End of Transmission

I am very disappointed. Apparently Bobby G got caught up with one more party and was not able to post. I guess that leaves it to me to wrap this whole experience up. It is a huge task, but I am up to the challenge. Actually the challenge may be where to begin....

How about with some housekeeping. Aunt Sharon - get baking, I have what you have asked for, so we are set.

I received a couple of questions on email. I was asked to let all of you know about the strangest thing I have seen in the Village, and the funniest. Now that is tough. For funniest, I have many candidates - the snowplow drivers, the maintenance men, the athletes and some of the things that they say and do, this staff here in the office, the driving in Italy, the fact that at every Chef de Mission meeting the countries were told to stop bringing lighters into the village - yet the Italian workers, and police, were all in here smoking cigarettes, lit with lighters (probably ones they claimed at security)...stuff like that. The winner though happened on the 26th.

At the Olympic Games, the hockey teams are provided with two team hosts. These people are charged with getting things arranged for the teams and helping with local logistics. So one of the team hosts for the men's hockey team was from Finland and the other from the US (and Italy). Anyway, Risto (Finnish guy) came to our offices to watch closing ceremonies with us. We had a couple of our NOC Assistants on duty and one is from Italy and she speaks good English (she, like the other assistants, was a stud for us - by the way she made the 2004 Italian Olympic Team in softball).

Anyway, they were watching the ceremonies with us. By the way, there may have been some red wine at the gathering - the men's hockey team leader (aka the man who flooded the Sahara) was in the house. So Eva (NOC) and Risto were talking about the Ceremonies and they were attempting to figure out what something meant - but they were doing it in English. It was great because here you have a Finn and an Italian speaking English trying to figure out what an Italian production in the Closing Ceremonies meant.

The strangest - again, many candidates. I will go with this. One of the meals they were serving was a bit of a favorite of many people. One day Keith walked into the office and showed me the village newpaper which detailed what was in a new cafeteria favorite. One of the items was testicles (I don't remember what animal). Nice. Now something may have been lost in translation - at least that is what I am going with - but I am thinking that is not the case.

Speaking of Closing Ceremonies - what did you all think? We watched it in the Village (obviously). It was interesting. We had seen some of the details of the show through some briefings we attended, and frankly had no idea how it would come off. It had some flair, and Ricky showed up (Michelle was geeked - just kidding Michelle), so it rocked a bit. The flag bearer was Joey Cheek, he is the one who donated the money he had earned for his medals to a group called Right to Play. Joey earned $40,000 - all of which he donated, and when he made the donation he called on others to follow. So far, another $400,000 in donations has come in from others - now that is good stuff.

While Closing was good, it was the party in the Village afterwards that rocked. TOROC brought in a deejay, dancers (for a point of reference think Cowboy Cheerleaders and dress them down - remember, we are in Europe), food (some of the best of the entire Games) and BEER (they ran out fast). Yes, our little "dry" village was flowing, there was a monsoon in the Sahara. The party started at 11:00pm and lasted until after 4:00am (at least that is what I am told). A few of us from the office went down. Wow. I think the entire Village - meaning all 82 delegations - was there. Dancing, singing, and enjoying each other. Talk about a celebration. It was amazing. They played everything from the Village People (yep, YMCA) to the Doors, to Bruce Springsteen. Listening to an audience of people that had to be in the high hundreds if not a thousand - sing along with Bruce as he talked about being Born in the USA - was amazing. The ones singing the loudest were the ones from any country besides the USA. They loved it. It was a good way to end.

Those are the things that make the Village the Village. I love the Village - I would work in an Village everytime if I could. Being in here is a privilege and I am thankful that International Games has offered me this incredible opportunity. Outside of the stories - or insights - that have been shared in this space, the reason a Village is special is because the team that works the Village makes it what it is. Remember, we walked in to a bunch of cold apartments that were bare. In time we dressed the buildings out, we added some things to make it better, athletes and coaches arrived. Friendships were made. Upon departure tears were shed about leaving people who only 30 days before you were just meeting. All of the Village services and the thousands of people who work them came to life. We essentially went from nothing, to a functioning - yet secure - city - and back to nothing, in three weeks. In fact, this place is so shut down now that Keith, Robert and I helped the last couple of big USA groups out of the village this morning (2/28), then we wanted some breakfast. No luck. This place is closed. It is strange.

