a short track fan one her mind is set, so she was able to make it to the Saturday and Sunday competitions. I also met Todd, who I've been itching for a long time to meet (and I think most of the fans there couldn't wait to meet him, either). He is the handsomest, most charming man you'll ever meet (kissing his ass? Yes, I am, but it's really true!) As soon as we saw each other he gave me a huge hug and a kiss on the cheek. Something about that guy just makes me want to hug him around the waist and not let go. He's the best!
Afterwards, I did a couple interviews. Most of the time when I did interviews, it was in the stands, or places where people didn't really notice me. But after the races, I was interviewing this girl, and a whole crowd gathered around us, curious onlookers, mostly. But it freaked me out. I stuttered. I forgot what I was talking about. It was horrible! But life goes on, and I had more interviews to do!
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| Kip and me |
Outside, I got a chance to interview Kip Carpenter. Now, I've been around his message boards off and on, and I've seen pics of him with his shirt off. I admit. It makes me giggle. So when meeting him, well, I tried not to, but I giggled a bit. He was pretty cool to talk to, but once again, would not dish out any dirt on Rusty. Maybe it didn't help that Rusty was popping his head in and out of the interview. Kip's dog, Swift, was the cutest thing. I got to interview her, too. Kip got her to speak into the microphone. It was really adorable when he was telling her 'Speak! Speak!' and she wasn’t listening because she was so distracted because there were so many people around. But she finally spoke. Hopefully that makes the cut! Rumor has it they were wearing matching sweaters. So after I interview him, I thank him for the interview, and Stephanie's like "Kip, that's Christine" and he's like "Yeah.." and she's like "No, that's YANO!". Hot damn. My cover is blown. Rule one at these places should be that if you're undercover as a normal person trying to do bizzness, your secret stalker name shouldn't be said. I mean, do people say "Hey Superman" to Clark Kent when he's working at the Daily Planet? No way! So when Steph said that, Kip was like "Ohhh..." and I could be imagining it, but I think he looked at me with horror in his eyes and slowly backed away. Well, maybe not THAT freaked. He agreed to take a picture with me, so maybe he wasn't THAT scared.
After that, we headed out to the hotel to rest for a bit. Karen, Rick, Rod and me were waiting for an elevator. There was a huge crowd of athletes waiting, too. Suddenly I hear Rick whisper to Karen, "There's Apolo". I see Karen's body tense up. Apolo is amongst the other athletes, waiting for an elevator. So the elevator next to us opens up, and I start walking into it. I also notice that Apolo's walking into it, too. We're the first two people on, and I have no idea what was taking everyone else so long to get in. Were they all waiting for Apolo to get in first? Anyway, Karen is standing next to me in the elevator, and I could almost feel her excitement. Finally, Apolo gets off the elevator, and we get to our floor. Karen is giddy, she can't believe that she was in an elevator with Apolo, THAT close to the man himself. It was so funny. It was really great to have her along, because, to tell the truth, I had almost become immune to the fan giddiness. I think working on the video had begun to take its toll on my inner fan. It was nice to have another fan there. Karen definitely had enough energy for all of us. The elevator ride was a trip. I know I was trying to be cool and not make it seem like it affected me much, but I have to admit, I was just a bit giddy, too.
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| The Olympic torch is re-lit |
We met up with some of the rustysmith.com people in the lobby to head out to see the fireworks over by Rice Eccles. There was also a gala going on that night that Rusty had to go to. I had the chance to go to it, but we had already planned the rs.com outing that night, so no Olympian pictures with me that night! The troupe headed out and took the SLC train, which was a pretty interesting experience. There were TONS of people heading out to the fireworks, and I swear that everyone had on an Olympic beret. I felt pretty cool with my Olympic beanie. I didn't see anyone else with one. We didn't get into the stadium because it was only for people who volunteered for the Olympics, but they had big screens set up outside so everyone would watch. It was fucking freezing, but it was pretty nice to watch the movies they made and the re-lighting of the cauldron. And the fireworks were VERY impressive. It was well worth losing all feeling in my ass from sitting on the frozen ground.
