ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Friday, July 5, 1996 TAG: 9607050083
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B-5 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: JACK BOGACZYK
The Summer Games open two weeks from tonight in Atlanta, or, to paraphrase Olympic poohbah Juan Antonio Samaranch's now-biennial proclamation:
Let the gouging begin.
Atlanta may be the home of the Braves, but for the XXVI Summer Olympiad, it definitely won't be the land of the free. I'm surprised the Olympics hasn't figured out a way to charge the NFL for using Roman numbers on those Super Bowls.
Actually, Atlanta is an appropriate location for the Olympics. It has become the commerce capital of the South, and commercialism is what the Olympics are about these days. It used to be about politics.
Think about it. After Sherman burned his name into history, what was Atlanta's claim to fame? Selling Coke. Ask a foreigner what he knew about Atlanta before the Georgia capital was awarded the Summer Games and one of two answers is likely to begin with the same letter:
``Coke'' or ``CNN.''
The numbers are huge for this first Olympics where the vocabulary includes, ``y'all,'' and I'm not just talking about the record 10,000 athletes from a record 197 nations - Afghanistan to Zimbabwe - and 271 events.
At the recent U.S. Olympic track and field trials at the soon-to-be Braves ballpark that thankfully reminds no one of Montreal's Olympic Stadium, the prices were as high as the temperatures.
A hamburger went for $4.25. A hometown soft drink was $3.25. No public water fountains were to be found, but a 16-ounce bottle of water could be had for $2.75.
Popcorn was $3.25. Beer was $3.50 or $4.50. That's not a six-pack.
Imagine what you could get for an electric fan or air conditioner during these Games, or, perhaps you didn't hear the story about Atlanta's Olympic bid and the weather.
In presenting facts and figures in hoping to land the Summer Games, Atlanta officials told the IOC the temperatures during the Games would average in the upper 70s. What the bid didn't say was that that average would come during the middle of the night in July.
This, from the city that's home to The Weather Channel.
With no Soviet giant or East German system or even a Unified Team to get U.S. sports patriots warmed up, perhaps the most intrigue about these games will be to see what buckles first: athletes' knees or the new blacktop.
I talked to an Atlanta resident two days ago about the condition of the city with an estimated 1.4 million visitors expected in two weeks. ``Other than the traffic jams, detours, bulldozers, dust, smell of asphalt, heat and short tempers, it's lovely,'' he said.
If nothing else, there is one plus to the mess, however. Perhaps the orange construction cone will replace the ridiculous blue bug-eyed mascot, Izzy, as the symbol for the Games.
By early August, however, much of that will be forgotten. Thousands of visitors will leave Atlanta much poorer, but richer for the Olympic experience. The United States is expected to win the most medals, which is sure to bring Americans' fervor for the games up to about 90 degrees and 90 percent humidity.
By the rest of the world, Atlanta will be looked upon differently, too - either as another great international metropolis, or as a place that went from bumpkin status in the not-so-distant past to a burg that wasn't quite big enough to handle an Olympian effort.
The traffic will be a disaster. I-85. I-75. I-20. I-285. I-yey-yey-yey-yey. Some lines will be longer than a Fred McGriff homer. There will be so many headlines about ``the Atlanta heat,'' it will seem the NBA has transplanted the Miami franchise.
Whatever happens, it will be an unforgettable experience in a city that has come a long way from the one that cheered on Biff Pocoroba. Whatever happens, other U.S. cities would love to be where Atlanta is today, preparing to stage the largest international peacetime celebration on the planet - and without a boycott. Not even Los Angeles was that fortunate in 1984.
The line already is forming to bid to become the designated U.S. bidder for the 2008 Summer Games. New York is interested. Chicago, too. Cincinnati wants to bid, although perhaps someone should check with Marge Schott to get her take on an event at which Jesse Owens once ran past Adolf Hitler.
Except for some very gifted athletes, the Olympics are a one-time experience, and mostly an expensive one. Atlanta alone is spending $3 billion to stage the Games.
Like bottled water, asphalt doesn't come cheap.
LENGTH: Medium: 82 linesby CNB