March 1, 2002

THE MORMON OLYMPICS



All of Utah and especially the East as well as West side of the Wasatch front is breathing a collective sigh of relief. Thank God it's over and nothing seriously untoward has happened. When Salt Lake City was originally awarded the Games there was jubilation which turned into dismay and distress when a letter was leaked which showed that the Salt Lake Organizing Committee (SLOC) had greased the palms of International Olympic Committee (IOC) members. We had not won the nomination on merit alone, although we had surely been better qualified than Nagano to which we had lost out. Rumor had it that IOC members had been slipped notes by abortion activists prior to the final vote not to award the games to Utah on account of its anti-abortion stance. Our "bribery scandal" made headlines all over the world as if this sort of behavior had not been routine in the recent past. Apparently one should do these things but not talk about them. What made the matter worse was that, in the land of the Saints of all places, not only scholarships were given to some children of African dignitaries but "escort services" were provided for some of the delegates, who fancied that sort of thing. Inquiries were held, and the mayor as well as the governor strongly denied any knowledge of malfeasance, although this is somewhat difficult to believe since especially the mayor had been heavily involved in the bid process. The two individuals who had done most of the work for getting the bid were not only sacked and disgraced but also criminally prosecuted, although there was never any evidence presented that they had personally enriched themselves. Nevertheless the case is still in court. To top it off we found out that the whole affair was massively under funded and SLOC was deeply in the red a year and a half before the Games were to take place. We, as good citizens of Utah, had happily paid for the extravaganza with an increase in sales taxes, but apparently that was far from enough to cover costs.

To the rescue came Mitt Romney, son of the former governor of Michigan George Romney, a good Mormon, or more correctly, Latter Day Saint. The official designation of the Church (in Utah when one says Church everybody knows what one is talking about) is "The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints" and this name should also clarify the question whether or not Mormons are Christians. Since they are firm believers in Jesus Christ as our Savior they obviously qualify, in spite of some notions which might strike outsiders as quaint. The Church obviously couldn't tolerate this disgrace of its home state and drafted Mr. Romney who lived in Massachusetts. When God calls there are no choices. He came to town, worked like a beaver and drummed up the necessary funds from sponsors. The fact that he is not only articulate but also immensely telegenic was an additional plus. Our two senators and the congressmen also did a yeoman's job in Washington to obtain funding for the necessary infrastructures including highway improvements and the construction of a light rail system to deal with the anticipated traffic congestions.

By September 10 of last year we were well on our way to stage a happy and successful event. The morning of the next day changed the equation. The country was attacked, counter strikes were deliberated, eventually a war against the Taliban was decreed and since this was not enough we also had to declare War on Terrorism per se so that we could at least bomb any country in the world which might harbor terrorists. In as much as one man's terrorist is another man's freedom fighter the field is now wide open to do away with anybody we don't like. Anthrax spores were sent through the mail to senators, and the media were acting as if the end of the world were at hand. America as we know it had ceased to exist and from now on we were to be in a perpetual state of war. A director of homeland security was appointed, although it is far from clear what powers were delegated to him, and the panic that gripped the media could be likened to ancient Rome when Hannibal was ante portas or, more recently as if we were in London of 1940 when the Blitz started. This was the climate in the waning months of last year and there were serious discussions whether or not it was appropriate to hold the Olympics under these circumstances.

But we live in the land of the Saints where the firm belief is held that the Lord will never forsake His own, so there was never a question of quitting. SLOC under Mitt's guidance ignored the media tumult and quietly continued with its work. But there was also the additional problem of how to secure the various venues. Osama's boys would surely be tempted to wreak vengeance for having been thrown out of Afghanistan. They would poison the water, blow up the Toelle army depot, which is only about 30 miles southwest from us and contains more toxins than Saddam could ever dream of, disable the electricity grid (which would actually be quite simple), and bring suitcases full of nuclear devices in order to kill as many people as possible. Therefore a massive, elaborate, and unprecedented security system was put in place. We were visited by Mr. Rich, the homeland security chief, Mr. Rumsfeld, the Secretary of Defense, and numerous other dignitaries who dished out over $200 million for security measures. Special attention was, of course, placed on airport safety. New baggage inspection devices had to be installed and Salt Lake was to become the prototype for airport security around the country. Since the rest of the country and especially the world at large do not boast anywhere near the safety we now possess, we have the paradoxical situation that theoretically anybody could bring in his lethal goodies but he couldn't take them out. But this is, of course, irrelevant. Eventually Timbuktu airport will also meet our standards. The consequences of this policy became apparent on Monday after the games were over; but let me not jump the gun. Saddam can now be happy that Salt Lake had also become a no-fly zone during the Games. Unauthorized private jets with visiting diplomats, or officials, were to be met by a pair of F16's who would politely escort them out of the area. During opening and closing ceremonies the airport was to be completely shut down for four hours. Even the hot air balloon operators who had hoped to attract some business to properly show off our fabulous vistas had to close shop for the duration of the Games.

