The Amazing Race/Long Journey Home

Photo: The Last Edit

My last full day in Italy began very early. After just a few hours sleep, I was to get up with Brent and head to the Lingatto. Brent would be leaving us on this day. He would fly with the VANOC group, Mayor Sullivan and the newly acquired Olympic Flag. His mission was to do a story during the flight back. I would grab shots and of the group leaving and getting ready for the trip back to Vancouver. The tape that we would acquire here would form the basis of our last item in Torino.
The mood was upbeat with the VANOC group. They were gettin' out. I guess the trip back was filled with war stories. It would give Brent two items when he got back.
Because of the time zone thing and travelling westerly, the group would arrive back in Vancouver at 6 pm pacific, just in time for the the suppertime newscasts. We would be covering the arrival live into the show, plus our item, plus tape from the flight itself. It was what the CTV beast required and it was delivered.
Mike and I also had some Canada AM requirements during that last afternoon. These would be done at the Crackhouse. When we arrived there, most of the rooms that had been filled by various broadcast media were now vacant. With the flame out, they were gone.
We would return back to the Polytechic to do the editing and then return later to make our feed. It should be an easy day.
Mike and I enjoyed our last Donairs at this neat little shop a couple of blocks away. Then it was down to business.
Alby was back to school, he had an exam, yet he had been out with us the night before until 3 am. That was probibly not the best thing to do before an exam.
He took us to the Crackhouse one final time later on so we could make our last feed. I don't think any feed went smoother. And just like that, we were done. No more shooting, no more cutting. It was over.
We went upstair to say our good byes to the national crew and went to pack up. The truth be known, I had been packing for the last 3 days. The guys joked about it saying "Murray has been waiting at the door packed for days, he just wants out!"

Photo: Mike and the Bags just before we leave Italy

We had a cab meet us early Tuesday. I looked at my watch, it would have been about midnight back in Vancouver. We should call Brent, just to wake him up. ( You know that SOB flew business back, we were in Coach)
Niether of us had his home number, good for him,,,
When we got to the airport, Mike 's seat wasn't confirmed, he was standby. After much discussion, he finally got a confirmed seat. He would be flying out ahead of me via Frankfurt and then Toronto before Landing in Vancouver. He should beat me home by 3 hours. I was leaving some 2 hours later via Munich, and Chicago. His flight was delayed. The race was on.
My flight out of Turin was a comfortable one. As I looked at my watch, I realized that making the connection in Munich would be tricky. When we touched down my connection was to depart in less than 30 minutes. There was a United rep waiting for us as we arrived. She escorted a group of us, all heading to Chicago, though passport control and then onto the aircraft. Made it, just in a nic of time.
The flight to North America was of course a long one. Seating in coach was less than confortable, but I was heading home. I watched bits of the inflight movies, I tried to sleep. The fellow that was sitting beside me moved to the back of the plane, so it gave me a bit more room. Better than the flight over, remember the dead russian women,,,,
When we touched down in Chicago, it would mean I would have to clear US customs. This had potential to be a pain. I was bringing back a case of gear that was supposed to be with Brent. So if someone checked the manifest I would be screwed. I decieded, not to worry about it. After collecting all of my gear I headed to yet another security check. We don't want uncle "Al" Quida gettin' in ya know.
Dubya's men were great, they took pitty on me and waived me through. I then went to find my departure gate. On the way I met two US Olympians that had been on my flight. One of the fellow had smuggled an Olympic Torch on board. He had explained that "he was the "official" (wink, wink) torch barrer for the US Bobsled team. They waved him though. I figured an extra case of TV gear wouldn't be a problem,,, it wasn't.
I picked up a pair of sunglasses at the airport. That was my treat for making it so far.
The flight to Vancouver left on time, but became delayed for 30 minutes because of a fuel pump light or so the captain told us. When we were finally on our way all I wanted to do is sleep. The flight was near 4 hours and my neck and shoulders hurt so bad I didn't sleep much.
Let me tell you I was never so glad to touch down in Vancouver as I was on that night. We had to approach from the west and land on 08 right (that's the south runway at YVR) as we landed I looked out of the window as we rolled by the Penta hanger. Some of you know that's the hanger that Talon Helicopters calls home. And where there's Talon Helicopters, there's Chopper 9. I wondered if she missed me.
Getting through Canadian Customs was easier then I thought. Again I think they were taking pitty on a rather sad looking TV guy with two carts filled to overflowing . "Anything to declare?" No, I said, just that I am tired.
I guess they heard that one before as it got no response. The second guy though was in much better humor. He asked me where I was coming from and when I told him, he went on about what the hell happened to the Canadian Mens hockey team. Preachen' to the choir I said. He waved me through.
Now as I came into the reception area of the arrivals area at YVR, I was expecting to see my wife and at least one of the kids. Sarah my daughter was the first face I saw, then Linda and then my boy Ben. But who was that fimilar looking fellow with them? He was holding a case of diet pepsi. It was my News Director Tom. What a surprise. It is a sight I will always remember. Tom and a case of diet pepsi.
I asked if Mike had got back. His plane beat me by less than 10 minutes. I guess I have been eliminated from the race,,,,
It was good to be home!

The Closing

The Olympic Flame Moments Before it is Extinguished

The Closing. It has an air of finality to it. It can be emotional. When the flame goes out and the flag is lowered and handed off, I am sure the folks who played a role in these games, both origanizer or competitor feel a sence of meloncoly. I gues it would only be natural.

