Oh, the memories. 1996. Billy Payne. Sanford Stadium hosting soccer.
Thirty years ago, if you can believe it.
It was a glorious time to be alive. Gas was slightly above a dollar. Frasier, The Drew Carey Show, Everybody Loves Raymond, Whose Line is it Anyway, Mystery Science Theater 3000. Trainspotting and Sling Blade were big in the box office. An Extra Value Meal at McDonalds was $3.89 and you could get a double cheeseburger for 88 cents. Oasis, Smashing Pumpkins, Mark Morrison, Sublime, Fugees, and the Spice Girls.
What once was, and what it is now. Where’d the time go?
Somehow, we were all in the mix of the world coming to Atlanta, or, at least, the South. Who knows what people thought about us all? We did our best to be hospitable but didn’t have social media like Freddy to let us know if we were getting it right. I remember serving tables at Allie’s Restaurant at the Atlanta Airport Marriott and hosting the men’s gymnast teams from all around the world, and where I realized the rest of the world didn’t tip servers. They didn’t know better. Can’t blame them.
We tip now for a teen barista to put coffee in a cup, pay over five dollars for it, and somehow be thankful. Whatever, as our Gen X teen selves might say.
I recall the torch making its way around Georgia, with the final lighting by Muhammad Ali himself.
It was an amazing time to be alive, might’ve been one of the last pure times of joyfulness I can recall. And then there was this:
There was fun, frustration, and controversy. It made for a rich tapestry of a story.
So, for today’s Wondering…what’s your 1996 Olympic memory? How was it for you? What is the most memorable aspect of it if you were here to observe it?
Great memories for me. I was fortunate that my mom has been friends with Billy Payne since Dykes Highschool in Atlanta. She got to be a Presidential Volunteer for Billy’s team which meant she basically got to be a seat filler around dignataries at events. Pretty cool gig if you ask me. She had to fill in around Clinton at a swimming event and she swore to herself she was not going to like him, but damn it if she found out he really was a really charming man…lol.
My favorite memory was my mom taking me to the Opening Ceremonies which landed on my birthday. July 19th. We got to ride to the festivities on an Olympic shuttle and run elbows with the likes of FloJo, Mark Spitz, and others before the ceremony in a suite beforehand and then had great seats for the show. I remember I teared up at 26 years old when the dancers spelled out, “Hi Y’all” on the field. I was so proud of Atlanta and the south hosting at that moment.
Thankfully I missed the bombing. I was at the swimming relay finals that night and was supposed to meet some other friends at Centennial Park for the concert afterwards, but the group I was with decided to not go after starting to walk there from the Tech campus. We were hungry and went to Waffle House instead and then heard what happened. Got lucky with that one I guess.
I was becoming Kevin Costner in Dances with Wolves having been transferred to Dallas. Missed all the fun.
I remember the talk of epic traffic gridlock. I even had two customers ask about our helicopter plans to be able to service their needs during the games. Then everyone stayed off the interstates. and there was magic on the near empty freeways.
It seemed unreal that Atlanta had the Olympics. The opening ceremony was my favorite part. It had finally started.
I got tickets to track and field on what turned out to be the day after the bombing. My wife (then just my girlfriend) went through a pretty thorough search to get into the stadium. We got to see Donovan Bailey from Canada set a new world record in the 100 meter. I think that Michael Johnson set a new Olympic record in the 200 meter that night.
I was there too.
I saw Michael Johnson run the 200. Can’t remember if it was finals or not. Saw the Dream Team hammer some team. Had tickets to Boxing but couldn’t go.
I remember tuckets were reasonably priced. Imagine that.
That was another surprise after the big build up you could actually get affordable tickets to some events.
I know people who worked with Richard Jewell at Piedmont College.
Richard Jewell DIDN’T DO ANYTHING! They ruined his life and basically killed him. We shouldn’t be mentioning his name like. “I know someone who KNEW this guy!” and the picture on the post should be the guy that actually did it and not that poor schmuck.
And sorry, that just struck a nerve.
By all accounts, Richard was a good guy. A little odd, but a good hearted guy. I listen ti 680 the fan, and 790 the zone prior to that, and guys talk about living next door to Richard back in the day, and they all say the same thing. The guy was railroaded for sure.
We went to a couple of events – prelims of women’s gymnastics and a 6th place men’s basketball game. I bought my parents gold medal softball tickets for the game in Columbus. They still talk about that experience to this day.
Now you see the prices for LA28. They make you want to choke.
I had track and field season tickets. Thrilled to see Gwen Torrance on the top step of the medal stand getting a gold medal. My nephew talking about meeting the “king” of Nigeria at one of the soccer games.
Flew into ATL twice from DFW to see events — Delta was running $138 R/T specials. Boxing @ The Tit (GA Tech), track & field and soccer in Athens. Atlanta has never been cleaner (of trash and vagrants)!!!!
Flying was so cheap around that time. I treated myself to a little hostel hopping around Europe for a month after I graduated in ’98. Roundtrip to Amsterdam was under $400
Speaking of Slingblade, do you know how difficult it is to find a streaming service that offers it? It’s almost impossible to find it on DVD too.
My grandmother bought a Centennial Park brick for my then 1 year old. We’ve been out of the area since ’93 but still check in on it when we visit.
My wife (at the time) was actually in the opening ceremonies. Her jazzercise class, of all things, went to some casting-style tryout, and she was selected from there, likely because she was 5’10” and about 125 pounds. Anyway, her costume was some sort of Greek goddess style garb, and she was leading out some warrior/ancient games participant onto the field, as the same thing was being played out from four corners of the field. The dudes being led out, ended up in the center of the field, eventually being lit up in giant sihouette in “competition.” The bonus for me was that I got to go to the rehearsal for the opening ceremonies about 2-3 days before they happened. I knew everything that was going to happen except for who was going to carry the torch.
I was working at the Georgia Center. We were dreaming of all the big tips we were going to make. They left us hating FIFA and Billy Payne’s AOC group with a passion like no other.
the good– went to some baseball games with my parents, soccer with friends in Sanford.
I remember ’96 being one of my favorite years (other than the Braves blowing a 2-0 lead in the WS) I had so much regional pride especially during the Opening Ceremonies. I took my family to a couple of Olympic baseball games at Fulco Stadium. Pissed at the time from the media taking shots at the city, felt like they were nit-picking. Looking back Atlanta ’96 was a model of fiscal responsibility compared to other games. But for the actions of a lunatic, these games would be more favorably remembered.
I remember losing to southern miss while the Macarena blared over the Sanford stadium speakers. The “Donnan of a new era”.
I did see Halley Berry from 10 ft away downtown during the Olympics. Amazing.
I was working at Hackney Nursery where “we” were growing some of the replacement hedges. They were growing them is more apt, because I only got to space them out once lol, but that was still cool to me.
It was real secretive, I guess because we were in Florida but the owners were all Dawg people. Even on one of the TV broadcasts in late 95 or early 96 the announcers said, ‘grown at an undisclosed location.’
I was just two years out of grad school in 1996. My boss at that time was a bigwig with ACOG, so a coworker and I got tickets to see Brazil play Portugal in soccer in Sanford. It was weird as hell. Everything was powder blue, and there were no hedges. I kept wondering if I was really in the right place. – PDawg30577
I cried like a woman when Ali lit the torch. One of the best moments ever.
I remember during the Opening Ceremonies, when Ali came out, I immediately proclaimed “It’s The Greatest!”. One of the best sports moments of my lifetime.
Nobody mentioned the 1996 home opener for Georgia football!
Southern Miss 11, Georgia 7.