Beyond the South End

My Olympics

My TV is permanently tuned to the Olympics coverage for the duration of the games. I love the Olympics. The 1996 games were my Games because they took place in Atlanta where I live. I experienced the games in person and I have many memories of how much fun it was and how fortunate I was to be in the right place at the right time.

It takes a lot of planning, money, and construction to put on the games. Atlanta was planning from the moment we were announced as the site of the 1996 games. It was hard to believe that the whole world was coming to Atlanta, but come they did.

Transportation

One of the biggest problems for any big event like the Olympics is transportation. How do we get people from one place to another in the best and most efficient way?

Downtown Atlanta was closed to all traffic. I worked on the very edge of all the happenings at that time so I could still drive my car to work. It was a real “Twilight Zone” moment to see city buses from all over the country and Canada traveling our highways bringing people from the suburbs into the city for the games.

Atlanta has an extensive subway system and it was used believe me. There were police guards on all the platforms to make sure there were no scuffles because the trains were so packed. I rode the trains with athletes dressed in their country’s Olympic uniforms and heard every language imaginable at the same time.

We in America are not used to being pushed onto trains into what amounted to a sardine effect. Seats were removed in most of the trains so that we could carry more people. I, with my claustrophobia, almost got arrested when I put my hand out to block one more person who was trying to enter the door of the train where I stood. A cop was in my face immediately and I was really sweating it for a minute.

Weather

The weather can affect the outcome of any game that is played outdoors. Atlanta lied to the IOC, International Olympic Committee, when they told them that the temperatures would be comfortable for athletes and fans alike. I think the committee visited Atlanta in the fall when the weather was cool, not mid-summer in July when the Games took place; therefore they were duped.

On the first day of the Games, my friend Debbie and I went downtown to see a baseball game in the venue that eventually would become our modern day Turner Field. The temps had to be near 100. We took a bus from our suburb. We survived downtown by going into the tents that were set up with mist spraying from the top down to hot fans below. I had won tickets to a baseball game through the Georgia lottery and was determined to take advantage of it. You’ll see pictures from that game below.

As it was the first day of the Games all the glitches as to transportation hadn’t been worked out yet. There were two bus routes with similar names and we had a hard time trying to find out where ours left from. The heat was getting to be too much for me so Debbie called the Olympic Committee Transportation emergency number and someone came with a jeep and drove us over to our bus. (By the way, did you know that the games were one of the first places where cell phones were widely used to communicate? At that time it was a feature story of the games on our local NBC affiliate. It was said that someday we would all have our own personal phone numbers, which was hard to believe at that time.)

The Venues

Despite what it looks like on TV, all the games are not actually played in the host city. Such was the case with the 96 games. Soccer was played in venues in Alabama and Washington to name two. Yachting was off Savannah. Kayak events were in Tennessee. I mention this because I have my ideas for a Maine Olympics. See the separate story, “Maine Olympics?”

I was able to attend three games at the 96 Olympics. Besides the baseball game between Australia and China; I attended a women’s basketball game between Russia and Japan at the Georgia Dome; and a softball game, which took place in Columbus, Georgia, between the US and China. The US would eventually win the gold in softball.

There was a lottery for tickets. You filled out a form giving your three wishes for tickets and then you prayed. They tried to give everyone at least one of the later games. Also in the lottery, at mucho bucks, were seats in the opening and closing ceremonies; which is why I wasn’t at either one of those events.

Some citizens of Atlanta vacated the place while the games were on. Some rented out their houses for big bucks. I wanted to be in on the action and was glad I stayed.

Here are some pictures from my files of some of the experiences I had during those games. Enjoy. See the next story about the Maine Olympics.

Thanks for listening.

The torch is passed. The Olympic flame was run through many of the suburbs of Atlanta. This run is near where I lived in Gwinnett County. The runners had the option to buy their torch. Some of them were sold. My boss at that time ended up with one.

Me with my Olympics garb. None of this survived. The souvenirs I have left are my Olympic license plate and all my pins which I have displayed on the wall in my office. There was places downtown where people collected to swap pins and other souvenirs from the different countries, including at the famous Varsity. If you wanted to swap a pin you put it on your hat so people could see it and make you an offer.

At the baseball game between Australia and China. The guy with the belly I believe was a Georgia boy. He was quite a character. We had fun talking to the Aussies around us. They were so friendly and so interested in Atlanta and the games.

The baseball game at  the venue that would become Turner Field for the Atlanta Braves.

I pose at the baseball venue. Over my right shoulder you can just see the Olympic flame at the top of that tower. People said it looked like a box of French fries from McDonalds.

Entrance to the softball venue in Columbus, Georgia. Notice all the Olympic flags.

At the softball game there were bronze statues of young girls playing softball outside the venue. I am playing shortstop here behind the pitcher.

At the softball game. See Uncle Sam? There was also a man with a bald head who sported a real plunger attached to the top of his head. He attended a lot of the games that way and people began to watch for him. I didn’t get a picture of him, though.

At the softball game. These are volunteers. All of the volunteers had very colorful uniforms which they had to buy. Many of them sold their uniforms after the game for big bucks.

Olympic Park at night. You could buy bricks which were used to build the surface of the park. There was also a huge fountain coming out of the big flat rocks which the kids played in—they still do. I had a picture of it, but it was lost. I have visited the park many times since the games. The Fourth of July fireworks were lit there this year.

Global Olympic Village in the heart of Atlanta near the park and where all the action besides the games took place. Some medal ceremonies were performed here. It is also the familiar scene you saw on TV the night a terrorist set off a bomb near here which killed one woman. They have a permanent memorial in the park to remember those victims. Fortunately I changed my plans and wasn’t there that night.