Who should be on this years Wheaties box? Carl Lewis? Jackie Joyner Kersey? Michael Johnson? Carrie Strug? Jason Huish, the archer? Dave O'Brien? Who is your hero and your highlight from this summers games in hotlanta? As I write this I'm watching the Dream team championship game with Yugoslavia.

From an article from the Australian Sports Commission, "Discontinued Olympic Sports": EVENT PARTICIPATING YEARS Men's Track and Field: 60m dash 1900, 1904 5 mile run 1906, 1908 200m Hurdles 1900, 1904 Steeplechase 1900 (2500m & 4000m), 1904 (2590m), 1908 (3200m) 3000m Team run 1908, 1912, 1920, 1924 Cross Country (individual) 1912 (8000m), 1920 (10000m), 1924 (10650m) Cross Country (team) 1900 (5000m), 1904 (6437m), 1912 (8000m), 19 20 (10000m), 1924 (10650m) Walking 1906 (1500m), 1920 (3000m), 1908 (3500m) 1908 (10mile) 10000m Walk 1912, 1920,1924,1948,1952 Standing High Jump 1900, 1904, 1906, 1908, 1912 Standing Broad Jump 1900, 1904, 1906, 1908, 1912 Standing Hop, Step, Jump 1900, 1904 16lb Shot Put (2 Hands) 1912 56lb Weight Throw 1904, 1920 Discus (Greek style) 1906, 1908 Discus (2 Hands) 1912 Javelin (Freestyle) 1908 Javelin (2 Hands) 1912 Pentathlon 1906, 1912, 1920, 1924 Tug-of-War 1900, 1904, 1906, 1908, 1912, 1920 Archery: Various events 1904, 1908, 1920 Canoeing: Various events 1936, 1948, 1952,1956 Cricket: 1900 Croquet: 1900 Cycling: Events to metric 1904 (440yrds/0ne-third mile/ 880yrd/one mile) 1906 (660yrd) Events discontinued 1906, 1908 (5km) 1906 (10km) 1906, 1908 (20km) 1920, 1924 (50km) 1896, 1908 (100km) 1896 (12hr race) Fencing: Sword and Sabre 1904, 1906 Field Handball: 1936 Golf: (Men's) 1900, 1904 (Women's) 1900 Gymnastics: Callisthenics 1948, 1952 Team (Swedish/Free Systems) 1912, 1920 Team (Horiz/Parallel Bars) 1896 Rope Climb 1896, 1904,1906,1924, 1932 Mixed Events 1924 (Side vault) 1932 (Tumbling) 1904, 1932 (Indian Club) Lacrosse: 1904, 1908 Motor Boating: 1908 Paume:(Like Tennis) 1908 Racquets: (Mens) 1908 Polo: 1908, 1920, 1924, 1936 Roque: (Like Croquet) 1904 Rowing: 1906 (man-of-war) 1912(inrigger fours) Rugby: 1908, 1920, 1924 Shooting: Mixed Pistol, Revolver, Duelling Pistol, Automatic Pistol, Army Gun, Full-Bore Rifle, Running Deer, Small-Bore Rifle, Free Rifle & Military Rifle 1896, 1900, 1908, 1912, 1920, 1924, 1928, 1936 Swimming: Relay Races 1900, 1904, 1906 200m Freestyle 1900, 1904 (200yrd freestyle) 400m Breaststroke 1904, 1912, 1920 880yrd & 50yrd Freestyle 1904 4000m Freestyle 1900 Plunge (Diving) 1900, 1904 Plain High Diving 1912, 1920, 1924 Weightlifting: One Hand 1896, 1904, 1906 Two Hands 1896, 1904, 1906 Yachting: 6m Class 1900, 1908, 1912, 1920, 1924, 1928, 1932, 1936, 1948, 1952 6.5m Class 1920 7m Class 1908, 1920 8m Class 1900, 1908, 1912, 1920, 1924, 1928, 1932, 1936 10m Class 1900, 1912, 1920 12m Class 1908, 1912, 1920, 1956 Firefly Class 1948 Monotype Class 1920, 1924, 1928, 1932, 1936 30m Class 1920 40m Class 1920 18-Foot Centerboard 1920 Don't ask *me* what the 18' centerboard is all about.