We headed to the Market Street Grill after the fireworks to meet up with the rest of the rs.com group for a Rusty Fan Dinner. A couple of them had asked me if Rusty was coming to dinner, and I didn't want to get their hopes up so I told them probably not, since he had to attend the gala and he had competition the next day. Rusty had told us that he really wanted to stop by the dinner (since it WAS in his honor) but I know that things don't always go as you plan, and there would be a lot of Rusty's fans at the gala as well. So we sat down, and Rick told the waiter I wanted a double Jack and coke, and the he said they didn't do doubles. WTF!? In LA I got a triple! So I ordered a single, and just kept on ordering them after that. Karen had come along, and she ordered a white zinfandel and after three sips, she turned beet red. It was pretty funny. She was as red as my sweater. Anyway, me and Rick were a bit antsy wondering if Rusty was going to call. Finally, he called and said he was on his way. We had two tables, and Rod was busy entertaining the ladies at his table. I'm sure he had them rolling over with laughter with his amazing Rod stories.
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| Rusty shows the gals his bronze medal |
So finally Rusty calls and says that he's down the street, and I pick him up outside, and bring him in. The look on the girls’ faces was priceless. They were so happy to have him come by! I guess being around him so much, I forget that feeling of seeing 'Rusty the Olympian'. But I could see that in their eyes. Pretty cool. I could tell that although we had told them that he probably wasn't going to show, a little part of them was hoping that maybe, just maybe he would show up. He got a kick outta seeing Karen so red. He stuck around for a bit, told stories, took pictures with people and we all had some good laughs. He really knows how to work a crowd, and how to make people feel comfortable with him. Since he was competing the next day, he didn't stay to eat and went back to the hotel to get some rest. It was definitely a long day. But it was really great that he took the time out to stop by. I appreciated it, and I know the fans loved it.
After dinner, we headed back to the lobby to meet up with the rest of our group that didn't go to dinner. We hung out there for a while and saw Pat O'Brien of Access Hollywood pass by (we had seen him earlier during the day). Rick asked him for a picture, and even though he was in a rush, he stopped and took a picture with us. My picture didn't turn out well, and Karen's was pretty dark, but that really IS Pat O'Brien. I think he didn't mind too much that he was taking a pic surrounded by all these pretty ladies.
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| Yes, that IS Pat O'Brien from Access Hollywood |
We couldn't decide where to go, Port of Call (for me the second time) or Splash. We decided to just head over to Splash, since I had said that the scene at Port of Call was ok, though they DID have pool tables, which I was kind of itching to play. The gang headed towards Splash, saw that there was a long line outside, and debated on going in. There was also a small line outside of Port of Call. We stood at the corner debating about what to do. It was there that we ran into Joey Cheek, who asked us where we were going. We told him we were undecided, and he mentioned to us that he was meeting a couple people in Port of Call. So we decided to do that, and we waited in line with him, talking with him about the competitions and the gala he had just come from (the same gala that Rusty had attended). He told us that a majority of the people that came there were Apolo fans, and he was definitely the man of the evening. Now the weird thing about Salt Lake, is that for bars and clubs you need to be a member to get in. If you have friends with you, you can have them enter as your guests. When we had gone to Port of Call on Thursday night, it was Melinda who had gotten the temporary membership. When we were with Joey, he was already a member, so he got us in on his membership. What a guy. I owe him a drink!
Port of Call was OK. The pool tables were jammed and there were quarters up to wazoo indicating that each table had about 6-7 people waiting for it already. We hung out in the basement for a while, with our watered down drinks, ands just people watched for a while. We made a couple observations - 1) We were amazingly overdressed (still in sweaters from the competition, and the gals in there were not wearing much) 2) 60% of the gals in SLC have tattoos on their lower backs, and 3) There were actually a lot of good looking people in there. The manly burly men from days before were no longer there. After a while, we were bored, so we went to the second floor, which had a live band playing. We found a couple spots up on the the third floor that overlooked the dancefloor, and just hung out. I saw a couple of the long trackers hanging out downstairs. This guy came up to Karen and started talking to her. I did the 'Are you ok?' trick in case she needed to get out of the situation, but she seemed like she had it under control. Then the dude's friend comes by and starts talking to me. I humor him for a while, but later point out that I'm getting married (I flashed the ring a lot in SLC). This guy didn't seem to mind, though, and said that he was married too. I looked as his finger and there wasn't a ring, which I pointed out. He then told me that due to the kind of work that he does, he can't wear a ring. Yeah......right. Rod comes in and makes sure that I'm ok, and I tell him I've got it under control. After a while, I start to get bored of him and his talk of making friends or whatever....I wasn't really listening because the music was too loud. Happily, Lanie saved me by striking up conversation. It got really lame, so we went back downstairs. Fortunately, we found an open table. Unfortunately, when we started playing the bouncer came by and said they were closing up. Well, at least we got one game in!
