Bryan's adventures in Torino, Italy - February 2006:

CHECK OUT OUR PHOTOS FROM ITALY AND THE OLYMPICS

Bryan on the NBC set sitting in Bob Costas' chair

Let the credits roll...

February 25th:

The games are coming to a close. Tomorrow is Closing Ceremonies... And Kristin arrives. I'm looking forward to seeing her. It will be a busy day. I'll leave work at 6 a.m., go back to the "dorm," pack my stuff, then head to the airport to pick up Kristin. I'll take her to the B&B where we're staying south of Torino, then head back into town by 3pm to go to closing ceremonies. I will be an athlete spotter- much like I was at Opening. When the Ceremonies are done, I will be finished. I'll then fight gridlock traffic to head back out of town, and meet up with Kristin, who will probably be watching the ceremonies live on Italian TV (no tape delay here). Then we start our vacation.

The last few days have been fun. On Monday, I got the chance to catch some of the Italy/ Switzerland hockey game. It was pretty close to minor league hockey (Italy is one of the only teams here with no NHL players), but it was also very exciting. The level of fan excitement was so high that it had a visible impact on the players' intensity. Even though the game had almost no medal implications, it was a fight to the end. The crowd was mostly Italian, but since Switzerland is only about 2 hours away, there were plenty of Swiss fans too. Ended in a 3-3 tie.

From there, I walked to the men's 1500m speed skating event, about a mile away. I could only stay for about six or seven heats before I had to go to work, but I ended up seeing the gold-medal run by Italy's Enrico Fabris, although I didn't know his time would hold up to win the gold. He beat Americans Chad Hedrick and Shani Davis, who skated later.

The final week of work included wrapping up the freestyle skiing aerials, snowboarding parallel giant slalom, and a handful of biathlon events. Part of my attention was still turned toward the Austrian doping story (though no banned substances have been detected at this point). Interest in the freestyle skiing events here (in TV land) was muted because only one American made it to the final rounds. Same with snowboarding PGS, a racing discipline that is traditionally dominated by Europeans.

I picked up my laundry from the cleaners yesterday. The tags on all of my shirts say "Tomas" on them.

Looking forward to some sunlight!

February 24th:

The Research Room Staff

February 19th:

Bryan bumps into "The Bus" at the Olympics

No matter how much research and preparation I’ve done for my events, there’s been at least one instance every day that has caused me to shake my head and say, “Well, I never expected that to happen.”

For instance, I never expected Yoko Ono to be at Opening Ceremonies. I could believe it, sure, but I just didn’t expect it.

I didn’t expect Lindsey Jacobellis to be within reach of the snowboard cross gold medal, only to let it slip away when she fell on an over-styled, over-enthused “method air” before the finish line. I felt bad for her, and the mini-controversy that followed, but there was nothing I could do. I explained to those unfamiliar with the sport that a little flourish on the final jump is commonplace, even expected at times, but that did not deflect the questions that the 20-year old had to face. (Do you feel like you let your country down? Do you think your hot-dogging is an example of why Americans are viewed as arrogant worldwide? Will you think of this day next time you see a basketball player make a whirlybird slam-dunk when a lay-up would suffice?) Tough questions for a girl who got caught-up in the moment and was just having fun.

I didn’t expect the Russian biathlete to test positive for a banned substance and be stripped of her silver medal.

Then a few days later, I didn’t expect the Austrian biathlon and cross-country team-houses would be raided by Italian police, hunting for doping paraphernalia. After I digested that, I didn’t expect the Austrian coach at the center of the controversy to get into a car chase with police as he tried to slip quietly back across the Austrian border. And then for him to crash into a police roadblock and get arrested.

I didn’t expect Steeler running back Jerome Bettis to come to the NBC studios to promote his new position as NBC football analyst, but it was a nice surprise. He brought his mom and dad.

And after 20 days of sunny weather and temperatures in the 40s-50s, I didn’t expect to wake-up to fresh snow today, making it feel more like a Winter Olympics in Torino.

More later- Bryan

ps- a nice 6th place showing in Skeleton by Malvern-prep alum Eric Bernotas.

February 13th:

It’s been an exciting start to the Olympics. Some quick bits for those following along:

Men’s halfpipe: U.S. rider Shaun White (the “Flying Tomato”) and Danny Kass won gold and silver in Sunday’s halfpipe event. Perhaps the best part of the whole thing was Shaun White telling Bob Costas on the show last night that he’d like to use his gold medal to impress figure skater Sasha Cohen.

Women’s halfpipe: The U.S. did well in this event, too. For those who don’t know the ending, I won’t spoil it, but I will say that I just bumped into the winners in the NBC cafeteria. Tune-in tonight!

Pairs Figure Skating: This is not one of my assigned sports, and I’m not much of a figure skating buff, but if you are, you should watch tonight. As is so often the case in this sport, it came down to a dramatic finish.

“Grandma Luge” Update: The Virgin Island’s Anne Abernathy, age 52, broke her wrist in a luge training run yesterday, and will not be competing in the Games (this was not her decision, and she filed complaints with luge federation—she wanted to compete injured!)

Opening ceremonies went well. Perhaps my biggest accomplishment in my duties there was correctly identifying Hans Frauenlob for the cameramen. Frauenlob is on the New Zealand curling team, which is making its first Olympic appearance. He was the head of IT department for the Toronto Blue Jays for six years, and has World Series rings from 1992 and 1993.