The closing had a number of special moments. For me it was being there. Not only was I there, I was there with the person, who whether she knows it or not, was the major influance on me getting into TV Broadcasting in the first place. Let me indroduce you to my Aunt, Susanne.
Susanne and her collegue Rick Brace had been in Turin since last Sunday. They were there as part of a CTV Network team that would be observing/ meeting and planning for the next winter games, the ones in Vancouver.
Susanne had called me earlier in the week to attempt to get together and have lunch or something. Our scheduals never seemed to work out so the week flew by without our chance to get caught up. Finally on Friday I was able to get our editing done early and instead of going out with the team for supper, I thought I would meet up with Susanne and at least spend some time.
She told me that she might have a ticket for me to the Closing Ceremonies. But she would call later if one came available. It was good to see her. Susanne is occasionally out in Vancouver on Business, but we do not get any time together. She's got her thing and I am usually out shooting somewhere.
Nine years ago she headed up the Startup team for the station that became CTV British Columbia. It had been the first project that we had both worked together on. It was a special time for us as we could each observe the other at what we did best. For me it was seeing how she could get people to work togehter, how she could make the impossable happen. To this day I still can't believe that we got the station on the air when we did. It had been a credit to her, and the team. We were all a team back then. We had to be.

She had worked her first Olympics back in Montreal and then onto Lake Placid. This was my first "working " games something that was not lost on her.
We enjoyed the drink we had at the end of the evening and I hoped that the ticket would work itself out. It did, in spades.
On sunday morning before I went to the hockey game with Vicki and Mike, my cell rang. Susanne secured tickets for the whole of my team. Mike, Brent and our driver Alby. Wow.
I was going to spend the last night of the games with my Aunt Susanne. It would be a special time and one that I will never forget.

Mike and I would sit with Susanne and Rick. It was Rick that was the "Ticket Master" and so I must say a special thanks to him for making this all possible.

Rick, Susanne, Murman and Mike at the Closing

Brent and Alby were on the other side of the stadium. Mike and I would only stay until the Vancouver portion of the show and then we would go and shoot some standups for the show outside the stadium before the crowds. The problem of course was our car was parked some 15 min walk from the stadium.
When we arrived, we found the crouds had gathered outside the stadium. They did not have tickets, but were there to watch the flame go out. The air was electric. The sound of low flying helicopters, made me homesick for my beloved Chopper 9. We waded through the crowd. All at once we heard a fimilar voice it was Lucia, Alby's Mom. Late in the day I had come across 2 more tickets from another source. Alby's parents opened thier home to us on the night of the opening ceremonies. We thought giving the extras to them would be a token of our thanks for thier hospitality. She was very excieted. They had not seen any events live, just on TV. I was glad she was going to go see the show. Alby's dad had fallen ill so his girlfriend went with his mom.

When Mike and I finally got in, it wasn't long before we ran into some fimilar faces. The VANOC Crew. Priemer Campbell, the whole gang. There was a great deal of excietment with the group, because they would have possession of the flag after tonight.

Mike with VANOC President John Furlong, Premier Campbell and Jack Poole

Mike and I got situated and then went to meet up with Susanne and Rick. When we returned to our seats the show was about to begin. I had taken the oportunity to call some family and friensds back in Vancouver to let them know that we were in the stadium. Dave Alexander, our Technical Supervisor and all round good guy, was most pleased that I called. He was in Whistler, gearing up for our big show for later in the day. I took a photos of myself as I spoke to him from the stadium.

Murman on the cell to Dave in Whistler

When the show finally began, I could help think of all of the work we had done together up to this point. It was good to sit down and drink in the spectical.
There were Three defining moments for me at the Closing. The first one is very personal, Susanne and I were there together.

Susanne and I at the Closing

The second moment actually took me back to our time with Alby's family for the Opening: At each closing ceremonies the IOC hads out the last medals of the games. In the Summer it's the Marithon Medals, in the winter games it's the 50K Cross Country Medals. It had been won by an Italian. The flag was raised and the whole stadium sang the national song. It was a beautiful moment.
The third was the moment that we had all been waiting for. The Flag handoff to Mayor Sam Sullivan. Man what a moment. I was caught up in the scene. You can clearly hear me say on my home video tape, "Thata Boy Sam. You Rule!" That was very cool.

Sam accepts the Flag and gives it a fantastic Wave Photo: Reuters

And as I said, I got to share these moments with family, my auntie Susie.

Men's Hockey Gold

This kinda sums it up, doesn't it ?

It had been 3 full weeks since Brent, Mike and I had landed in Torino Italy. It seemed longer. Little sleep and down time will do that to you. But we had packed a lot in during the past three weeks. We had some great laughs, we had some times that we thought that this assignment would get the better of us. It didn't.

I had always wanted an Olympic assignment. From the time I first decided that broadcasting was to be my future, I thought of an Olympic assignment as being the choice gig. What with games in far away places and the chance to meet people from around the world, how could it not be the prima assignment. Yes it would be hard work. It's certainly not a vacation, but if you seize your moments, you experience things you cannot imagine.
Such was the final weekend of our Olympic Tour.

Saturday brought a busy day and a late assignment at BC House. The governor general was to make an appearance. The event was to be filled with Olympian, VANOC and other VIPs. The event also caused a bit of concern because of it's timing. It was set to begin just before our feed window would open at The Crack House. I would have to have all my editing done early and then head over to th Gov.'s event. It was supposed to begin at 7:30. Traffic was bad, very bad. I had Alby drop me off at the river and I sprinted the 8 blocks to BC House. I made it without having a heart attack, not bad for a short fat guy I thought.
fortunately the same traffic that conspired against me was also working to delay the Gov.
It all worked out in the end. I got what I needed and rushed off to meet up with the crew at ABC to feed.

Sunday brought that sense we were at the end. Our story would be about the star of the closing, Vancouver Mayor Sam Sullivan. We wouldn't have to roll a camera until late. That gave Mike and I the chance to go and see some hockey. Vicki Gabereau, talk show host extrodinare, had been working with Brent and I on and off through out the last 3 weeks. Brent and here produced items for E-Talk Daily and CTV Vancouver. Brent got to the point that he even tried his hand at editing some of these. I appreciated that very much.