How are the Year 2000 Olympics shaping up?

They're in Australia, that's about all I know.

This is where Nancy Thorpe Ahia and I are going to talk about her father, the great Jim Thorpe...a very special lady with a most special father.

OK, Nancy - first things first. In which Olympics did your father parrticipate and a rundown on his medals, please?!

(Terry, a centerboard is the keel on light sailboats and is swung up and removed or lashed into a secure position when in shallow water)

That's great, I recently saw the Burt Lancaster movie about Jim Thorpe, so I'm sure my view of the man is the Hollywood depicted one, I'd be interested in this reality check.

Nancy'll be at Volleyball this evening with me, but I will work on her for tomorrow for posting here. (She hated the movie! I am interested in the reality check, as well.)

I just found out that one of my student's father was in the Olympics from Munich (was that '72 or '74?) to '84. He was a swimmer, his last name is Bogert, and he was there when Mark Spitz won the 3 gold medals. Anyone know who he might be?

I can check the internet and my world almanac to see if he is in the record. He should be! Did I ever mention that Eric Liddle from "Chariots of Fire" was a relative of my ex (and therefore my son)?!

IOC's Samaranch Grilled by U.S. Congressional Panel WASHINGTON (Reuters) - International Olympic Committee President Juan Antonio Samaranch was grilled about corruption in the Olympic movement by a U.S. Congressional panel on Wednesday which challenged him to back up his promise of sweeping changes with action. At a hearing before a House of Representatives Commerce subcommittee, Samaranch, the most powerful man in world sport, faced tough, sometimes hostile questioning, about the bidding process for the 1996 Atlanta Olympics and the 2002 Salt Lake City Winter Games where some IOC members allegedly took bribes in exchange for voting to allow the cities to host the Games. ``We are here because the Olympic Games are too important to allow a culture of corruption to be whitewashed and perpetuated by a piece of paper called reforms,'' said Rep. Fred Upton, a Michigan Republican who chaired the subcommittee. ``The record is riddled with evidence of over a decade's worth of blatant abuse which was ignored by those who consistently, arrogantly, unbelievably turned a blind eye to the ugly truth. Now, after being dragged under the magnifying glass the IOC purports to have turned over a new leaf.'' Forced on the defensive early in the hearings, the 79-year-old Samaranch, who has presided over the IOC for 19 years, insisted the organization was implementing ``deep fundamental reforms'' in the wake of the allegations. ``I think we cleaned the house and a fundamental reform package has been implemented,'' Samaranch told the committee. ''Most of the critical reforms are already implemented and written into our Olympic charter.'' He admitted that the IOC made ``a mistake'' in failing to take action early against visits by board members to cities seeking to host the Olympics, but said members were reluctant to give up the perks. IOC members were showered with expensive gifts and favors during the globe-trotting visits and disclosure of some of the most egregious abuses last December sparked an international scandal. In the face of persistent questioning by both Democrats and Republicans, Samaranch, a Spaniard, chose to be represented by a lawyer before testifying under oath in English. 50 REFORMS TO IOC STRUCTURE AND RULES He cited more than 50 reforms to the IOC's structure and rules adopted last weekend at a meeting in Lausanne, Switzerland. He noted also that the IOC had expelled six members over allegations of impropriety and four resigned under pressure. But he admitted the IOC was slow to recognize that it was perceived as autocratic and secretive. ``Now we understand the public wishes to know more about the process which bring them the Games. We have no problem with this, it just took time to realize the interest,'' he said. A cultural and generational gulf between the IOC president, who once served in the government of former Spanish dictator Francisco Franco, and the panel was obvious as the hearing at one point turned personal. Samaranch was peppered with questions about his living quarters in a suite in a Lausanne hotel, paid for the by IOC. Also queried was a $12,000 trip to the United States for his wife, paid for by the Atlanta Olympic organizers, which included a private fashion show. Asked why none of the reforms he proposed related to his own office the presidency of the IOC -- Samaranch seemed at first not to understand the question. Then he responded: ``Because I didn't think that would be necessary.'' SARCASTIC QUESTIONING While questioning was polite, though at times sarcastic, some panelists were blunt. Rep. Joe Barton, a Texas Republican, told Samaranch flatly he should quit. ``I would like you today to announce that you will resign,'' he said. ``This would allow you to be a true statesman of sport and announce that.'' Samaranch traveled to the United States on a diplomatic passport a legacy of his day's as Spain's ambassador to the Soviet Union before becoming IOC president in 1980 but has agreed to waive diplomatic immunity and to talk to the FBI, which is investigating the Salt Lake City Olympic bid. Samaranch earlier this year refused to appear before a Senate panel, but agreed this time to come to Washington after the IOC adopted the reform package at a meeting last weekend. Also testifying were former Maine Senator George Mitchell, chairman of a special ethics commission appointed by the U.S. Olympic Committee; former Secretary of State Henry Kissinger, who provided the IOC with several reform proposals; Olympian speed skater Bonnie Blair and rower Robert Ctvrtlik who is one of seven athlete members recently appointed to the IOC.

