Chat With Bush Makes Opening Ceremony Even More Special for Skater Sasha Cohen

AP ^ | 02.09.02 | AP

[callisto]

SALT LAKE CITY (AP) - This is one phone call Sasha Cohen won't ever forget. The figure skater was talking to her mother on her cell phone as President Bush stood among the U.S. athletes at the opening ceremony Friday night. Seeing an opportunity, she passed her phone to Bush and asked if he'd say hello.

He took the phone with a smile and obliged.

'"This is the president speaking'," Cohen recalled Bush saying. He then spoke to her mother for about a minute.

The 17-year-old Cohen said Bush didn't know her name before she introduced herself, but he did know she was a skater.

"He asked me about my skating, and where I'm from, and all kinds of things about the Olympics," she said Saturday morning before returning to California to train for the women's competition, which begins Feb. 19.

"He was really personable, and great to talk to. It made opening ceremonies an even more exciting experience."

[NittanyLion]

Pretty neat stuff. Four years ago the president's most likely questions would have been "Are you alone? and What are you wearing?"

[cactmh]

We were wondering who he was talking to. We figured it was the girl's mom. Pretty neat.

[OldFriend]

Call me a party pooper but why in the world did the Secret Service allow anyone with a cell phone to sit so close to the president? My heart stopped when she handed that phone to the President Bush.

[homeschool mama]

ping! :o)

[cactmh]

We were wondering who he was talking to. We figured it was the girl's mom. Pretty neat.

[Recovering_Democrat]

Party pooper. ;-)

[Physicist]

You're a party pooper. The image of a down-to-Earth President talking to an excited girl's mom beats the image of an aloof President being defended from a girl by Uzi-toting spooks, to such a degree that it was worth such a tiny risk. The whole world got the warm fuzzies watching that.

[cactmh]

I didn't think that there was conclusive evidence that cell phones caused cancer. I better get my hands free set out...

[Salvation]

Another Republican!

My thoughts after I saw Bush open the Olympics from in front of the athletes:

Bravo for Bush for speaking for the people (in this case - the athletes). He did not put himself up above them but right there with them -- sort of like when he was using the bullhorn with the Ground Zero workers.

More voters that possibly leaned left will now vote for Bush because he was personable and showed that he really cared about the individuals -- the athletes representing the USA!

[irish_lad]

Pretty neat stuff. Four years ago the president's most likely questions would have been "Are you alone? and What are you wearing?"

LOLROFL

[RAT Patrol]

She was sooo cute! I love Michelle Kwan but I'll be rooting for Sasha Cohen now too.

[YaYa123]

It was a charming moment...the president comfortably sitting among US athletes. They were obviously having the time of their lives, probably didn't know President Bush had made history, by being the first US president to open Winter Games, and the first president ever, to open the games standing with America's athletes.

As I watched the opening ceremonies, (trying to ignore the announcers), I tried to imagine how they were being viewed in other countries. I bet they LOVED it. I bet the Norwegians went bonkers, to see Norweigan soldiers waving the Norweigian flag, sitting with American soldiers in Kandahar, as they watched the Norweigan atheletes enter the stadium in Salt Lake City, Utah.

And I bet the other countries really appreciated the American Indians. (No doubt the French loved all the symbolism, 5 tribes, 5 continents, 5 Olympic rings)....I guess they gotta do that sillystuff...oh well..... Salt Lake City can be proud.

Now, let the games begin....and if somebody slaps Katie into stunned silence, that's all right by me!

[motzman]

He took the phone with a smile and obliged.

'"This is the president speaking'," Cohen recalled Bush saying. He then spoke to her mother for about a minute.

100% Class.

[Physicist]

and if somebody slaps Katie into stunned silence, that's all right by me!

Had they scoured the Earth, they could not have found three other individuals capable of ad-libbing a more pathetic string of banalities.

[RoseofTexas]

Don't know if you all noticed, but during the time the Olympic president and that other dude were speaking on the field floor, the camera made it's way to where some of the athletics were sitting. I noticed that something caught their eyes, as some were standing and pointing at something below them. At first I thought prehaps the torch was making it's way inside the stadium, BUT to everyones surprise it was OUR President making his way to the section OUR athletics were sitting. They must have gone bunkers.

[baxter999]

Classy thing to do. Kudos to the President.

[lodwick]

Uuuuhh...there have been so many white, female, American figure skating terrorists. Come on.

[sirena]

Like Diana was the "People's Princess", Bush is fast becoming the "People's President"! It's a wonderful thing to watch!

[Benjamin Dover]

Even Bob Costas got excited when the President took the cell phone. He said, "How great is that!" Katie almost choked and tried immediately to change the subject. It was soooo obvious.

BTW, I was trying to figure out who the moron was who was co-hosting with Costas. They stumbled all over each other, and their timing was horrible. I kept thinking, what lame-brain put this amateur next to Costas to do color? I then heard Costas mention Katie's name. I winced. This was the worst broadcast I had ever heard. Costas is good, but Katie was completely out of her element.

The production was lame, hokie, expensive and long. I think Costas was subliminally trying to insinuate that fact, but Katie was trying to extoll it's "artistic" value. These two commentators don't mix well. The Bush moments were great. Other than that, this whole show was disappointing.