Vicki and I at the Mens Hockey Gold Medal Game .

Thanks Vicki

She in her amazing generosity, gave me two tickets to the mens gold medal game. I guess early on, seeing how hard we were all working, and knowing how much I loved hockey, she took pitty on me. It was very kind and something that I will never forget. Mike also liked hockey. Brent was busy figuring our his logistics for the plane ride home and wasn't a big hockey fan. Brent was going to fly home with the VANOC people and the Olympic Flag. Our competitors were not aware of our plans and Brent was going to get the only exclusive of the games.
Mike and I would have rathered Canada was playing in the final. Hell you have already read about my disappointment with the mens team, but hey, I would be there and there were a number of Vancouver Canucks playing.
It was a fun afternoon. I sat with Vicki and Mike. Sweden won, the twins got their gold medals. I was happy for them.

The fans that were sitting beside us, they had a great time as did we. At least they went home happy!

Mike and I enjoying the Game

Team Sweden Celebrates it's second Gold Medal in Olympic Mens Hockey

The Heros and the Zeros

Mike's return on Thursday signaled the beginning of the end of our Olympic Time. We were going to be staying an extra day as programming required. But the end was in sight. I had been lucky up to this point to get out to 3 hockey games. I figured if that was all, then I was happy to have been able to attend those 3. Thursday was also the day Vancouver Mayor Sam Sullivan was to hold a news conference and a demonstration of how he was going to accept the Olympic Flag during the closing ceremonies. For those who might not be familiar with Sam's story, it goes like this: Sam was injured when he was a younger man as a result of a skiing accident. It left him a quadriplegic. He has been a city counselor for many years and in the last municipal elections became Canada's first quadriplegic Mayor.
VANOC and Sam would be before the world's press at the International Broadcast Center explaining the Flag handover ceremony. This would be our story for Today and when Mike arrived later in the day, all he would have to do is pick his clips and write the item. The story pretty much wrote itself. Sam was the story. His clips were funny and telling. We put this one to bed early.
Friday brought another VANOC item, this time what has the team learned while embedded with the TOROC people. They spoke about tickets sales and empty seats and transportation. They were very careful with their words and I am sure that more will come out in the coming months about what they really thought of the Torino organization and the execution of the games. Again this was a fairly easy item with little extra travel. Both pressers were early in the morning giving us plenty of time to get things together before our feed window. Low pressure, I like that.

As I left the press area at the main Media Center, I noticed a group of people just in front of me. The center piece to this group was the Russian mens Figure Skating Gold Medalist. I sort of recognized him. Anyway we seemed to be going in the same direction. I ended up ahead of the small group and went outside the security zone to wait for my ride. Mike and Brent went to get some food in the media center, so I would wait for several minutes outside the gate. A Van pulls up. I pay little attention to it. I notice the Russian and his posse coming my way. It become obvious that this Van was here to pick him and his group up. They are still inside the security fence and have stopped to speak to another group, all with Russia jackets on, so I suspect that this second group which numbered about 3 persons, were Russian Olympians or coaches. While this is going on, an Italian lady who was going to catch a bus or something notices the figure skater. She recognizes him immediately. She is shaking with excitement. She was a fan. She notices me standing there and askes if she can borrow my sharpie. I know what she wants. Her hero has not yet come out of the gate yet and she decides to wait. She is shaking, quivering, smiling. I notice she has a small film camera. She is hoping for a photo so her friends and family will believe her encounter with skating greatness. Then the moment of truth, the skate champion makes his way out side the fenced area, his group running interference for him. He blows right by this one lady, refusing to sign her meager piece of paper, then turns his back so as not to present a photo opportunity for her. And all at once the van leaves, without so much as a wave. The lady was crestfallen.
I would have understood if there had been many wanting and waiting, but there was one. This adoring middle aged average Italian women who would have cherished that piece of paper and or photo for the rest of her life. And Mr. Russian skater, like the classless self centered prick he probably is, proved to both me and my broken hearted sharpie borrowing friend just what kind of a ZERO he was.
You know the great ones, they are different. They at least wave, they at least smile, even when they are in a hurry.
Later that evening I had the good fortune of getting into a private party at the Log House. There were many Olympians there and the event was sponsored by Whistler/Blackcomb. I met the President of CTV, Rick Brace and Vice President Susanne Boyce inside. I also ran into several Canadian Olympians. I had my photo taken with Canadian Womens Hockey Capt. And Gold Medalist, Cassy Campbell. (Photo: Gold Medalist Cassy Campbell, Hero!)It was a pleasure to meet her.
I was introduced to Susanne's driver or "fixer" as driver/translators are known as. Stephano was his name. This guy was a chic magnet. Nice fellow. The next thing you know he's getting his photo with the "Kokinee Girls". They had been flown in by the organizers of the event. Well lets just say World Wide Murman was not going to be out done. I got in there for my photo and one of the ladies asks, "Do you fly Chopper 9?" She saw my Chopper 9 hat I had on. "No, I am CHOPPER 9" I said. Lets just say with that they got a little closer,,,, We will have to see about getting the ladies a ride sometime. ( Photo: Me and the Glasier Girls from Kokinee , when team Torino saw this photo, I was the Hero))
Oh what a job, someone has got to do it, it might as well be me.

Worth The Effort

As mentioned the edit move to Polytechincal Media Village had it's advantages. With Mike gone, Team Torino was down to just Brent, Alby our driver/translator and yours truly. The work load was about the same , but as I had posted earlier, Brent had a plan to get us a day ahead. It made for slightly shorter days and enabled us to explore a bit of the local hood around the Media Village. Just a short walk away from the Stalag, we found quaint cafes and a grocery store. Brent also discovered a donair place, run by a family of Egyptians. They were very friendly and we ate there often.