And if you don’t know about Michelle Kwan’s early exit from the Games by this point… then shame on you!

February 9th:

It has been a busy week here in Torino. I've been working 12pm until 12am for the past few days. About 30% of the work has been prepping for Opening Ceremonies, and 70% has been prepping for my sports.

On Wednesday, I went to rehearsal for Opening Ceremonies, which will take place Friday. It's going to be quite a production (think: interpretive dance depicting the history of Italy, involving cows on wheels and kids on roller skates.) During the ceremony, I will stand at the entrance of the stadium where the athletes walk onto the field. I'll be holding a picture book with headshots of all the "star" athletes, and will relay their positions in the parade to the production truck, so the cameras know where to find them (I'll shout into the headset: "I've got Sasha Cohen, US figure skater, second row, third from the left, 5' 2", brown hair, ponytail, red hat, waving flag.") It's about an hour of mass pandemonium.

I watched the Steelers Superbowl victory at an Irish pub. For me, it was Superbowl Monday-- I didn't get to bed until 5a.m. that night/morning. The bar was mostly Americans, and mostly Steelers fans. I had on my black and gold and brought my Terrible Towel. I think even the Seahawks fans were chanting "Here we go Steelers" by the end of the night.

The sport questions are coming in fast and furious now. Most athletes have arrived, and some practice sessions have started. Some of the stories I'll be following are a Norwegian's quest for 10 gold medals in biathlon (Ole Einar Bjoerndalen), a high-flying US snowboarder named Shaun White (the Flying Tomato), and Jeremy Bloom, US men's mogul skier, who will attempt to win an Olympic medal, then get on a plane to go to the NFL scouting combine in hopes of being drafted as a wide receiver.

Stay tuned. Bryan

February 2nd:

Greetings from Torino. All is well here. I'm still adjusting to the time difference, but doing OK. I'm staying in a old militry hospital that they converted into a media village. It's not the Ritz, but it's clean and safe.

Here's a work update:
Torino
Torino is larger than I expected—it’s the fourth-largest city in Italy (behind Rome, Milan, and Naples), and the largest city to ever host a Winter Games. It’s surrounded on three sides by the Alps, though they are fairly far-off in the distance. It has the alpine backdrop of Denver and the industrial character of Detroit (it’s home to Fiat), but it’s unmistakably European in its architecture and chaotic traffic patterns. It’s the birthplace of Nutella and Tic-Tacs.

The Research Room
There are 14 sport researchers working in teams of two to cover a total of 15 sports. Once the games begin, the research room will be staffed around the clock. My “mirror” and I will cover biathlon, snowboarding, and freestyle skiing—I will work 6pm to 6am, and my mirror will work 6am to 6pm. Unlike in previous Olympics, the research room will not be part of the host set (and not on TV).

Anyone speak Moldovan?
To prepare for the Opening Ceremonies, each researcher has been assigned a handful of country delegations to contact and find out who the flag-bearers will be, what kind of costumes they will wear, and basically dig for any interesting nuggets that Bob Costas could mention as the athletes parade into the stadium. I’ve been assigned Moldova, Switzerland, Belgium, and the Virgin Islands. I’m hoping I can get by with English. By the way, the sole athlete from the Virgin Islands is a woman named Anne Abernathy, a 52-year old luge competitor who is returning for her 6th Olympics. She will be the first woman over age 50 to compete in the Winter Olympics (see http://www.grandmaluge.com).

Prepping for our sports
Aside from gathering info on our assigned countries, we are also ramping-up on our sports and athletes. For me, that means studying the ins-and-outs of biathlon, my weakest sport. We’re already fielding questions from various producers who are putting together pieces to be aired during the games (Who are the favorites in this event? How will the Americans do? What does this snowboarder’s older brother look like?) The key is not always knowing the answer, but knowing where to find it—quickly.

More later,
Bryan

January 31st:

A message from Kristin -
Bryan arrived today in Torino. His flight through Atlanta to catch the NBC charter was cancelled. So he hoped a red eye flight to Paris with a connection directly into Torino (or Turin). The weather is a mild 55 degrees. He arrived safely, found an NBC colleague and caught a shuttle to his hotel. The hotel is in the city of Torino and about a mile from the media center. Unfortunately the accommodations aren't quite as nice as in Salt Lake. Almost all of the U.S. media is staying in a large hotel that resembles what once must have been a military hospital or dormitory. His room is about 10x10 with his own bathroom and a single bed with no charm. But it's clean and a place to call his own for a few weeks. After checking in he bussed over to pick up his credentials and ran into some Salt Lake colleagues and they went out for a bite to eat. He considered this his last "freedom" meal so he treated himself to some regional specialties. Bryan will be working the U.S. prime time shift, which is 6 pm to 6 am in Italy. So he'll be eating most of his meals at the NBC cafeteria while he is there. 12+ hour shifts, a hospital room, and cafeteria food - working the Olympics may not be as glamorous as it seems. But Bryan is very very excited to have this opportunity to be in Italy for the Olympics.

January:

Bryan is headed to Italy for the winter Olympics this February. Bryan will be working for NBC again. We'll be taking some time afterwards to explore the Italian Riviera (Cinque Terre), Umbria and Tuscany.