A SIDEWAYS GLANCE AT ATLANTA : E-MAIL FROM ATLANTA OK, WHO'S THE PINHEAD WHO CAME UP WITH THIS CRAZE?Riding bus. Foreign journalist gets up and comes toward me. Asks question: ``Would you like to trade pin?'' ``I'm sorry,'' I say. ``I don't have pin.'' Foreign journalist looks at me funny. Laughs to himself. Walks away. Suddenly feel deprived, depressed, like stranger in strange land. Pinland. Pins everywhere. And everybody has pins. I don't have pin. Not my own, anyway. No pin with my name on it. No pin with my job description (``Press'') or name of employer. No pin at all. Think to myself: Why are pins important? Why must I have one? Answer: I must have one in order to trade and obtain others. Question: Why must I obtain others? Answer: Good question. Pins getting on my nerves. I'm not the only one. Notice many doors to foreign press organizations have signs outside: ``Sorry, no pins.'' Think about getting sign for myself. Neon. Meet friend. Journalist for U.S. newspaper. His paper has pin. It says name of paper plus `` '96'' inside a big star. Tells me pins actually for Democratic and Republican conventions, but being used here, too. Seems like pin fraud to me. If I did have own pin, it would have reporter dressed like knight on steed steed see nag. with big sword, saving damsel and fighting for truth. Felt that would be more dynamic than guy sitting in recliner watching golf. Would like to find unsuspecting foreign journalist, take him to ATM and ask him for PIN. Could buy lots of pins then. Stick it. - Cyberscribe SOURCE: Michael Ventre The Wheaties-box prize is still a mystery Michael Johnson Michael Johnson or Mike Johnson may refer to:
The man who produced an unprecedented double in the 200 and 400 meters for the U.S. claimed his visage would soon grace the Wheaties box, joining a prestigious athletic pantheon for the self-declared Breakfast of Champions. Johnson called the endorsement ``a done deal.'' But the folks at General Mills  This article or section may contain a proseline.Please help [ convert this timeline] into prose or, if necessary, a . were saying, ``Not so fast.'' ``Posturing,'' was how cereal spokesman David Dix dismissed Johnson and a few other premature claimants to the cereal marketing gold. This after the company issued a news release that promised ``Wheaties' Biggest Announcement Ever'' for Sunday. No decision has been made on the Wheaties box picture, Dix insisted. General Mills has learned from past experience that the right face on the box can boost sales 10 to 20 percent. A short list of Wheaties prospects includes Johnson and gymnast Kerri Strug The references in this article would be clearer with a different and/or consistent style of citation, footnoting or external linking. Kerri Allyson Strug (born November 19, 1977) is an American gymnast from Tucson, Arizona. . (Strug's agent, Leigh Steinberg This article reads like a news release, or is otherwise written in an overly promotional tone.Please help [ rewrite this article] from a to be less promotional, per Wikipedia . , said the whole seven-member gymnastics team would be on the box.) Other candidates: Carl Lewis and Dan O'Brien
Daniel ("Dan") Dion O'Brien (born July 18, 1966 in Portland, Oregon) is a former American decathlete. from track, gymnast Shannon Miller Shannon Lee Miller (b. March 10, 1977 in Rolla, Missouri) is an artistic gymnast from Edmond, Oklahoma. She has earned 7 Olympic Medals and 9 World Championship Medals since her Elite International debut in 1990. She is the most decorated gymnast, male or female, in U.S. history. , softball's Dot Richardson Dorothy ("Dot") Gay Richardson (born September 22, 1961 in Orlando, Florida) is a former international softball player. She used to play on the sidelines at her brothers' baseball games. , and swimmers Tom Dolan For other persons named Tom Dolan, see Tom Dolan (disambiguation). Tom Dolan (born September 16 1974 in Arlington, Virginia) is a swimmer from the United States, who won a gold medal and silver medal at the 2000 Summer Olympics and a gold medal at the 1996 Summer Olympics. , Mary Ellen Clark Mary Ellen Clark (born December 25, 1962 in Abington, Pennsylvania) is an American diver who won two Olympic bronze medals. The first was in diving at the 