Roll Out the Barrel for Derek Parra

If, as he says he might do next season, Derek Parra goes to Holland for professional marathon speedskating, he’ll fit right in.

Speedskating is the national sport in the Netherlands and the Dutch, who attend in droves, party hearty at every skating event.

“That’s where I got the idea to get involved with the crowd,” said Parra. “The people come to be entertained and speedskating should be fun.”

Warming up in the infield before his 10,000-meter race Friday, Parra gave the crowd a little something extra. He boogied to the music of Kleintje Pils--Small Beer--the Dutch brass band that has been playing during breaks this week at the Utah Olympic Oval.

Then he ran a lap, finishing with an impromptu race against the Zamboni.

After putting on his skates, he punctuated warmup laps with crowd waves, bounced in rhythm again when he went past the band, and pumped a fist when he went past a section where a Derek Parra banner was hanging.

Everyone else just skated.

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Let’s Have Geography for $1,000, Alex

Austria and Australia may have similar spellings, but the countries have never been confused as Winter Olympic powers.

Yet, until Thursday, Australia had one more gold than Austria.

Sure, the Austrians would quibble, because their first gold was scored in the prestigious downhill by Fritz Strobl while Australia “earned” one of its two golds when three short-track speedskaters fell down on the final lap of their race, allowing Steven Bradbury to waltz home to victory.

Still, an Aussie journalist couldn’t help but chide Austria’s Stephan Eberharter after he pushed his country’s gold medal count to two after winning the men’s giant slalom.

Eberharter played along with the gag.

“We’ve got two gold, how many do you got?” Eberharter asked the guy. “And you’re a much bigger country than Austria.”

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Don’t Blame Him, He’s Just Doing His Job

Ivica Kostelic, older brother of Croatia’s Janica, figures to be Bode Miller’s main competition in today’s men’s slalom at Deer Valley.

Kostelic leads the World Cup slalom standings while Miller ranks second.

Kostelic understands that most fans will be rooting for him to lose.

“I’ll try to do my best,” Kostelic said. “I’m not competing with Bode, so please, American nation, don’t get mad at me, I’m only competing for myself.”

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You Can’t Penetrate His Concentration Zone

Miller says one of the keys to his success is his ability to concentrate between morning and afternoon slalom runs.

“If fans are cheering or asking for autographs, I don’t really let that affect me that much,” Miller said. “Or, somebody could say you’re the worst skier in the world, you’re definitely going to crash this run. It doesn’t bother me.”

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Curling Champions Ready to Clean Up

Stars of the Olympics’ glamour events are virtually guaranteed to move on to fame and fortune, and even the curling champions have a chance to cash in.

The British women’s team that swept to the gold has been offered a deal to promote floor cleaner.

After winning Britain’s first Winter Games gold since 1984, skip Rhona Martin and her crew will have an offer awaiting them when they return home.

“The scrubbing movement by the team members is the ideal way to test kitchen and bathroom floor cleaner,” said a spokesman for the Safeway chain.

In curling, team members frantically sweep ahead of the stone to melt a thin layer of ice, reducing friction and increasing the distance the rock travels.

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But Did the Queen Watch the Curling?

Even British Prime Minister Tony Blair got swept up by the curling wave.

On a trip to Scotland on Friday, he said, “I’m well aware that the interest in Scotland today is not about my visit, but the absolutely astonishing performance of the curling team.

“It was wonderful, exciting, thrilling and a brilliant performance, and well done to all the Scots who made up the British team. Not just the whole of Scotland but the whole of Britain is really proud of them.”

Prince Charles offered his congratulations too.

“I can’t tell you how proud I am of what you have achieved, to say nothing of the good that your success will do for the ancient sport of curling,” he said in a message to the team.

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Now That’s an Example of the Olympic Spirit

Italy’s Eugenio Monti won six Olympic medals--two of each color--and is considered by many to be the best bobsled driver ever.

It’s not only his performance on the track that has earned him distinction; it’s also one very magnanimous gesture.

At the 1964 Games in Innsbruck, Monti offered to withdraw from the competition and loan his axle bolt to his rival, Britain’s Tony Nash.

As it turned out, Nash didn’t need it. He ended up using his own replacement axle bolt and won the gold medal in the two-man event, while Monti took home the bronze.

Monti was awarded the first Pierre de Coubertin Award for his offer to aid Nash. The two were reunited Thursday at a ceremony in Park City, and the memory was still vivid.

“It was a hell of a gesture, a lovely gesture,” Nash said. “I didn’t know anything about it until my team told me at the top.”

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We Could Call Him Comrade Gretzky

If it weren’t for his grandfather’s decision to flee his homeland 85 years ago, then leave the United States shortly afterward, Wayne Gretzky might be running the Olympic hockey teams of America or Belarus.

Instead, Gretzky is the chief of the Canadian men’s team that moved into Sunday’s gold-medal game against the United States with a 7-1 semifinal win over Belarus on Friday.

Gretzky’s grandfather, Tony, left what is now Belarus in 1917 and traveled to Chicago with the intent of joining the U.S. Army.

But, learning that the Canadian army paid better, Tony moved again to Winnipeg, where he joined the military.

Gretzky said his grandfather didn’t leave Russia for political reasons, but simply because living conditions were so poor.

“He didn’t have anything good to say about the place,” Gretzky said. “Like a lot of people, he just left.”

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She Can Do Without Twilight’s Last Gleaming

The U.S.-Canada women’s hockey rivalry is only getting more intense, with both teams sniping at each other and talking about a rematch just hours after battling for the gold medal.

After Canada won a tightly contested final, 3-2, to even the Olympic score at one gold medal apiece, the North Americans all but promised to renew the series at the 2006 Games in Turin, Italy.

Canadian players were incensed about a rumor that the Americans had stomped on a Canadian flag. The U.S. players universally denied they had done so.

Canada’s Vicky Sunohara even took a swipe at the “Star-Spangled Banner,” saying, “The anthem was a big thing, not wanting to hear their anthem [at the medal ceremony] I don’t dislike the U.S. anthem, I just don’t want to hear that after a game.”

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Hey, We Have Mudslides and Earthquakes Here

So, just how does a warm-weather person from Southern California get along in the mountains of Utah? Is our blood really thinner? Are we really weather wimps?

Rich Perelman of Los Angeles, the venue chief at Utah Olympic Park, gave his assessment:

“I got here Jan. 25,” he said Friday.

“The first day, we were out doing a lot of greeting and we didn’t have our full Olympic clothing uniforms yet. It was sub-20 degrees and so I had flu and walking pneumonia for about a week. That was just standard for everybody.

“We’ve had days up here on the mountain that are prehistoric days. You get grit and gravel and wind. It’s like the wrath of God. The only time somebody from L.A. sees anything like this is watching the History Channel.”

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Next We’ll Find a Way to Work In Kevin Bacon

“Maybe that’s why they lost the Second World War.”

So spoken by U.S. men’s hockey Coach Herb Brooks after being told German Coach Hans Zach welcomed playing the Americans in the Olympic quarterfinals.

Just wondering, but doesn’t that sound like something Gen. Omar Bradley would say?

Bear with us, because only a few degrees separate Brooks from Bradley. The connecting link is actor Karl Malden, who played Bradley in the 1970 movie “Patton” and Brooks in the 1981 made-for-TV movie “Miracle on Ice.”

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Times staff writers Mike Kupper, Chris Dufresne and Bill Dwyre, and the Associated Press contributed to this report.