ESPN.com - What's hot, what's not at the Olympics

ESPN.com: Page 2

Wednesday, February 6, 2002
Updated: February 7, 3:40 PM ET
What's hot, what's not at the Olympics

By Jim Wilkie and Dan Shanoff
Page 2

The Winter Olympics come around just once every four years, and Page 2 wants to tip you off with all the knowledge you'll need to watch every event from curling to skeleton. We wouldn't want you to be unnecessarily embarrassed at the water cooler by talk about clap skates or confused about crazy action at the halfpipe.

So as public service, we present a Hot 'n' Not List for the 2002 Winter Olympics, which begin Friday. Impress your friends, family, co-workers, fellow bar patrons and, of course, significant others by knowing what's in and what's out at Salt Lake City.

What's Hot 'n' Not at 2002 Winter Olympics
Category	Hot	Not
Figure skater	Irina Slutskaya	Elvis Stojko
Grace on Ice	Ice dancing	Figure skating
Figure Skating judging criteria	Presentation	Technical merits
Figure skating buzz phrase	"What a salchow!"	"What a lutz!"
Celebrity sighting	Nelly Furtado	Wilford Brimley
Fashion (Opening ceremonies)	Low-rise jeans	Cowboy hats
Hockey player	Mario Lemieux	Jaromir Jagr
Goaltender	Nikolai Khabibulin	Curtis Joseph
Conspiracy	U.S. men's short-track speedskating team	North American Olympic goalies snubbed in NHL All-Star Game
Controversy	Men's and women's U.S. bobsledders	Free condoms
Enron biathalon	Lying and shredding	Innovating and dealing
Attention	"Saturday Night Live" skit	Magazine cover
Arches	National Park	McDonald's
Technology	"First down line" in ski jumping	Curling's "Broom Cam"
Exhibition sport	Euchre	Bridge
Way to slide down the mountain	Head-first (skeleton)	Feet-first (luge)
Endorser	Anyone but Jonny Moseley	Jonny Moseley
Shredder	Karine Ruby	Arthur Andersen
Partners	The Bobsled Babes	Stockton and Malone
IOC values	"We can police ourselves!"	Formal conflict-of-interest rules
Secondary medal	Bronze	Silver
Sentimental favorite (U.S.)	Jimmy Shea (for granddad)	Picabo Street
Sentimental favorite (rest of the world)	Prawat Nagvajara (Thai cross-country skier)	Georg Hackl (German luger)
Thing to do in Park City, Utah	Watch the torch go by	Go to Sundance Film Festival
Music	Mormon Tabernachle Choir	Jazz
Curler	Kelley Law	Jose Eber
Way "authentic" curlers make it fun	Drinking	Background music
Speedskater	Catriona LeMay-Doan	Chris Witty
Beverage	Polygamy Porter	Cola
Ticket-finding tip	Bribery	Scalping
Rocket	Apolo Ohno	Pavel Bure
Village idiots	Greg Ostertag	Room-trashing U.S. men's hockey players
Fashion	See-through speedskating suits	Garish downhill-skiing Spandex
Japanese hero	Shimizu	Ichiro
Alibi for failed drug test	Eye surgery	Second-hand smoke
Dorf	Michaela Dorfmeister	Tim Conway
Austrian	Stephan Eberharter	Hermann Maier
Alpine skier	Bode Miller	Robert Makharashvili
Button -- figure skating	"Undignified lifts and movements"	Dick

Dan Shanoff is a regular contributor to Page 2. Jim Wilkie is an editor for Page 2.