1992 Summer Olympics and the second was in diving at the 1996 Summer Olympics. and Amy Van Dyken Amy Van Dyken (born February 15, 1973 in Englewood, Colorado) is an American swimmer who has six career Olympic gold medals. Four of these gold medals came in the 1996 Summer Olympics, making her the first American woman to accomplish such a feat. . And here's Wheaties' official snub of Simi Valley Simi Valley (sē`mē, sĭm`ē), city (1990 pop. 100,217), Ventura co., SW Calif. in an oil, fruit, and farm region; laid out 1887, inc. 1969. gold-medalist Justin Huish: ``(In) conversations to date,'' Dix said, ``nobody has mentioned archery.'' `No Pepsi, Coke!' will be Games motto Home-court advantage had to count for something. Coca-Cola, the soft-drink giant based in Atlanta, was extended exclusive marketing rights to the Olympic Games through 2008, the International Olympic Committee “IOC” redirects here. For other uses, see IOC (disambiguation). The International Olympic Committee (French: Comité International Olympique) is an organization based in Lausanne, Switzerland, created by Pierre de Coubertin and Demetrios Vikelas on June 23 announced Friday. That means Coke, which already was signed through the 2000 Games, now is ensured of remaining the only soft-drink company allowed to use the coveted cov·et v. cov·et·ed, cov·et·ing, cov·ets v.tr. 1. To feel blameworthy desire for (that which is another's). See Synonyms at envy. 2. To wish for longingly. See Synonyms at desire. Olympic rings in worldwide advertising. Also, its products will be the only sodas swigged at the next six Olympics. The deal gives Coca-Cola at least 12 more years to come up with something a little more eye-catching than the monument to fizz it erected for these Games in downtown Atlanta: a 165-foot-tall Coke bottle. Wow. Financial terms were not disclosed, though industry observers say the cost of a top-level Olympic sponsorship now is $50 million for each two years, compared with $40 million for the period of the 1994 Lillehammer Olympics through these Games. Dick Pound, an IOC IOC abbr. International Olympic Committee IOC n abbr (= International Olympic Committee) → COI m IOC n abbr (= vice president, said no other beverage company was considered, meaning that Coca-Cola's main competitor, Pepsi-Cola, was locked out of the Olympic sweepstakes. Their limo driver is draped drape v. draped, drap·ing, drapes v.tr. 1. To cover, dress, or hang with or as if with cloth in loose folds: draped the coffin with a flag; a robe that draped her figure. in cobwebs cob·web n. 1. a. The web spun by a spider to catch its prey. b. A single thread spun by a spider. 2. Something resembling the web of a spider in gauziness or flimsiness. 3. If you were doing a little Olympic stargazing star·gaze intr.v. star·gazed, star·gaz·ing, star·gaz·es 1. To gaze at the stars. 2. To daydream. Noun 1. in Atlanta, hopeful of seeing a glitzy glitz Informal n. Ostentatious showiness; flashiness: "a garish barrage of show-biz glitz" Peter G. Davis. tr.v. couple like tennis star Andre Agassi and his fiancee, Brooke Shields, you'd probably first search the nightspots of Peachtree Street. Chances are, you'd come up empty, though. Agassi was recently spotted having a late dinner at Shoney's, the Deep South's equivalent to Coco's. There was a Shields-sighting, too - at a Kroger's supermarket. According to Agassi, it's all by design. He's taken a buckle-down approach to a tennis gold medal, which he's heavily favored to win today when he faces unseeded Sergi Bruguerra of Spain. It has meant toning down the nightlife. ``I would say it's been pretty much a focused goal to win these matches and to prepare myself as much as possible to win them,'' said Agassi. ``So I haven't allowed myself the luxury of getting to appreciate all that's here in Atlanta.'' Agassi, with Shields among the enthusiastic fans at the Stone Mountain tennis venue, said he hasn't gotten to see any other Olympic events, or even made it into downtown Atlanta. ``When things haven't been going so well and you finally start doing things right, you don't want to get sidetracked,'' said Agassi, a former No. 1 who began Olympic play having lost four of his previous seven matches. It's an Olympic-sized bazaar . . . of junk