Chapter 4: Love Redeemed

Aiden was so smug, I almost wanted to hit him.

By putting a bullet through the head of Dick Pritchard's dad when he tried to escape arrest, Hanna's dad not only ended a serious threat to the family, he saved us all a lot of hassle and worry. That Aiden was considered something of a folk-hero in our town merely stoked the fire. Pritchard was obviously a murderous, slimy bastard who'd just shot two cops when Aiden nailed him. No one mourned him, except maybe his wife, Estelle, who was in jail awaiting trial for a series of felony indictments involving their hiring a thug to kill us.

The good citizens considered that Aiden O'Malley had saved them the expense of a trial. The cops admired the no-nonsense way he'd handled things.

Aiden and Mary drove down to the university to spend the weekend with us. The excuse was so that Hanna's sister, Anne, could tour the campus and decide if she wanted to go there. Really, Aiden just wanted to spoil his grandson and show off a bit.

Didn't matter. We were glad to see them.

Over dinner in a really nice restaurant that Hanna and I couldn't afford, Aiden raised a subject we'd been considering.

"Gary, you know this is an Olympic year. You and Hanna going to try for it?"

"That's not as simple as it seems, Aiden. I have an obligation to the football team, first. And Hanna's chances are marginal this year. She's prettier, but she's not a 'FloJo'."

Aiden and Mary both grinned. It was a pretty accurate assessment. Still, Hanna was improving steadily. She was competitive in both jumping events with any woman in the country. Around the world, though, there were some whose heights were better.

"I'll have a word with the university President. He's a fraternity brother. I'm sure that every consideration will be made to help you two participate successfully in the Olympics-if you want to go?"

Hanna just looked at me. "Sure, Dad," she told him. "We want to go. We just didn't see how we could..."

Mary grinned. "I'll take care of Jason-though I'm sure Gary's folks will arm-wrestle me for their share of his time. If you need to go to Colorado Springs or something, just drop him off. And when you're at the games, he'll be well cared for, so you needn't worry."

I thought for a moment. There was really no need for me to be at the spring football drills-I'd be working with the track team anyway. Don could get me up to speed on anything new after the Games. Working on discus would keep me in shape. I could keep up my running on my own, with Hanna to urge me on.

We'd both have to reduce our course loads to the minimums-and take fairly easy classes at that. But it could be done. Actually, it was easier for me, since I'd completed most of the really tough courses for my major already. Hanna might need to take some summer classes next year to catch up.

The next day, while everyone else was out shopping-really, they were just spoiling Jason-I had a meeting with Coach Ullrich.

"Coach, I want to go to the Olympics this summer. My throws in the discus make me almost a sure thing for a medal. I really want to do it."

He smiled. "I already had a short chat with the President about that. You didn't need to send your father-in-law to see him. I'm behind you all the way. Go for it!"

"I didn't know he'd done that. I wanted to talk to you, first, and this is the first chance I've had... Thanks, Coach. I'm yours again after the Games."

"No problem, Gary. Bring home some hardware."

With that settled, Hanna and I visited our academic advisors, to rearrange our course loads and plot what we'd have to do to graduate on time. Next year would be a bear, especially for Hanna. She could handle it, though.

Then we had a meeting with the track coach...

Who grinned and said he'd been expecting us for a couple of weeks. He'd arranged with the U.S. Olympic committee for both of us to go to Colorado Springs for two weeks. Then we'd have priority on the use of practice facilities on the campus. When we couldn't work outdoors, I'd be able to throw in a 'cage' in the field house. They'd also have a high jump set up there. Pole vault was tough to do indoors, but some of the techniques for getting over the bar could be practiced in the worst of the winter weather.

And, of course, we could run...

We did run, in all weather-

Hanna found a lightweight stroller with bicycle wheels at a garage sale. So when the weather wasn't too bad, we'd take Jason along on our runs, taking turns pushing him. Jason loved it and we loved sharing this with him.

That spring, we took minimum classes and worked long hours on technique and conditioning. We had the benefit of special 'events' coaches from the USOC, who spent time with us regularly.

Late in the spring, at the Olympic Trials, we were very pleased to both make the team. I won the discus handily, although a German had a better mark already that year. Hanna qualified in the high jump and placed third in pole vault, making her an alternate in that event.

The pressure from fans and press became excruciating. Everywhere we went, we were mobbed by autograph seekers and well-wishers. When we went out to eat, I had to ask that the waiters and hostesses keep people away from us. Otherwise, we wouldn't be allowed to eat our meal!

Then we got a minor reputation for being 'snooty'. At that point, I didn't care. As I put it in an interview, "Bryan, it's not that we're too self-important to talk to our fans... it's that our fans don't respect us enough to grant us common courtesy. If I take my wife out to dinner, I'm spending my own money to feed us. Surely it's not too much to ask to be allowed to eat the food while it's hot?"

We signed autographs for hours at the meets we attended.

The Olympic experience was incredible. We made a point of attending as many events as we could and watching a competition or two in events we'd never heard of. I especially liked rapid-fire pistol. Watching shooting is like watching grass grow, mostly. But I got to meet and talk to some of the athletes. Marvelous!

We both enjoyed watching all of the basketball games our schedules allowed, if the US was playing. Pretty soon, a couple of the players recognized us and stopped to chat.