One of the items Brent and I wanted to do involved the Italian Auto Industry and how it related to the Games. We had lined up interviews and tours with Fiat, Pininfarina, and Bertone. Fiat was a sponsor and the largest employer of Torino. Pininfarina, a design and engineering company, were the creators of the Olympic Torch and Olympic Flame cauldron. So there was an obvious hook. Bertone was part of a larger Non accredited media tour and first on the agenda. So to get to Pininfarina, we had to take the Bertone tour. A potential waste of time, but it seemed a necessary evil.
When we arrive to take the tour, we were informed Pininfarina canceled. Damn this was the tie we needed, the bridge into our item into the games. Brent decided we would go anyway.
The drive out to the plant was a long one. One in which gave time for some reflection on our time spent in Italy so far. It hadn't been all bad. I considered myself lucky to have seen two hockey games, Germany and Finland. And I had been able to see the women win their gold medal. I figured if it was to end now, I had done more than I had expected. As we traveled through rual roads outside of Turin proper, into the foot hills of the Alps, I found myself making comparisons to my time 10 years ago in Bosnia. The mountains in the area were quite steep and rocky. Much like the mountains around Klujc. The homes and buildings here looked similar to those in the Bosnian countryside. The difference, the buildings and homes all had their roofs and were free from battle damage. (Photo: Murman 10 years ago near Klujc, Bosnia) We passed a particularly steep mountain, one that overlooked the whole of the Piedmonte lowlands, where the city of Turin is located. There was a building perched on the top. Our tour guide told us it was some 1000 years old. It was an Abby. There were still Monks and it had been used during the crusades as a stopping point and a resting point for pilgrims heading to the Holy land. Wow, that's history. Back in Vancouver, we hardly know ours. Heritage buildings in the lower mainland are barely fifty years old. (Photo: The Abby)It stood as a sentinel of time. It would remain long after the games had been forgotten and the grand venues build for the games were long gone. Very sobering.
We did our thing at the Bertone facility. It was dull TV, but there was a car museum. My son would have loved it. He loves sports cars. What teenage boy doesn't.
We left the tour with our driver and headed back to the City. We had an interview and a tour with Fiat. Surely this would save the item. Again fate would deal us cards that we did not expect. Fiat sent a PR flack that was unable to speak on camera and he told us it would be quite impossible to get a tour in the plant. God this story was dying fast and we had wasted 5 hours. We had to get back and edit and feed.
The PR guy was able to arrange for a senior spokes person to meet with us, but not until tomorrow. God could this get worse I thought. All of the work of the past couple of days got us a day ahead and now we were going to be back to square one. Shooting and cutting the same day. Damn.
Wednesday started early. We got our interview with Fiat. The guy was very good and animated. Made for TV. Still however he was unable to get us in the plant. There goes the visuals. He did get us footage of the assembly line from a company video on PAL. That presented some logistics problems, but it would be better than nothing. Brent took the tape to the Crack House and got it dubbed to NTSC and would take a taxi back to the Media Village. Alby and I went to get some exteriors of the Pininfarina Plant.
It took some time to get to Pininfarina as it was in the next town. When we got there, we saw a large fenced in compound. A guard house, security, the place looked like a prison. There was not much of a sign, really there was not much of a shot. I could believe it. The video gods didn't seem to want this story.
Now what happens next impressed me more than you can possible imagine. Alberto, goes up to the security guard house and asks if it would be possible to get into the plant. Now for those of you who deal with large companies, you know you just don't "show up" and expect to get any cooperation. But Alby managed to get the security person to call the PR office. The next thing I know we are IN. They too have a car Museum. I am told I can shoot as much as I want. But they had an Olympic torch on display in the museum. We at least it would help out visually. The next thing I know I am asked to follow into a board room and told that Mr. Francesco Lovo, head of the creative team for the Olympic Project would speak to us. There were drawings and prototype models in the board room and Mr. Lovo was the most animated and passionate about his creations. Jack Pot!!!
It made the item, it tied it all together. I conducted the interview myself. When the interview had concluded I asked if I could get a photo with the torch. I got one of Alby as well.
On the way home Alberto says to me, "Murray, it had been a dream, to hold the Olympic Torch."
This Olympic experience just had got a lot better.

Alberto holding the Olympic Torch with Mr. Lovo

The "Passion Lives Here" Olympic Flame as it burns before the closing ceremonies

Logistics

Logistics. The distance and difficulty of logistics. This would be the Achilles heel of Team Torino. We were challenged everyday of this assignment. Email is how messages, assignments and other vital CTV information was being relayed. The problem for us was our email and internet access was less than satisfactory. At our so called home at the Polytechnical Media Village, there was no internet service. There was at our workspace that was being provided at British Columbia House/ Canada Place. The difficulty there was the rooms were constantly being booked and we were constantally being moved from place to place. Sometimes as we were in the middle of an edit. That would mean we packed up and moved the deck and everything else to another room or desk. As of late we had been sharing a room with a spirited group of techno wizards. Yes they were friendly, but as you can imagine, the hubbub was less than favorable to the editing process. Add to the mix, fatigue and you can see this situation was just not going to work.
Finally after being moved for the umteenth time, I had enough. I pulled the plug. I decied to relocate to my room at Stalag 13 Polytechical Media Village.
Editing would be without interuption and I wouldn't have to move gear everytime someone felt like moving us.
What is cost us was our link to email, the life blood of the CTV Machine. ( well "life blood", might be just a bit of an overstatement, No on second thought, I'll stand by "life blood") This would mean for the rest of the games, CTV Vancouver, CTV National, CTV Resources information for us would only be accessable to us once a day.
The "BC House" was about 3 Km from the village. It took about 15 minutes to drive there in traffic. The feed area at the Crack house was about 2.5 Km from the Media Village, but 3.5 Km from the BC House. It was sort of a triangle on a map. Traffic was especially bad after 4 in the afternoon and particularly bad on Friday nights.
Here it was Friday, the 17th and we had just finished a marithon edit. It was 30 min before our feed window was to open, and I said "we're takin' everything, we're not coming back to edit at BC House"
We loaded everything into Alby's Fiat and set a course to the Crack House.
Traffic was very bad. it was after 9 and the window was going to open at 9:30. This would be tight.
We made it just as the window opened. A credit to Alby our driver. We fed the material and relocated the editing equipment to my room. It turns out that was a smart decission.
But it was at the cost of being dialed into the network. Communications from here on in were via cell phone, which didn't seem to work in certain parts of my room.

