In the Bubble

Bobbing in the Black Sea out my window this morning at the Georgian/Russian border is a Russian Navy warship. It’s just offshore from the tethered Spy-Cam blimp which monitors the highway. All seems serene but I guess these guys are taking no chances. Yesterday a couple of small gunboats just offshore were kicking up foam like a pair of pleasure craft in the Mediterranean.

In our bubble of Olympic World, it’s official for me . . . easiest Games ever. The Ring of Steel has its advantages. You may have noticed that the written press crybabies have stopped complaining. The negativity has dissipated. That’s because everyone has realized that the Russians have their shit together.

 

I do miss the excitement and bustle of Vancouver with its sushi bars, Chinese restaurants, sports bars and streets full of merrymakers. Or London where I could grab a burger and a Pint at a Pub on the way back from the gymnastics venue. I miss exotic Beijing with endless places of mystery to visit. I miss the Ramblas of Barcelona, the sights and sounds of Sydney, the majesty of Athens and the hometown feel of Salt Lake City. I do not miss the worst host city of all . . . Atlanta . . . the most disorganized place to ever stage the Games. When I think back to the chaos of those Games I am embarrassed for America.

Around here, everything seems easy . . . even relaxed once you get through Security. The checkpoints are now efficient and the searches are thorough but not uncomfortable (err, body odor aside). Transportation is a breeze, the venues and compounds are in harmony, the food is good and my daily walks to the venue have been refreshing.

Today at breakfast Uncle Big Al was recalling the quaint old days of the Lake Placid Olympics in 1980. The Winter Olympics hadn't become the worldwide juggernaut it is today. There was no internet. Information sources were severely limited. He had to be satisfied with a day old New York Times and the local Lake Placid newspaper. TV was limited to two local stations from Plattsburgh, NY and Burlington, VT. ABC aired 53 hours of coverage. Total. They paid a $15 million rights fee.

NBC will offer more than 1500 hours of coverage . . . no typo . . . after paying a $775 million rights fee. 

The Sochi Winter Olympics would have been incomprehensible if you time traveled from 1980.

The information age and its co-conspirator "Branding" have revolutionized the Games. These days image building is everything. Every moment is scrutinized by the army of world journalists, social media and TV.

No one knew this better than the ChiCommies. Beijing was a revelation. They were selling their country to a suspicious world. It was China's Coming Out Party after nearly 60 years of xenophobia.

They made one mistake. They tried to censor the internet. Some google searches would automatically turn up a “page not found.” If you searched for “Falun Gong” a Chinese anti-government group, the beach ball on my Mac would spin forever and then I’d have to reconnect to the WiFi. Many websites were completely blocked. Even our internal NBC network was under scrutiny. They tried to force the world to love them.

At least here in The Bubble, Russia seems pretty open. It's almost "Like us, accept us or 'Screw You'!"

Just outside the Bubble in the Sochi suburb of Khosta there is a “designated” protest site. It is not the easiest place to find. Not exactly hidden, but not exactly front row center. Reporters do check in over there regularly. So far they have written that the area is swarming with children in strollers, stray dogs and old men talking on park benches.

In fairness to Russian protestors, the government does require 10-days advance notice for a rally. If you want to carry a picket sign you have to apply 3 days in advance. All that bureaucracy so you can stand in an obscure park and hope the world media has nothing to do. 

There have been two takers according to local reports. One picketer was supporting Putin and another guy was complaining about pensions for people born during WWII.

We have been conditioned to believe that opposition to the government here in Russia is completely stifled. But the country does have a great tradition of protest with many heroic people being imprisoned and killed.

Whenever the system tried to crush dissent, brave Russians stood up for what they believed. After all, it was the Russian people who threw the Commies out in 1991. The Russian people brought about the October revolution of 1917 when they ended 600 years of Tsarist rule.

