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The Chat House Goes to The Winter Olympics!
With
Michael Wilbon
Washington Post Columnist
Tuesday, Feb. 19, 2002; 1:30 p.m. ET
The Chat House has temporarily MOVED to Salt Lake City for the Winter Olympics! Join a special edition of The House with Michael Wilbon LIVE from Utah today to talk about the winter games.
Michael is skating solo today; remember Tony is afraid to fly!
The transcript of today's discussion follows.
Editor's Note: Washingtonpost.com moderators retain editorial control
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Michael Wilbon: Good Afternoon everyone and welcome to a special edition of The Chat House LIVE from Salt Lake City, UT. Mike is in Salt Lake, I'm in Washington in his office.... and the Winter Olympics are the topic of discussion. Hi Mike, what's the scene like there? --Mary
I'm in one of the great places on earth: Deer Valley in Park City, Utah.... oh my God, this is one of the most beautiful places I've been. Okay, it's not Monte Carlo or Paris or Nice, but as far as North America, it's just WOW. I could take up residence here. You walk into the resort where the aerial skiing is about to be contested you are greeted by a personal recording by actor Michael Douglas, who I presume is a resident part of the year. Robert Redford has been spotted frequently. This is pretty damn cool. If I see Catherine Zeta-Jones, I'm never coming back. --Mike
She'll be in an ice dancing outfit. --Mary
Alexandria, VA:
Why hasn't anyone mentioned the improprieties of the winning bid for Salt Lake City to host the Games? It's as if the reporting world is cutting the IOC some slack during it's tarnished shining moment.
Michael Wilbon: There has been months, even years of exhaustive reporting on that topic. How much more do you want? Why don't you just go on the Internet and re-read the reports from The Post, The NY Times, L-A Times and others on the subject? You just can't write the same old stuff every day. You move on. That's what news organizations do. You cover the news that day. The news these days concerns competition or events that flow from the competition like the judging scandal.--Mike
Mount Pleasant, Michigan:
Mr. Wilbon - I disagree with your new scoring system. I think I can simplify it for you.
If the event requires judging, it's not a sport. Period.
Make the point system automatic, then maybe these events would get some recognition as sports.
-eric b
Michael Wilbon: Eric, all you're doing is parroting a position that I have taken in this newspaper two dozen times over the past 10 years: if an event can ONLY be decided by judging, it's not a sport. It may have elements of phenomenal athleticism, but it's not a sport in my book. --Mike
Denver, CO:
From the only city ever to vote down the Olympics after winning them...
...how corrupt does DC have to be to give Mike Tyson a boxing license after every other major venue told him to take a hike?
Michael Wilbon: So you're one of these people you can't think on your own? You just do what the previous person has done? Is that your position? You can't take a stand on your own unless it's a popular one? I'm glad to hear that DC didn't give in and look at the case based on what it wants DC to get out of such an event. I hope the fight does come off in DC. We have been a community for way too long that simply says NO to everything. I'm psyched to hear about it. Keep in mind, we don't know if Tyson will even be a free man by the time this fight is supposed to take off or if he can stay out of trouble, serious trouble, between now and then. But I hope it comes off just like I hope DC-Baltimore gets the 2012 Olympics. And Denver looks pretty stupid on this issue doesn't it? The Denver papers have 18-20 staffers a piece here covering the Games. I don't know...maybe people in Denver think their city did the right thing. --Mike
Bistow, Virginia:
On the subject of "Ice Dancing".
The NBC commentator Sunday night, trying to make the whole thing important, said that the USA female was only the 2nd Native American to ever compete in an Olympics - the first being Jim Thorpe. Wrong!!!
Billy Mills, a Sioux from Pine Ridge, S.D., is the only USA athelete to win the 10,000 - ever!!! He took the gold in Tokyo in 1964. Why has the Olympics become about the show- announcers deparatly trying to make it something. Where is C-span for sports? Just turn the camera on the event and let people watch it. Isn't that what you do when you buy a ticket to attend an event?
Dr. Charles Nestor
Michael Wilbon: So you should have bought a ticket and come to the events should you have? Newsflash: TV is show. Where have you been for the last 40 years? Of course, TV is a production. And most people enjoy the commentary and the back and forth. This, of course, comes from someone who makes money commenting on sports. There is clearly a market for it. --Mike
Oxford, Ohio (transplanted from Alexandria):
Do you think the American hockey team will win the gold medal?
Michael Wilbon: Good question. I think the US has a real shot along w/the Czec Republic and Sweden. Right now, I'm thinking maybe Russia.... I'm thinking aloud b/c there are 5 great teams in this tournament. For me hockey is the most compelling thing here. I'm at aerial skiiing today, but I will spend Wed, Thursday, Friday and Sat. watching hockey all day every day. For some people the Olympics are a figure skating tournament. For me, while the pros are still here, it's a hockey tournament. I prefer this to the NHL mayhem a million times over. I can't get enough of this stuff. --Mike
Largo, Maryland:
Do we HAVE to talk about the Olympics?
Mike, I just wanted to get your thoughts on the Bulls-Pacers deal, you being a Chicago guy and all.