We headed back to the Hilton afterwards, where our car was parked. We hung out in the lobby for a bit, and we see Wynnona Judd pass by. Yes ladies and gents, it was a star filled weekend! We were too in awe to ask for a picture. Wynnona just has this presence about her, you KNOW she's a star! After she passed by, the doorman came by and gave us each a rose from a bouquet that was given to Wynonna. I touched a rose that Wynnona touched!!!
After that, back to our hotel!
Every day it got harder and harder to wake up. Maybe it was because we got home really late, maybe it was because of the alcohol, but sleep felt REALLY good.
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| Apolo skates the 1000m |
Sunday was the last day of the competition, and the last day for the US to try and get a medal. After his races the day before, Rusty had spoken to the reports and said some not so nice things about the officials which made it to the papers that day. He had predicted that he was going to get called for a DQ on Sunday, and lo and behold, he got DQ'd in his 1000m heat. Apolo, however, made it once again to the 1000m finals. Now something I hadn't mentioned before was that throughout the competition, when Apolo was on the ice, he was in the zone. He rarely looked up or acknowledged the crowd, there was always a look of intense concentration on his face. Rusty would do his signature hand wave after his heats, and Derek was even starting to ham it up for the crowds, but Apolo stayed focused, intense. Of course, I'd be concentrating too - there was a lot of pressure on him to do well, and his first two days he was DQ'd. This was his last chance.
So he skated his perky ass off. I'm sure that everyone's hearts were in their throats. And he won! He seemed to have an explosion of relief as he crossed the finish line. The crowd went ballistic! He skated around the rink, pumping his hands in the air, and as he passed the bleachers, he did the two gun index finger bang bang to everyone and his face was just delighted. I was really happy for him. After all the pressure and stresses of the days before, I'm sure it was a big load off his shoulders!
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| The dot com-ers invade the press box L-R: Joanna, Todd, April, Noelle, me Stephanie and Torrie |
Next up was the 3000m. Rusty, Apolo and Derek were all skating in it. The 3000m is reserved for the top 8 skaters in the event. It had been a LONG time since 3 US men had skated in the 3000m in a World Cup - everyone I had interviewed had agreed that they didn't even remember the last time that happened. So team USA didn't really do as bad as we had thought. It was a good race, and there were a lot of lead changes. There was a good fight at the end, but Apolo was able to pull it off for another win. Unfortunately, Rusty got tangled up at the end and had a pretty bad fall. He seemed out of sorts for a couple seconds, but was able to skate off the ice on his own. Good thing, because he would be needed for the men's relay.
The women's relay was really exciting as well. Unfortunately, Canada was called for impeding near the end, and Russia came up on top with their first World Cup gold. The men's relay was good, but not as exciting as the semi final. China had a fall early on, so the lead was up to Canada and the US. The US made a valiant effort, but Canada was too strong. Canada definitely ruled the ice in SLC. They were almost unstoppable. But the US walked away with the silver, which was GREAT! When they went up to get their bouquets, they went around the rink and slapped hands with the fans. It was a lot of fun. It was a great way to end the competition.
