McCaleb: Chicago’s bid evokes Atlanta memories

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I’m as disappointed as anyone that Chicago did not win in its bid to host the 2016 Summer Olympics.

Yes, it would have cost a lot of money.

And, yes, probably a few friends of Mayor Daley would have lined their pockets with something other than domestic cigars and business cards.

Of course, the Games likely would have created some short-term headaches for city and suburban residents.

But the thrill of experiencing the Games again – the energy, the passion, the surprises – overwhelmed any doubts.

Earlier in my career, I was honored to spend three weeks in Atlanta covering the 1996 Summer Games. I was working for the daily newspaper in Lafayette, La., at the time.

Our parent company, Thomson Newspapers, owned more than 100 newspapers throughout the U.S. From those markets were a couple of dozen athletes representing the U.S. Thomson set up an Olympics bureau, and a fortunate few of us were selected to staff it.

While Friday’s outcome was a letdown, the buildup to the vote brought back some great memories:

• My first assignment was to cover Chanda Rubin, a rising U.S. women’s tennis star from Lafayette who had climbed to No. 6 in the world rankings. But Rubin had suffered a wrist injury shortly before the 1996 Games. As I departed Lafayette for Atlanta, her status was in doubt.

My first task was to find out whether Rubin could compete. But pulling information out of her coach, Billie Jean King, was like trying to pull a meaningful quote out of Brian Urlacher after a Bears loss. So for the first two days in Atlanta, I got to watch the likes of Andre Agassi and Monica Seles slam tennis balls back and forth during practice.

At the end of Day Two, King finally announced that Rubin wouldn’t be able to compete, so my time at the Olympic Tennis Center was over.

• Of course, with Rubin out, I became what we in journalism refer to as a general assignment reporter.

Need someone to cover fencing at the Georgia World Congress Center? I got the call. Rowing at Lake Lanier? I was your guy. Softball at Golden Park? Sure. Cycling at Stone Mountain Park? Why not. I covered all of these events and more. And I actually came to appreciate some of the finer details of sports that I otherwise knew little or nothing about.

• One of the lasting memories of the ’96 Olympics was the Centennial Park bombing. I would have slept through it had it not been for a phone call from my boss, the newspaper’s publisher.

His 19-year-old daughter was interning with us and, before I left, he asked me (I thought jokingly) to keep an eye out for her. But seeing initial reports of the bombing on TV, he tried to reach her.

He couldn’t, so his next call was to me.

I had an assignment at 5 the next morning, so his call woke me up.

Could I help him track her down, to make sure she was OK, he asked.

I was in a city of more than 5 million people, a city I didn’t know very well, and his 19-year-old daughter likely was out having the time of her life. But I had to make sure she was OK. The things people won’t do to keep their jobs.

Fortunately for me, she showed up back at the hotel within an hour, and one potential catastrophe was averted.

• The best memories, of course, are of the exceptional competition.

Of Keri Strug nailing her landing on the vault despite an ankle injury, and securing a team gold for the U.S.

Of Kurt Angle, later to gain fame in the WWE, winning gold in freestyle wrestling despite a fracture in his neck.

Of Mia Hamm, Kristine Lilly, and the rest of the U.S. women’s soccer team beating China, 2-1, in their gold medal match.

Unfortunately, most of us will have to watch these special moments on TV in 2016.

• Dan McCaleb is editor of Northwest Herald. E-mail him at dmccaleb@nwherald.com.