Olympic Hopefuls Don High-Tech Suits BRISBANE (Reuters) - More than 150 Australian Olympic swimming hopefuls will be issued with controversial full-length bodysuits by the end of the week. Sydney-based swimmers were scheduled to receive their high-tech suits Monday, followed by those elsewhere in the country, a spokesman for manufacturer Speedo said. The bodysuits, designed to mimic a shark's skin in the water, have created a storm in Australian swimming. They are said to improve race times by up to three percent. Officials said last week competitors at next month's Australian Olympic trials would be allowed to wear the bodysuits despite concerns about their legality. Australian Swimming president Terry Gathercole said he would allow the neck-to-ankle suits in the event that the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) did not pronounce on their legality in time. The suits have already been approved by the governing International Swimming Federation but the Australian Olympic Committee is worried a competitor wearing one might be stripped of a medal if a rival protested to CAS, the body which adjudicates on disputes in sport. CAS announced last month it would investigate the suits and a decision is expected before the Australian trials start on May 13. The preparations of Olympic 1,500 meters champion Kieren Perkins stepped up a gear when he donned a neck-to-ankle suit and clocked three minutes 52.44 seconds, his fastest 400 meters freestyle time in five years. ``Another second faster would have been good but he went about the time I wanted him to,'' said his coach John Careworters. ``I think getting through the trials is nearly as hard as winning at the Olympics. There's a lot more depth in Australian swimming now.''

At first reading I find I'm REALLY uncomfortable with the above... I'm not sure why. Maybe it is the next incarnation of the SPEEDO. But neck to ankle... Swimming is the 'minimalist' sport. You need water, period. No sneakers, no shorts, no wheels, no nothing. I figure the step that would level the playing field is get rid of the performance enhancing drugs and make everybody swim nekkid.

YES!!! (Btw, I am waiting on John's answer to your last Boxing response.)

Yep, just water at a reasonable temperature. I'm definitely in to fins and a mask though.

You'd love the tide pools around here. 75 to 80 degree water temps and the most amazingly patterned fish in the universe, not to mention the corals, anemones and other critters living there. Amazing stuff! I agree with you on the mask and fins.

79 in my pool today, I just emerged.

Olympic Torch Grounded by Shuttle Delay SYDNEY (Reuters) - Sydney's Olympic organizers (SOCOG) said on Tuesday they would continue with their plans to send the Olympic torch into space. A replica of the torch which will light the Sydney Olympic cauldron was packed on board the space shuttle Atlantis for a lift-off from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida on Monday. SOCOG officials were hoping the space mission, during which the torch would orbit the earth 15 times a day for a week, would help promote the official Olympic torch relay which starts next month. But their plans were put on hold when the launch was postponed because of strong crosswinds at Cape Canaveral. ``This is not a setback and it's not going to delay the start of the relay,'' a SOCOG spokesman said. ``SOCOG remains confident that the torch will be in space in time to promote the start of the Sydney 2000 torch relay.'' Australian astronaut Andy Thomas came up with the idea of taking the torch into space about a year ago as a way of promoting the relay. The Olympic flame will be ignited on May 10 from the sun's rays at the Temple of Hera near the ancient ruins of Olympia, starting a five-month journey which will culminate with the lighting of the cauldron at the Sydney Olympic stadium on September 15. ``The official relay of the torch begins next month in Greece and I thought it would be nice to fly a torch in space as our official precursor of the event,'' Thomas said. ``The torch will fly over almost all of the countries that will participate in the Olympic Games.''