Right after the relay ceremony, I scurried downstairs to the press area to meet Rick and Rod, who had wanted to catch the skaters as they were on their way to the locker rooms. Apolo came down first, and there were a couple reporters there before us. I had my handy little mic and tried to get a piece of that interview, but then Rusty came down and I interviewed him. Only then did I master the art of interviewing, which is to ask the question, half-listen to what they're saying, and use the other half of your concentration to come up with your next question. If I had thought of that before, I wouldn't have had so many interviews where I was saying 'Um, uh....' Fortunately, I came to that realization when it really counted. I had a great interview with Rusty and I came up with some really good questions, but if you asked me what questions I wouldn't remember at all. It all happened so fast. Then Rusty left and we waited for Apolo. We were talking with Bill Kellick and he had said that Apolo may or may not come to answer our questions, depending on if he needed to go back the the locker room. It didn't look good, because there was still one person in front of us waiting for an interview. Once he finished talking to Todd and Noelle he started walking towards us, skipping the guy that was next. Bill intercepted him and directed him to the guy that he missed (I don't think he consciously ignored him, I think he just didn't see him.) It was almost excruciating to wait for him to come, knowing that maybe he would be too tired to do another interview. But I used that time to think of questions.
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| No, that's not me interviewing him, but that's kinda what it was like |
So Apolo finished up with the other guy, and he came to us. I could tell that he was tired, but that he was also kinda pumped up. I asked questions, and once again, I have no idea what I asked him, but he spoke well. I'm pretty sure I asked him about the DQ's on the first couple days, if there was pressure to medal that day, how the fan presence affected his performance (which he said was awesome) and if he would come to my wedding and sing 'The Greatest Love of All'. Ok, maybe I didn't ask that last one. He did the trademark Ohno giggle a couple times, and he's VERY good at making eye contact when he speaks to you. It almost unnerved me. Almost. But the fan inside was suppressed when I was talking, it was all business. I'm glad for the couple of minutes that he spared to take to us.
Stephen Gough was next up for us, and for as quiet as the guy looks, when you ask him a question he talks a LOT. Not that I'm complaining. More time for me to think of questions to ask him. He's a pretty serious guy, and although I watched him coach for most of the week, I wonder how he interacts with the whole team. It seems like he's very calm when dealing with the team, but that he can be very opinionated, which I noticed when he spoke about the officiating. For some reason, he seems so young to me.
Afterwards, there were a throng of fans waiting outside the barricades at the foot of the stairs, trying to get autographs from Rusty and Apolo. I was on the other side of the barricades, and I have to tell you, it's the most bizarre scene. There were so many people pressed up against the barricade, calling out their names, asking for pictures, holding out programs to sign, asking for hugs, it's easy to see how these guys could get overwhelmed. It's almost scary. Apolo stayed there as long as he could. Rusty lingered for a little longer. A couple people gave him presents, and he handed them to me to hold them for him. Once again, Christine plays the secretary. It was really nice to see him interact with the fans, working the crowd and joking around. Before I felt that he often got overlooked because there was so much attention on Apolo. But after SLC, and they way that he treated the fans, not only his but all fans, I think he won over a lot of hearts. Which is a good thing. Because the more fans he has, the more motivated he'll be to keep on training, and the more likely he'll make it to the Torino games. I'd love to see him on the Olympic podium one more time.
Rusty finished up and said he had to go back to the locker room, and said goodbye to everyone. You could see that the fans were sad to see him go. Since Rod was there filming it all, he put down the camera and said, ‘Hugs? Who wants a hug?’ And I think there were actually a couple people that took him up on that offer.
Afterwards, Rick, Rod and I went upstairs to do an interview with Andy Gabel, the president of US Speedskating and a 3 time Olympian. He was chilling out, talking to Jack Mortell (my new semi-hero) drinking some beers and relaxing after this big event. We talked for a bit and had a good interview. I think my favorite part was when he spoke about giving Rusty his bronze medal at the Olympics. Andy and Rusty were both part of the 1998 Olympic team that went to Nagano. At the time, Rusty was the young guy on the team, and Andy was the experienced one. So Andy's known Rusty for a long time. And he said that he almost wanted to cry when he was there and Rusty was presented with his bronze. Andy knew the long road that Rusty took to get there, and he's also aware of the challenges that lie before Rusty in training for Torino.