Intrepid fellow, that Rich Tosches of the Colorado Springs Gazette-Telegraph. He ventured out into the forbidding vendor jungle in Atlanta and returned - albeit shaken and glassy-eyed - to tell about it. His tongue-in-cheek list of must-have items: Flags-of-the-World Wristwatches. Price: $35 each. These precision timepieces display flags from more than 25 nations. As I was looking at a table filled with this fine jewelry, it began to drizzle. The merchant rushed out and dragged the entire table under his tent, the mist making him react - to use the old expression - ``like a man whose wristwatches were about to blow up.'' Cabbage Patch Kids Cabbage Patch Kids are a brand of doll created by Xavier Roberts in 1978. The original dolls were all cloth and were available at local craft shows, and later at Babyland General Hospital in Cleveland, Georgia. (Olympic Kids Edition). Just like the original Cabbage Patch Kids, a doll that was popular for a period of about eight or nine days earlier this decade, except these kids are wearing gym shorts. Price: $50, which includes a free mental-health evaluation. Looney Tunes Olympic Refrigerator Magnets. The set includes Daffy Duck on the medal platform, Bugs Bunny whacking a baseball and Tweety Bird performing the difficult Iron Cross on the gymnastics rings. (A fourth magnet shows Sylvester the Cat making steroid-use allegations against Tweety and a fifth magnet shows Tweety holding a small, plastic sample cup.) USA shot glasses. Featuring the Olympic motto, ``Fortius, Altius, Cirrhosis.'' Water bottle. This one ($8.50) contains the following foam-rubber figure on the lid: a straw protruding pro·trude v. pro·trud·ed, pro·trud·ing, pro·trudes v.tr. To push or thrust outward. v.intr. To jut out; project. See Synonyms at bulge. from a boxing glove, which is resting atop the head of a swimmer, whose right arm is wrapped around a soccer ball, and whose left leg has a basketball on it, and the face is stuck to a gigantic sneaker. This, as you know, is precisely why the Bulgarian swim team did not do well in this year's 400-meter medley. Olympic key chains. Thousands of them. My favorite has a three-inch-by-four-inch sneaker attached to it, making it very practical to carry around in your trousers. (``Hey, is that a sneaker in your pocket, or did you spend $8 for a key chain at the Olympics?'') Strug's on-line chat: tower of babble NBC NBC in full National Broadcasting Co. Major U.S. commercial broadcasting company. It was formed in 1926 by RCA Corp., General Electric Co. (GE), and Westinghouse and was the first U.S. company to operate a broadcast network. drew so many Internet users to its Olympic web site for a live chat with U.S. gymnast Kerri Strug on Friday that it had to temporarily restrict access. NBC Interactive Media said it estimated that 50,000 people entered the on-line auditorium for the chat with the hero of America's team gold medal in gymnastics. Strug chatted on-line for more than 30 minutes, fielding questions about her Olympic performance, her talk with President Clinton, her fan club and her tastes in music. VOICES ``I think the IOC has asked for pros to play. I think (president Juan Antonio) Samaranch thinks major-leaguers will produce a Dream Team-like identity and more revenue. . . . It's about commercialism, capitalism and what works on TV.'' - U.S. baseball coach Skip Bertman, whose team won the bronze medal Friday ``I was the underdog in my match, I did the best I could. All he can do is go for it.'' - Silver-medalist wrestler Matt Ghaffari, on presidential candidate Bob Dole ``Shaquille O'Neal . . . is so large that he makes David Robinson look like Richard Simmons.'' - Miami Herald columnist Dave Barry on the Lakers' new center ``You take a charge on the Mailman (Karl Malone) and you know you're not all there.'' - Dream Teamer Charles Barkley CAPTION(S): 4 Photos Photo: (1) no caption (Olympic trading pins) (2) no capt ion (Michael Johnson and Dan O'Brien) (3) no caption (Shaquille O'Neal, Hakeem Olajuwon and David Robinson) (4) Presidential pep talk ``A couple of tanks like us with ya' and you'll be OK.'' - Wrestling silver medalist Matt Ghaffari, to Republican presidential hopeful Bob Dole |
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