NBCOlympics.com has some excellent chats on various Olympic sports. Care to chat about rhythmic gymnastics or trampoline?

OK!

UH alum O�Toole helps U.S. water polo team to victory Former University of Hawaii player Maureen O'Toole helped keep the U.S. women's water polo team unbeaten by scoring two goals and assisting on three others in a 7-5 victory over Russia, yesterday in Olympic competition at the Ryde Aquatic Center in Sydney. The U.S. improves to 2-0-1 and faces host nation Australia (2-1-0) today. The Americans meet Kazakstan tomorrow, their last game before the semifinals, which begin Friday. O'Toole, 39, the oldest player on her team, set up the goal that salvaged an 8-8 tie with Canada with four seconds left Saturday night. Meanwhile, the women's volleyball team, which includes former Wahine Robyn Ah Mow and Heather Bown, improved to 2-0 in prelim play with 3-0 sweep of Kenya. The women play Croatia tomorrow. The U.S. men's volleyball team,which includes Hawaii's Mike Lambert, lost its first match to Argentina, 3-1. Waipahu's world amateur champion light flyweight Brian Viloria, who outpointed Russian Sergei Kazakov, 8-6, Saturday night, will fight Brahim Asloum of France on Thursday. Viloria defeated Asloum in the quarterfinals of the world championships in August 1999 in Houston. Note from Marcia: They failed to note that former UHHilo Softball player Kristy Odamura is on the Canadian Softball team...

http://www.sportingnews.com/voices/dave_kindred/20010116.html No peace over resting place for 'World's Greatest Athlete' by Dave Kindred After Jim Thorpe's death in 1953, both houses of the Oklahoma Legislature approved $25,000 for a memorial and gravesite honoring the Sac and Fox Indian, an Oklahoman who may have been the 20th century's greatest athlete. "But Oklahoma blew it," says Thorpe's daughter, Grace, a Native American civil rights activist who lives in Prague, Okla. "The governor vetoed the bill." So began one of sports' more curious stories. The great man's widow shopped his body across America for four years before finding a burial place. Now, 112 years after Jim Thorpe's birth, comes news that the story isn't over yet. His sons and daughters are at odds as to where he should be buried. And Grace Thorpe is insisting on the return of 1912 Olympic trophies she believes are rightfully her father's, trophies that were valued then at $50,000 and today "may be priceless," she says. After what Thorpe's third wife, Patricia, perceived as Oklahoma's insult to her dead husband, she twice moved his remains looking for a permanent site. She once proposed to leave the body in Carlisle, Pa., the home of the Carlisle Indian School where Thorpe had gained his first football fame, if the town would change its name to Jim Thorpe, Pa. No deal there. "Then she was in Philadelphia," Grace Thorpe says, "and saw on television a reporter named Joe Boyle talking about the Pennsylvania towns of Mauch Chunk and East Mauch Chunk. They were arguing about whether they should merge services and the like. "Patricia thought, 'Maybe that's just the place.' She drove the two hours or so to Mauch Chunk, went into a bank and asked if anyone knew Joe Boyle. They said, 'He's right over there.' He was in the bank at that very moment." Soon enough, the disagreeing towns came to agreements with Mrs. Thorpe. They would merge into a town named Jim Thorpe. At a cost of $10,000 they would build a mausoleum for Thorpe's remains. "And there, in the mausoleum in a pretty, little park, in a pretty town in the Poconos, on the Lehigh River, where they've honored Dad in many ways, even last September with as grand a parade as you'd want to see," Grace Thorpe says, "is where Dad should stay." But her brothers don't agree. As it happens, Grace and Gail Thorpe, the only living daughters, are opposed to their three brothers' idea that, once again, Jim Thorpe's remains should be moved. Jack Thorpe, of Shawnee, Okla.: "My father was an Oklahoman who grew up in the Indian culture here, and he should be given an Indian burial. His birthplace and one of his original homes are honored here. In Oklahoma City, there's a hospital named for him, the Jim Thorpe Rehabilitation Center. We're not thinking of any legal action, or anything, but it's only logical to have him returned." Grace Thorpe: "For one thing, I believe Patricia signed a contract with the Mauch Chunk people that Dad would never be moved. As for that 'Indian burial,' Dad was a baptized Catholic. He always considered himself a Christian, and he was buried with the last rites of the Catholic Church." The Thorpe family is to meet this weekend hoping to end the controversy. Meanwhile, Grace Thorpe says she's organizing a "Justice for Jim Thorpe Committee" in her continuing efforts to locate and acquire two trophies given to her father for his victories in the 1912 Olympics at Stockholm, Sweden. "One was a life-size bust of the King of Sweden, the other was a Viking ship encrusted with semi-precious jewels made for the czar of Russia," she says. Thorpe was forced to return the trophies, along with his gold medals in the pentathlon and decathlon, because the U.S. Amateur Athletic Union declared him a professional for having accepted a few dollars for playing summertime minor-league baseball. The gold medals were returned to Thorpe posthumously in 1982. But not the trophies. "I think they're somewhere in the International Olympic Committee's museum in Switzerland," Grace Thorpe says. "But they're not on display. A reporter has said he saw the bust of the king of Sweden still in a wooden box marked 'Carlisle Indian School.' And we've seen a picture of the Viking ship, but not the trophy itself." Dave Kindred is a contributing writer for The Sporting News. E-mail him at kindred@sportingnews.com.