Before the media ever arrived here they dubbed the 2002 Games the "Mormon Olympics." Apparently the journalists and TV pundits expected dark suited missionary boys to track them every step of the way, hand them a copy of the Book of Mormon, politely take their cigarettes from their mouths, and if they wanted a drink they would be told that it is not healthy for them. They should have Hawaiian Punch instead and for good measure also a dish of green mint jell-O (a favorite taunt Mormons have to endure) which would keep them in harmony with nature. The supposed inability to get a drink in Utah, and the fear of succumbing to proselytizing were apparently uppermost in the minds of reporters. There seemed to have been also some latent fear by lady journalists to be drafted by a roaming army of polygamists, while their male companions might actually have relished the thought of joining that "peculiar institution" as it was referred to in the 1890's.

I was not privy to the deliberations of the Church as to how to deal with this emergency when the world arrived and when it was confronted by Utahns who are not necessarily intrigued by "cultural diversity," which translates into "anything goes." Ours is a conservative state, where the gospel song of: "Give me that old time religion, It was good for our mothers, It was good for our fathers and It's good enough for me " is not being preached but practiced. President Hinckley, who is also the Prophet, Seer, and Revelator of the Church, received a revelation as to how to solve this dilemma. An edict came down to the faithful, who comprise about 80% of the population of the state, that there was to be no proselytizing and the liquor laws would be relaxed for the 17 days in question, so that booze could flow more freely than usual. In addition he probably told them: "don't worry what other people think about you, don't put on any airs of defensiveness, just be your usual friendly, cheerful selves and all will be well. And indeed it was.

When the opening ceremony started in the refurbished Rice-Eccles stadium 25,000 volunteers of all ages were on hand at the various venues to greet and help the visitors. In addition there were thousands of national guardsmen in their camouflage suits around plus other security personnel who remained unobtrusive. The Lord also contributed His share to the success. The high winds and inclement weather we had in the morning cleared up by the afternoon and all the floats, which had been so meticulously prepared, could safely be launched. Had we had one of our usual February storms which can dump about a foot of snow within a few hours, chaos would have erupted. But all went well except for some display of super patriotism, which lingers after September 11, and which some of us felt wasn't quite necessary. The fact that President Bush officially opened the Games not from the podium above the entire crowd but in the midst of the American team was a departure from custom foreigners might have winked at, but when he also altered the official text and said: "On behalf of a proud and determined nation I declare the XIXth Olympic Winter Games opened," some eye brows went up. The host shouldn't brag, was the feeling. When you invite somebody to your house you don't want to start out with showing the guests the pictures of your children and grandchildren. But everybody knows that he is from Texas, where everybody is proud to be a Texan, and that he may yet have to learn the fine art of diplomacy from his father. On the other hand, how would people in the West have reacted if Hitler had opened the Berlin games in 1936 with: On behalf of a National Socialist Germany, risen from the ashes of defeat, I declare etc. It'll be interesting to see what the President of China, whoever he may be at that time, will say in Beijing in 2008. Will he take his cue from George W. and say: On behalf of the mighty and determined People's Republic of China, the most populous nation on earth, I declare....? But Americans are different from other people. Would a Chinese equivalent of figure skater Sharon Cohen call her mother on the cell phone and when she answers say: "Hi mom, here's the President, talk to him!"?

This momentary glitch in protocol, as well as the parading of the tattered flag which was rescued from the World Trade Center rubble, to demonstrate that America can also rise like the Phoenix from catastrophe, was commented upon but no harm was done. The media people were amazed by the friendly smiles of the crowd, the stunning backdrop of the Wasatch Mountains and they even got their drinks. About seventy thousand people congregated every night downtown for concerts and medal distributions. Office hours for the average "working stiff' who still had to be on his/her usual job in the downtown area were shortened so that the employees could leave in the early afternoon in order to ease the anticipated evening traffic congestion.

