31. The Coach
The Coach
Vignette, C
Igor Barovsky sits in front of a sponsor board, covered in corporate logos and Olympic rings, his square face set in a permanent scowl.
From off camera the interviewer - Regina Sparova, sounding young and a little naïve - speaks: “Olympic silver, Coach Barovsky; are you proud of your team?”
Barovsky sneers. “Proud of failures? Of course not.”
“Olympic silver is failure?”
“This team had it in them to win gold. Anything less is failure.Team will return home to recommence training at once.”
“In the Siberian training camp?” Sparova asks. “Now, there are a lot of stories about the camp; about the methods you use to train your team.” Her voice never lost its naïvety.
“My methods are harsh, but fair. My team works hard. Without hard work, there can be no reward.”
“Then the team will not be celebrating tonight?”
“Only thing worth celebrating is that worthless Zagarova girl is out of team at last. If she had held on one more second and let Laterov drop first...”
“You mean if a Bar had fallen instead of an Ess?” Sparova asked disingenuously. “We hear a lot of those stories as well; about your prejudice against Esses.”
Barovsky's red face grows redder.
“I'm sorry; 'pro-bar sentiment',” Sparova corrected.
“It is the simple truth that Bars are more capable than Esses,” Barovsky snaps. “Even if it is unfashionable to say so.”
“And what about the other stories, Coach?” Sparova demanded. “The young athletes left hanging on the beam; the all night KP duties; the waterboarding.”
The Coach struggles to his feet, ripping off the microphone. “I don't have to listen to this!”
“How do you respond to the people who accuse you of bringing the sport into disrepute?”
“You bloody Ell bitch!” Barovsky flings down the microphone and storms out. He will be stripped of his position the next day.
Philomelia Zagarova goes on to lead the Russian team to Olympic Tetris gold in the Atlanta Olympics.
Tetris was designed by Alexey Pazhitnov.
Vignette, C
Igor Barovsky sits in front of a sponsor board, covered in corporate logos and Olympic rings, his square face set in a permanent scowl.
From off camera the interviewer - Regina Sparova, sounding young and a little naïve - speaks: “Olympic silver, Coach Barovsky; are you proud of your team?”
Barovsky sneers. “Proud of failures? Of course not.”
“Olympic silver is failure?”
“This team had it in them to win gold. Anything less is failure.Team will return home to recommence training at once.”
“In the Siberian training camp?” Sparova asks. “Now, there are a lot of stories about the camp; about the methods you use to train your team.” Her voice never lost its naïvety.
“My methods are harsh, but fair. My team works hard. Without hard work, there can be no reward.”
“Then the team will not be celebrating tonight?”
“Only thing worth celebrating is that worthless Zagarova girl is out of team at last. If she had held on one more second and let Laterov drop first...”
“You mean if a Bar had fallen instead of an Ess?” Sparova asked disingenuously. “We hear a lot of those stories as well; about your prejudice against Esses.”
Barovsky's red face grows redder.
“I'm sorry; 'pro-bar sentiment',” Sparova corrected.
“It is the simple truth that Bars are more capable than Esses,” Barovsky snaps. “Even if it is unfashionable to say so.”
“And what about the other stories, Coach?” Sparova demanded. “The young athletes left hanging on the beam; the all night KP duties; the waterboarding.”
The Coach struggles to his feet, ripping off the microphone. “I don't have to listen to this!”
“How do you respond to the people who accuse you of bringing the sport into disrepute?”
“You bloody Ell bitch!” Barovsky flings down the microphone and storms out. He will be stripped of his position the next day.
Philomelia Zagarova goes on to lead the Russian team to Olympic Tetris gold in the Atlanta Olympics.
Tetris was designed by Alexey Pazhitnov.