(Published by OrlandoSentinel.com)
Jerry Greene
June 20, 2004
Sometimes you can feel like such a boob.
TV sportscaster Lesley Visser carried the Olympic torch late Saturday afternoon on Sixth Avenue near Central Park in New York City. Before her turn came, I was fortunate enough to talk to her by phone.
And that's when I said: "So, are you worried about dropping it?"
Long silence . . . nervous laugh . . . and, then, "No -- not until now."
I'm such a boob.
Fortunately, Visser did not drop the torch and, once again, used the wisdom she received decades ago by famed sportswriter Red Smith: "He said to me, 'I'm going to give you the best advice you will ever get -- make a memory.' And that's what I'm going to do."
Visser -- one of the nicest people you could ever want to know -- believes the torch and the Olympics itself are among our greatest memory makers. And in the shaky world we live in, both have never been more important.
"The torch stands for the essence of what the world can be," she said. "And while the Olympics cannot be a cure for what ails us, it can be a relief."
The Olympic torch took a ferry past the Statue of Liberty on Saturday, one symbolic flame saluting another. The Olympic flame was ignited March 25 in Olympia, Greece, and is traveling the world in a chartered 747 called Zeus. It's been carried this week in Los Angeles, St. Louis and Atlanta -- prior hosts to the Olympics -- before touring NYC, which apparently qualified because it hopes to host an Olympics.
Visser, 50, was a wonderful choice as a bearer. She's often called a "pioneer," which is accurate. She got her first sports job writing for the Boston Globe when she was 19 in 1974 -- a time when stadium press boxes had no restrooms for women because why would they possibly be needed?
A CBS employee now, she's covered six Olympics, numerous Super Bowls and just about every major sporting event you can name. And she has done it with a smile, charm and constant professionalism.
"The journey is always what has pleased me," she said. "I'm honored to be called a pioneer, because I'm glad that women can find encouragement in my career. I was never in it for the fame, I was in it for the game."
Visser's journey with the torch was about 400 meters or a couple of New York city blocks. A memory to cherish.
And I'm so thankful she didn't drop it.