Posted: Wednesday August 25, 2004 6:39PM; Updated: Wednesday August 25, 2004 8:06PM 
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Closing Time
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Rulon Gardner is nothing if not true to his word.
Adam Pretty/Getty Images |
The Olympic opening ceremonies are U2 and Sinatra, thrilling and sexy, bigger than life, a first kiss, a slow waltz, the birth of a new life. The closing ceremonies are Van Halen and Tony Bennett, solid and workmanlike, a cup of black coffee following last call, the final stop after a long subway ride.
I'm thinking about the closing ceremonies because I'm talking to NBC's Dan Hicks, who will co-host them back to America on Sunday night with Mary Carillo. While the closing ceremonies don't possess the same cachet as the opening ones, viewers have shown an affinity for both. Salt Lake City's closing ceremony drew a 22.3 rating, a big number; the opening ceremonies pulled in a monster 25.5 rating. The opening ceremonies in Athens averaged a 14.4 rating or 25.1 million viewers.
So I'm thinking about the closing ceremonies, even though there's still plenty of jump shots left for the U.S. men's basketball team to miss, plenty of long jumps for Marion Jones to attempt and plenty of time for another athlete to test positive for doping. But the bulk of the games are in our rearview mirror, and the final notes to this aria need to be sung. For NBC, the job falls on Carillo and Hicks, who also teamed for the closing ceremonies in Salt Lake.
"I'm pretty calm about this one because I kind of know what it's all about," said Hicks, who is at his first Olympics without his wife, Hannah Storm, now the co-host of the CBS morning program, The Early Show. "You try to put things in perspective, but it's very different from the opening ceremonies; it's a totally different feel."
Hicks has moved to the late-night host seat after spending eight days poolside with Rowdy Gaines. Last Friday night, after Phelps announced he was giving up his spot to Ian Crocker for the 400-meter medley relay, Hicks and Gaines happened to see him waiting for a bus following his news conference.
"It was the first time I had seen him outside the pool, and I told him that the 100-meter fly was one of the best races I ever called," Hicks said. "So Michael says, 'Yeah, but I wish I could see it.' So I said, 'Well, our compound is right here if you want to come over; we can cue up the races. And he said, 'Let's go.'"
So Phelps, Hicks and Gaines headed to an NBC edit truck, where Phelps spent 45 minutes watching, for the first time, the images of his races that had been beamed back to America. Phelps then asked to see the 4x200 relay race, but he didn't want to see his own swim: He wanted it cued up to the anchor leg, when Klete Keller held off Ian Thorpe to win. Upon watching the race again in NBC's truck, Phelps whooped it up again. ...
Wrestler Rulon Gardner, as he promised he would do, left his shoes on the center of the ring following his Greco Roman bronze-medal match yesterday. I spoke with Gardner last week for the magazine's Q & A, and he sounded like a man at peace: "I'm completely content," Gardner said. "I have accomplished every goal I ever set. If it's winning a gold medal or not, I'll feel like I've accomplished every goal and every desire."
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Faster, Higher, Stronger
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The daily Olympic blog is nothing if not self-promotional ... thus the SI Hospitality suite is drawing raves, mostly from a faminished editorial staff (and some visitors, including Natalie Coughlin, Tom Dolan and Jackie Joyner-Kersee, among others). Before the edit staff realized they could procure guest passes from the always-hospitable business-side folks, we were subjected to gruel and bile that would make Dostoyevsky cringe. Tuesday the venerable S.L. Price, upon looking for a dinner companion to the hospitality suite, inquired a group by asking, "Are you going to a place that I like to call Eden?" ... Though I respect their athleticism and world-class attention to fitness, I'm not much of a beach volleyball fan (unlike, say, one of the photo editors here, a fellow by the name of Jeff Weig, who has spent more time watching the sport than Ahab pursued his whale). Still, it was great to see Misty May and Kerri Walsh win the gold medal, a first for the U.S. in Olympic women's beach volleyball. And Walsh seems to be a pretty cool woman. She spent much of her time at the SI party Tuesday showing off her medal to whoever asked. But more on that party in a future blog. And, yes, it will be worth the wait. ... Finally, The L.A. Times' headline on the Athens earthquake: ATHENS HAS 4.5 QUAKE BUT JUDGES GIVE IT A 3.9. |
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Don't Miss
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• Basketball: Men's quarterfinal: USA vs. Spain, OAKA Olympic Indoor Hall
Pau Gasol against those other folks from the NBA.
• Soccer: Women's gold-medal match (USA vs. Brazil), Karalskaki Stadium
The end of the line for the so-called '91ers -- Mia Hamm, Joy Fawcett, Julie Foudy, Brandi Chastain and Kristine Lilly, who were part of the 1991 World Cup-winning squad in China.
• Athletics: Men's 200m final, OAKA Olympic Stadium
Sweep, anyone? 100 winner Justin Gatlin, Shawn Crawford and Bernard Williams are all medal favorites here. |
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Americans to Watch
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The U.S Women's water polo team faces 2000 gold-medalist Australia in the bronze-medal game. James Carter and Bennie Brazell go after medals in the 400-meter hurdles final. Long jump world champion Dwight Phillips is the favorite in the men's long jump.
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