Steve Dilbeck: Journalism at its best
``Who is that?’’ Maybe three people ask. ``It’s Daron Rahlves,’’ someone offers.
It’s hard to be sure here with that wonderful international invention called the mixed zone. That is the supposed interview area, where athletes walk behind a nylon fence and stop to talk to the press on the other side, if they choose. Most do, some don’t. Journalists come from all over the planet to cover the Olympics, and if your guy doesn’t earn a medal and make it to the interview room, you’re only access is in the mixed zone.
Most are ridiculously small areas, and now they’ve taken to
labeling segments of them by language. So if you were English and wanted to speak to Bode Miller, you had about 8 feet of fence to stand behind and hope he stops to speak to you. Since there were probably over 50 U.S. print reporters at Sunday’s downhill, maybe six people could actually hear Miller speak. And since they now insist on blaring rock music at most venues, it’s a fairly losing proposition. ``I think he said …’’
At Saturday’s women’s moguls, the mixed zone was so small it became congested and people had trouble walking past. So they closed it. Chris Jenkins of the San Diego Union-Tribune wasn’t allowed in, so he had to watch the runs on a television in the media center.
Reporters scrummed about nine deep in our little area at the downhill to catch a quote from Miller and Rahlves. There is a lot more help between reporters at an Olympics than any other sporting event.
``What’d Rahlves say?’’ Sorry, turns out it was Hermann Maier. It’s so hard to tell lined up 10 deep.
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