Surf's up for wired athletes

Posted: Tue February 10, 1998

Brakeman Dave MacEachern of the Canadian bobsled team is not a very fast typist. That's a problem. MacEachern has to return e-mail messages to his mom, six sisters, four brothers, 21 nieces and nephews, and various friends.

"I'm the only Olympic athlete from my province," he says. "Everyone wants to know how I'm doing."

MacEachern keeps in touch with more than 30 people from the Surf Shack.  ERIN EGAN

MacEachern, 30, is from Charlottetown, on Prince Edward Island. He keeps in touch with the folks back home from an Internet "lounge" called the Surf Shack, in the lobby of the athlete village. The Shack is open from 9 a.m. to 10 p.m. every day. Athletes line up as early as 8:30 in the morning to grab a seat at one of 30 terminals. In addition to e-mail, the athletes can play games, set up their own home page, and surf the Net.

The Shack is really a large room with bamboo-covered walls. The space is washed in warm light, but the scene isn't very beach-like. It feels more like a cyber United Nations: A Russian athlete dressed in a red-and-blue team jacket types an e-mail at one station. Across the way, a member of the Finnish team, wearing his country's colors of blue and white, sets up a home page.

"I've really got a soft spot for the messages from kids," says U.S. bobsledder Darren Steele. "They want to know stuff like how fast the sled goes and what kind of soda they drink here in Japan. I always send a response back to the kids. I spend about an hour here every day."

"An hour?" jokes fellow bobsledder Jim Herberich. "More like six hours every day."

If you would like to send a message to an athlete during the Games, log onto the Surf Shack website at www.ibm.com/olympic/fanmail.

No joke, mon

The Jamaican bobsled team is back to make another run at the gold.  ERIN EGAN

The Jamaican bobsled team is competing at its fourth Winter Olympics. Here's what some members of the team had to say about fame, the weather, pizza deliveries and their goals for the Nagano Games:

* Devon Harris, on his team's commitment to success: "When you think of Jamaica, you think of sun and surf. When you think of Jamaican bobsled, a smile comes across your face. We may not have the history of some of the teams here. But we are just as serious about winning as the Swiss and the Germans."

* Jason Morris, on his "summer job" — delivering pizzas for Domino's in Evanston, Wyo., where he was training : "Once, it took us an hour to make one run. But it was a big space out there. It was a 40- or 60-mile trip. The people understood. When we got to the door, we signed autographs."

* Dudley Stokes, on the movie Cool Runnings: "It was an entertaining movie, but I did not feel that it was my story. It was just entertainment."

* Team leader Owen Miller on what has amazed him the most about bobsledding: "One, the temperature in which the sport is performed. Two, being asked for my autograph."

* Harris, on why he chose to become a bobsledder: "In Jamaica, it's harder to make the Summer Olympic team than the Winter Olympic team. So we're the smart ones."

Bob Der and Erin Egan, senior editors at SI For Kids, will be filing daily from Nagano. For a kid-friendly version of these reports, check out SI For Kids Online.

Anything you want to know about life in Nagano during the Games? Click here to send your question to Bob and Erin, or e-mail siwriters@cnnsi.com. Be sure to include your name and hometown. Selected questions will be answered in upcoming columns. You can also send questions for specific athletes, and our fearless correspondents will do their best to get a reply.

PREVIOUS EDITIONS
February 9: Heart of Nagano
February 8: Be careful what you wish for...
February 7: The Olympic spirit