Stu's email address is stumail@earthlink.net.

 

Editor's Note: This is the conclusion of a three-part series on Stu and his friend Marty's journey to the Winter Olympics. "Every so often, our world comes together to celebrate the very best in human spirit. That time is now, and every moment of it belongs to us all."--Hallmark Cards Many components make the Winter Olympic Games so exciting. One is, with the exception of a few events, the competition is all over in seconds. A lifetime of training comes down to seconds, one run, one jump, one incredible wipe-out. The Olympics are not forgiving. You get one shot (maybe two runs in some events), and that's it. It's either, "here's your medal," or "thanks for playing our game, maybe we'll see you in four years." To witness athletes from around the globe come together for friendly competition, especially at these fragile times, is emotional, inspiring, exciting, fun and representative of hope. Let me clear up one myth about the Olympics. You don't have to be rich to go. You just need to be smart, aware, observant and at times, persistent. Marty and I arrived in Salt Lake City with no tickets. Armed with only a sign that read, "Wanted: Two Tickets," we got into every event we wanted. And, we paid way less than face-value of the ticket and even got some free tickets. The Olympic Committee was still selling some tickets, but they were for such exciting events as biathlon, curling...yawn..., etc. So we looked at the schedule and planned our week as though we already had tickets to the very best events. Then we showed-up and scalped cheap or free tickets. And yes, scalping tickets is legal in Utah. And when I say cheap, I'm talking $5, $10, $30 for tickets that have a minimum face-value of $95 to more than $300. We avoided the professional scalpers, who were ripping-off naive people forking-over big bucks. Instead, we bought tickets from common folk who had extras, who just wanted to get in to see the event and not stand around trying to retire off of ticket re-sales. One thing we learned is if you passed through security and scalped tickets on the other side, before you got to the ticket takers, people were just glad to unload them for next-to-nothing, or just give them to you. Also, once an event started, people virtually threw their tickets at you as they ran by to take their seats, not wanting to miss anything. At the Medals Ceremonies in the evening in downtown Salt Lake, we got in free two nights and saw concerts by the Foo Fighters and Bare Naked Ladies. Two incredible performances. By the way, if you are not yet hip to Bare Naked Ladies, you need to be. They are one of Canada's finest exports. Don't walk, run to buy one of their CDs. You'll thank me later. One night we were there for the presentation of the medals for the three Americans who swept the snow boarding events. To see the three American flags raised and hear the National Anthem played was overwhelming. I will never forget that moment. I have to compliment Salt Lake for doing such an excellent job hosting the Olympics. Security, transportation, information, the venues, the volunteers, did an excellent job. Although, it took visitors just four days to consume 400,000 hot dogs that were supposed to last 17 days. But besides the hot dog famine, all went well. So, back to the Games. Here's what we saw: men's and women's freestyle moguls, men's downhill, luge, ski jumping, hockey and short-track speed skating with Apolo Anton Ohno. One of the many highlights, was seeing mogul skier Jonny "Big Air" Mosely do his famous "Dinner Roll," a revolutionary barrel-roll jump. He is said to be the only one in the world who can do it. It put him in first place, but he was later bumped down to fourth place by skiers, who performed less flashy, but higher point-scoring runs. Mosely had won the gold medal fours years earlier in Nagano, Japan. Oh, and what about the free six pack I mentioned in this past month's column? One day we went to see the women's downhill, but it was wind-delayed, then eventually postponed to the next day. Afterwards, we were sitting in the stands, getting sun, waiting for the crowds to dissipate and I looked over and found a box with six cold beers in it and no one around. No doubt they made a quick exit to the small village of porta-potties and forgot their $5 bottles of beer. Good thing we were there to take care of them! Ohhh, the agony of defeat.