When we would get to check our email, would take a while to get caught up and respond. Often we were in such a hurry, I would not get a chance to log in.
Feed times especially Down Link coordination relied on email. It would cause some problems over the next week. Nothing we couldn't handle.

It's Gold Jerry !

Monday morning came way too quickly. I had stayed out far too late with the CTV national Crew after the loss to Finland. Now the phone was ringing and I could not move. I barely was able to overcome my own inertia to answer it.
I forced myself down to the Stalag eatry and met up with Brent. He of course was well rested and ready to get at it. We were going to do a piece on outdoor markets. We had already cut our piece for today, during the weekend. So today would be just some shooting. We also wanted to get a head start on Wednesday’s item as well. It seemed to be a good plan. We would get back before 3 and cut our piece for tomorrow or at least shot list and go from there.
I had to feed a pile of stuff, Vicki’s, E-Talk, National and CTV British Columbia. Brent had booked an early feed time, so I thought I could maybe catch the Gold Medal Womens game.
When I went to the Crack House, everything seemed in order. There was a bit of a problem with the booking however, our fault really. I won’t get into the details. The long and the short of it was Terry B, back in Vancouver was able to make it happen in fairly short order. And to him I say thanks.
The TSN gang comes into feed after me. I run into Sean Cable, a cameraman from Vancouver and his producer. I ask them if they are going to the game and they tell me they are. So I hitch a ride with them to the game. Brent was back at the Village. He’s not a hockey fan and felt that he would shot list and write tomorrows story. Too bad, I think he would have enjoyed himself.
When we get to the venue, James Duthie of TSN fame, although many readers of this blog know James from his days with VTV and before that with CJOH. Anyway, James is negotiating for tickets. He is able to get us all tickets for much less than face value and in we go. This would be good. Well get inside and we will all meet up and try to sit together. Well we end up in the rafters for the first period. James and his crew end up on the opposite side of the arena. Now this would not normally be a problem in any North American arena, but like most things with this Olympic games, it is poorly designed for spectator traffic.
From our perch high above the center line, Sean and I observe many open seats in the lower bowl. We make our move during the first intermission. (Photo: Sean Cable of TSN, Denis Brodeur, former Olympian and Marty Brodeur's Dad, and Murman at the women's Gold Medal Game)As we attempt to get to the opposite side lower bowl, we incounter many dead ends. There are attendants preventing people from going into a large common area that would connect us to where we wanted to go. Now I have an all access pass, Sean however is not accredited. So I just blow by this attendant, he glances at my accreditation and I am in. Sean is right behind me. He gets stopped. As I look back, this guys askes if he is with me. I tell him he’s my camera man. Sean gets waved through.
We end up in the lower bowl sitting in two vacant seats sitting with Marty Brodeur’s family, his dad Denis, his 3 boys and his girlfriend, Jenn. (For those of you who do not follow hockey, Martan Brodeur is Team Canada’s goaltender)
Anyway we have a delightful time with the Brodeurs. The boys kept me laughing the whole night. I let them borrow my Canadian flag and they waved the hell out of it. The boys had Canadian flag tattoos on their cheeks. I asked them how long had they had them on their faces. One of the lads spoke up and told me “since Dad played on Saturday!” I laughed and said, don’t you wash your face?
Yes but I didn’t want to loose my flag!
We all cheered loudly when Canada would score. (Photo: The boys having a ball with the flag)The boys remember Salt Lake City. They are certainly hoping Dad will deliver them another Gold medal.
It was a delightful night. The women won their gold. I was there, in Salt Lake City, and now here I was watching and singing Oh Canada in Italy. It was a good night. One I will remember as I listened to 3 young lads as they gave me the play by play, through 10 year old eyes.

Danielle Goyette celebrates in what will likely be her last Olympic Games.

This was written before the men went out and got killed by the Russians last night. I can barely write I am so upset.
This will also likely be the last installment of World Wide Murman until I get back home. Internet access has been less than reliable. The logistics are screwed.
The rest of the CTV team have arrived , and I have a feeling my Olympic experience will get alot worse, before I can get some time to reflect on this. I have a ton of photos that I will post with this story, but it too will have to wait.

Thank you all for reading, There will be more, but when I get back to Vancouver.

Murman

I'm Back

I am back after a short absence from the infoweb. As many of you know, our internet service here is Torino is less than impressive.
The work load is still there, but with Mike in Monte Carlo, we have been able to catch up.
Saturday brought a gut checking loss to the mens team, to Switzerland. Of course our driver/ Dr. Alberto, gave me the gears about the loss. I have received some email from home suggesting my chance meeting with the Great One may have been bad luck for the team.
Brent and I went out and shot an item that we cut on Monday. It was about pin collecting. We took advantage of the lull during the weekend to explore a bit of the neighbourhood. When we got up on Saturday morning, we couldn’t bring ourselves to eat at the Media Village. The menu has not changed since we got here. They don’t quite get how to cook bacon, or do anything appetizing with the eggs. We asked the front desk where the nearest café would be. Of course they did not have a clue. What else is new. My god if VANOC wants to learn how NOT to house the media, then come here to Stalag 13.
After a very short walk we discovered a couple of “Bars” or Cafés. I have not been back to the Media Village for food since. The other piss off is of course, no internet at the media center at the Village. This is especially difficult since I pulled out of BC Place and relocated the editing decks to my room. BC Place had become too chaotic. There was always people coming into our room and disrupting the editing process. Add to the equation that our feed point (The Crackhouse) was 4 KM away through bad traffic. Moving our base of operations for now has been a good thing. I suppose when Mike returns we may relocate back.

