TEXTING FROM TURIN.

Byline: - Paul Oberjuerge

The elder daughter posed an interesting question, via e-mail.

``If the American team had a Prom King and a Prom Queen, who would they be?''

I took that to mean someone both attractive AND popular. And I began to think about it ... and as of the middle Saturday of the Turin Games, this is how I would rank the top three Prom Kings and Queens.

PROM KINGS

1. Chad Hedrick. Some are offended by his in-your-face personality, but the straight-talkin' Texas with Brokeback Mountain-good looks is tender enough to cry (before he won the speedskating 5,000 meter gold).

2. Seth Wescott. He's getting old for the snowboarder gig, but he's got that maturity thing the senior chicks dig. Without being too uptight.

3. Shaun ``The Flying Tomato'' White. He's basically a dorky underclassmen with all that bad/rad red hair, but his status as numero uno in halfpipe makes him way popular with the student bodies.

PROM QUEENS

1. Sasha Cohen. Does she ever have a bad hair day? Most of the boys are so intimidated by her that they won't even try to talk to her. But they'll vote for her, you bet.

2. Gretchen Bleier. Since a lot of the guys look at espn.com, and saw the pictures of Gretchen getting, uh, out from under that ski suit ... and checked out those six-pack abs ... they like her fine, even if it was silver she won in halfpipe.

3. Tanith Belbin. She's Canadian, so she's exotic. She's an ice dancer, so she dresses well. Another intimidating girl, but the boys admire her from afar.

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