Anyone following the ice skating controversry where the Canadians got 2nd to the Russians in the figure skating? I had to agree with everyone else in the world (except the judges in the event) that they should have gone home to Canada with the gold. Sale is darling, she and her partner skated masterfully and clearly beat the Russians in the technical aspects (yet three judges had them tied). We haven't heard the end of this.

Sale and Pelletier vs a Russian team for the Gold. The Russians had obvious flaws, the Canadians were near perfect technically. But the judges gave the Russians a 5-4 win. The Judges voting for the Russians were Russia, Ukraine, Poland, China and France. Does this take you back to the Lillehammer 94 Olympics where Nancy Kerrigan skated to perfection and the Judges gave it to Oksana Baiul who two footed one of her landings. When the Russian couple went to accept their medals they looked very uncomfortable. The Canadian couple were grief stricken. Apparently there was a "deal" made and the results have already been determined in the ice dancing, Italy will get the gold, Russia Silver and French bronze. From Christine Brennan, USA Today. French judge Marie Reine Le Gougne, who voted for the Russians, told members of the International Skating Union's prestigious technical committee, as well as a few judges, that she was forced by her federation to vote for the Russians in a deal that would deliver a vote for the French team in the ice dancing competition later in the Olympic Games. There also were very credible reports that Le Gougne is trying to become a member of the important ISU technical committee, and that it's well known that Russian votes are needed to get yourself elected to that post. I've been defending figure skating for years. Defending it against my numerous sportswriting colleagues who say it really isn't a sport. Defending its judges. Defending its arcane ways. Generally, defending everything. I can't defend it anymore. Not after what happened Monday night in the pairs competition at the Olympic Games. Not after the most awful decision I have witnessed in 14 years of covering this sport. Not after what is looking more and more like a decision that was rigged days or even weeks before Jamie Sale and David Pelletier skated one of the great performances in Olympic history, only to have the gold medal taken from them by five misguided people on the nine-person judging panel. I know what you're thinking: a figure skating judging controversy at the Olympics? Can you imagine? But this one is different. This one is seamier. This one is more tangible. This one was all over national television, featuring the angry and hurt voices of some of the sport's best-known stars and experts. And, most importantly, this one didn't involve ice dancing, but one of those events you can quantify, at least a little bit: Pairs. Really, there's no defending figure skating anymore. You can't trust the judging, which means you can't trust the results. This one is bad. So bad that if I'm the International Olympic Committee, especially the new and improved IOC, I'd immediately do one of two things: 1. Thoroughly investigate the decision that gave the gold medal to Russians Elena Berezhnaya and Anton Sikharulidze, and be prepared to nullify or overturn the results if they find the judges did in fact cheat this badly; or 2. Kick figure skating out of the Olympics. This sounds rash, I know, but I say this because the sport of figure skating is losing whatever credibility it had, and it's doing so by the minute. What was an outrage when it happened late Monday night is now becoming a full- fledged sports scandal. http://www.usatoday.com/sports/comment/brennan/2002-02-12-brennan-pairs.htm

Strange how politics has invaded every part of our existence. Sad! I actually feel sorry for the Russians. They are being made to feel like the villains, and they are not.