I took the time this weekend to take in a hockey game. After editing on Sunday, I grabbed a Cab and went to see the men play Finland. I met up with our National reporter Graham Richardson and TSN Reporter Farhan L. I walked in with my media pass and sat in the media area and settled into what I had hoped would be a good night of hockey. Wrong again. The team sucked and were shutout for the second game in a row. Perhaps my meeting with Wayne had brought bad luck to Team Canada.
Well at least the women would not let us down.
Regardless, it was nice not to have to rush an edit and feed on Sunday night, it almost felt normal.

The Moment

Yesterday was filled with moments that will last a life time. After our evening at the Game, we left the Media village with a rejuvenate sense of well being. It had been a good night, One of the hilights of the trip. Friday would be another day which would test us in both temperament and in physical strength.
Mike was riding high as this would be his last day in Torino. He is off for a couple of days to spend some vacation with his wife in Monico ( Goldfinger: "No Mr. Killeen, I expect you to Die!) Anyway good for Mike, He's back on Thursday.

The moment of the day came later in the day at BC House when The Great One walked into the place. I managed a shot. He said hello to Vicki and she introduced me as one of the hard working CTV guys that were putting her to air. As Wayne left the building, out the back door, I ceased the moment. With cat like agility ( not bad for a short fat guy) I was right behind him and asked if he would be so kind to grant a photo with me. Sure he said. I tried to take the photo myself, but was huffing and puffing. He said "take it easy Murray, my friend will take the photo." I said "Sorry it's been a hell of a week" He said with a smile "Tell me about it!"

And that was my Olympic Moment with the Great One.

The Great One with the Tired One

The Edit Suite Crash of 2006

Well just when you thought it couldn't get worse , it did. During the editing session the other night two of our player decks crashed. The SX decks are known for breaking down. I figured it would only be a matter of time before the SX God of the breakdown would show her bitchy hand. Wednesday was that day.
There is much that transpired that I cannot write about.
It appears during these long and arduous shoots there is a finite "wall" the body and mind hits. Call it fatigue, call it what you will, I figured there was one wall an I had hit it some time last week. I was wrong, there are two walls, and I hit the second one Wednesday. I hit it hard. (Photo George from Chicago Murman and George from Toronto, the surgeons that saved the suite)The edit suite crashed and we had to rush to the Crack House to finish the edit. Time was not on our side. I did managet to get the thing done with my last bit of energy. We fed it in and I thought my god how did I not have a stroke in the last few hours. The sad thing is, two days later, I cannot even remember what the item was.
Surely Thursday would be better for us all.
My mission and first priority was to get the edit suite up and running. Luckly that before we left Vancouver, our Chief Engineer had given me contact information for Sony. They have a workshop that they have set up just outside Turin.
I arrived just after 9:10 am and began the process. I was told by our Italian host at Sony they would be able to look at the gear until Saturday. "That will not do" I said. I then met two of the North American Engineers, the Georges. These guys looked right after me. I decieded to go and get a bit of breakfast with Alby our driver. We returned about an hour later. They gave me the bad news. One of the machines would need a drum head assembly and the other a capstan motor. Not good. I got the boys thinking outside the box and convinced them to take the good parts from one machine and transplant them into the other. It worked. They had me up and running within the hour. I left the other machine with them to use as a boat anchor. No seriously we will get an estimate and likely surgery will continue once next of kin in Vancouver have been notified.
The grand total of the first repair, 180 euros. Best 180 euros I have spent so far.

Thursday got better. Annette one of the hard working people here at BC House walked into my edit area and presented me with 4 hockey tickets to Canada and Germany mens hockey. Well we have not had a night off since we got here, what is it now, two months ago ( actually 2 weeks).
We went and fed early and headed to the game. We ment a couple from Vancouver that had just got off the plane. They did not have tickets, but managed to get some from a scalper for less than face value and wouldn't you know it we sat in the same row. (Photo: Just glad to be watchin' some Hockey)
This was a great night. It seemed that we were at the Olympics for the first time. We felt normal. We had fun and it has recharged our batteries, well at least for now.

Murman and Brent, just glad to have survived

Alby at the Game. Earlier in the day he went to his first hockey game ever. We decieded that he should come with us and see a good hockeyteam play.

Brent's moment of Olympic Glory as he carries the Flame as we exited the Hockey Game.

Janis back at the Crack House wrapping herself in the flag after Canada's 4 medal day.

Gun Play In Milan

On Saturday last we decieded to get the hell out of Dodge City and head to Milan. It was a welcome afternoon of fine weather and a change of scenery. It was in Milan that we met up with one of our best interview subjects of the trip. you may remember an earlier quote of the week in a previous post.
The interesting part of the day was to happen as we were driving out of Milan and heading to the Hiway that connects the city with Torino. We heard the fimilar sound of the Polizia heading off to who knows what. We passed through an intersection and proceeded down the street when suddenly, another Polizia Car whized up close on the outside lane ( and when I say lanes, lets just say the dividing lines are there for decoration). Anyway this polizia car rolls up, Officer with his window down, waving his Glock 9 like it's a freakin stop sign or something. Alby our driver near shits himself, as he pulls over. The little blue fiat pull up to the car infront of us and this TJ Hooker officer points the gun at the drivers head. No doubt he was shouting in the home and native tounge to Pull the f#*k over!. Well I don't know about you, but the business end of a firearm is a remarkable tool of persuasion. I bang off a photo, Brent bangs off a couple as 5 more little blue fiats race into the scene. When the guy gets out of the car, hands in the air, it looks like George Kastanzia from Seinfeld. Man thats road rage!

