A Shiny Jewell

Some gems awe, some gems bring a smile to the face of a new bride-to-be, and still others sparkle like no other. On a moutainside 2 1/2 hours outside of Torino Italy the other day, the brilliance from one of these gems cast an illumination in the Alps never before seen. This gem was indeed a rare one, a young man who goes by the name Tyler Jewell. You simply add another 'L' and buff it up a bit, and suddenly the Hope Diamond is bowing with respect.

Tyler Jewell made a fashion statement on February 22nd, 2006. He wore a red bandanna.

During these games the past two weeks, it had become common practice for the athletes on these slopes to make statements with their attire. The U.S. Women's ski team was looked upon somewhat skeptically because they had one woman wear a Tiarra, one wear several strings of pearls, and one who wore some sort of Jaguar ears or something similar over her helmet. Not that I care a hoot about what these people wore, but the fact that they performed at a level beneath their presumed capabilities had some folks wondering if they should have spent more time on the hill and in the weight rooms than Neiman Marcus. Whatever.

The snowboarding Parallel Giant Slalom is a relatively new deal for American athletes. In boarding, we have concentrated most of our efforts in the half-pipe and snowboard cross events, and a slew of medals - many of them gold - has been the result. As it were, we only had one competitor in the Men's parallel GS, and that was Mr. Jewell. Racing down the mountain at approximately 35 mph, leaning back on your heals to execute a turn, immediately leaning forward onto your toes to sink your edge and make an opposite turn - all the while doing so against your fellow competitors and the ever-ticking clock - is a very difficult thing to do. It's an extremely difficult thing to do under the strain of Olympic pressure and the personal knowledge of a father who is a vascular surgeon and a brother who is a neurosurgeon, neither of whom can seem to grasp why Tyler, 29, still hasn't gone out and procured a real job.

And then there was that extra weight he was carrying, making it virtually impossible to do the things necessary to win. That was the real problem. That damn red bandanna was weighing him down. Fashion statement, indeed.

On an otherwise beautiful September morning in New York City 4 and 1/2 years ago, Tyler Jewell's best friend from his 4 years at Boston College was in one of those two very tall buildings. Wells Crowther, 24, escaped from his 78th floor office and was safely at the bottom when something inside of him made him do the unthinkable. Donning a red bandanna over his face, Wells went back to the 78th floor and assisted in the witnessed rescue and subsequent survival of at least 10 people. The survivors spoke only of the "man in the red bandanna", and no one ever saw him again. The bandanna was recovered in the rubble at a later date, or at least 'a' bandanna was recovered and given to the Crowther family. Tyler asked permission of the father to wear it during his races.

Our young boarder made it to the quarterfinals before bowing out. Evidently, attempting to execute his skill while carrying the weight of that red bandanna, heavy with the burden of a solitary man - scarf over his face - trying to hold up a building and it's occupants, a building that in turn was trying to bear the weight of an entire nation, proved to be too much. Tyler finished 11th.

11th place. What a loser, huh?