AZ JazzyJ
<font color=teal>The Talented One<br><font color=p
- Joined
- Dec 6, 2000
- Messages
- 1,945
February 8 - Day 1
After a long day of travelling into the frozen tundra of Utah yesterday, I was up early for my first day at the Olympics. The first event I had was the 90 meter Ski Jumping. Nothing quite like watching some dude fly through the air then biff eating half a mountain of snow to make a guy appreciate having both feet on the ground. The event was to begin at 9:00 AM and we were told to leave by 6:30 AM if we hoped to be at the hill in time for the start. When I awoke, the wind was blowing 50 MPH with gusts to 70 MPH. With the temperature at 20 degrees, it made the wind chill factor somewhere between dead and buried. I was at the hill with 15 minutes to spare only to find that these athletes are a bunch of babies. They seem to think it is bad if the wind was blowing to the point where they would land in trees rather than on the ground. After 4 hours of on again off again delays, the event was cancelled. Discouraged, I made my way down into downtown Salt Lake City to check things out. While downtown, I attempted to see some of the cultural sites and maybe find someone trading pins. At every location, you have to walk through metal detectors and be searched. At the first one, I forgot to leave my pocket knife in the car which lead to a 30 minute delay and the confiscation of my knife. It seems these guys have less of a sense of humor than those guys at the checkpoints in the airport. I did make a trade with Powder the mascot getting a great sponsor pin from Sprint. I also made a great trade with a woman at the Hard Rock Cafe in SLC receiving a limited edition spinner skiing pin from the HRC. After leaving the party, I went to the street to see the Olympic Torch make its way through downtown SLC. The streets were lined with people cheering some chick holding a flaming stick. I yelled to ask where the marshmellows were at but no one would answer me.
As I arrived at the Opening Ceremonies and left the bus, there were tons of people and even more security. The lines were long getting through the metal detectors but it moved quickly. Helicopters hovered around the stadium as the president made his way to the athletes. Although it was cold, no one seemed to mind. Personally I appreciated the opportunity to stand up and sit down just to stay warm. I went through 2 hand warmers and 4 toe warmers so I was in pretty good shape. While waiting for the festivities to start, I made another trade for a gold Olympic pin. The ceremonies were great (almost as good as the National League Divisional Playoffs but not as cool as the World Series. I kept having to remind myself that somewhere on the planet, it was warm enough to play baseball). To see the torch lit was an incredible site. After leaving the Opening Ceremonies, we were stuck as we had to wait for President Bush and his band of merry men to come by. The entire city was stopped until he passed. Given that I was cold, I thought maybe I could catch a ride. As his car was coming, I made my way to the street and stuck my thumb out to see if the Prez would pick up a hitch hiker but he blew me off. Man, you vote for a guy and he can't even stop and give you a lift. What is up with that?
I went downtown to hang out some more and met these two women from Texas who were interested in trading pins. I let go of my glow in the dark lizard pin in exchange for one from an Olympic translator that says, "I Speak English". So at least people can now understand what I am trying to say. Downtown is Bud World with Budweiser having a great tent. They brought in their Clydesdales and flew in some penguins from Sea World. It was pretty wild and I made a note to come back and see if I could trade some pins. I ended the evening taking a tour of Temple Square. After 30 minutes of me asking them questions, they finally gave up and decided to trade pins. I got a great pin in exchange for my Betty Crocker Olympic Oven Mitts pin.
Although I missed an event due to weather, the first day was great and I can hardly wait to see what happens next.
Jeff
After a long day of travelling into the frozen tundra of Utah yesterday, I was up early for my first day at the Olympics. The first event I had was the 90 meter Ski Jumping. Nothing quite like watching some dude fly through the air then biff eating half a mountain of snow to make a guy appreciate having both feet on the ground. The event was to begin at 9:00 AM and we were told to leave by 6:30 AM if we hoped to be at the hill in time for the start. When I awoke, the wind was blowing 50 MPH with gusts to 70 MPH. With the temperature at 20 degrees, it made the wind chill factor somewhere between dead and buried. I was at the hill with 15 minutes to spare only to find that these athletes are a bunch of babies. They seem to think it is bad if the wind was blowing to the point where they would land in trees rather than on the ground. After 4 hours of on again off again delays, the event was cancelled. Discouraged, I made my way down into downtown Salt Lake City to check things out. While downtown, I attempted to see some of the cultural sites and maybe find someone trading pins. At every location, you have to walk through metal detectors and be searched. At the first one, I forgot to leave my pocket knife in the car which lead to a 30 minute delay and the confiscation of my knife. It seems these guys have less of a sense of humor than those guys at the checkpoints in the airport. I did make a trade with Powder the mascot getting a great sponsor pin from Sprint. I also made a great trade with a woman at the Hard Rock Cafe in SLC receiving a limited edition spinner skiing pin from the HRC. After leaving the party, I went to the street to see the Olympic Torch make its way through downtown SLC. The streets were lined with people cheering some chick holding a flaming stick. I yelled to ask where the marshmellows were at but no one would answer me.
As I arrived at the Opening Ceremonies and left the bus, there were tons of people and even more security. The lines were long getting through the metal detectors but it moved quickly. Helicopters hovered around the stadium as the president made his way to the athletes. Although it was cold, no one seemed to mind. Personally I appreciated the opportunity to stand up and sit down just to stay warm. I went through 2 hand warmers and 4 toe warmers so I was in pretty good shape. While waiting for the festivities to start, I made another trade for a gold Olympic pin. The ceremonies were great (almost as good as the National League Divisional Playoffs but not as cool as the World Series. I kept having to remind myself that somewhere on the planet, it was warm enough to play baseball). To see the torch lit was an incredible site. After leaving the Opening Ceremonies, we were stuck as we had to wait for President Bush and his band of merry men to come by. The entire city was stopped until he passed. Given that I was cold, I thought maybe I could catch a ride. As his car was coming, I made my way to the street and stuck my thumb out to see if the Prez would pick up a hitch hiker but he blew me off. Man, you vote for a guy and he can't even stop and give you a lift. What is up with that?
I went downtown to hang out some more and met these two women from Texas who were interested in trading pins. I let go of my glow in the dark lizard pin in exchange for one from an Olympic translator that says, "I Speak English". So at least people can now understand what I am trying to say. Downtown is Bud World with Budweiser having a great tent. They brought in their Clydesdales and flew in some penguins from Sea World. It was pretty wild and I made a note to come back and see if I could trade some pins. I ended the evening taking a tour of Temple Square. After 30 minutes of me asking them questions, they finally gave up and decided to trade pins. I got a great pin in exchange for my Betty Crocker Olympic Oven Mitts pin.
Although I missed an event due to weather, the first day was great and I can hardly wait to see what happens next.
Jeff