"I've seen you. You're competitors, too. What's your sport?"

Hanna laughed. "If you guys weren't too stuck up to live in the village, you'd have met us. We're Hanna and Gary Rogers."

"Oh. Sure! I read about you. You're the couple from Oregon... Discus is a hobby of yours?"

"Well, Bill, it's more than a hobby. But my scholarship is for football." I had to chuckle. I'd worked very hard at discus, these past months... Until we decided to go for the Olympics, though, it really was a hobby.

Bill got a naughty look on his face. A couple of his buddies had drifted over, and introduced themselves. "Tell you what, Hanna... We'll try to make it to the finals of the high jump. And if you win, we expect you to come over to the rail and give us all a big kiss, right after the medal ceremony."

I grinned and Hanna laughed. A true, heart-felt belly laugh. "Won't THAT get the press going?" she chortled. We all laughed at the thought. Tweaking the press is always fun. "Sure. I'll be happy to. And you guys will have to do the same after your medals ceremony."

Laughing so hard I could barely talk I sputtered, "No way I'm kissing any of you ugly turkeys! But if your wives are here, I get my share!" With good humor all around, our new friends rejoined their team and soundly trounced their Greek opponents.

Later, a couple of them joined us in the Village for dinner. We made a point of introducing them to some of the other athletes we'd met, including two pistol shooters and a kayaker.

Hanna and I reminded each other constantly: "It's just another track meet. We've beaten them all before."

One of the lady pole-vaulters was also qualified in the sprints. She won the bronze in the 200 meter event, but strained a muscle doing it. Hanna was in pole vault as well as high jump.

High jump was contested first. Hanna jumped very well. For a time, I thought she'd won it. But a girl from Norway and one from England beat her on the final attempt. After getting her bronze medal, she looked for our friends in the competitors' section of the stands, but didn't see them. (We later found out that they had a team meeting, prior to a game they played that afternoon. They were sorry they missed the event.)

The next day-pole vault day-Hanna was stratospheric. She'd achieved more than she'd hoped, with the bronze, and was only trying to do her best in the pole vault. Her biggest problem was waiting around for the other competitors to make their vaults, before the bar was raised again. Soon there were only three left, then two. Hanna couldn't quite clear the final height and had to settle for the silver. It was a lot more than either of us expected and we were both very happy with it.

I was there to help her off the pit and envelop her for a huge kiss. Then she was waving to the cheering crowd. This time, our friends were at the rail, calling and waving. She went over and kissed each of them soundly. And with a grin told them, "Gary will be expecting your wives here when he wins!" Then she waved to the crowd again and left the stadium.

Two days later, we held the discus competition. I was really worried about the German. He'd beaten me twice that year and his throws were a bit farther. Hanna reminded me that it was just a track meet... and that I'd beaten the guy consistently last year. "He's not that great... just lucky, so far. All you have to do is concentrate on throwing your Frisbee out of the stadium... you'll beat him."

My first throw was a new Olympic record. I never had to throw again, but I wanted a world record. On his first throw, seeing my mark, the German pressed too hard, lost his balance, and faulted. His other throws were good, but not good enough. He ended with the bronze. My final throw got my record, by two inches.

When I took my 'victory lap' after receiving the medal, I really didn't expect our friends to be there, so I wasn't looking for them. Hanna had already given me a hug that almost cracked ribs and a kiss that curled my toes and promised great things later that night... So I was surprised when I heard loud female voices cheering and calling to me from the rail as I finished my lap. Looking over, I saw a half-dozen very attractive ladies calling and beckoning me over to them.

Trotting over, I was engulfed by warm arms and given tonsil-licking kisses by most of the beauties. It was an event I'll never forget. The wives and girl friends of the 'dream team' had heard about what the guys did to Hanna. They were going for paybacks! I was ecstatic.

(Besides being drop-dead gorgeous, most of these women were very intelligent-and very nice ladies who became good friends.)

The news media made a big thing of it, as they had with Hanna two days before. We had a lot of fun, over the next few months, with the tabloid stories of one or the other of us in a wife-swapping situation with one or all of the dream team members. While I'm sure some of those guys did play around when they were on road trips, there was never any of that with us. They were always perfect gentlemen with Hanna and we made real friendships that didn't ask for anything more. Over the years, we came to treasure those friendships more than our medals, as the real spoils of our Olympic experience.

Later, when a reporter asked Hanna, "How well do you know Scottie?"

"He's a luv bug! I just love him to death!"

Of course, that just added fuel to the fire. We thought it was hilarious.

Back home, we had a round of banquets to attend and speeches to give... and that season's new playbook to memorize and a football mindset to get into. Hanna and I both had a pretty serious course load, too.

And Hanna wanted another baby.

I was immediately engulfed in football. No one begrudged the time I'd spent preparing and participating in the Olympics. Every member of the team would have done the same in a flash, given the opportunity. But I'd missed spring practice and the pre-season workouts, as well as the first two games. I had some serious catching up to do.

Coach Ullrich was very supportive and Don helped a lot. Don, especially, could cut through the crap and tell me, "This is new. We do this and this, if they do this. See?" And he told me what was the same and what had been dropped from last year's playbook.

It took me only a few days to get the body used to the running and contact of the football field. Don's tutelage was excellent. There really wasn't all that much new and I was soon 'up to speed' on the program.