Access Blogs
Torino Talk
(Reporting from Torino)
I am sitting inside the Torino Esposizioni, where team USA and Slovakia are slugging it out in hockey. Given the hustle required to get the job done over here, there's not a lot of time to fraternize.
But, it's Saturday night, I have a large brew and one at the ready for this game. The nationalism is ablaze, for both countries. There are guys draped in flags, sporting ridiculous hats, faces painted. Oddly enough there are cheerleaders in the aisles...that is a first for me, a long time hockey player. The Slovak fans are passionate and loud, reveling in the fact that they are on par with America in talent. The game is locked at 0-0, my friend Jeff Kimbell is with me, and we are on edge as the tension in here is loud and raucous...best part, the arena is really small so everything is magnified.
Also, the players exit the ice for period breaks through a small door in the corner...in other words, this is a high school rink with a vending machine, if you know what I mean. Look, the marquee Olympic moment is (and will always be) the 'miracle on ice' in 1980, when our American amateurs won it all. These guys now all play professionally, make great money, and that's why this arena needs to look like a high school arena...because we need the innocence of international play.
I miss my wife and children, but this is pretty wild.
Leave a comment