Monday, December 10, 2001
Olympic do-over
Martin and Co. deserve full-meal, real-deal
By TERRY JONES -- Edmonton Sun
When it was over, there were no lack of quotes about how thrilled they were. But Kevin Martin and Don Bartlett kind of talked around it.
I'm thrilled for the two of them because I was there. I was there the last time they were "in'' the Olympics.
After their first "Olympic experience'' they deserve this. Most people have no idea how much they deserve this.
Let's go back a decade.
It was Albertville 1992.
Actually, it was Prolognan-La Vanoise. And if you tried to find a place to hide a sport, I mean really hide a sport, to totally tuck it away from the other far-flung venues at that nightmare of an Olympic Winter Games, that was the place.
SECOND RATE
If you tried to make a sport look second-rate, like it didn't really belong with all the other winter Olympic sports ...
If you tried to make the people who play the roaring game look like second-class citizens ...
It was criminal. It was a bad joke.
Curling was a demonstration sport hidden behind the hills on a trunk road to nowhere.
I found my way to the, er, facility.
"Martin, I presume,'' I believe were my first words when I finally found him.
I'll never forget that initial interview.
"The last time I played on a two-sheeter was when I spared for my brother in Lougheed, my hometown, in the Oilman's Spiel,'' Martin told me that day.
Olympic curling on a two-sheeter?
Martin got a call from the Olympic icemaker one morning.
"He was my student at an ice-making school in Switzerland,'' Martin told me that day.
"He wanted help.''
The other two sheets of ice were water.
"I went and took a look at the plant. The pipes had collapsed. Then as soon as I stepped on the ice to help, somebody made a complaint. They figured I was going to make the ice better for myself.''
The rocks were awful, too.
"They're bad rocks,'' Martin told me that day. "Quite pitted. You figure this close to Scotland, we'd have the best granite in these rocks here.''
Martin and his rink never got used to the rocks. They missed the medals.
"We're in the outback here,'' Martin told me that day. "I know I expected more out of the Olympics than this. I expected a much better event.''
No, they weren't in the Olympics. Don Bartlett remembers marching in the closing ceremonies as the highlight of his life other than the birth of his two children. But maybe he forgets what it was like before the Canadian contingent got them into those ceremonies.
"We haven't met any other athletes. Only curlers. You hear about them. I'd like to meet them. We came to the Olympics and we didn't meet one athlete.''
They would, on the final weekend, get to watch Royal Glenora-trained Kristi Yamaguchi win her gold medal in figure skating and march in those ceremonies. But even then ...
Remember the Olympic clothing you were given by the Canadian team?
Two members of the team didn't get the purple and white parkas which were Canada's dress uniforms that year. None of them got the shoes and the rest of the good stuff the full-fledged members of the Canadian team were given. All the clothing they did get, they testified at the time, was either small or extra large.
"It wasn't any fun,'' Martin summed up for me after he lost the bronze-medal game.
Last night, after winning the trip to represent Canada for real gold medals as fully-accredited, 100% legitimate Olympians, Martin phoned last night and sounded like he wasn't going to get his hopes up that the real Olympics will be that much better until he's onsite in Salt Lake.
Actually, curling is in Ogden. But Ogden is on the map and the road there is paved and multi-laned. The rink is a weird venue and it only holds 2,000. But, there will be TV cameras galore, full uniforms, other athletes and real medals.
"It's hard to imagine how different it's going to be,'' he said.
Martin seemed happier for his rink than himself, especially Bartlett.
"He cried. That's all he's talked about for four years. I'm really happy for Don Bartlett. He wanted this bad.''
And I got the idea he kind of lived his Olympic dream this time through the eyes of 23-year-old second Carter Rycroft.
SEVEN LEAKS
"He was some kind of nervous,'' laughed Martin. "I don't think I've ever seen a guy pee seven times before a game.
"Don Walchuk covered for him early. But he ended up shooting 80%. And wasn't that something to see him when we won?''
Martin didn't give himself much credit for his game-winning shot.
"You have to be mentally prepared for that. In your mental preparations, you're telling yourself, 'Give me a draw to the four foot to win.' ''
Now there's the mental preparations for Salt Lake. This time he'll be going not to be in some sort of side show but as a real top-of-the-podium prospect like figure skaters Jamie Sale and David Pelletier.
This time there will be pressure.
"That's great,'' he said. "The more spotlight on curling, the better.''
2002 Games Columnists