Some Fimilar Faces in a Strange Land

You know it's bad when Murman refuses food. This morning was such an occasion. I could not bring myself to get out of bed and head down for another breakfast of the same crap they have been feeding us at the media village. My god it's more like a prision, Stalag 13. We recieved a note the other night that there would not be any Y Fi internet service anywhere within "Stalag 13" for the duration of the games. This was the same outfit that kept Brent an I waiting for a toilet seat for 3 days. They have also told us that there would be no more TV channels added to the so called TV service in the rooms. There are two english channels. CNN and EuroSport. I am told that the building across the Compound have CBC. What a freakin' joke.
Last night we went to the Fattoria, but Mario had not brought his A game to the table. It was a most dissapointing evening.

I was delighted to find out that of all of the media assembled at the Gretzky Hunt yesterday, Murman bagged the only shot of Janet. It must have been my "Massive" lens. Our collegue and "Puck Bunny" Janis ( who by the way could have passed for a Janet G decoy) was overheard saying "When I saw Murman and his giant lens at the airport,,,,,,,I knew Momma was going to be happy tonight."
Well long as someone is happy,,,,,,

Anyway last night was not a total write off. We ran into an old friend from the past. Hack, you will be pleased to here that James Duthie sends his regards.
Last week I had heard a rather fimilar accent, and lo and behold there was Peter Sutherland, Camera guy from CBC Halifax. Can't keep those Maritimers home.

I have to go and edit now,
May the force be with me.

Peter Sutherland from CBC Halifax

John L from The Globe and Mail with Mike outside of BC House

C Mac and Mike at the Airport waitin' on the Great One

Duck Hunting In Torino

"Torino, shit I'm still only in Torino. Every minute I sit here waiting for a mission, Charlie gets stronger. All I wanted is a mission and for my sins they gave me one."
Murman "A cameraman's Appocalypse"

Yes the fatigue factor has firmly set in. It looked like there was light at the end of the tunnel. That tunnel we call the last 10 days. I was particularly happy with the work we had managed force out the pipe. We were looking forward to perhaps, oh I don't know, A DAY OFF. Then the cell rang last night, it seems that light was the CTV train coming from the other direction.
I know, you can't look away.

We had dinner at the Fattoria last evening with special guests Vicky Gabereau and her sidekick Jane Rowe. After the "call" all we could do is drown our sorrows in a bottle of vino.

This morning we went Gretzky hunting. We were sure not to invite Vice President Chaney, what with his gun handling skills and all. Anyway we arrived at the airport and bumped into an old friend from the VTV days when Sportsnet was still in the building, Craig M.
Mike and I found our way to where the busses would be loaded. Security was tight. Brent had gone with our dashing young driver to get some shots of the plane actually landing.
It was not long after Brent began shooting (Photo: Murman and his "big lens" with Sergio and Al C from Global at the "hunt") when a member of the Polizia pulled up and asked what was going on. Before you knew it there was 5 Polizia cars with angry officers, shouting at our driver. Poor Alby, he has been with us for 10 days and in the last 3 days he has had the Polizia wave a gun at him in Milan, and now he has got a group of angry officers going through his papers and checking everything in his car. They checked Brents passport. I quess it was quite a scene.
Meanwhile back at the Hunting lodge ( Arrivals area for team Canada), we waited for our quarry. And just like that out came the Great One. Of course all of the media players were there well except for CITY cause they're EVERYWHERE. We had about a 100 meter shot. I put the crosshairs on the target and squeezed the trigger. I was able to get a good shot of the Gambling One (Hey I am just joking here, please no lawsuits)
So all was not lost.
As we drove back, I felt that we had done well to get what we got for not being rights holders. But was I rolling? I would be in a world of shit. But wait a minute, I'm at the Turin Olympics, without a Rights Holder Pass, I AM ALREADY IN A WORLD OF SHIT.
Pray to the video Gods for us,
That Janet, Wayne and the kids will come and visit us at BC House.

All joking aside, I am sure there is more pressure on us now that they have arrived. Yes as our new Italian friend Osvoldo has said "The fertilizer has hit the air conditioner!"

Murman, John Furlong VANOC, Mike K during happier times.

Scenes/Photos/ Quote of The Week

Bonjourno!

Here are a few Photos I have taken in the past week here in and around Torino.

Just outside the media center in the Sestriere where all of the Alpine and Nordic events are being held.

Just outside the Olympic Stadium the day the games were to open

The Classic Turin Post card shot as seen from the banks of the Po River. You can see the Alps in the background of the city. The spire is the museum of cinema the tallest structure in Turin.

Bridge over the Po River. This shot is taken from the opposite side of the river as the previous skyline shot.I hope to have more soon.

Quote of the week:

Question from Mike: "So are you excieted about having the Olympic Games just up the road in Turin?"

Answer from Essore Prosperini, tourism minister of Lomberdia (Milan)

"Perhaps excieted is maybe a word too big"

You must say the quote with your best Italian Accent!

