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Defensive, evasive skating official on thin ice with media

By Scott D. Pierce
Deseret News television editor

      The most bizarre event of of the 2002 Winter Games played out live on MSNBC on Wednesday — an event that became riveting in its sheer strangeness.
      Ottavio Cinquanta, president of the International Skating Union, faced a room full of journalists for the express purpose of answering questions about what has become an enormous problem for both the ISU and the International Olympic Committee — the growing public perception that the gold medal was presented to the wrong couple in the pairs figure skating competition earlier this week because of either incompetence or collusion on the part of the ISU judges.
      That was what Cinquanta was supposed to do. And it's probably what he thought he did. But as the press conference rolled by it became apparent that Cinquanta really didn't want to do anything of the kind.
      He dodged questions. He acted defensive. He acted insulted. He became combative. He hesitated. He professed to have no opinions. He professed to have little knowledge of figure skating judging. (Really!)
      He flat-out refused to answer seemingly simple questions. And, after calling a press conference to address what happened in the pairs competition, Cinquanta said, "It's not our role here to talk about the decision of the judges."
      Obviously, somebody advised the ISU to call this press conference to clear the air. But all Cinquanta seemed to do was cloud the air even further.
      If you thought curling was weird, you had to see this televised press conference to see what weird really is.

      WE'RE OUT OF FOCUS: All the Utahns who worried so much about how their home state would come off on NBC shouldn't have worried so much. NBC hosts and commentators are still overwhelmingly positive — that is when they talk about the state at all.
      And, frankly, they haven't talked about us much. For example, during the three-hour "Today Show" telecast on Wednesday morning, about the only mention of Utah came in the form of isn't-that-beautiful shots of the scenery and the occasional Al Roker silliness. The only feature that really had anything to do with Utahns was a light-hearted piece on obeying pedestrian regulations in Salt Lake City.
      They say no news is good news. In this case, they're probably right.

      LATE-NIGHT HUMOR: From David Letterman: "Utah and Salt Lake City look so beautiful . . . Now from seeing it in all its winter luster I would like to move there," Letterman said. "And when you live there, you can have more than one wife."
      "And you know the Osmonds have that big television facility there," said bandleader Paul Shaffer. "We could broadcast from there."
      "Yeah, but if I have several wives, I won't have much energy for broadcasting," Letterman retorted.

• Jay Leno: "Big snowstorm in Salt Lake City last night. Apparently, visibility down to zero. Maybe that's why the figure skating judges couldn't see anything.
        "People in were upset. Even Mormons in the audience were cursing. You never see that."

• Craig Kilborn had an Olympics-related query in his Five Questions segment with guest Frankie Muniz, the young star of "Malcolm in the Middle."
        "What country is favored to win the gymnastics competition in Salt Lake this week?" Kilborn asked.
        Fortunately, Muniz realized, "The gymnastics are (in) the Summer Olympics."

• Conan O'Brien: We don't know what Conan had to say here in Utah because our friends at KSL are pre-empting him for the painfully unfunny "SLC Live."