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He comes for college basketball but the Winter Olympics break out

A view of Salt Lake City from the media bus.
A view of Salt Lake City from the media bus.
(By Chris Dufresne / Los Angeles Times)
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SALT LAKE CITY — I opened the drapes Thursday morning and saw snow everywhere.

Was it a dream or was it really March 21? What year was it? Who was president?

I was in that foggy state of early-morning rising.

Panicked I would miss Bode Miller in the Olympic super giant slalom, I searched for my parka and snow boots but incredibly forgot to pack any snow-related gear. What a dummy.

There was a media shuttle bus outside the hotel, however, so I
hopped on with a light jacket and told the driver to take me straight to Snowbird for the alpine events.

He looked at me and said his bus was going downtown to EnergySolutions Arena for Wichita State vs. Pittsburgh in the 11:40 a.m. tipoff.

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How was it possible? There was snow blowing sideways.

Then it hit me this was 2013 and not the 2002 Olympics in Salt Lake.

Of course this couldn’t have been the 2002 Olympics. There was actually snow on the ground Thursday.

I never saw one flake fall in Salt Lake’s City Center for the 20-something days I was here in February of 2002.

There was enough snow Thursday to make the city look like the winter wonderland it wasn’t 11 years ago.

It was terrific weather for an Olympic downhill.

Instead, basketball players from eight schools from around the country changed into shorts.

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