The Miami Herald
"Competitive ski jumping is a weighty issue"
By Dave Barry
PARK CITY — I came here to watch the men's 90-meter ski jump, which gets its name from the fact that a sane person would have to drink a 90-meter-high glass of gin before he would even consider attempting this sport. Of course, ski jumping was not invented by sane people. It was invented by Norwegians. These are people who eat a dish called "lutefisk," which can be either an entree or an industrial solvent. So they think nothing of flinging themselves off cliffs. . . .
Kansas City Star
"U.S. women's team is great, but fans need work"
By Joe Posnanski
SALT LAKE CITY — There already has been a lot of talk — and I mean a lot of talk — at these Winter Games about ugly Americans cheering obnoxiously for the old U.S.A.
It mostly isn't true. I mean, for one thing, we're not good enough at most of these sports to be ugly. Biathlon? Luge? How obnoxious can anyone get when finishing 30th in cross country skiing?
But Tuesday, America's team took the ice. The U.S. women's hockey team is far and away America's most dominant team. . . . And so, Tuesday, the Americans played the thoroughly overmatched Germans, which made it a good day for some good old-fashioned ugly American action.
See, there was a time in the game when the U.S. team was up by nine goals and had outshot the Germans — get this — 50-5. And that was precisely when people in the stands started chanting, "U.S.A., U.S.A.," waving flags and pointing at the scoreboard and asking for more.
There's the Olympic spirit in action. . . .
The Washington Post
"Salt Lake Snippets: Looking Good"
By Bill Grant
SALT LAKE CITY — OK, we're venturing into unchartered territory here, but lots of you have been wondering why our American boys and girls are wearing uniforms with the word "roots" prominently displayed on the chest.
The gear is produced by Roots, a Toronto-based firm that aims at trendy young adults, which explains why at least one of us had never heard of it before Friday's opening ceremony. The firm has done the uniforms for the Canadian teams for several Olympiads and, we're told, made a major fashion statement with the red berets that topped their team in 1998.
The athletes seem to like the new look, much toned down from earlier gaudy explosions of red, white and blue.
"I think they're cool," figure skater Michael Weiss of Fairfax, Va., told the Associated Press. "The clothing is a good example of what an American would wear. We looked very American even though the company is Canadian, which is ironic."
But fashion, we're told, can be very fickle.
"Is it just me," writes Chris Smith of Miami, "or did anybody else find the uniforms worn by the U.S. in the opening ceremonies to be exceedingly ugly and depressing? At least I think that it was the U.S. team, because I may have confused them with the team from 'roots.' . . .