Speaking of team, I have not done a very good of talking about the team - except when I discussed our transgressions in breaking the public transportation laws...the people who were in here are amazing. There have been a couple of times when I have mentioned how proud I am of them and the way they perform. A case in point was late last week. An athlete who had several family in town was on her way down to the Bank of America Hometown Hopefuls area. This is something set up by BofA and it is a place where families can gather, get some free food, get tickets to events, etc. It is a great service from BofA.

Anyway, the athlete is heading down to see her family and her grandfather who was at BofA and having a great time, dropped to the ground and passed away from a fatal heart attack. One of those moments where real life creeps into the Games. The team in the Village, working with our Coordination Center group, responded incredibly well, handled the situation like true professionals, took care of the needs of the athlete and her family and got people where they needed to go. That was a tough situation that does not go that well without the quality of individuals that we have here in the Village and here in Torino. Class all the way.

This team dealt with a variety of issues here in Torino and everytime they stepped up and handled it. Athletes in this Village won 14 medals. While we don't compete, we try very hard to help those that do. Maybe we had an impact, maybe not. If nothing else, we tried. So here is the team...

Eric Parthen - Transportation. It all begins and end with transportation, so I will begin with him. He did one hell of a job with transportation. There is little English here and he got stuff done anyway. I think it was because he mastered the phrase P4 zino zini (a parking area) and "si, si, si, capito" (yes, yes, yes, I understand - and then proceed to do exactky what they did not want you to do). The transportation group loved him so much they brought over some beers to have with him a couple of nights ago. At the party here in the Village that I talked about, he loaded a backpack up with beer and danced his way up to us and offered us one. Nice job on everything Eric. Get some sleep, you deserve it.

Michelle Farrell - Housing. Once they arrive they have to sleep. Housing is the most thankless job of all. Everyone wants just a "little bit" more space, or some other request. Managing that process takes someone with the skills and attitude of a person like Michelle. She is professional all of the way. On top of the characters she dealt with here, she has to deal with me everyday as we are on the same team back in the Springs. In fact, we did her 2005 performance review, from her real job, here in the dining hall. She did well enough to get to stay for the entire Games! (just kidding, there was never a doubt). Thanks for hanging with me at dinner. You are a stud Michelle, thanks for all that you do.

Robert Nesbitt - Logistics. If it had to get somewhere Robert was the guy. If you needed something built, Robert was the guy. If you needed a good laugh, or someone with the perfect attitude, Robert was the guy. This was my first experience working with him, I pray it is not my last. No matter what has to be done, or at what time it needs to happen, he is there. Plus he is pretty good at poker! Robert is one of those special people who just makes things happen. Thanks Robert for everything - especially that great brew of coffee that kept me going everyday. Get back to that son of yours.

Tammie Forster - NGB Services. Everything that the sports, or the USOC needed, Tammie went and got it for us. From day passes so that the families of the athletes could get in here and see the Village, to tickets for the events that were passed on to the athletes, to managing the rate card process (rentals), to just about anything else you can think of, Tammie was the name that we would call. This was her first Olympic Village experience and she did very well. She also was one who brought a lot of reality to office with stories about her life. Tammie - thanks for all that you did. It was great to work with you. Enjoy the trip home.

Chris Vadala - NGB Services. He worked with Tammie and had added responsibilities of working with the sport of Curling on their logistical needs here in Torino. After the men's team won a bronze medal it seemed as though he turned into their agent. Chris is one of those people that no matter what you ask him, he will get it done. He also became the candy man as he had shipped over Almonds, Blow Pops, Tootsie Roll Pops, Mike and Ike's and other treats. He is class all of the way in how he handles himself and how he deals with things. He and I sahred an office here in Torino. Thanks for the talks, the advice, and for keeping me sane. You are the bishop - no doubt.