There were, of course, complaints which included even the Great Salt Lake. "It stinks!" Of course it does on the shore. Decaying brine just doesn't smell good but the nose is a marvelous organ and the sense of smell adapts much faster than all the others. Within a few minutes you don't smell it any more, even on shore. Once you are just a tad away from shore and the wind blows, as usual, from the north you don't smell anything at all. But I think the biggest surprise and media hit was Gordon B. Hinckley, President of the Church. This 91 year old spry, upright, grand fatherly truly gentle-man impressed everybody with his natural grace and sincerity. When a visiting journalist was amazed at how mentally sharp he was at his advanced age, a bystander told him: "You should have seen him when he was eighty!" That's what clean living and having family values, rather than just talking about them, does.

As an aside I might mention that a few days before the Games, on Valentine's Day, I gave "my Bonnie" a treat and took her to the Home Buffet. It isn't that I was stingy but she likes the salad bar there, the food is good and inexpensive, so that's where she prefers to go and after fifty years I don't argue any more. We went there early to avoid crowds but were surprised that there was already a fairly long line. The reason soon became obvious. When we came to the counter the cashier girl asked us how long we were married. When we declared fifty years she smiled, congratulated us and we were told that dinner was on the house. They also took our photograph. Subsequently we found out that this is a custom on Valentine's Day for this nation-wide chain. But I bet that the corporate planners in New York or wherever hadn't figured on the cash loss of Utah. Here fifty years of marriage is nothing to be marveled at, it's the rule unless one or both die first. When somebody asks me how many grandchildren I have (nobody asks do you have grandchildren?, that's a given) I answer somewhat embarrassed: "I can't compete, only six." With a minimum of six or eight children, thirty five and more grandchildren tends to be the rule. We were told that we could pick up our photos the next day and when we came again a few days later for dinner a whole wall was plastered with couples who had stuck it out for fifty years or more with each other. That's Utah!

The athletic events proceeded smoothly until the pairs figure skating. We watched it at home on TV and felt that the Canadians had skated flawlessly and deserved the gold medal. The Russians had made a minute misstep but they got the gold and the Canadians the silver. This injustice enraged the crowd and when it was rumored that the French judge had made a deal with the Russian judge as a quid pro quo for the next competition a few days later the outrage was palpable. For the rest of the week all the other competitions were overshadowed by the scandal, over which the media literally drooled. The Canadian Figure Skating Association protested and Olympic President Dr. Jacques Rogge was put under intense pressure to nullify the judgment. There was talk of exchanging the medals where the Russians would give the Canadians their golden one and the Canadians would reciprocate with the silver but even Putin would have objected to that, so a Solomonic decision was taken. The baby was not cut in half but there were two golden babies. In addition the French judge was removed from the panel. The outrage subsided but the Russian Federation was unhappy, although the four athletes themselves behaved marvelously and, at least on the surface, there were no hard feelings.

When I viewed the brewing scandal I was immediately reminded that there is truly nothing new under the sun. Several decades earlier I had read a story in Herodotus which is highly á propos. The Greeks, during the fifth century B.C. were upstarts and the ancient civilization of Egypt was regarded as the repository of wisdom. You may be surprised that even Moses cribbed from the Egyptians, not only in regard to the essence of the Ten Commandments but also with other wisdom literature which is attributed to him. At any rate, Herodotus tells us that a deputation of proud Greeks from the state of Elis went to Egypt and boasted that their Olympic games were the best and fairest of all. They thought that even the Egyptians would have to admit to that. But the king of Egypt called his council of wise men together and when the Greeks had presented their case they asked the Elians if their citizens were permitted to enter the competitions. The Greeks replied: Of course, the games are open to all Greek citizens, whatever state they belonged to. Whereupon the Egyptians declared: "If this were so they departed from justice very widely, since it was impossible but that they would favor their own countrymen and deal unfairly by foreigners." If they wanted to have true justice the Elians must not be allowed to compete when the games are held in their country. It's obvious that the human race has not changed in twenty five hundred years and is not likely to do so, barring some genetic engineering, in the foreseeable future. Judging of competitions is inherently subjective and thereby potentially unfair. Another precedent has been set here in Salt Lake and protests may become run of the mill. We may also have opened the door for the legal profession to ply its trade on behalf of disadvantaged individual athletes or their national federations. Will the judges now have to buy malpractice insurance in case they might get sued for their personal worth? In our day and age where money rules, nothing is too outlandish to contemplate.

