And Now, Another Olympic Moment
August 25, 2004
By JOHN KENNEY
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?
John Kenney, a former advertising copywriter, is writing a
novel.
http://www.nytimes.com/2004/08/25/opinion/25kenney.html?ex=1094450649&ei=1&en=73d070816dbb9869
