Olympics, Dream Teams... and tiny Kardashians
A few memories of the 1992 Barcelona Summer Olympics
Hello, friends. You know, it was only a few years ago that I realized I met Kourtney, Kim, Khloe, and Kris Kardashian. But it was way back in 1992 (Kourtney, the oldest Kardashian kid, was only 13 years old at the time, and Kendall and Kylie had yet to be born). This happened in Barcelona, Spain in the summer of 1992, when Olympic decathlon legend Bruce Jenner, who still held the Olympic Decathlon record, was doing commentary for NBC Sports during the games. And I, bizarrely, was working for NBC Sports.
I was an American college kid partway through my study-abroad program in Barcelona when, though a series of unlikely coincidences involving a reading at the American Embassy by the great American author Allan Gurganus, I got hired by NBC Sports to help them prepare for their coverage of the Olympic Games in the summer of 1992. It was a very lucky break for a cash-poor student; I got paid a flat fee of one $100 American Express Travelers Cheque per day, starting in April and continuing through the games in August.
I was assigned to the NBC Human Resources Department at the International Broadcast Center, which turned out to be another stroke of good fortune, because every employee of NBC came through there, from the Jenners to Bob Costas and most of the dazzling American athletes.
But I remember the Jenners in particular: Bruce, Kris, and their four kids, Kourtney, Kim, Khloe, and little Rob, mostly because, of all the “talent” that came through the doors at NBC HR, no group brought more luggage. And no luggage was more attention getting: it was a collection of several dozen bright yellow, hard-shelled rolling bags and duffels, each sporting a huge ID tag reading: ON TOUR WITH THE JENNERS. For those trying to emulate Kris Jenner’s ascent to “Momager,” I offer these details as early evidence of her successful plan for global media domination. She started early!
But the main thing I remember about the 1992 Barcelona Summer Olympics was the opportunity to watch so many of the events in person. I got to see the Opening Ceremonies (featuring a Paralympian archer lighting the Olympic torch with a flaming arrow!); gymnastics (when USA won bronze thanks to Dominique Dawes and Kerri Strug, among others); table tennis (mind-blowing and incredibly hard to follow in real time); and, incredibly, basketball, when I had the opportunity to watch Team USA—the “Dream Team”—play in the Palau d’Esports.
It was one of the rare times in my life I was fully aware of being in the presence of human greatness. It’s almost bizarre to list the members of the Dream Team. It doesn’t sound real:
The 1992 USA Basketball Olympic Dream Team
Magic Johnson (co-captain)
Larry Bird (co-captain)
Michael Jordan (the only team member to study tape on other countries’ players)
Scottie Pippen
John Stockton
Karl Malone
Patrick Ewing (I accidentally bumped into him once in a record store in Los Angeles, years later, and it felt like walking into a redwood tree. He was very kind.)
Chris Mullin
David Robinson
Charles Barkley (known for roaming the streets of Barcelona late at night solo, just being a tourist)
Clyde Drexler
Christian Laettner (the only college athlete on the team)
For Magic Johnson, being included in the Dream Team was “almost like a life saver,” he later said. After sitting out an entire season due to his recent HIV diagnosis, being selected for the Dream Team was the first proof that he would be accepted as the legend he was, no matter his health status. Although Australia threatened to boycott the games, afraid of the (extremely low) risk of infection, Team USA and the international community supported Johnson, a landmark in the public perception of HIV. I remember it feeling like a huge deal at the time.
My central memory of the game (USA 115; Puerto Rico 77), was not the final score (although only Croatia did better), but the excitement in the arena before, during, and particularly after the game. We were all just delighted to be there, lucky to share the buoyant mood with 15,000 others, and simply amazed to watch the athletic genius on the court.
Puerto Rico played very well. But you only had to look at them to know how outmatched they were against Team USA: they were just so much smaller. I recall the game playing out in a fairly relaxed way, with the American players smiling, laughing, having fun, and occasionally being shocked by an excellent play from Puerto Rico and remembering they should score some more points. And when the final buzzer sounded, everyone in the arena cheered, nobody louder than the players on the Puerto Rican team.