Other incidents of suspected doping caused further unhappiness on part of the Russians who at one point even threatened to leave the Games. But President Putin put his foot down and told them to forget it. As our son Peter declared: "Putin wants to watch the hockey game too." Unfortunately for him his Russians lost but he could take solace in the fact the American winning team had three Russians on their roster. Peter who still lives in the Detroit area, home of the fabled Red Wings hockey team, told us that they had given their players a three week vacation from the ongoing season so that they could compete within their own respective national teams in Salt Lake. Thus it was in part Red Wings against Red Wings. To be precise: of the eleven Red Wing players who participated in the Games three played for Russia, two for the U.S.A., one for the Czech Republic, two for Sweden and two for Canada. Now that's the true Olympic spirit! The numbers come from the official website of the team www.detroitredwings.com. The South Koreans were also unhappy about what they judged as bad manners by Apolo Anton Ohno who had snatched the gold medal from their speed skater. Feelings ran so high that he got hundreds of life threatening letters. These were turned over to the FBI; Ohno had to move out of the Olympic village to undisclosed hotels and was given a special state trooper to accompany him at all times.

While Park City and Deer Valley teemed with crowds of visitors, our two boys who had come with their families for this once in a lifetime event found perfect ski conditions in Big and Little Cottonwood Canyon. Brighton, Solitude, Snowbird and Alta were practically deserted. No lift lines, beautiful sunshine and occasionally even a foot of powder provided a perfect vacation. Since even the youngest of our grandchildren is already an accomplished skier, at the tender age of five years, I feel that bringing my skis with me from Austria in 1950 was one of the best ideas of my life.

As far as NBC's TV coverage is concerned I had mixed feelings. They obviously concentrated mostly on the American athletes but I would liked to have seen, instead of some of the fireside chats by the commentators, other events where Americans were not so prominently represented. It was the world after all we wanted to see perform. In addition, some of the commercials were obnoxious. Every company from Chevrolet through Coca Cola was a "proud" sponsor of its ads. Pride is currently a greatly overworked word in this country. Everybody must feel proud! That pride comes before the fall hasn't sunk in yet. At the end of the closing ceremony the entire foothills of the Wasatch front exploded in a brilliant display of fireworks. Instead of waiting for its beginning the station had to cut back to "proud advertisers" but thankfully we could see part of it on the evening news. Since some of the grenades were launched from right in front of the Hogle Zoo there was concern that the animals might not take kindly to all that noise and stampede. But the Zebras, Polar bears, elephants and the other members of the animal kingdom who live there merely got a little nervous, took it in their stride and calmed down when it was all over.

All's well that ends well, as the saying goes. Our kids left on Saturday and that was smart. The people who departed on Monday were in for a huge disappointment. They were told to come to the airport four hours before flight time - security and baggage check in - but even so some missed their flights and they had to stand in line for up to six hours. The volunteers were on hand again distributing hot chocolate, bottled water, gold wrapped chocolates and tried to entertain the waiting crowd with song and dance but this could do little to assuage some angry feelings. There was nothing SLOC or the city could have done about it because the airlines are a law unto themselves. But all in all the games were a success and Utahns are so happy that they want the world to come back again some time in the future. We ended up in the black and were even promised that we will get some of our tax money back. But I won't hold my breath for that to happen. Credit for the success must go, apart from the athletes, to Mitt Romney and SLOC who have done a terrific job, to Olympic President Dr. Rogge for defusing a potentially problematic situation, to the Church who by staying in the background immeasurably improved its image and that of the state, but most of all to the 25,000 volunteers. These people were on their assignments for up to ten or twelve hours a day, regardless of weather, for the entire period. They received no pay, meager food but were simply happy and grateful that they were allowed to show the world in what kind of place we really live and what kind of people Utahns really are.

Congratulations and Thank You volunteers, you deserve all the praise you can get! You made it the Mormon Olympics in the best sense of the word.
 
 
 
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