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Mon, 28 Feb 1994 23:17:57 -0600 |
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does anyone remember the rather hilarious attempt by Reebok (i think, or
Nike...who cares, really?) to invent the Dan vs. Dan competition for the
1992 Games? one of the Dans failed to make the team and the whole
million-dollar project was scrapped. i agree with the person who posted
concerning the difficulty of hyping the Games post-Cold War--now that the
"evil empire" is gone we need to have these localized binaries operating
to fuel the ole' American competitive spirit or else no-one would tune in.
it's interesting to note that until the actual Games began, N and T were
portrayed as the #1 & #2 skaters and seen as at each other's throats. once
they got to Lillehammer and Tonya was placed up against the entire field of
competitors, it became clear (at least to me) that she didn't have a shot
in the world and never did. coincident to that, the narrative died down--it
had served its purpose and was retired. yet, i watched, and
wouldn't have had it not been for the clubbing/publicity.
i mean, you couldn't ASK for a better scenario--rich vs. poor, grace vs.
athletics, even brunette vs. blonde! this was much better than that Dan
vs. Dan thing and no-one had to invent it. i'm not one to subscribe to
media conspiracy theories, but it does seem TOO good to be so discursively
apt. i'd like to see the Nancy & Tonya story as realised by Oliver Stone.
Jim Loter
University of Iowa
[log in to unmask]
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