Olympians To Rough It In Village
When the NBA’s Dream Team found lodging at the Olympic Village was college dorm-style rooms and shared bathrooms, they made reservations at a $900-a-night hotel.
The NHL’s Olympians said they’ll rough it at the Winter Olympic Games.
NHL players don’t make as much money as their NBA counterparts, earning an average of about $1.1 million a year compared with about $2.2 million in the NBA, and they say they’re willing to live alongside bobsledders, curlers and lugers in tiny rooms with community lavatories.
“I can’t see any hockey player moving because of their room,” said Joel Otto, a Philadelphia Flyers forward who’ll play for Team USA. “Hockey players can do with a lot less than the basketball guys.”
Perhaps just to make sure, the NHL Players Association has shown its Olympians where they’ll be staying. Earlier this month, it sent the 128 players scheduled to play in Nagano an informational packet that prominently displays a picture of Olympic Village rooms.
“It certainly isn’t the Ritz,” said Philadelphia Flyers defenseman Eric Desjardins, a member of Team Canada. “But somehow, knowing the guys, I think we can do without the little bottles of shampoo and expensive hotels for a few nights.”
Columbus schools happy
The Columbus (Ohio) Board of Education and developers of the arena that will be home for an NHL expansion team have completed a deal to reimburse the schools for lost tax revenue.
The deal will allow Nationwide Arena developers to get a 15-year, 99 percent tax break from the city. The board and City Council are expected to approve the plan Jan. 5.
The board and Nationwide reached a tentative agreement Dec. 12. They have spent the past two weeks finalizing the deal that calls for the schools to receive all the money they would have received had the project not been abated.
The money will come from a surcharge on tickets to arena events, 50 percent of city income taxes generated from the project, a personal property tax credit and, if necessary, cash from Nationwide.