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| The silent camerguy, Rick |
My last interview of the competition was with Noelle and Todd. It was cool to talk to them, because of all the websites out there, the OhnoZone is the most successful. Of anyone, they know what the fans think, what they want, and they can see how the fans can control the future of short track. It was nice to turn the tables on them and have them on the receiving end the interview, with me asking them questions.
We went back to the Hilton after the competition, and Rod and Rick went to go and film Paul Marchese make some boot molds. I headed out to eat dinner at Olive Garden with Rusty and the rest of our little cheering squad. It was nice to sit and relax after a long day, and just to sit and be normal people, not talking about competitions or skating or the filming. Just talking about work and the wedding and all the other normal things that go on in our lives. And of course, I drank. Karen drank too, and I swear she got even redder than she did at the rs.com dinner. We actually got concerned. She didn't even have half of her wine. Lanie and me just split the rest of her drink. Yeah. We'll take one for the team if we have to.
Back at the hotel, we headed back to the room so Rusty could get ready for the awards reception. He put on this Armani knit hat that to me, just didn't go with his outfit. If it was another occasion or another outfit, it would have looked good. But he really wanted to wear it, and he took a vote of the people in the room, and me and Lanie we the only ones that voted 'no', so he wore the hat. We get downstairs, and I'm still bugging him about the hat. Apolo and Derek pass by and bust out laughing and say 'What are you wearing!' and I said 'See! Please tell him not to wear it!' I think that was it for him. He took it off and gave it to me, and I wore it for a bit. Because to tell the truth, it looked better on me. Ha!
All the athletes shuffled into the room for the awards, and it had this eerie summer camp feeling to it. I mean, these are people who see each other all the time, and some have friendships with other people, some people are new, so they don't know that many people. It was interesting to see the interactions between the different countries, as well as how normal everyone looked in 'civilian' clothing. The whole thing to me was a bit bizarre. The awards were then given out, and surprisingly, they didn't give out any medals. The had three gifts - a knit hat with a walkman built in, an 2002 Olympic coffee table book, and an SLC bathrobe. The first place winner got first choice, then the second, then the bronze gets whatever is left. Poor Francois Louis Tremblay got bronze three times, and ended up getting three bathrobes because the other winners chose the other prizes. Poor guy! But it was a good laugh.
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| Me and Lanie chillin' out |
Afterwards, people just mingled. I think the US team disappeared back to their rooms. I got a follow up interview with Steven Bradbury. I also got to interview Derek Gray, who is definitely a rising star. I can see this guy going really far - he's got the skill, the personality and the looks. He's definitely not a shy one. I liked him as soon as I started talking to him. He's a really good guy. Gals, watch out, he's going to be a heart breaker!
We went back upstairs to the room and found that Tania Vicent, a Canadian skater, was hanging out with the rest of the group. We just chilled out, talked, and watched TV. I also did my long awaited interview with Alex. Alex had been a real trouper during all this. We were around all the time, and I had heard him utter about 10 words the whole weekend. But once we started getting ready to do the interview, he was really easy to talk to. Well, I asked him a million questions off the record, since we had a couple technical difficulties. But Alex was really funny. I want him to be a star. He deserves it. He may be really quiet but once you get him talking, he's got a pretty funny sense of humor. I'm really happy that he medalled for his first World Cup.
After that, we just sat around. I hardly even remember what we did, other than talk and joke around. The guys just talked about their guy things, and the gals had girl talk, like about my wedding and stuff like that. It was pretty low key, but it was nice to relax after a long day. We left after a while, because the boys had an early flight to catch. We said our goodbyes to everyone, and said goodbye to Rusty. He kept on asking me if I had a great time, which I did. Throughout the whole trip he was concerned that although I was working on the video, that I had a chance to enjoy myself, too. We hugged and he said he'll see me in Bay City.
So Monday morning I woke up, a little sad that it was time to go back to Chicago. We packed up our things and got ready to leave. Since the guys were taking home a lot of Rusty's stuff for him (he was flying straight to Canada so he didn't have room for a lot of his stuff) we had a lot of his things in our room. I was SO tempted to just stuff that blue leather Roots jacket into my suitcase! But I don't think Rod would have let me get away with it. So I just got a picture.
