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Show OLYMPIC AT LAST! By Wina Sturgeon tors were talking about the amount of The reason? -checking that went uncalled by the refs. The USOC controls both drug testing and Forward Jenny Schmidgall, part of the results. The lack of outside scrutiny has cost © U.S. team that won the gold in Nagano, the USOC its international credibility. In fact, was asked if people have a problem with Europeans are quite open about accusing women playing so aggressively. : the Americans of hiding positive tests. She answered, “I think some men have a Now you know the reason |OC member problem with it. They aren’t ready to accept Dick Pound wrote the infamous insulting yet that women are stepping onto the playletter to Gen. Barry McCaffrey. McCaffrey directs the White House Office of National ing field and throwing the elbows. | don’t Drug Control Policy, so the insult was deliberate. : think women have a problem with it at all.” On the surface, the drug fight between hen the International Olympic Committee made the official announcement that skeleton and women’s bobsled would be medal sports in the 2002 Games, it didn’t bring the tears of joy that everyone thought would flow. The most common emotion was relief. Park City’s Lincoln DeWitt says it will solve a lot of money problems. With skeleton as an Olympic sport, top racers are now eligible for money from the U.S. Olympic Committee, and the U.S. team will find it Jean Racine, currently ranked the No. 2 bob driver in the world, started in luge eight years ago, and switched to bobsled four years ago, before anyone dreamed it would reach the Olympics. But She when would it was Racine’s dream even then. says now, “One of my biggest fears | switched sports was that there be no finish to the story, that we wouldn’t make it. When the announcement came, | just felt like it was a payback for all my hard work.” but we won't be as poor as we were,” DeWitt says. “You used to have to figure out how much time you could afford to take off Yet all the athletes on both the skelly and women’s bob teams know for sure that the hardest work still lies ahead. Salt Lake helped the sports get accepted—now the USOC and the IOC will expect the Americans work, how much time you could afford to to bring home the easier to get sponsors. : “We’re not going to get rich doing this, train. Now it will be easier to get time off from our jobs.” He also points out that the sport will no longer be lonely, since quite a few bobsledders and lugers have been expressing interest lately in riding down the bobsled track headfirst on a small sled. ~ “People have been anticipating this announcement all summer, and they're starting to hedge their bets,” DeWitt lqughs. historic first gold medals. DRUGS AND POWER There hasn’t been much notice taken of a big fight going on between the International Olympic Committee and the U.S. Olympic Committee over who is going to control drug testing. Few Americans know that the United States has a very bad name in the Olympic sports community when it comes to drugs. the IOC and USOC seems little more than a power struggle, and in a lot of ways, it is. But the reason the USOC is suddenly coming on strong about drugs and telling the world how the organization is going to set up an independent drug control agency is not because of its fight with the IOC. It’s because McCaffrey and the Feds have lots of money to pour into the drug war. The USOC is lusting after the $5 million or more it stands to receive if General McCaffrey is allowed to be an Olympic warrior in the fight against banned substances. FEMININE GLOVE DROPPING NO BREEZE FOR THE FREEZZ Think indoor soccer is an easy sport? Then watch how many Utah Freezz come limping into physical therapy at TOSH (The Orthopedic Specialty Hospital) on Monday after a game. About one-fourth of the team is usually there, getting bruises, sore joints and muscle-pulls treated. “It’s a tough game. It has aspects of hockey, with the boards and smaller field,” says defender Kevin Henderson. Henderson is currently being treated for a common indoor soccer injury: turf toe. lt happens when a player jams a toe on the artificial turf field. The hockey game between the University of Minnesota Duluth and the University of Calgary that officially launched the Olympic venue for women’s hockey was no cream puff match. At one point, two players briefly waltzed into the glove-dropping, shirt-grabbing prelude to a fight, before the refs rushed over to break it up. Checking (read: a shove with lots of velocity) isn’t allowed in women’s hockey, only “incidental contact.” But many specta- The turf can also be treacherous, he explains. “It'll catch the bottom sole of your shoe and trip you in front of 6,000 people. We call it a “sniper,” because you drop like somebody shot you.” But the Freez players have a sense of humor. “When it’s one of our own players who trips, we'll all giggle and laugh,” ~ Henderson says, adding that when the team watches the replay of the game, the poor guy who was sniped gets laughed at again. =» Talk to Rock Stars and Get Pait Rock musicians. Jazz musicians. DJs. Pop musicians....you name it. Our SLE Call Center takes only inbound calls from musician's all across the country. They buy guitars, keyboards, drums, recording gear and all the accessories. There are no outbound sales...just incoming calls from musicians who want your assistance. ook: ? 66. F| 6661 ‘vl YaSOLD0|8L 7 oe ? ei ead try * eae ieeeees Sy24 tes ey ene, r asere Lucrative bonuses and big discounts on gear. In addition to paid training, competitive salary and comprehensive benefits, Musician's Friend offers a lucrative bonus program that can earn you hundreds of extra dollars each month. 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