At the risk of being too esoteric, let me digress to the Decembrists who revolted in 1825. Although they were defeated, they did bring about social change in the Tsarist days. Decembrist leaders were truly sent to Siberia to work in the salt mines. For hundreds of years dissenters were sent away to the wilderness. The Gulag is a Russian institution.

About 35 years later the Decembrists were considered "rehabilitated." They were given amnesty by Tsar Alexander II who fashioned himself a “liberal.”

Putin sees himself as a liberal too. And in the Russian tradition he pardoned modern Russia’s most famous protestors just before the Olympics. Two women were jailed, one of whom, incredibly enough in this day and age, was actually sent to Siberia. In the West they were characterized as a Punk Band but they are more theatrical than musical. The western press made them heroes.

Almost two years ago today, “Pussy Riot” took the pulpit at the Cathedral of Christ the Savior in Moscow wearing ski masks and multi-colored costumes. Alluding to Putin pissing on himself and shouting dirty epithets, they chanted their “Punk Prayer.” The Orthodox Church freaked out. The Russian public was outraged.

I’m all for free speech but do you want this kind of crap in your synagogue or church? They performed in many different places before but this time they went too far for the Russian public as well as for the Government. Siberia seems a bit harsh but  . . . .

Four women chanted. The two most outspoken went to jail. Putin was funny about it. During the trial he said they shouldn't go to jail. But he conveniently passed the hot potato to their criminal court system. Putin's hands were clean. Hmmm, he could have pardoned them the day after they were sentenced . . .

More irony and complexity here. The Commies destroyed that Cathedral in the 1930’s (Remember Karl Marx: “Religion is the Opiate of the People”). The Church was able to slowly rebuild the church after the collapse of the USSR. The parishoners just wanted a place to pray in peace. 

When she was pardoned, the most famous member of Pussy Riot, Nadezhda Tolokonnikova wanted to serve the remaining three months on her sentence. She said the pardon was all a ploy to make Putin look good before the Olympics. Last week they appeared on the Colbert Report in New York. Colbert made them rockstars.

Ah, Russia.

Ah, America.

We interrupt this history lesson and return to our regularly scheduled program . . .

So I can’t figure out if the Russians are trying to cater to a hoped for influx of westerners or they just want to be like us.

Maybe they have already become us, embracing our sports culture yet making it their own. At the hockey games I feel like I’m in some kind of surreal parallel universe. When the organ starts pounding out the chords to what I have always chanted as “Go, Kings, Go,” the crowd is chanting “Russ-see-ya, Russ-see-ya.”

While they do pump out much of the same popular sports music during play stoppages, it’s more civilized here. Unlike what the idiots at Staples Center pump out, the volume is loud but bearable.

They have Russkie “fan” cam during TV commercial breaks and even put a heart mask on the big screen urging couples to kiss for the camera. Because it’s the Olympics we are spared the insipid commercial advertising that pollutes an NHL game.

What’s odd is the lack of traditional concession stands in the hockey arenas. There are a few tiny stands selling white bread sandwiches, Coke and water. If you are thirsty or hungry and you are looking for a snack it's best to use the giant vending machines. They serve everything from hot mystery meat sandwiches to ice cream bars. Cash ? Rubles only . . . and, of course, Visa cards.

You'd think you'd need to be pretty drunk to wear that Schloog hat but the crowd is sober. He's drinking a Coke.

There's beer for sale. Non-alcoholic beer. No alcohol is served anywhere.

Forget about sneaking in your flask of vodka. Unlike the silly metal detectors we have at US arenas, this is serious business. Here every fan is subject to the same screening you get at an airport. At least you can leave your shoes on. My little tin of Altoids required two guys to approve it.

Every spectator has a credential (and a ticket) which must be worn around the neck. You must scan in and out of the arena. The credential has an embedded microchip which flashes your name and your picture to security at the entrance to the arena.

Russians love hot dogs. There are none for sale at Olympic Park. Russians love fried food. Nothing fried allowed in Olympic Park. Russians love to smoke. Smoking is banned. Pizza is OK.