Cougars Show Off Their Talent - My High School Journalism

The Chronicle
The Winter Olympic
Games are no small affair, so
what does Warrenton have in
common with them? The answer
is the Jamaican bobsled
team, and although you may
not have expected it, Warrenton’s
Mayor George Fitch
plays a big role in both.
Heading into the
1988 Winter Olympics in Calgary,
Alberta, Canada, Mayor
Fitch paid a visit to a friend
in Jamaica, and while there,
made a plan to create Olympic
history. With very little
support and only six months
to go, Fitch brought together
a small group of athletes in
order to create the very first
Jamaican bobsled team.
“I knew a bit about
bobsledding; I’d been in a
bobsled a few times, and I
knew that 50 percent of the
race is how quickly can you
push this 600 pound object
before you’ve got to jump in,”
stated Fitch. “My goal was, if
we’re going to do this, we’re
not going to embarrass ourselves.
We’re going to be competitive;
we’re going to beat
some teams, and therefore,
make Olympic history.”
While attempting to
recruit athletes for the team,
Fitch faced another challenge;
no current Olympic
athletes, at the time, would
stop their training to risk his
seemingly crazy idea. When
that failed, he instead turned
to the military to find his
team: the current military
sprint and 800 meter champions,
a helicopter pilot, and
a heavyweight boxer. The
team soon coined the name of
the “Ragamuffins.” However,
Fitch was forced to take approximately
$85,000 out of
his own life savings in order
to fund his new group.
“I went to the Jamaican
government; they said no,
we don’t think you can pull
this off,” Fitch stated. “Went
to the Jamaican companies;
this is too crazy, you’re not
going to pull this off. Went to
international companies like
Coca Cola, other companies
that sponsor teams, they said
no. So I realized nobody’s go-
The number of teens
waiting to get their license
has been steadily increasing.
Federal data that
was recently released shows
only 30.7 percent of 16 year
olds nationwide got their li-
News February
Mayor Fitch Visits Kettle Run
4
By Marion Silas
Staff Reporter
By Zack Baker
Staff Reporter
& March 2010
Photo By Shelly Norden
NEVER, EVER GIVE UP- Mayor Fitch tells Kettle Run his story of founding the underdog Jamaican Bobsled
team.
ing to give me money, so I’ve
got to dip into my own wallet.”
From the money he
withdrew, the team paid for
travel expenses to practice
for the first time on a real
bobsled track, where they
came ahead of a few other
teams. Ten days before the
opening ceremonies of the
Olympics, however, Fitch received
a call from the International
Olympic Committee.
The committee delivered
some bad news. Members
told Fitch they would not be
permitted to race for fear of
embarrassing Jamaica. With
the help of a team supporter,
he was able to get back into
the games with hardly any
time lost.
They competed in the
two-man event and were very
successful. The team longed
to do the 4-man event next,
though they had not trained
for it, and their dedication to
the sport won over the support
of Fitch. When the team
entered for the event, they
had the second largest applause
from the stands, close
behind Canada.
The “moment of
truth” is how Fitch described
it. “Are you going to make
Olympic history, or are you
going to embarrass yourself?”
For the first two
runs, the team did very well.
On the second day, during
their third run, there was a
problem. Coming around the
“50/50” turn, the driver didn’t
have the sled completely under
control, causing them to
flip over. Luckily, no one was
injured in the accident. The
team was able to overcome
its misfortune. Team members
climbed out of the sled,
stood up smiling, and carried
the bobsled across the finish
line. They had achieved their
goal; they had made an unforgettable
event in Olympic
histoy.
The team’s inspiring
story of success led way
to another; the 1993 Disney
movie Cool Runnings. The
movie is loosely based on the
team’s experiences over the
period of time before, and
during, the Winter Olympics,
yet, there were many inaccuracies
throughout the film.
Fitch requested creative and
editorial control after reading
the script, but received
no real input in it.
“There were a lot of humorous
moments in real
life,” said Fitch. “It’s not like,
okay, you want to bring a comedic
element to this. Hey,
I’ve got all kinds of stories for
you that give people a laugh
as to what actually happened
to us.”
Although the movie grossed
$86 million internationally,
Fitch and the members of the
bobsled team received little
of Disney’s profits. Though
it did not turn out the way
they may have hoped, Fitch
still lists the experiences he
gained from being with the
team as some of his proudest.
“Jamaica bobsled would
be up there in the top five,”
commented Fitch. “It was an
experience, where on the one
hand, you will always sort of
look back and it will bring
a smile to your face, but an
experience where it will also
bring a scowl to your face because
of all the things you
didn’t do because you’re so
consumed in pulling this off.
I did not enjoy the Olympics;
I could have enjoyed
the Olympics, but I was just
too taken with having to do
all these things without any
help, and so obsessed with
making sure they were competitive
that you didn’t really
have time to enjoy it.”
Fitch left the team in
1994, and overall feels that
he has no regrets from his
time spent with them. The
Jamaican bobsled team has
led to six other “unlikely”
teams from the Caribbean in
recent years. However, Jamaica
was unable to qualify
for either the 2006 Winter
Games in Turin, Italy or the
2010 Winter Games in Vancouver,
Canada.
From the many challenges
and rewards that Fitch has
been a part of, he has gathered
some valuable advice for
anyone who has been inspired
by stories like his own.
“So what if you fail? You
just try again,” said Fitch.
“You’ll come up with another
idea; you’ll be inspired by
something else. There will
always be another chance,
so don’t let it slip away. If
you’ve got something, follow
through, persevere; take
it all the way, and you will
succeed. Maybe not the first
time, but you will succeed.
Never, ever give up.”
Teens Waiting Longer to Get Driver’s License
cense in 2008 compared with
44.7 in 1988.
There are multiple
reasons why teens have been
waiting. Experts suggest
teens feel it’s not a necessity
because they’re already
so connected with friends
through social networking
and text messages.
Others suggest that the
expense of driving is holding
teens back. Many are not
able to afford gasoline and
insurance.
Senior Stephanie Hoffman
does not have a driver’s
license and is getting ready
to graduate from high school
in June. “It seems as if teens
don’t feel the need to get a
license,” Hoffman said, although
she is thinking about
getting her license soon.
Senior Matt Bongiovi has
been a travel student the past
two years and decided that
taking the bus would save
him money. “Since I never
needed a car, I never got my
license,” said Bongiovi
Although students
have been waiting, many do
plan to get their license.
Senior Jenny Pacheco and
Hoffman both plan on get-
ting their license this coming
summer.
Bongiovi plans to get it
after his first year of college,
“that way I will not be paying
a year’s worth of insurance
on a car that I wouldn’t
be able to drive, and I can
get my license without taking
behind the wheel once
I turn 19,” Bongiovi explained.