Keith Bryant - Media. This was Keith's first Village experience and he was great. his primary responsibility was to handle all of the media that wanted to talk with athletes living in our Village. He did that and more. He helped us in every facet of Village Operations. Keith, like the others, did whatever had to be done for us to be successful. Plus he was the one who brought in newspapers everyday. I am just happy we got him access to the dining area because for the first few days we were bringing him whatever we could from McDonalds and I was worried Super Size Me Part 2 was going to be filmed in the office. KB - now you know what a Village is like. Based on our conversations, I am guessing you will do it again. Enjoy your time in travelling with Amanda.

I am proud of all of them. Like I said, I have no idea what my job here was. I am just lucky that I was able to work with all of them. They made life here great. I would not have wanted to share this experience with any other group of people. The reality is that this team will probably never work together again the way we did here - thanks for maximizing this opportunity. I think that the men's hockey team leader summed it up best when he left me this email last night before going home..."always a pleasure and you guys are all the best, wouldn't want to do this with anyone else involved...thanks for the laughs, hard work and all that is the games..."

I have no idea if any of you even look at the guestbook - thank to all of those who have left comments! A recent comment was from Bill Baum re: the Team Pursuit. Bill nailed it (given). Part of the reason certain athletes did not skate in the pursuit (otherwise known as the opening volley in Chad vs. Shani) was because of the number of races they would have to skate in the day leading up to a speciality event. Not skating the pursuit is a matter of preparation for the races that an athletes has qualified to skate. There is not a system that is used to pick your pursuit team, the country gets a spot and then it is up to each team to decide who skates. So there should not have been a controversy as it is not an issue about who skates. Bill is also 100% on the money when he mentions the fact that the time for the team is based on when the third skater crosses the line. So having two "fast" guys does not win anything - it takes three. Oh by the way, the time the US skated was the second fastest of the Olympics - and it was in the quarterfinals. Unfortunately, they skated against the Italians who posted the fastest time of the Olympics - again in the quarterfinals. That is why you have to love sport, you never know what will happen. Great comment Bill and thanks!

One more thing on Chad and Shani. At 5:30am on February 27, two of us walked these two out of the Village. They were going to pick up A cab (yes, one) that would take both of them to the airport where they were to catch the same private plane (being provided by a company that sponsors both them) and flying to the Netherlands. While we walked out with them they talked and the comment was even made that "we need to finalize when and where we are going to start to train together." Now, for the sake of accuracy, we ended up needing two taxi's because of the amount of luggage the two of them had, but that was an adjustment that had to be made based on the size of car that they sent (just a bit bigger than a smart car). So just one more time I ask you all to take what the media has written with a grain of salt. They want to beat each other, no question, but they can, and do, get along.

Word was just passed to me that there has been some movement in the BCS rankings of our team leaders. In a late surge - sparked by the delivery of three Cuban cigars - the women's hockey team leader has moved rapidly up the board. His strong performance coupled with the men's hockey team leaders bad choice in a life partner has made this a race after all. I guess that the final ranking will only be known once all evaluations are turned in...stay tuned.

Oh yea, only 891 days until Opening Ceremonies of the Beijing Olympics. In fact, in about six weeks, a group of us go to Beijing to get a feel for the setup and how things will work. The Olympic machine keeps moving. Hopefully Bobby and I are in Beijing for the Games. If we are, we will be happy to share some insights again. Thanks again for reading - we hope that our effort to give you a unique look at the Games was in fact unique. So many things happen that we can't capture them all - we just hope that you have enjoyed.

Thanks to those of you have read this blog over the Games. Thanks for not sending me emails giving me the business for typo's, or about sentences that don't make sense. Please remember that when I type the words, they make sense and are spelled correctly, but I am looking through blurry eyes. In fact, I usually just sit here, with the Mp3 on and type. Usually I am typing on very few hours of sleep, so mistakes happen - thanks for cutting me some slack.

I will end on this note. I have mentioned in the past that we watch the live international feed of the Games here in the office. When an event ends for the day, a message goes up about when the next broadcast will be. When an event ends for the Games, the words "End of Transmission" appear on the screen. Those words provide complete closure for that event. After waiting four years for these Games to start, and after all of the time and planning that went into this event, those are hard words to read, because of what they mean. It is over.

So, in the words of the IBC, here from the Village, we say End of Transmission.