Longtime National Hockey League defenseman Chris Chelios is hoping his third Winter Olympics are memorable — and for the right reason.
Chelios played for the United States in the 1984 Sarajevo Olympics, a rather forgettable and unsuccessful outing in the wake of the gold medal garnered by the 1980 "Miracle on Ice" squad at Lake Placid.
More recently, he captained the 1998 American team at the Nagano Games — the first Winter Olympics where the NHL gave its blessing for full participation of its players. After three nondescript pool-play games, the United States lost its first game in the single-elimination medal round.
But what the Americans became most noted for in Nagano was the trashing of their residences in the Olympic Village, damaging everything from furniture to fire extinguishers. A month after the fact, Chelios represented the team in forwarding a $3,000 check and group apology to the Japan Olympic Committee.
Addressing print and broadcast reporters by teleconference at Monday's final-day session of the Olympic Media Summit at the Grand America Hotel, Chelios dispatched the traditional "let-bygones-be-bygones" phrases when asked for review of the Nagano situation.
"You learn from your mistakes," he said, along with "it was something that happened" and "as far as we're concerned, it's over."
One reporter asked Chelios and USA Hockey officials in attendance if the several players from the 1998 U.S. team also selected to the 2002 squad deserved the repeat selection, given that no American player ever admitted fault in the Nagano fiasco.
"We kept it to ourselves," Chelios said. "The people who needed to know (NHL and USA Hockey officials) . . . they were aware of what happened and who did it.
"Yes, the players deserve to be there. It's over, and it will never happen again."
HOME-ICE ADVANTAGE: Not lost on Chelios is the fact that the last two times the Winter Games were held on U.S. soil (1960 in Squaw Valley, Calif., and 1980 in Lake Placid, N.Y.), an underdog American team went on to shock the Soviet-dominated competition and claim the gold medals.
Even more ironic are the similarities between 1980 and 2002 — the Iran hostage situations then and the recent terrorist attacks, the need for a renewed sense of patriotic pride and the fact that 1980 U.S. coach Herb Brooks will reprise his role on the bench next February.
"Everybody's aware of it," said Chelios of the similarities. "And if we're going to win it, this is our best chance to do it . . . hopefully, we'll feed off the energy in Salt Lake, and I'm sure it's going to help."
SKI JUMPING: It's apropos that U.S. national ski-jumping champ Alan Alborn is quickly becoming a world class "flier."
The young Alaskan is the son of a commercial pilot and the owner/operator of his own small plane.
"I like the sensation of being off the ground," said Alborn at Sunday's edition of the U.S. Olympic Media Summit.
Before last summer, Alborn was not considered a threat to win a medal during the 2002 Winter Games. But his success in the 2001 international summer jumping circuit has made Alborn something of a "live" underdog.
The soft-spoken Alborn admits he doesn't fit the nutty stereotype sometimes tagged to ski jumpers. (Remember England's "Eddie the Eagle" during the 1988 Calgary Games?)
Still, Alborn's not afraid of a little fun. Check out his bottle-blond 'do.
SNOWBOARDING: Former University of Utah skier Sondra Van Ert will have her own fan club should she make the 2002 Olympic team. Van Ert, who grew up in Bountiful, has three sisters in the area, and many friends to cheer her on in the parallel giant slalom at Park City.
"That will be a crazy time for me," she said. "I'm used to competing in obscure places."
The snowboard World Cup tour takes riders to far away resorts from South America to Europe to Japan.
CURLING: Amy Wright remembers as a little girl going to the 1976 World Curling in her home town of Duluth, Minn. With a background of banners and bagpipers, she became enthralled with the sport.
Turning to her father, she said, "Daddy, that's what I want to do when I grow up."
Her dreams are coming true. Come Dec. 9-16, her Minnesota curling team will compete in the U.S. Olympic Trials at the Ogden Ice Sheet.
Wright spoke of her past and her passion for curling during the recent Olympic Media Summit. During a set of roundtable interviews, she answered a wide variety of questions about the oft-maligned sport, including, "What kind of a broom do you use?"
She said she doesn't mind the questions. "Curlers love their sport," she said. "Most of us make a point of getting out there and getting others involved."
Wright and fellow Minnesotan Andy Borland represented U.S. curling at the media interviews. Unlike many other Olympic athletes who train full time with sponsors, curlers like Wright and Borland earn their own living and train when they can.
Wright and her husband, Tim Wright, also a world-class curler and own a resort lodge, while Borland is an attorney who practices family law.
SPEEDSKATING: Speed skaters are always looking for that edge, and one some are using in preparation for the Olympics is oxygen tanks.
"It's been a nice training tool," said Derek Parra, who will need all the oxygen he can get during longer distance events like the 5,000 and 10,000 meter events.
Others, like medal hopeful Casey FitzRandolph, who is more of a sprinter, has little use for oxygen tanks or taking advantage of the team's "live high, train low" philosophy that has some teammates living at a higher altitude in order to boost their bodies' ability to more efficiently use oxygen.
ALPINE SKIING: Downhill skier Picabo Street admitted she's not superstitious, but she will be carrying some items of meaning to her in February.
These will include a silver cross and a pin from the 388th Fighter Wing stationed at Hill Air Force Base, which took her on a flight this past summer and "gave me the feeling of pulling 9-G's."
Which is a little more than she pulls in tight turns on a downhill course traveling at 80 miles per hour.