NEWS FROM NAGANO: A DAILY DOSE OF OLYMPIC HEADLINES : USA MAKES CBS LOSER, TOO.

Byline: Daily News Wire Services

The U.S. men's hockey team's shocking defeat in the quarterfinals of the Dream Tournament made losers out of CBS as well.

The network, which anchored its late-night live hockey coverage around the U.S. team, must show its final three games without the home team and the ratings the Americans would bring.

``This is not like the U.S. basketball Dream Team losing,'' CBS spokesman Dana McClintock said. ``We still have the greatest player ever and plenty of other NHL players. It would have been great if the U.S. had won, but we will still continue to feature the games in prime time and late night.''

The U.S. team had generated relatively high ratings for hockey. Its game Sunday night against Canada got a 4.9 rating, the highest-rated network game involving NHL players in at least two decades. Tuesday's live coverage against the Czech Republic game got a 2.4/15.

U.S., Netherlands swap coaches

One of the Netherlands' speed skating coaches at the Olympics is an American, and one of the U.S. coaches is Dutch.

What gives?

``I always said it would be a dream to work in Holland with all the talent they have,'' said Peter Mueller, who has been doing just that the past two years as their sprint coach.

Before going overseas, Mueller - 1976 Olympic champion at 1,000 meters - coached Dan Jansen and Bonnie Blair.

Gerard Kemkers won the 5,000-meter bronze medal for Holland at the Calgary Games. Kemkers has been the U.S. all-around coach for two years and is just starting to develop a long-distance program.

``There's been some concern about the long-distance and all-around program, and they felt they had to look at the Netherlands, which has always been good,'' Kemkers said. ``They brought me in, which makes sense.''

Don't expect more NFL bobsledders

It wasn't long ago that celebrity athletes such as Herschel Walker and Willie Gault tried to make the U.S. bobsledding team. It's not likely to happen again, at least the way pusher Chip Minton sees it.

``Those guys couldn't even make the team now,'' said Minton, of Macon, Ga., a side pusher for Brian Shimer's USA 1 four-man sled. ``They're great athletes, no doubt, but there's no pro athletes going to take our spots.''

Shimer and fellow U.S. driver Jim Herberich agree with Minton that NFL or world-class track pedigrees aren't necessary to get a bobsled off the block and speeding down the ice track.

Nowadays, Shimer said, ``unless they took a year off and train specifically for bobsledding, there's no way to make it. They would obviously have to retire from whatever they're getting paid millions to do, and I don't think anybody's that stupid.''

Now, Minneapolis gets respect

American ice dancers Jared Swallow and Elizabeth Punsalan said they will compete at the world championships next month in Minneapolis. ``We've been to Minneapolis many times and it's a great city with lots to do,'' Swallow said.

That's in distinct contrast to the opinion expressed by Pasha Grishuk. Grishuk, who changed her name from Oksana to Pasha to avoid confusion with Oksana Baiul and further her career, said earlier this week that Minnesota is not a very exciting place for her and wasn't sure whether she would go.

Said Swallow: ``If she goes there she'll probably change her name to the Artist Formerly Known As Pasha Grishuk.''

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PHOTO AD-VANTAGE

The judges have a perfect view - in a tower overlooking the 90-meter jump - for the Nordic combined team competition.

Associated Press