Since the first day that I heard I'd be working in the aquatics center in Beijing, I realized I'd have two opportunities. One would be to stand on the sidelines of history as Michael Phelps swam for eight gold medals. The other would be to possibly meet Bob Costas, my favorite sports commentator. As I was working at the venue, I realized the culmination of both these visions would occur on the last day of swimming competition.
I had requested a certain position in the venue as I knew that NBC would do any of their live interviews from that spot. I heard that Costas would show up to interview Phelps there after Phelps won his eighth gold. The eighth medal race was awesome! I had chills for nearly all of it as the crowd went crazy, and at the end of it, I broke my working rules and for the first time let out an unbridled cheer for the American hero, fist pumps included. Shortly after, Costas showed up on the set and started prepping for the interview. The guy was talking to about five different people and still had time to entertain the general crowd some ponderings: "He ran a 9.69 and added showmanship, but are you telling me that the crowd wouldn't have been more entertained by a 9.62?" People had obviously heard that Phelps was on his way because a crowd was starting to build.
Quick set-up: The NBC platform is set with other platforms atop the balcony on the short end of the swimming pool. Seperating that balcony of platforms from the common hallway is a glass wall with guarded doorways through which only appropriate media is allowed. Phelps family had gathered on one side of the platform while photographers had gathered on the other side. I was placed between the glass wall and the platform to prevent the photographers from bothering the family. Simply put, I'm serving as a human dividing wall purposed to eliminate chaos. Michael Phelps is only about five minutes away, and the crowd is now roughly one hundred people trying to view a 10'x10', chest-high platform.
Costas has been talking to people in his ear, and to technicians in front of his face, but he suddenly says something very general. Costas announces to all within earshot, "I need water." I'm standing on the ground directly next to the platform, only about six feet away from Costas. I hear the cry and I know what I have to do. Sitting on the edge of the platform on the photographer's side wasan unopened water bottle that still had the frost of refrigeration glistening on the exterior. I assumed that it belonged to a photographer but I didn't know. I hadn't seend anyone touch it for 15 minutes. Upon hearing the call I didn't even think. I grabbed the bottle and tapped the leg of one of the technicians who immediately had the bottle in Bob's needy hands. He drank. He was refreshed. He gave us a nod to acknowledge the debt that his now-hydrated mouth owed. My "cut-off" man looked down at me with a wrinkled, "we're awesome" head nod. On the other side of the platform, Costas' people are still yelling that he needs water. Costas tells them, "It's been taken care of." Not that I blame them for not noticing. They couldn't possibly have expected the sub-three-second service time of the premier waterboy at the aquatics center. Not even Michael Phelps is hitting those times. Shockingly, my friends here at the venue have not been as impressed with this story as I'd expected them to be. Whatever. Phelps comes around the corner and the cheers erupt. The crowd is numbered in the several hundreds by this point.
The interview is unbelievable and I have the best seat in the house. I could have reached out and grabbed either man by the shoe. If you watched live interview, I was directly behind (albeit five feet lower) the main camera you'd have watched the interview through. Phelps is positive and emotional about completing the biggest of his life's dreams, and Costas is totally on point. While most humans communicate with words, Bob Costas has opted for verbal diamonds. The man was so much better than I expected him to be. I see why he gets paid the big bucks. The guy is the Michael Phelps of his profession. The crowd was elated.
Anyway, the interview ends and Phelps gets up to leave. He stops to sign the three tickets of the NBC crew on the platform, and I realize i have an opening. Over the week, I'd developed something of a relationship with some of the NBC crew that was setting up the platform all week. I realized that they were my way in to something that would be too valuable to sell. I handed my Olympic ticket to my "cut-off" man. Things are happening fast. "Can you have him sign this for me?" I ask. Phelps saw me hand up the ticket, but he's in auto-pilot. He begins to reach out. He doesn't take the ticket. He looks out past me and I already know before he says anything.
"I'm sorry. I agreed to sign the these tickets (of the guys on the platform), but if I sign yours I'm going to have to sign all of those," Phelps says as he looks out to the crowd. I don't need to look. Slightly dejected but wanting to be respectful I reply, "It's okay. I understand completely. No worries." He finalizes the pain with, "Thanks. I'm sorry." Well, I was sorry too. Admittedly, I broke a rule by asking an athlete for an autograph, but how could I not? I gave it a shot, and the ironic part about the whole thing is that Michael Phelps' turning me down was the moment where I decided I'm a total fan. I watched every press conference and saw every race, and while I knew he was the best competitor I'd ever seen first hand, I just wasn't sure tha this guy was that cool. I'm standing down off the platform as a nobody, and he could have ignored me as just another autograph hound, but he actually took the time to address me and let me down easy even as his family is waiting for him ten feet away. As far as I was concerned, it was classy. He left me feeling good about who Michael Phelps the man was in that very brief moment. It was kind of cool.
On the next OLYMPIC INSIDER BLOG: Dustin hears about the Speedo-sponsored party for the swimmers but isn't on the list! Will his combination of looks, wit and title as internet writer for NBC Action News be enough to get him and his friends through the door? Tune in and find out.