Steinbrenner Picture Thorny at a Distance : Olympics: USOC seeks to separate itself from his problems by giving him indefinite suspension.

The sunglasses that George Steinbrenner wore as he sat in the lobby of the Broadmoor Hotel Thursday morning were not rose-colored, but his outlook was. Just as he attempted to paint the best possible picture of his forced withdrawal from the day-to-day operations of the New York Yankees, so he did in discussing his indefinite suspension as a vice president of the U.S. Olympic Committee.

Explaining his decision the night before to accept the USOC executive committee’s recommendation that he assume “inactive status” until the current controversy concerning his dealings with reputed gambler Howard Spira has passed, Steinbrenner recalled one of his favorite paintings by French impressionist Claude Monet.

Titled “Facade in the Sunlight,” the painting cannot be truly seen unless one views it from a distance.

“So it is in life,” he said. “Every once in a while in life, one must step back to see the way things truly are.”

When Steinbrenner stepped back late Wednesday night, after a long day of deliberations, he said he realized that, although he might desperately wish to serve uninterrupted for the remaining 2 1/2 years of his four-year term, he had to place the USOC’s interests ahead of his own.

“This is the Olympic family,” he said after delivering a short, emotional speech to the 23-member executive committee. “There is no one member of that family more important than the Olympic movement. The focus was too much on whether George Steinbrenner should stay in or not. When the focus came to that, it was difficult for those guys (on the executive committee) to do what they are doing. Enough was enough. The focus should be on the athletes and the national governing bodies.

“People told me, big guys, to tell them to go to hell. One was a major publisher. But you don’t fight the Olympics. You might fight baseball or the commissioner or business. But you don’t fight the Olympics. I told him that, that you don’t fight the country and you don’t fight those (Olympic athletes). It’s not right.”

Steinbrenner said he was so committed to this ideal that he offered to resign.

“People came to me and said, ‘No way, no way, no way,’ ” he said. “I discussed it with them, and they were great about it. They thought I should just step back a little, let things settle. Then they can get about their business until the furor dies down.”

But as with art, the view of what transpired Wednesday was in the eye of the beholder.

When they heard Steinbrenner’s morning-after spin, some executive committee members accused him of creating his own facade in the sunlight.

Steinbrenner attempted to include a sentence in his prepared statement to the media near midnight Wednesday claiming that he made an offer to resign that was rejected, said one executive committee member who did not want to be identified. But the sentence, the source said, was stricken by the executive committee because it did not truly reflect the circumstances.

Michael Plant of Colorado Springs, chairman of the athletes advisory council and a Steinbrenner supporter, met with him three times Wednesday but did not recall a specific offer to resign.

“There were a lot of things said,” he said. “Maybe he mentioned it in passing. There were a lot of maybes. It was like, ‘Maybe I should do this, maybe I should do that, maybe I should resign.’ ”

From interviews with other executive committee members, it is clear that they were unanimous in believing that Steinbrenner should at least temporarily distance himself from the USOC. Some were more critical than others, but they arrived at the “inactive status” solution after about two hours of discussion Wednesday.

USOC President Robert Helmick said the next several hours were spent trying to sell the idea to Steinbrenner, who was never entirely convinced that any change in his status was necessary.

“He was very troubled about diminishing his relationship with the USOC,” Helmick said. “It was a long, complex discussion with a man who was terribly troubled, and he was emotional about it.”

Helmick stopped short of using the word ultimatum, but he said Steinbrenner was aware of the possibilities if he did not accept the suspension. Although the executive committee cannot impeach an officer, it can make such a recommendation to the 121-member board of directors, which has that authority. The board of directors will meet Oct. 20-21 in Raleigh, N.C.

“It was strongly suggested that this was a rational solution in the best interests of all concerned, and that a rejection of this would leave us little choice,” Helmick said.

But in a wide-ranging, often rambling, half-hour interview, Steinbrenner did not allude to any of the tension of the night before.

He said he was “satisfied, very satisfied” with the agreement.

“But don’t get the idea I’m happy,” he said. “I’m not happy with what happened in baseball or now. I made my baseball deal to protect my Olympic deal. I wouldn’t take a ban, probation or suspension (from baseball Commissioner Fay Vincent)--those things that would have kept me from going on with the Olympics.

“Besides, my general partnership (with the Yankees) I had for 17 years. That’s enough. I had my sons coming up, and I’m active in the financial aspects, completing lease negotiations, concessions, television-radio. That’s the most important thing. Much more than that, I don’t need.”

Steinbrenner said, however, that he does need involvement with the Olympic movement. He has been a USOC member since 1985, a vice president since February 1989.

“The Yankees are a tremendous thing, a tremendous tradition,” he said. “But the Olympics is the number one thing in my life right now, other than my family. This, to me, gets to the very heart of so many wonderful young people, so many, many wonderful volunteers. I’ve been involved in causes all over the world, and I’ve never seen anything like these people. I feed on it. This is very emotional for me.”

Steinbrenner said he will maintain his position as a U.S. Olympic Foundation board member and continue to contribute financially to athletes, such as those in his Florida Clippers Track Club. He revealed that he also has undertaken the sponsorship of Nicole Bobek, considered an up-and-coming figure skater in Colorado Springs.

As for resuming an active role with the USOC, he said there was no timetable. According to the USOC statement, Steinbrenner will remain inactive “until the matters of concern have been resolved.”

Plant said he believes that could be as soon as the board of directors’ meeting in October, although other executive committee members predicted that it would not come until the conclusion of possible legal proceedings against Spira, which could produce testimony damaging to Steinbrenner.

Steinbrenner, however, said he is more concerned about charges that the FBI illegally, or at least unethically, aided him in private matters.

“There are reasons for concern in some areas,” Steinbrenner said. “I understand that. Those things I want to put to rest for (the executive committee). I want to put them at ease about those things that may be bothering them. Perhaps I should have talked to them earlier. Maybe I should have explained some things to them at the start.

“But we’re seeming to get a theme that this is a long-term thing, and I don’t see that. Days, weeks, months, I don’t know. Time can’t be measured when things will be cleared up. Whenever my own conscience is free, I’ll be ready to come back full scale.

“I’m just backing off a little now to help these people get the job done. No one person is more important than the cause, and the cause is as American as apple pie.”