The Winter Olympic games begin this Friday in Salt Lake City, and the normally dormant state of Utah becomes the focus of the world’s attention. Not since 1932 has the United States won the medal race on its home soil. In Nagano, Japan four years ago, the United States finished fifth. But new events bring new hope for our home country. The Skeleton, the so-called champagne of adrenaline rushes, makes its way back from a 54-year retirement. Not since 1948 have competitors jumped on a sled and run down a 15 turn bobsled course, headfirst. With no brakes to slow them down, they must depend on their feet for steering. If you’ve ever watched the bobsled and wondered how nobody ever gets seriously hurt, this is your opportunity to see some bone crushing. Fans learned how dangerous the skeleton is when in October of last year a Latvian competitor was killed during practice. But aside from the fear factor, American hopefuls feel they can win. Look for the names Jim Shea, Chris Soule and Lincoln Dewitt to be among the top. Dewitt, who won the world cup last year, is a real favorite to take the gold. The first runs of the Skeleton begin on Wednesday, Feb. 20.
Although the U.S. men bring a “dream team” to hockey this year, there aren’t going to be any basketball-type romps over small European countries. That’s because those small European countries could easily kick the United States’ ass. They did it in Nagano, which led to an United States team’s trashing of hotel rooms. Still, the hotel trashing did prove that the Americans take this event very seriously. For NHL players who participate in this event, it’s not a vacation from the regular season. In any given locker room of a NHL team there are players from five to 10 different countries. Pride is going to be on the line when the puck drops Saturday Feb. 9. The Czech Republic returns as defending champions and is among the favorites along with Russia, Finland, Canada, Sweden and the United States. Czech is still the team to beat, for one reason, and one reason alone: goaltender Dominik Hasek. If the U.S. goalie trio of Mike Richter, Tom Barrasso and Mike Dunham can play at Hasek’s level, then gold is attainable. If you can’t handle the drama, and want the uninspiring romps that you’ve become accustomed to, then make sure to watch the women’s hockey team. They won the gold in 1998 and are currently 27-0 on their Olympic warm-up tour. They get started on Tuesday Feb. 12 versus Germany.
The Winter Olympics are a great time, and judging by the incredible World Series and Super Bowl we’ve had so far, I wouldn’t expect anything less than spectacular. It’s nail-biting excitement at its best. For 15 days our athletes are going to be out there giving it their all to prove to the rest of the world what we already know. We fear nobody, except maybe Dominik Hasek.