Rod dropped me and Karen off at the airport. I was fortunately able to get an earlier flight back home. We said our goodbyes to Rod and went through security to go shopping at the Roots store. Karen bought a couple cute things. I didn't buy anything, since I'm on a budget. But I DID drool over a couple things. They've got some good stuff there. I also noticed that the Russian short track team was in the airport, too. Me and Karen said our goodbyes and headed towards our separate gates.
I boarded my plane and I was surprised to find that the whole Russian short track team was seated around me. They were a real nice bunch. One of the women sat next to me, and I congratulated her on their win in the relay. I was going through my pictures, deleting the bad pictures. In total I took about 700 pictures of my trip, which I cleaned up to about 550. And about 65% of those are actually GOOD pictures. She enjoyed looking at the pics on my laptop. I kinda felt silly that I didn't take many pictures of the international skaters, but I did have a couple good ones of her. I didn't realize until then that I had a TON of pictures of Apolo and Rusty. And I won't even get into my embarrassment when I was trying to scroll through the bootie shots and the more scandalous pics of my trip!
So then I came home. It was nice to be home, but my head was buzzing with how fantastic my trip was. For the next week my head was still reeling. I still find myself drifting off every once in a while, remembering something that happened. What a great time, and I can't wait to do it again! Marquette, here I come!
I don't know what I expected to happen during my trip to Salt Lake City, but it certainly wasn't what I expected.
In terms of the competition, I knew that Canada would be a formidable opponent. Without Korea, Japan, Italy and China's A team there, the US and Canada would have been the top teams there. Having China's B team there added a nice spin to the mix. The races were as exciting as I expected them to be, with the ice chips in your face and the sweet sound of the blades against the ice. I was happy to know that people enjoyed their first taste of live short track, 'This is SO much better than watching it on TV!' is one phrase that I heard several times over the weekend.
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| The fans really made a difference in SLC |
One of the main reasons I was excited about going to Salt Lake was to meet the many fans that I have interacted with online, through message boards, websites and emails. I love that initial reaction you get when you first meet someone you talk to online (I've been doing it for the last 10 years, call me the original internet stalker). You always get this little idea in your head as to what they look like it's always a nice surprise to see if you're right or not when you meet them. This may sound silly to those of you who aren't in the ST fan community, but I've actually developed some good friendships with people, and it was great to meet these people and get to actually hang out and talk in real life. That was one of the aspects of my trip that I will really cherish. I only wish I had more time to just sit around and be a fan with everyone, because it was a good time!
In a way, I saw everything in Salt Lake as an observer. I'm sure Rick and Rod have the same experience, watching everything happen through the camera. I saw the energy of the fans, the love they poured out to their favorite skaters, as well as all the competitors that weekend. Their passion of the sport was undeniable, from the signs they made to the cheers the zamboni guy got every time he passed by. I saw the hard work of people behind the scenes, from the Frank Zhang who was in charge of the event, to Jack Mortell, who was arranging everything for the team, to Paul Marchese, making sure that everyone's equipment was OK and taking care of little emergencies here and there. These were faces that were unknown to the general public, but without them, this would never have happened. I saw the athletes, how hard they tried, during times of frustration, during times of triumph. I saw Apolo, who seemed to have all eyes in SLC focused on his every move, trying to concentrate and do what he does best, skate. There was a lot of pressure on him to do well, and there were many expectations on his shoulders. I was worried about him, and how all this attention was going to affect his performance. But that victory in the 1000m put it all to rest, and the smile he had on was enough for me to know that yeah, he's handling it all OK. I saw Rusty, who really got his chance to get out from the shadow of his teammate. The guy knows how to work a crowd, on and off the ice. I can't remember how many people had come up to me in SLC and mentioned what a great guy he was, or a funny thing he said to them, or how well spoken he was. Fools! If you only knew the REAL Rusty! Just kidding....uh...yeah...But I was proud of him this weekend. Now if he can only work on not getting those DQ's! I saw a new era of short track starting. SLC has been broadcast on NBC, and the World Championships in Poland will be broadcast on ABC. Hundreds of people saw their first live short track competition and are hungry for more. I can't wait for what lies in the future!
A couple thank you's are in order...
