SALT LAKE CITY'Many question whether the Olympic ideal actually exists.
According to the Olympic Charter, the ideal in question includes such visions as setting a good example, respecting universal ethical principles and displaying good sportsmanship.
I can see where the skepticism comes from. It is hard to see this Olympic ideal through the fog created by scandal, doping and corporate money.
Yet it does exist and you can only catch a glimpse of it on television.
I had the privilege of traveling to Salt Lake City last week and found these qualities not only in the athletes, but also in some regular people who lack the superior athletic ability to compete in the Games.
Along with my brother, Chris, I arrived in Salt Lake City without tickets to many events and even without a means of transportation other than my legs. I figured ticket scalpers would provide a way to get inside the Olympic venues and public transportation would get me there. I was only partially correct in that assumption.
My brother and I managed to buy tickets to the men's downhill from a scalper, but found out we could not get to the site of competition. You could only get to the location with a reservation on the Mountain Venue Express or with your own vehicle. We had neither.
That was when we met Harold and Wendi Simmons, a couple from near Little Rock, Ark. We met them at an information booth where they were presented with the same unfavorable situation as us. They quickly decided to rent a car and offered to take us along for the ride, free of charge.
In return they said we have to find them tickets to a Green Bay Packer game someday. I will try my best.
Then I met a student at the University of Utah, known to me only as Mike.
I met Mike online even before I went to Salt Lake City. He had an extra ticket to last Saturday's Medal Ceremony. This was a hard ticket to get a hold of. Because the Dave Matthews Band performed at the Ceremony, some tickets to this event were going for over $100 on eBay.
Mike gave me his extra ticket. When I asked him what he wanted for the ticket he only wanted to know that I would put the ticket to good use and would have a good time. I gave him some Wisconsin Badger T-shirts anyway. I hope he liked them.
When you look for these special qualities in the people associated with the Olympics, know that not all exhibit them.
Do not look for these qualities in President of NBC Sports Dick Ebersol, who is more interested in getting advertising revenue than he is truly interested in the Winter Games. There is nothing wrong with generating revenue'just do not make promises you cannot keep like Ebersol did to advertisers for the 2000 Olympics in Sydney.
Also, do not look for these qualities in certain figure skating judges. The current vote-swapping scandal was not the first scandal known to the figure skating world.
Instead, look for these qualities in those special athletes competing in the Winter Games. Look for it in \Grandma Luge,"" the Virgin Islands' 48-year-old luger. Look for it in Switzerland's ski jumping Harry Potter look-alike. And look for it in the always affable Jamaican bobsled team.
This set of athletes truly represents the notion that joy comes from the struggle to win, rather than in the triumph.
The Olympic ideal does exist; you just have to look for it in the right places.