Michael Wilbon: I just heard about it 3 mins ago on the drive up the mountain. I think Ron Artest is a clear on the rise and on the verge of becoming big time. I think Indiana really helped itself b/c Jaylen Rose needs to handle the ball. But the Pacers are in love w/rookie Jamal Pinsley who is averaging nearly 9 assists per game. What he needs is people to set up. And w/Ron Mercer and Artest, Reggie Miller, Jermaine O'Neal, Austin Croshere, Harrington, and Bender, the Pacers are loaded. And they ought to have a deep bench. I guess Kevin Ollie, who was involved in that deal also, will be the back-up point guard. --Mike
Maryland:
Michael -
Loved your new ratings system for skating. Can I add just one thing? If either skater has their hair dyed to a color not found in nature, it's a four tenths of a point deduction. Watching that French skater go across the ice with that orange hair reminded me of when Fox had the glowing puck in hockey.
Michael Wilbon: I love that! Where were you last night when I needed suggesetion? --Mike
Alexandria, Va.:
One thing that's bothering me about the coverage of the pairs skating scandal is the repeated talk of some "mistake" in judging. As if the French judge simply made an error in filling out her scoresheet and there's been an outcry for her to go back and change because 95% or better of the viewers disagreed. There was no MISTAKE. It was a cheat, plain and simple, on top of what looked like suspiciously skewed scores in the technical section, which isn't nearly as subjective. I'm thrilled to see Sale & Pelletier get the recognition of gold and the exposure (they're just a great couple of folks, regardless of nationality or what they do), but it's sad that they're never going to remember the Olympics as a singularly positive experience.
Michael Wilbon: I agree w/you SO much. I could not agree w/you more. It just irks me to no end to hear that too. The whole thing is so fradulent and so incestuous involving the skaters, the judges, the announcers, some of my colleagues who cover this stuff etc. It's like bad theater. --Mike
McLean, Va.:
My heart goes out to you. Stuck in Utah and missing one of the best college basketball games this area has seen in a long time (MD-Duke). Nothing against the athletes in the Olympic sports, but it's a tough time to be out.
Michael Wilbon: Let me ask you this: did you think that Salt Lake City is out of this country? --Mike
Or in a cave? --Mary
I'm going to presume you watched the game on TV. So did I. Every dribble. I've only seen MD in person twice this year. I watched the Duke game, just like I watched the NC game on TV. You must have grown up w/Kornheiser who also watched it on TV. Yet, tried to convince me I missed it b/c I watched on a TV in Salt Lake. You guys are watching me laugh. When I was in Japan for the Winter Olympics in Nagano four years ago, I could watch the NBA games and the college games. --Mike
Michael Wilbon: More on the Terps. If I had been in Washington would I have gone to the game? Absolutely. But I will return on Sunday and I will be able to watch MD in the NCAA and ACC Tournaments... in person. --Mike
Clifton, Virginia:
What is your opinion of women's olympic hockey so far this year?
Beth
Michael Wilbon: Beth, I love watching the American women b/c they are so fast and so skilled. I know Canada can beat the US, but I don't think it'll happen. The US has won 7 out of the last 10 times it has played Canada. But I'm looking forward to that match-up one more time. --Mike
Washington, DC:
So you're thinking the Russians were just playing possum when they didn't show up for the preliminary round? Feel free to pass this question on to someone who knows at least one iota about hockey.
Michael Wilbon: So, why would you ask if you think I don't know one iota about hockey? What presumption are you making and on what basis? Did you play hockey growing up? I did. Have you covered it for years? I have. Take your prejudiced opinions somewhere else...... okay, I've got to run. The aerial skiing event is about to start. I'll be back tomorrow at 1:30 pm ET for another chat from Salt Lake. Thanks. --Mike
Thanks everyone. Be sure to come back tomorrow at 1:30 ET for another edition of The Chat House LIVE from Salt Lake City. And btw, Mike is not crabby!--Mary
I'm with Bistow Virginia:
I love that idea -- a CSPAN for sports. It would have a wide audience. Great!
Michael Wilbon: Thanks for the comment. --The Chat House
Lexington Park, MD:
Michael, no real question here, I just want to say that I have enjoyed your columns skewering the so-called sport of figure-skating and the controversy over crooked judges, etc. Your column today about the makeup, teddy bears, poofy costumes was right on target. This is what the programming geniuses get for aiming their coverage at the non-sports fan.
I would take the same argument even further to say that just about nothing in the Winter Olympics is a sport. To me, what constitutes a sport is, it needs to have (1) a ball, a fight, or a race, and (2) offense vs defense or some kind of head-to-head competition. Everything else is just skill demonstrations that are judged either objectively (luge, speed skating, bobsled, biathlon etc.) or subjectively (figure skating, snowboarding, freestyle skiing, ski jumping) -- basically, spelling bees or essay contests. By that definition, the only sports are cross-country skiing, short-track speed skating, and hockey. Speed skating could be great if they just took the best 32 at each distance and put them in brackets, like March madness.
Michael Wilbon: Thanks for the comment. -TCH
Alexandria, Va.:
MW,
Your comments are ice dancing and skating in general are SO true. How can you call these forms of entertainment sports? Maybe we should have Olympic ballet, or Olympic body building. I am not sure what the criteria is for deciding. Do you know how this whole thing works? Thanks for your wisdom and humor. I really enjoy your work.
Hey, maybe we can have an Olympic satire catagory where you face off with Kornheiser.
Michael Wilbon: Thanks. --Mike
washingtonpost.com:
Thank you for joining us today. Please join Michael Wilbon tomorrow at 1:30 pm ET for another Olympic discussion.
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