Team USA and all the other athletes - Thanks for allowing us to follow you all around. I know it's not easy to have a camera in your face all the time, but you were all cool with it and very cooperative. I would really have liked to talk to rest of the ladies team, but there just wasn't an opportunity. Outside of our interviews, I'd like to thank the athletes for some great and exciting races. A great time was had by all the fans!
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| Me and Rod |
Jack Mortell - Thanks for helping us out so much. You didn't have to, but you went out of your way to give us the information and the access we needed. It really meant a lot to us when you came up to us on Sunday, concerned that we got enough footage and if our video was what we expected. And not only did you help us, but you were also instrumental in helping that fans with their presentation. Thank you. And I don't know why I'm thanking you here, because I hope you're not reading this, because that would be kinda scary!
Apolo - I really hope you're not reading this because you'd be like 'What a FREAK!'. But if you are, thanks for letting us in on your world, and showing us a part of you that we've never seen before. I know you were under a lot of stress and maybe overwhelmed at times, but you handled it well. And thanks for not freaking and running away when you saw me the first time.
To the Fairy Godmother and the Internet Icon - Thanks for everything. It's good to know that you both as sweet and funny in person as I hoped you would be. Though the time we spent together was short, some of my favorite memories of SLC were with you.
Karen - I'm so happy you came and that you experienced everything that you did. Did you ever think your trip to Salt Lake would have been as crazy as it was? It must have been fun to be the lone Apolo screamer in the Rusty fan section. Sorry you never got your picture signed, but I'm sure that the time you had made up for it all! Keep away from white zinfandel!
Lanie - Thanks for being my drinking buddy, and for your sage words of advice. Next time I have Absolut with flat Sprite I'll think of you. We DEFINITELY have to go out dancing and get in a legitimate game of pool next time we see each other. We need to get drunk too - that should be interesting. And although Rick told me that your pictures didn't turn out great, they looked great to me in the viewfinder! I'll send you the DVD of 'Cheats' when I find it, I know you enjoyed the movie.
Rick - Ahh, the silent webmaster shows his face. Do you know how many people asked me who that cute camera guy was? Don't worry, Lanie, I told 'em all he was married. Thanks for everything. It was great to hang out with you again, and I love that lip joke. It kills me every time I think of it. You're the best. Sorry for chewing gum!
Rod - Well my friend, thanks for letting be a part of the whole Rusty documentary experience. There were good times, and there were bad times, but all in all, I thank you for including me. I really did have a lot of fun, and I'll never forget screaming Apolo's name at the top of our lungs in the car. Good times! And really, you're lips aren't that fat. I've seen bigger. But you ARE dark! We need to attach one of those orange flags to you at night. Thanks for everything.
Rusty - Thanks for everything, and for being so concerned that even though we were making the documentary, that I was still having a good time. I know you weren't happy with your performance during the competition, but just know that you really made an impact on a lot of the fans there, who found out what a friendly, funny and outgoing guy you are. It was fun being your secretary and running your secret missions. And thanks for not wearing that hat!
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| Me and Rusty |
The fans - It was incredible to see so many fans out there in SLC. I'm sure the skaters love that their sport is finally getting the recognition it deserves. It was wonderful to get to meet you all (well, as many as I could, anyway) and thanks to all of those that let us interview them. You all definitely made a different out there and the media is opening its eyes to short track and how popular it really is. Not only that, but you showed that you were all class acts by cheering for everyone, regardless of country - not just cheering for those athletes who are marked as favorites, but cheering on good races, which was evident during the relays. The short track fan base is diverse group of beautiful, friendly, energetic and passionate people. Let's keep up that energy and spread the word. It can only get bigger and better in Marquette!
That's it! I know this story is kinda short. I've been known for my short and concise posts. Ha! But really, if you've made it this far, thanks, you deserve a medal. The main reason I created this is so I don't forget my experience, because I have such a horrible memory. I thought I might as well share it with everyone while I'm at it. I hope you've enjoyed my endless ramblings and my silly adventures.
Next week, Bay City! And don't worry, it's only 3 days, which means the post will only be, um, 6 pages long.
THE END.
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