The Puerto Rican players and coaches rushed up to Michael Jordan and Larry Bird and all the other guys—yes, Magic, too—absolutely beaming, some crying, just absolutely thrilled to have played their hearts out against these giants. They scampered around like excited kids, each holding something yellow in their hands. I realized they were disposable Kodak cameras, which the Puerto Rican players were using to take selfies with their opponents. It was a total love fest. The American players were happy to oblige, and I seem to remember Charles Barkley picking up one of the Puerto Rican players in his arms and running him around the court, but that could be something I just fantasized about. I do recall the PR players trading jerseys with the Americans and scrambling around to get autographs on anything they could shove in their hands. It was just one giant arena full of good vibes and human excellence, both in athleticism and in mutual love and respect.
Of course, I’ve been closely following the 2024 Paris Olympics and I’m slightly devastated they’re over. Maybe I always say this, but somehow this year felt special. Was it just that Team USA was so dominant? I don’t think so; they were incredible, but one of the most moving Olympic events I saw was the incredible triumph of 5-time (in consecutive Olympics) gold medal winner Mijaín López of Cuba who came out of retirement to win yet again, a 41-year old colossus who achieved this unprecedented goal and then took off his shoes, retiring on the spot. The superheroic leaps of Mondo Duplantis in the pole vault (he’s Swedish-American, competing for Sweden) blew my mind, as did the heartwarming first-ever Olympic medals for Turkmenistan, San Marino, Guatemala, Burkina Faso, Philippines, Bermuda, and Qatar… I’m obviously in the tank for an NBC Olympics human interest story.
The final game for 2024’s Team USA Basketball, not the Dream Team but, according to LeBron James, “The Avengers,” was fantastic. After the legends of South Sudan almost stomped them in the first round, The Avengers seemed to shape up and take the game seriously. Maybe they should have remembered the lesson of Puerto Rico.
After losing by 38 points to the Dream Team in 1992, Puerto Rico came back in Athens in 2004 to crush Team USA, 92-73. It was only the USA’s third Olympic basketball loss, ever.
And that’s what I love about the Olympics: crazy shit always happens. Some unknown athlete rockets to stardom. You casually turn on a sport you’ve never heard of before, and twenty minutes later you’re explaining the arcane rules to someone who walked in late. In 1992 I met a young woman from Florida, a gal just traveling around Europe for the summer, who ran into an Olympic team from a country in the South Pacific the night before the Games started. She took them to La Champañeria, an ancient Barcelona bar famous for serving only octopus and cava (sparkling wine). The team had so much fun, they asked her to be their flag bearer the next night in the Opening Ceremonies, and she did it. The athletes were quite hungover, so I think it worked out well for everyone. That kind of thing happened every day while the Games were on.
The final 2024 Paris Olympics basketball game featured USA vs. France. The Avengers were another kind of Dream Team, with another Murderer’s Row of NBA players, including LeBron James, Kevin Durant, and of course the eternally clutch Steph Curry. Nobody was surprised when Curry broke yet another record during the game (he made 7 3-pointers). But the ongoing spectacle of the 6’2’ Curry (who is about the size of that tall guy standing in front of you at the concert), to the 7’4” French player Victor Wembanyana (who is about the size of the Marshall stack of speakers entirely blocking your view of the stage), was the most fun of all. They’re both incredible. But nobody can make it happen when it counts like Curry. That gives short people like myself hope. Final score: 98-87. An amazing game.
You may be wondering why I’m including none of my own photos from 1992, but that’s because, unlike the Puerto Rican Basketball team, I usually forgot to bring a camera with me (this was before smartphones). I think I made up for it, though, by taking photos of my own TV set during these 2024 games, as you can see below. So enjoy these and enjoy the upcoming 2024 Paris Paralympic Games (Aug 28. - Sept 8). If you thought the Olympic Games were emotional and inspiring, you have no idea how great the Paralympics can be. xo Buzzy