THE OPENING

Brent, Mike and I had a unique experience in our coverage of the opening ceremony. As a Non Rights Holder, we at CTV are unable to air or shoot anything that originates inside an Olympic venue. Our solution was to spend our time with a typical Italian family as they gathered to watch the opening on Italian TV.
That family was that of our driver/ translator Alberto.
Dinner was to begin around 7 and the ceremony was to begin at 8. We left BC house to begin our trek across town. Traffic was heavy as the crowd was heading to the Olympic Stadium.
When we arrived and were greeted warmly by Alby’s family. Lucia, his mother, Franco his father, and Federica his lovely girlfriend. I quickly went to work, shooting preparations in the kitchen with Lucia and Federica.
There was a knock on the door it was Alberto’s brother, Giovanni. A barrage of traditional Italian affection ensued. A second knock several minutes later introduced us to the Priest, Gian Franco Sivera, a family friend. I figured the good padre might help out with some divine intervention to insure I would make my feed time as it rapidly approached.
The meal was outstanding, with sausage, prosciotto, bread, two different kinds of pasta and several deserts. Water, Champaign, red and white “vino”, how was I going to get this done?
Brent and I had cameras rolling for much of the dinner. The broadcast began and attention was immediately drawn to the television.
It was difficult to maneuver in such a small confined space in this fine apartment, but I managed to move camera and tripod around with out breaking or spilling anything. That in itself is worthy of some sort of gold medal.
As the broadcast continued and as the cameras rolled to capture the reactions of our hosts, all at once broke out in the singing of their national song. It was perhaps one of the most moving moments of this trip. We were touched by this golden moment.

As we glanced at our watches, I knew we had to get editing. Alby’s mother insisted it would be ok to edit on the dinner table, as she continued to serve the pasta!
Now the A 220 editor, Mike doing his voicers and yours truly became the entertainment.
I edited like the wind, fatigue or perhaps a full belly made it sluggish, but we continued.
It was a bizarre scene, a table full of food and drink, a friendly Italian family, The Olympic Opening Ceremonies on the TV and a TV crew editing at the end of the table.
It was an experience that I will never forget.

SWAG WARS

A long time ago in a country far, far away, A valiant TV Crew set out from a distant star system in the western quadrant of Canada.
The Journey was long and uncomfortable. They were supposed to fly on the newest star ship in the galaxy, Lufthansa, instead they flew with the Luftwuffa.

On the first evening we arrived in Torino, it was late and of course we were famished. One of the lads who are guarding us from, uncle Al (Quida), suggested we go just around a corner to a little restaurante called Fattoria.
I have mentioned this establishment before in a previous post.
Anyway on the third night in town, we returned to Restaurante Fattoria. It would be our third time we found ourselves in Super Mario’s place. This time I brought some CTV Swag. A pen that lights up, and a tee shirt. We order. The drinks come. I call Mario over to the table. I ask him for his pen. He is confused, I ask again if I can have his pen, then I slide the CTV Pen to him. His face lights up. The pen lights up. His eyes light up. He shakes my hand and thanks me and quickly darts off to the back of the place. We delight in the fact that we have given a bit of pleasure to our host. Well Mario comes back, this time with a gift of his own. A trinket for each of us, giving me one last. We thank him. Gratzi, He starts away again, but I stop him. Now I slide a rolled tee shirt over to him. He is speechless, he shakes my hand and gestures to his heart. He seems to be touched.
He comes back with a tee shirt gift of his own. An escalulation of sorts.
I figure if I keep raising the ante, I’ll have the deed to the place before the end of the week.
Night 2 of the Swag war sees him presented with a CTV News Hat.
By night 3 he has made a shrine of CTV Swag in the front of his place.

The Olympic Crack House.

As Non Rights Holding Electronic Media, we find ourselves feeding our items back to Vancouver via an ABC uplink that is located on the 10 floor of an apt complex on the east side of Turin. On Monday(Feb 6) we had been told that our feed time would be at 10:30 PM local. We went out, shot our item, and cut our item all under the impression that all was right with our feed arrangements. We made a call to ABC to check on our status. The voice on the other end of the phone told us that they were still setting up and they wouldn’t be 24/7 for another 24 hours. Huston, we have a problem, it was 10 to 8 and they told us they were packing it up at 8 O’clock. Hell I had just put down my first edit. We had been shooting until 7. I’m fast, but I can’t cut a pack in 2 minutes. Not only that but we has a 15 minute drive to get to the feed site. Jesus, we hadn’t been here for 24 hours and we had a very big problem.
Hats off to Mike K for stick handling this feed situation for me. I was cutting like a mad man trying to make this first item the best it could be. After much gnashing of teeth, we had an alternate feed site. The good folks at Globe Cast, a European based Satellite Service Provider were located just across the river, over looking the city. Needless to say for a premium we were able to make our slot. Surely tomorrow would be better.
It was, marginally,,,,
Tuesday began early, our systems not yet accustomed to the new time zone. Again a full day. We called ABC to confirm our feed time. Feed time confirmed. All systems go, go with throttle up.
I don’t know how a day evaporates as fast as it does, but it did. We were able to establish abase of operations at the BC House/Canada Place. This could be good. At least we internet services there. We managed to get a small work area and went to work cutting the item together. We finished in plenty of time, but now we need to get our driver to get us to the ABC site, Pronto, Pronto.
The engineering crew from ABC London rents a flat, then leases or rents out the rooms to individual news agencies from around the planet. They have set up their feed area in the front as soon as you walk into the front door. As you walk through the halls passing many rooms full of strange faces. A rats nest of electrical cables and video wires snake their way throughout the complex. We finally come to a stairwell that leads to a loft where we find our (photo: two of the "J"men at the ABC feed center) CTV National crews, huddled into a little dark room with a couple of tables and edit decks set up on the tables. I meet the rest of the CTV contingent. CTV Producer Susan T takes me down to meet the Brits manning the feed center. Jack, John and Jerry, the J team. These guys are great. They have their shit completely together. Well almost. The SX deck they have is not working, as it should. It is not splitting audio. Infact it is only sending channel 1. Fortunately I had my camera with me with my splitter and feed snake. I wasn’t going to take it, but call it my spidy sense I am very glad I did. It turns out no one knew how the hell the menu settings on the machine. One of the “J” men told me that they would have it fixed before we fed tomorrow. They did.
As we left the “house” and returned to our driver, we all had a chuckle about the sight of all of that broadcast equipment strewn throughout the place. We dubbed it the Media Crack House.

Graham Richardson/and Rob the Edtior/Camera Guy

CTV's Janis Mackey-Frayer with Producer Susan Treen