They aren't. The judges are the villains in this case, or at least one of them who made a "deal".

Finally they are getting their ducks in a row. I think it will always be a problem, though. Scott Hamilton said as much.

Olympics come of (the under)age by Dave Kindred www.sportingnews.com/magazine Welcome to the Salt Lake Games, where some of the sports are barely older than many of the competitors. Here's an idea to liven up the Winter Olympics: send figure skaters down the bobsled run. Enough already with the frozen smiles of artistic impression. Send the sequined ones down the steep, twisting, icy intestine. There would be no judges' controversy, no scandal, no "threat to the sport's integrity." There'd be spangles scattered everywhere. Think about it. Down the bob run on skates. Maybe 80 miles per hour. No music, no mousse, no rouge. No "fragile" Frenchwoman pressured into a backroom deal with the Russian judge, trading her vote on pairs for his on dancing. If we sent the skaters down the bob run, there would be no politics, no guessing, no favors exchanged. There'd be quadruple lutzes by the dozens, though none on purpose. O, diary, such a sweet prospect . . . Instead, we get figure skating as it is. A show. A nice show. But a show. Do a quadruple lutz to avoid a cement-head goon with a stick, it's a sport. Do a sit-spin to "Love Story," it's a show. It's a show so swollen with self-importance that when a judge goes "fragile," we are subjected to a media uproar. One out-of-her-wig commentator, without irony, christened it "The Scandal That Ate the Salt Lake City Games." Excuse me? We're talking figure skating. The idea of figure skating as a sport is scandal in itself. Kindred's first rule of sports: no sequins. What happened is that one judge's vote -- the breakable Frenchwoman's -- gave the pairs figure skating gold medal to Russians rather than to the superior Canadians. The ensuing media coverage was so intense you'd have thought something important had happened, such as Shaq's toe healing overnight. Having said all that, I also should say it's possible, perhaps even probable, that "something important" now has a definition beyond the grasp of witnesses old enough to vote. For instance, snowboarding, in which the United States won its first gold medal of these games, seems to have become "something important." Snowboards didn't exist in Mickey Mantle's prime. It was 1965 when Sherman Poppen, an industrial gases engineer in Muskegon, Mich., fastened two skis together so his little girl could stay upright on the snow. Poppen's wife called the resulting surfboard-like contraption a "snurfer." (For small favors we should be grateful; at least "snowboarding" doesn't suggest the nasal congestion of "snurfing.") Soon enough, skiers being instinctive elitists, snowboarders were shuffled off into their own little world. It's a maverick child's world with a lifestyle given to rebellion, spiky haircuts, soul-patch chin whiskers, baggy pants, aromatic weed and punk rock. (Do we slide to "I Wanna Be Sedated" or "Blitzkrieg Bop"?) Or, as Hank Stuever of The Washington Post wrote, "It's about feeling like a really smart 11-year-old." Even older, 19, the U.S. snowboarding halfpiper Danny Kass punctuated his silver-medal excitement by shouting, "I'm going to be on the Count Chocula box!" Snowboarding halfpipe, the chilly cousin of X Games skateboarding, comes with its own language: grabs and no-grabs, grabs with amplitude, McTwists and monstrous airs (among them roast beef airs, chicken salad airs, Mellon Collie airs). And listen to this from a TV analyst about a maneuver from a moguls run in free-style skiing: "He mixes the water with a little flour, adds the yeast, preheats the oven, bakes it, the dough rises, and he delivers a fresh dinner roll." Oh, my. Whatever all that means, it certainly must move a listener or three to long for the simple sporting pleasure of a John Madden "Bam! Boom! Pow!" Such a complicated world, these Winter Olympics. Did you know: 1) K2 Mod X speedskating boots are two precious ounces lighter than the combat boots of yore?; 2) The Salt Lake City speedskating surface -- "fast ice," it's called -- is produced by spraying 24 layers of deionized, purified water three-quarters of an inch thick?; 3) Norway sent 40 technicians to Utah to examine snow before deciding which of 175 waxes would work best on which skis for which race?; 4) Scientists believe "gene doping" may be used in the near future to cause the body to produce, undetectably, performance-enhancing substances now banned or even change fast-twitch muscles to slow-twitch? Happily, there's a haven of simplicity available to everyone who ever owned a Flexible Flyer. There's one event with which we all can identify. Despite the ominous sound of its name, skeleton is just a matter of belly-flopping onto your little Flyer. Granted, it's belly-flopping onto a 3 1/2-foot long, 80-pound sled that looks like (to quote a nervous writer) "a shortened gurney, without wheels." And you do fly down a bobsled run with your chin an inch above the ice at 80 mph knowing you might be thrown off and transformed into a sack of bones. Otherwise, it's the same deal as sled rides down Red Haw Hill in Atlanta, Ill. That's a cemetery hill very steep, very high, very dangerous. Today it may appear to be a gentle incline at the edge of a cornfield. Once upon a time, it was a murderous mountain, and from the top you careened around trees and skidded your Flyer left, snow flying from its runners, to keep from falling over a cliff into an abyss with no bottom. Sequins, no. Skeleton, you betcha. (was sent to me by Jason Stone at SportingNews.com. Thanks, Stone!)

