Make sure to tone down the bravado, USA
By Ron C. Judd
The Seattle Times (KRT)
NEW YORK — When Jennie Finch,
softball pitcher and People-magazine
appointed beautiful person, showed
off the U.S. Olympic team's new Roots
shorts for Athens last week, it was hard
to miss: The letters "USA" were brazen
ly stamped right across her backside.
No need to be shy about the home
colors, officials in charge of the safety
of Finch and 500 other American
Olympic athletes said at a news con
ference the next day.
Yes, they know that America is "not
the favorite kid in the world as a coun
try," in the words of Bill Martin, acting
U.S. Olympic Committee president.
They know that in an era of warfare,
hostage-taking and general mayhem,
even non-celebrity American travelers
are leery about advertising their home
address on various body parts, espe
cially in mixed crowds in foreign cities.
And they know the Athens Games,
which open in 87 days, are being
looked upon with perhaps unprece
dented trepidation for a worldwide
sporting event.
They just don't act like they know.
In spite of logic literally screaming
otherwise, Martin and other top
USOC officials this week said they
won't ask American athletes to avoid
mbeing with the public in Athens. Nor
will they advise them to hide their tra
ditional red, white and blueness.
"As of now, we are not asking the
teams to not wear their U.S. uni
forms around the city of Athens,"
said Jim Scherr, the USOC's chief ex
ecutive. "We expect our teams to be
proud to represent the USA. They
know what to do and where to go.
They're aware of the world situation
and security concerns."
This bravado is echoed by Larry
Buendorf, a former Secret Service agent
who has been the chief security officer
for U.S. Olympic athletes since 1992.
"There's over 10,000 athletes there,"
he said of the Aug. 13-29 Athens
Games. "Everyone's going to be wear
ing their colors. We will be blending,
perhaps, with all the other colors there.
It will be difficult to pick out just the
USA. We have no reason to have our
athletes not wear their colors around."
What about the bombs that racked
Athens in recent days? What about
the group which, just this week,
claimed responsibility for them,
promising more mayhem when the
world comes to Athens in August?
"Bombings in Athens are not un
usual," Buendorf said, not exactly
taking a page from the Greek Visitor's
Bureau sales brochure. "The recent
ones that have come up obviously go
to the front page of the media.
They're not really the destructive-type
bombings. They're more disgruntled
groups. They usually call ahead prior
to the explosion, then allow the peo
ple to get out so no one gets hurt."
Welcome to Greece, where even
the bombers are courteous. Pray for
no busy signals.
Not that the U.S. is completely dis
missive of security concerns. Athletes
will be reminded that they are, even
more so than ever, ambassadors for
their nation, and reminded to be dis
creet about the kind of flag-waving
and taunting that soured the stom
achs of even the intensely U.S.-friend
ly track-and-field fans in Sydney.
And their country is, in fact, taking
unprecedented security measures,
sending some 100 federal agents
along with the U.S. team. One or
more agents will be on every bus
America's finest board to any event.
But the agents won't be — can't be
— with all the athletes, all the time.
And even when they are, they will
not be armed, at least according to
current protocols, Buendorf said.
The point is clear as it can be: The
United States is going to be there,
waving the flag as usual, and the rest
of the world better cope with it.
U.S. Olympic leaders are fully
aware of the threat of terrorism.
"But I don't think, as a country or
as an Olympic committee, that we
want to bow before that threat,"
Scherr said.
The United States will not only
show up, it plans to win 100 medals
— way more than anyone else on
the globe, another USOC official
predicted.
Listening to this bravado, you
hope these guys know what they're
talking about, and to some degree,
trust that they do. But you also get an
uneasy, pending-train-wreck feeling:
How much of this bluster might they
regret ever uttering later, should the
unthinkable turn to "we interrupt
this broadcast?"
Especially when, like some of Buen
dorfs assurances, it runs so completely
contrary to common sense?
Would he, if he were an Olympic
athlete today, cavort through the streets
of Athens, unescorted and decked out
in the colors of Old Glory?
"I've been going to Athens for four
years," he responds without hesita
tion. "Most of my attire is 'USA.'"
He has full confidence, he says,
that the Greeks, who are spending
$1.2 billion and enlisting 70,000
people in the security effort, have all
their ducks lined up. Yet he and other
USOC honchos must know some of
that trust might be misplaced.
Buendorf is a 22-year veteran of
the Secret Service, a group that would
never allow a president or visiting
dignitary into a building until it had
been "locked down" — scanned for
bombs and intruders and kept secure
until the event.
Yet that might not even be possible
in Athens, where the lock-down for
all the athletic venues is scheduled
for July 1 — even though some of
them might not even be finished by
then. Good security, many experts
say, begins with good preparation.
And in spite of their headlong thrust
toward the Aug. 13 finish line, a lot
of people fear the Greeks gave away
too much security ground at the start.
But the USOC is trusting the
Greeks. And American athletes are
trusting the USOC.
What choice do they have?
"There's a little nervousness, a lit
tle concern" among athletes, says
Kristine Lilly, U.S. women's soccer
player, no stranger to hostile foreign
crowds. "But we know they'll take
good care of us."
Some skeptics have suggested the
Games would be both safer and san
er if the International Olympic Com
mittee would step in, forthwith, ad
mitting the obvious — Greece isn't
ready — and delaying the Games for
12 months, or until Greece is ready.
Privately, some Olympic types will
tell you it makes great sense. But they
are just as quick to point out that the
modern Rule of Olympism —
Games broadcaster NBC has the gold
and makes all the rules — dictates
otherwise. And maybe luck will be
on their side.
© 2004, The Seattle Times. Distributed
by Knight Ridder/Tribune
Information Services. His opinions
do not necessarily represent those
of the Emerald.
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BRIEFS
continued from page 8
Ganes, Chapdelaine invited
to try out for Canadian team
Carolyn Ganes and Kaela Chapde
laine were invited to tryouts for the
Canadian Senior National Team, Ore
gon announced Tuesday.
The team is coached by Oregon as
sociate head coach Allison McNeill,
who took over for current Duck head
coach Bev Smith in 2001. The tryouts
will run from May 19 to June 8 at
Trinity Western University in Langley,
British Columbia.
McNeill's husband, Mike, an
assistant with the Ducks, will
serve on the Canadian team's staff in
the same position, as will
University of Saskatchewan coach
Lisa Thomaidis.
"I am thrilled Carolyn and Kaela
have an opportunity to train with the
Canadian National Team this sum
mer," McNeill said. "It is another in
credible opportunity for them to learn
and grow as basketball players."
Ganes, who will be a junior next
season, averaged 5.8 points and 2.6
rebounds per game for Oregon in
the 2003-04 season. She was on the
Senior National Team last year dur
ing the Pan American Games in the
Dominican Republic.
Chapdelaine is the youngest invitee
to the camp. She will be a redshirt fresh
man for the Ducks during the 2004-05
season after sitting out last year.
Fourteen players ranging in age
from 19 to 29 were invited. Seven of
the invitees played Division I basket
ball last season; Utah and Oregon
are the only schools to have more
than one player invited.
— Hank Hager
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