CHINESE WALTERS TORTURE
The NBC Production Seminar took place on Monday afternoon inside the luxurious confines of the (C)CP. This is one of my favorite events of the Olympics, even if no medals are awarded. Then again, many of the attendees already have them. Our host, NBC Sports Executive Vice President David Neal, informed us that if the former Olympians on NBC's broadcast team (e.g., Karch Kiraly, Rowdy Gaines) pooled their career Olympic medals, they would have finished 6th in the medal count in the 2004 Games.
Speaking of Rowdy, he could not be nicer (he could be rowdier, but nicer? No). We happened to be swimming at the same time an hour before the seminar, and afterward he talked to me as if we were just a pair of fortysomethings trying to stay in shape. Which, okay, we are. A friend of mine suggested that I watch Rowdy's stroke when we were both in the pool so as to pick up some pointers. No. I don't sneak stares at other men in Speedos. Besides, I already know the fundamental difference in our respective strokes, and it is this: He's Rowdy Gaines.
Back to the production seminar. In layman's terms, it's what you might call a team-building exercise ("Team-building exerciiiiise, 1999!" ... that would be my second reference to the same FoTC tune since the Olympics began; someone is hurting for new pop-culture references ... maybe I should watch Weeds, after all). Except that when you look around, it's pretty humbling to be in that room.
You look around and there's Bob Costas to your right, Karch Kiraly seated behind you, and Doug Collins, the dude who made what should have been the gold medal-clinching free throw in the '72 Olympics, a few rows over. Cris Collinsworth (excellent hair!) is seated in the front row. You almost fail to notice Heather Cox is seated three feet away from you. Almost.
Yesterday, along with lovely colleagues Pamela Barone and Amy Stetson, I visited the Great Wall (I also exchange emails with my friend from Sports Illustrated, Grant Wahl, who is in China to cover Olympic soccer; he will heretofore be known as The Grant Wahl of China).
Just as the Grand Canyon is grand (thanks, Homer), the Great Wall lives up to its billing. However, the great irony of China's ancient ode to isolationism is this: While it can be seen from outer space, it can barely be seen (as this photo attests) when you're actually standing on it. And, in fact, it can barely be seen from outer space. That's mostly myth.
The three of us hired a tour guide (Beijing native Peter ... just Peter) and a crazy driver who must have seen The French Connection one too many times. We loved Peter. He said things such as, "I love movies, particularly your blockbuster films" and "I love to play video games that feature violent scenery and disturbing images."
The drive to the Mutianyu section took about 45 (death-defying) minutes -- the turn signal in China is a honking horn and apparently "no passing" zones do not exist. The three of us got a kick out of the English translations to Chinese phrases. Hence, we passed up an opportunity to grab breakfast at the Good-For-Come Restaurant and wondered aloud when we read that the summit cable car station was "forgettingoff".
And what would a visit to a natural wonder of the world be without an idiotic move by me and a chance meeting with an acquaintance. First, the idiocy. The three of us made it our mission to clamber up the steepest, longest section of the wall that was available to us. The Wall rises 483 steps, quite steeply, in one section. We summited, returned to the bottom and were headed back to the cable cars when I realized that (D'oh!) I'd left my camera case up top. So that was fun.
On the way back down I encountered two men who'd heard from Pam and Amy (Where's the team spirit? They left me for dead back there ... not wanting to miss the lunch buffet at the Good-For-Come) about my repeat climb up the Wall (does this stuff ever happen to Ed Viesturs?). One of them looked very familiar. I didn't recognize him at the moment--sweat pouring down my face -- but it was actually Dan Bickley, a terrific columnist for The Arizona Republic. All the times I've climbed Camelback Mountain and never seen him ...
Band That Won't Be Performing at the Opening Ceremony ...
... The Red Rockers, who were all over the MTV in the summer of '83 with their one hit, "China".
By the way, I had the opportunity to watch a dress rehearsal for the Opening Ceremony (so, yeah, a pretty, pretty, pret-ty good day) last night. The opening number, all I can say is, Whoa. You ever see that movie Zulu? When the British think they've protected their garrison, and then all of a sudden they look up the hill and see -- well, it's a little like that.
I'm Sure He's Great At His Job, But ...
... I love that our advertising sales COO is named Ed Swindler.
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NBCSports.com's John Walters goes into the world of college sports and well beyond. From Notre Dame to the latest in pop culture, JDub tackles it all.
Ah, Camelback. I'm pretty sure the Camelback is No. 42 at the Good-for-Come. Get it with the white rice.