Sunday, February 24, 2002
If only game can live up to the hype
By PERRY LEFKO -- Toronto Sun
It's time for all Canadians to stand on guard -- by their television sets. The gold medal game today between Canada and the U.S., scheduled to be shown live at 3 p.m. on CBC, will be the most-anticipated TV event of the season. Well, maybe next to that highly anticipated Celine Dion special.
Hockey hyperbole was in full force yesterday on the CBC.
"If you have other plans, change them," announcer Bob Cole said.
"It's as big as they come; it's for a gold medal; it's like a Stanley Cup final game," Canadian defenceman Chris Pronger said in an interview.
CBC host Ron MacLean, dressed in his chalet sweater, put a spin on it comparing it to the '72 Summit Series.
"It will be the biggest thing since and the biggest thing ever," MacLean said.
Even NBC, the schlocky hockey channel, along with its sister station MSNBC, is into the hype.
"Folks, we're in for something special," analyst John Davidson said.
"It's going to be great, an all-star game but for the highest of stakes, an Olympic gold medal," studio host Hannah Storm added.
But, as big as it is, NBC is still scheduled to maintain its regular programming, showing the first two periods on MSNBC, then picking it up on the main network, much to the chagrin of NHL commissioner Gary Bettman.
IN OTHER NEWS: The Olympic spirit was illustrated wonderfully in men's 50-kilometre cross-country skiing and women's 5,000-metre long track speed skating.
In the skiing, Spain's Johan Muehlegg prevailed by less than 15 seconds after two hours, six seconds and change.
"What is the measure of a man?" CBC announcer Scott Russell asked aloud. "Is it dedication? Is it perseverance? If so, then Johan Muehlegg is a legend."
In the skating event, Germany's Claudia Pechstein prevailed in world-record time, then did a victory lap in a red-and-black wig. NBC noted the attractive Pechstein, who once did a risque pose for a magazine, has a tattoo on her navel because her late father always wanted one. It was also noted that the male members in the NBC production truck enjoyed covering Pechstein's races. Isn't that chauvinism?
A HUGHES DEAL: CBC host Brian Williams caught himself calling Canadian Clara Hughes, who won a bronze in the 5,000 speed skating event, Sarah Hughes, the American who won a gold in figure skating. Clara Hughes became the first Canadian and only the fourth-ever Olympian to win medals in both the Winter and Summer Olympics. She won two bronze medals in cycling in the '96 Games in Atlanta.
"I'm just so happy, I feel like I'm going to throw up," she said in a post-race interview with the CBC's Neal Marshall.
It tells you something about Olympic accomplishment and perspective when Hughes' race is shown, she's interviewed afterward and then given studio time with Williams.
Canada's silver-medal winning men's curlers and bronze-medal winning women's curlers were basically given the brushoff because it's essentially gold or nothing in Canada. The late Sandra Schmirler and her team were given all kinds of TV time because they won gold in 1998.
QUICK CUTS: Good interview by NBC with Afro-American Vonetta Flowers, the gold-medal winning U.S. bobsledder, on recording her accomplishment during U.S. Black History Month ... CBC cross-country analyst Jack Sasseville noted that blood-level testing is important because a high level can cause the blood to thicken and lead to cardiac arrest. Sasseville also said the Swedes made a huge mistake by not doing high-altitude training ... CBC did a good job bringing together four members of the Edmonton Mercurys team, which won gold in the 1952 Olympics. Of course, a brewery made it possible for them to come together "out of the blue."
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2002 Games News Coverage
