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An Olympic wedding with the press
SYDNEY -- One of the great things about being at the Olympics is you discover that, contrary to popular belief, the U.S. press corps is not comprised of the most obnoxious people on earth. That's because the foreign press is. I know this is hard to believe, given our portrayal in popular American culture, which has us sticking microphones into the faces of grieving widows and fallen idols. But -- trust me on this -- we are gentle lambs compared to Fourth Estates around the globe. Case in point: the Thursday evening wedding of U.S. weightlifter Suzanne Leathers to her coach, Don McCauley. McCauley and Leathers, the first alternate on the four-woman U.S. team, invited the Olympic press to witness their vows at a sports club in a Sydney suburb. A cynic might say that they got what they asked for by turning what some consider a sacred ceremony into a journalistic feeding frenzy. But the whole thing seemed reasonable to me, including their pre-ceremony request that photographers not shoot with flashes during the ceremony and that everyone observe a certain propriety. Yeah, right.
By this time, club security clearly wanted to throw the guy out but felt, rightly so, that it would be an added distraction. The moment the ceremony ended, the photographer was hustled out of the place by two brawny gentlemen who did not want to hear about freedom of the press, in French or any other language. Meanwhile, dozens of photographers were climbing onto chairs and throwing elbows at each other to shoot the wedding party. I can only imagine what the scene would've been like had the photo op been, say, Marion Jones polishing her toenails. Later, one member of my pencil-pushing brigade distinguished himself at the reception. "I can't help but notice that you are much older than the bride," one German journalist said to Leathers and McCauley at the head table. "Could you talk about it, please." "No," said McCauley. To any reasonable person in my profession, that was the correct answer. Sports Illustrated senior writer Jack McCallum is covering the weightlifting competition in Sydney for the magazine and CNNSI.com. Check back daily to read his reports.
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