Posted on 02/07/2002 7:13:57 PM PST by umbra
Tattered flag to be carried around stadium at ceremony.
The torn flag that fluttered over the remains of the World Trade Center won't fly at the 2002 Winter Games after all.
The frail banner, which has come to symbolize the country's recovery and resilliance, was to be hoisted during the olympic ceremony asthe official flag of the host country.
But Olympic officials have determined that it is too delicate for the high winds predicted in Salt Lake City on Friday night.
This is absolute Barbara Striesand..
Folks we have our line of the night. Take a bow umbra.
SALT LAKE CITY, Feb. 7— The torn flag that fluttered over the remains of the World Trade Center won’t fly at the 2002 Winter Games after all. The frail banner, which has come to symbolize the country’s recovery and resilience, was to be hoisted during the opening ceremony as the official flag of the host country. But Olympic officials have determined that it is too delicate for the high winds predicted in Salt Lake City on Friday night.
AN HONOR GUARD of eight U.S. athletes will carry the ground zero flag into Rice-Eccles Stadium a few minutes after the ceremonies open as the Mormon Tabernacle Choir sings the national anthem.
It will be unfurled and displayed to President Bush, then carried around the stadium while a second flag is hoisted next to the Olympic flame. That unblemished flag will fly throughout the games, according to the U.S. Olympic Committee.
Short-track speedskater Amy Peterson will carry a third stars and stripes into the stadium later in the ceremonies when she leads the U.S. team in the parade of athletes. That flag will serve as the official U.S. flag during the games.
The ground zero flag became the centerpiece of debate when the International Olympic committee objected to its use in the ceremonies, saying it would call too much attention to the American team.
Salt Lake Olympic Committee president Mitt Romney said Thursday that the simple act of bringing the flag into the stadium will likely move the audience to tears. He said he nearly cried during a dress rehearsal Wednesday night, when a white sheet stood in for the flag.
“I was still choked with emotion and I was fortunate I didn’t have to say anything at this point,” Romney said. “I can’t help believing that the entire world will respond as I did.”
Why does Our Beloved FRaternal Republic soil itself associating with the kind of abjectly-corrupt and corrupting bad watch, cookoo clock and chocolate manufacturing money launderers who run such eurotrash scams as the un and the olympic druggers?
I don't think we've been jobbed at all. This is exactly what the athletes wanted to do in the first place...carry the flag into the stadium. We win.
Feb. 7 By Robert Woodward
SALT LAKE CITY (Reuters) - A tattered U.S. flag rescued from the rubble of the World Trade Center, a focus for patriotism and American pride, will set the tone of Friday's opening ceremony for the Winter Olympics, organizers said.
The flag will be carried into the Rice-Eccles stadium in the first six minutes of the ceremony starting at 9 p.m. EST and will be "featured" during the playing of the national anthem, creative director Don Mischer said.
"We used a white sheet instead of the flag in the dress rehearsal and I was still choked with emotion," said Mitt Romney, president of the Salt Lake City Organizing Committee.
"Just knowing what would be represented there Friday was very touching. I also heard the response from the audience that was there," he told a news conference Thursday.
"As it was brought in, the cheering was deafening. I can't help believing the entire world will respond as I did. I believe it will be a very emotional and powerful moment, perhaps the most powerful moment of the opening ceremony."
Olympic officials agreed Wednesday that U.S. athletes as well as firefighters and police -- the "heroes" of September 11 -- could carry the "Ground Zero" flag at the ceremony.
The content of the two-hour extravaganza has not been changed appreciably since the September 11 attacks but Romney said he was sure spectators would respond differently.
Earlier in the week organizers promised the ceremony would not be turned into a "flag-waving American event" and Romney repeated they would not let hometown pride hijack the occasion.
"All of us have been dealing with the issue of the response to 9/11, it's a thing that's not taken lightly," said Mischer.
"We have many audiences -- there's people in Salt Lake City, Utah and America -- and then there's the world.
INTERNATIONAL EVENT
"Because the ceremony is an international event which is really designed to celebrate sport and the athletes, we thought long and hard about how we would do this.
"It is the first gathering of nations since the war against terrorism began. The athletes coming on to the field will have much more emotional power than it would have had before."
The flag will not be flown at the Rice-Eccles stadium because of its fragile state.
Robbie Robertson, a rock guitarist with The Band, will play at the opening ceremony. After his experience at the dress rehearsal, he was in no doubt how the stadium would react.
"I had never felt such a strong unity, such a worldwide unity," he told the news conference.
"This was really holding out people's arms to the world and I was absolutely moved by it."
Go to an airline 30 minutes before the plane departs and buy a one way ticket to anywhere with cash. If you get to the metal detector, make sure you have a set of finger nail clippers with you.
Add up the cost of transporting and housing the prisoners of war that are not prisoners of war to Cuba.
Add up the return on your investments since 9/11.
Figure out what you share of the money is that was sent to New York by the Feds.
Figure out what your tax bill for the increase in the military budget is going to be.
After you have done this, tell me what we have won.
Just think of it as a new event, which army can surrender faster, the French, Belgians, or Italians?
Who the h**l made IOC the ones to decide who can fly what flag? Perhaps they would prefer the hammer and sickle?
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