Terry please create this topic - I tried and was unsuccessful. Subject: Athens Olympics 2004 Text: The Summer Games of 2004 will be played in the home of the Olympics, Athens, Greece. Come here to keep up with the developments. Only 900+ days until the opening ceremonies.

TURIN, Italy (AP) -- Arrivederci, eh? Turin bid farewell to its Olympics and handed over custody of the Winter Games to Vancouver in a spectacular, circus-like closing ceremony Sunday night, with a legion of clowns, acrobats and daredevils echoing both the misadventures and magnificence of the past two weeks. The Olympic flame was barely extinguished when fireworks and confetti -- an Italian invention -- filled the air. Any wistfulness was swiftly submerged in the din, some of it provided by Latin pop sensation Ricky Martin; athletes joined the cast in dancing on the stage. The theme of the evening was Carnevale, the annual festival being celebrated across Italy over the weekend. Some athletes wore red clown noses as they marched across the huge stage of Olympic Stadium, and many of the 35,000 spectators donned devil and angel masks. Italy had an extra reason to celebrate -- a new national hero headlining the first-ever medal ceremony included in a Winter Games' closing festivities. Italy's Giorgio di Centa took gold in the 50km cross country skiing race on the final day of the games. The crowd exploded in cheers and waved a sea of tiny Italian flags as di Centa and his fellow medalists strode to the podium. Helping bestow the medals was di Centa's sister, Manuela, an International Olympic Committee member and former cross country medalist herself. Before declaring the games closed, IOC president Jacques Rogge described the Turin Olympics as "truly magnificent." "You have succeeded brilliantly in meeting your challenge," he told organizers. "Grazie, Torino." "We've done it," exulted Valentino Castellani, the organizing committee chief. While Castellani spoke, an intruder who had obtained a staff ski-jacket approached the microphone and shouted, "Passion lives in Torino" before being whisked away by security officers. He was taken into custody for questioning. The spotlight then shifted to Vancouver, host of the 2010 Games, with the raising of Canada's Maple Leaf flag and a resounding rendition of "O, Canada" by British Columbia-born opera star Ben Heppner. An Olympic flag was handed by Turin Mayor Sergio Chiamparino to Rogge and then to Vancouver Mayor Sam Sullivan. A quadriplegic since breaking his neck skiing at 19, Sullivan was unable to grasp the flag pole and wave it himself. Instead, Rogge placed the flag in a special cylinder on Sullivan's motorized wheelchair, and the elated mayor spun around several times to make the flag flutter, to the crowd's delight. Thus ended the Winter Olympics and now we're on to Vancouver in 2010

I hope to make it there.