Barcelona – 1992

The Olympic “magic” is back.  Talk about a contrast in cultures and locations.  The Seoul Games were well-run but “cold.”  Barcelona wasn’t ready for this event until the day before the opening ceremonies.  “Mañana Mentality” was alive and well in Spain but it didn’t matter because everything that had to be ready was.

The Olympic spirit was everywhere, from the unobtrusive security checkpoints, to the ticket takers, the bus drivers, the volunteers in the various stadia, to the taxi drivers.  Barcelona caught Olympic fever and they didn’t recover for at least 17 days.  It was hot, a bit muggy, and certainly crowded but it didn’t matter.  Everyone was having the time of their lives and it showed. 

We were staying just a 1 kilometer walk from the Olympic Stadium so that made work much easier but the nature of the Games being in Europe dictated that they be “on tape” for delayed broadcast to the U.S. and that made my work hours very difficult.  I watched a great track meet, the best American team since 1968, but I didn’t put my voice on tape until 3am to 6am the next morning, in a condensed version of the events, where the field event competitions often received short-shrift unless something spectacular had taken place.

This was my “new reality” of how network television of the Olympics worked when the time zone was unfavorable for the U.S. audience.  It would become even more challenging in the future.

In the four years since Seoul I had become quite comfortable in my new role as “former athlete” and there were no “pangs” of regret that I wasn’t still striving for athletic excellence.  I had always seen my job in sports television as one where I wanted to present a balanced mix of entertainment and education to my audience so they left the experience saying, “Wow, I never knew that about X,” whatever “X” might be.  Since Day 1, I’ve seen one guy in a ribbed tank top, sitting in a black recliner in his living room, flipping the channels and accidentally coming across a sports program I’m working on.  I have to say or point out something that holds his attention long enough to want more.

The Barcelona Games served to renew my faith in the Olympic movement with more and more cities lining up to make bids to host future Olympics in the aftermath of those successful Spanish Games.  There were no boycotts, no security breaches, and a good time was had by all.