Winter Olympic Games 1998

I would like to thank my teammates. They gave it 101% out there. They wrote 'em one story at a time. Helene Elliott saw every hockey game ever played. I mean, she saw Slovenia vs. Slovakia, Slovakia vs. Czecho, Czecho vs. Slovakia, Slovakia vs. Sylvania, Sylvania vs. Fredonia, Absolut vs. Finlandia, Schizophrenia vs. Catatonia and Schlemiel vs. Schmozzle. On her night off, she saw the Fukuoka Islanders vs. the Krakatoa Avalanche.

While the focus was on Brian Shimer's attempt to end the bobsled medal drought in four-man competition, Jim Herberich finished 12th in USA II. Herberich, 35 on March 8, is a Harvard graduate who works as a hydrologist with a consulting and engineering firm. He said he was leaning toward continuing his bobsled career, "But I'm not sure I want to go through this again. It's five or six months on the road every winter, and I'm getting a little old for that.

To: Emperor Akihito. Date: 22 Feb 1998 (22 Ni-gatsu '98) Copy: Empress Michiko, Crown Prince Naruhito, Prince Akishino and Princess Sayako. From: An Ashamed U.S. Citizen. Re: Village Idiots. Your Majesty: On behalf of my people, I beg your pardon for our ice hockey hooligans' shenanigans. Your forgiveness, your highness, I do not beg. We have a woman in Washington, D.C., name of Janet Reno. Have your people call her people. Apprehend these criminals.

Hello Daehlie, goodbye Nagano. As the rest of the world packed up and wearily prepared to head home, treating killer cases of Olympic hangover with large medicinal doses of sake, Bjorn Daehlie was out on the cross-country ski course once more, mushing to yet another gold medal, his third of these Games and a record eighth of his Olympic career. This one was the toughest, coming in the Winter Games' version of the marathon, the men's 50-kilometer race. Otherwise known as Ski Till You Keel.

Teemu Selanne will take two Olympic souvenirs back to Anaheim today: a bronze medal and a pulled lower stomach muscle. The Mighty Duck right wing, one of the hockey tournament's top scorers with four goals and 10 points, couldn't play in Finland's 3-2 victory over Canada on Saturday after experiencing soreness during pregame warmups. He surmised the injury occurred several weeks ago, when he had a sore back and began doing stretching exercises to strengthen his abdominal muscles.

International Ice Hockey Federation President Rene Fasel, who initially expressed dismay over $3,000 worth of damage done by an unknown number of U.S. men's hockey players to chairs, a fire extinguisher and three rooms at the Olympic village early last Thursday, is now backpedaling. Fasel, who originally called the incident "a real mess," said Saturday it has been blown out of proportion. "It's not a big thing. These things happen," he said. "Now the feedback I have is that it's not so bad.

Clapskates apparently are here to stay. Ottavio Cinquanta of Italy, head of the International Skating Union, said at a news conference that he did not view the innovative skates used in speedskating as mechanical and backed their continued use. The skates have been controversial since the Dutch introduced them last season, both because they were considered mechanical aids and because they were not available to everyone.

The U.S. women's hockey team won more than the gold medal. It also won the cover of Wheaties. Team captain Cammi Granato called it the end of a perfect week: "Every Olympic athlete's dream. First a gold medal and then your own Wheaties box." The boxes are expected to hit the stores by March 2. * Ratings for CBS' Olympic broadcast Friday night were the highest the network has had for the Nagano Games. CBS averaged a 23.