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The scene is a conference room at NBC Olympic broadcasting headquarters in Athens. Three people sit at a table: a network producer, researcher and writer.
PRODUCER So who’s next?
RESEARCHER (referring to a folder in front of him) Let’s see, a Romanian swimmer.
PRODUCER O.K. What can we do with him?
WRITER Is his mother alive?
RESEARCHER Yes, she is. Why?
PRODUCER Too bad.
WRITER Any family history of illness?
RESEARCHER It says here that his aunt had shingles once.
WRITER This could be good.
PRODUCER This could be very good. Were they close?
RESEARCHER He only met her once. Apparently she was insane. Claimed she was a porpoise.
PRODUCER I like this. One meeting with her is all it took.
RESEARCHER What are you talking about?
WRITER A profound meeting. Life altering. Spurred him to greatness.
PRODUCER He has a picture of her.
RESEARCHER There’s no mention of that here.
WRITER In his mind.
PRODUCER He sees her face when he runs.
RESEARCHER He’s a swimmer.
WRITER Even better. She gave him his first bathing suit.
RESEARCHER Where are you coming up with this? He was 2 years old when he met her and he didn’t start competing until he was 15. She was in an asylum!
PRODUCER The connection’s there. Can’t you see it?
WRITER I see it. His healthy mother still remembers the meeting. The child glowed.
PRODUCER But in the intervening years, bad things happened. Communist repression.
WRITER The boy loves his trunks. From his aunt. What boy doesn’t love his swim trunks?
PRODUCER He swims for his aunt, the aunt who can’t swim. Do you see? This is his mission. He loves her still.
WRITER Yes. Of course he does. Perhaps she’s terminal.
PRODUCER I love it. Write it. I’ll book a crew. Who’s next?
RESEARCHER A Belgian cyclist.
(Pause)
PRODUCER Hmm. Belgium.
WRITER It’s cold in Belgium.
RESEARCHER It is?
WRITER Often. So he rides at night.
RESEARCHER Why would he ride his bike at night? That would be insane. Do you know how fast they -
PRODUCER Shhh. Go on.
WRITER His bike is old. It’s not a new bike. The bike was a gift from his mother, a charwoman.
PRODUCER Yes, she’s a charwoman. I like the word charwoman. Poor. There is no money. But he loves the sport too much to stop. He rides at night. Waits for her to come home from cleaning.
WRITER He fashions a new bike from wood. He’s poor, you see.
RESEARCHER What on earth are you - this guy’s a professional. He’s sponsored by Nike. He started his own software company. He’s a billionaire!
(Pause)
WRITER I once read of a child who needed a kidney.
RESEARCHER What?
PRODUCER Be quiet.
WRITER The boy was ill. From Chicago, I believe.
PRODUCER Bosnia.
WRITER Better. There was a war. Winter. Frozen mud. Dysentery.
PRODUCER The boy -
WRITER Orphan -
PRODUCER Beautiful. The orphan lay near death. He needed a kidney -
RESEARCHER But what does this have to do with -
PRODUCER Someone must give him one.
WRITER Someone must sacrifice an organ for the orphan -
RESEARCHER Please tell me what this has to do -
PRODUCER The Norwegian skeet shooter -
RESEARCHER He’s a Belgian cyclist!
PRODUCER Sure. He saw the story -
RESEARCHER What story?
WRITER It touched home.
PRODUCER He’s never forgotten it.
WRITER Who could forget? He rides for the boy.
PRODUCER I love it. Write it. We’ve got a crew in Prague now. Who’s next?
RESEARCHER A Nigerian fencer.
WRITER My God, this is a dream come true. Where is Nigeria?
PRODUCER Near Belgium.
RESEARCHER Africa, on the west coast.
WRITER Do you know what I think?
PRODUCER Tell me.
WRITER I think he’s gay.
PRODUCER Fantastic. A gay Belgian gymnast.
RESEARCHER Nigerian fencer! And he’s married with three children!
PRODUCER No matter. Lifelong dream, to fence in the Olympics.
WRITER Swords, foils, epées. Marvelous words. First time on a plane, probably.
RESEARCHER For the love of - he’s a pilot! He went to Stanford!
PRODUCER Stanford. Of course. Don’t you see? It’s so obvious.
RESEARCHER What?
PRODUCER Tell him.
WRITER He could have stayed in the West. But he went back to his village after college in America to help the starving children.
PRODUCER He saved many of them. Operated on them in the night. He is a doctor. Practiced fencing with a broomstick.
RESEARCHER He’s not a doctor! He works on Wall Street.
PRODUCER Of course he does. All the better.
RESEARCHER What are you talking about?
WRITER His one chance for redemption.
PRODUCER For the little boy he lost.
RESEARCHER What boy?
WRITER There was a boy. He lost him. On the operating table.
RESEARCHER He’s not a doctor!
PRODUCER Perhaps he knows first aid -
WRITER He sure well better know first aid if he’s going to be operating on poor little children in Chad -
RESEARCHER Nigeria!
WRITER You’re missing the point. The boy died. Now he swims for the boy.
RESEARCHER He’s a fencer!
PRODUCER Can we make him a swimmer? Ask him if he’d like to swim instead. Who’s next?
by Patrix | on Thursday, August 26th, 2004 at 11:05 pm | 
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August 27th, 2004 at 12:37 am reply
Hi! Nice post, especially the joke on the Olympics production team!
August 27th, 2004 at 1:13 am reply
Kiran - Glad you enjoyed…but thanks to NY Times.
August 27th, 2004 at 1:56 am reply
I swear this is the last of the Olympics post .. lets see.
August 27th, 2004 at 2:33 am reply
Anya - knowing me, thatz right..lets see :)
August 27th, 2004 at 3:06 am reply
Patrix,
Naheeee…
You gave up posting on olympics! You should have given a thought to the poor researchers in 2050 searching for 2004 olympic blogs…
August 27th, 2004 at 10:28 am reply
Aaar - Wanna pick up the mantle? :)
August 27th, 2004 at 12:09 pm reply
:) hey, you can write about the olympics only till it’s on, so keep the posts coming, nobody’s complaining :)
August 27th, 2004 at 12:10 pm reply
Substitute network producer with a Hollywood one and you get tripe like ‘Cool Runnings’. (Seen it? The late John Candy’s movie)
August 27th, 2004 at 12:31 pm reply
This is so true! I don’t remember a single situation over the last two weeks, where NBC didn’t reach out to add a touch of drama….and the interviews by the side of the tracks…how weird is that? to rope in winners and losers alike and harass them with pointless questions…My favorite scene was in the women’s marathon when the camera truck was right at Noguchi’s face not giving space for her to run faster!!
August 27th, 2004 at 1:01 pm reply
Seema - Nobody’s complaining? You haven’t heard the groans and sighing of “not another Olympic post again”..but no one understands, only a few days left now.
Cynical Romantic - Tripe? I actually liked that movie..cool comedy and loved the way it ended.
Spaceman - Olympic moments have been nice to watch but sometimes you do wonder if every athlete has an interesting story behind them…maybe they do but all the exaggeration simply makes it anonying or funny after a while.