Count Mike Eruzione, the captain of the U.S. "Miracle on Ice" men's hockey team from the 1980 Winter Olympics as one who isn't fond of professional hockey players now participating in the Winter Games.
"I'm not a big fan of it," said Eruzione, the featured speaker Saturday at the season kick-off dinner of Ski Utah, the state's ski and snowboard association. "We take away the dreams of our youth, and now we're doing it here (at the Olympics)," he said as he recalled the ragtag team of U.S. collegiate players that dethroned the Soviet Union en route to an unexpected gold medal at the 1980 Lake Placid Olympics.
"But I understand that the Games now are different," he said, adding that he'll be cheering on Team USA to win and prove "that the best players in the world do live in this country."
MORE ERUZIONE:
Of the video highlights: "That's my life story, and it's about four minutes long."
Of the "Miracle" moniker: "They called us "The Miracle On Ice." I'm a Red Sox fan ? if they win a World Series, that will be a miracle."
Of getting a call from then-President Jimmy Carter in the locker room after the gold-medal game: "It's been 22 years and I haven't heard from him since. I go home and ask my father if Jimmy Carter has called and he says, 'Not today.' "
Of the gold medal he received: "There's a joke in my hometown that my father was so proud that he wanted to take my gold medal and have it bronzed."
PARALYMPICS: Paralympic athletes are not, as Chris Waddell, one of the most successful members of the U.S. Disabled Ski Team, said Sunday, "charity cases," but are "athletes" competing in a "sport . . . the same as any able-bodied athlete in the Olympics."
"Now, we have to find a way to get on national TV. We are pursuing a TV contract for the Paralympics, but it's difficult. It's a financial question. Right now we're headed for cable TV. We're not sure if it will be prime time coverage. We suspect it will be more documentary and highlight-type coverage as opposed to actually covering the events. "
CURLING: The Amy Wright curling team from Minnesota is among six women's teams vying to play for the United States in 2002. She told reporters she expects her greatest competition during the upcoming Olympic trials from the Kari Erickson team from Illinois and the Patti Lank team from Wisconsin. The Amy Wright team won the 2000 national championships; the Erickson team won the 2001 championships.
"I would be very surprised if one of these three of our teams do not prevail," Amy Wright said, speaking of the Dec. 9-16 trials to be held at the Ogden Ice Sheet.
For the men, Andy Borland of Minnesota, who also answered questions during the roundtable interviews, said he expects stiff competition from the Craig Brown team of Wisconsin and the Paul Pustovar team, also of Wisconsin. The Brown team won the 2000 nationals, while the Jason Larway team from Washington won the 2001 national championships.
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 skiier 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-Gs."
Which is a little more than she pulls in tight turns on a downhill course traveling at 80 miles per hour.
SKI JUMPING: It's apropos that U.S. national ski jumping champ Alan Alborn is quickly becoming a world class "flyer."
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 bottled-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.