By Berry Tramel, Daily Oklahoman
Bill Hancock is an adventurer. He bicycles across America. He hikes the
Grand Canyon. He sees a story and a new friend in every stranger he
meets.
All of which makes Athens the best place for Hancock to be.
You know Hancock well from these pages. He grew up in Kiowa County,
worked in sports public relations at OU, became Big Eight assistant
commissioner and then director of the NCAA basketball tournament.
You also remember him as the grieving father of Will Hancock, basketball
publicist at Oklahoma State who perished in the plane crash.
Bill Hancock, an Olympic press volunteer, arrived in Athens almost two
weeks ago and has been filing daily e-mails to friends. His sense of
wonder and eye for detail provide a glimpse into the Olympic experience
as the Athens Games begin today.
Aug. 4: "The best thing about traveling is seeing how people live. ... I
like the way the apartments look: boxes with balconies, and they sit
pretty close together and stretch up the hillsides.
"People who think it's hot here (have) not been to southwest Oklahoma.
In fact, I don't feel like I'm in a foreign country, except for the
houses and the alphabet.
"It was another beautiful evening. ... Athletes were out walking,
sitting on their balconies and sipping the plentiful (and free)
Coca-Cola.
"There is a universal language here: the sound of young people
laughing."
Aug. 5: "I really haven't felt like I'm in a different country until
today when I played hooky from work and snuck off to the Acropolis. Wow.
Wow. Wow.
"Sometimes when you see things live that you've seen photo'd and admired
all your life and never thought you'd ever see, you're disappointed.
Like when I first saw Willie Mays.
"But the Acropolis is awesome. For those who had the mumps the week they
taught it in seventh-grade world history, the Acropolis is a hill with
an awesome view of central (and old-time) Athens.
"On the other side of the hill is the ancient Agora with the ruins of
buildings amid olive trees where some guys once talked and walked and
invented democracy.
"Think about it. To know legends like Barry Switzer and Mike Krzyzewski
is one thing, but to have walked where Plato walked is quite another.
"Of course, the most awesome thing about the Acropolis is the Parthenon,
the beautiful temple to the goddess Athena. To think it was constructed
in 500 B.C. is, well, for an Oklahoma guy, it's mind-boggling.
"We Okies celebrate anything that was built before 1920, like the Hobart
courthouse, for example."
Aug. 6: "USA women's soccer players came to the Main Press Center for a
news conference yesterday. Wow, those athletes sure were classy. Smart.
Clever. Makes me proud to be 'Merican. And a soccer coach's (OSU's Karen
Hancock) father-in-law."
Aug. 8: "A friend arrived from the USA today with some coveted
contraband. I had e-mailed him last week, asking if he could get one in
his luggage.
"It is something extremely rare in Greece, if it exists at all.
Something that will make my life much more comfortable. Something that
will be stolen if I don't guard it very carefully.
"It is a washcloth. Ah, the little things sure do make life interesting.
"Another civilized thing about Athens: Sunday. Stores are closed. People
stay home with their kids and dogs and goldfish. The roads were so
quiet, even I could have driven."
Aug. 9: "I don't need to attend any more press conferences forever,
because I've just seen the all-time best one. It was the Iraqi Olympic
team and their managers.
"Iraq is participating in its first Olympics since 1988. The 18 members
of the soccer team were off somewhere playing a game, but the other
seven athletes came to the press conference and were awesome.
"One of the team managers survived an attempt on his life not long ago.
'Many good things are happening in Iraq,' the manager said. 'What you
see on the media are people dying, bullets in the air. But schools are
being built, and people are free to
speak their minds.
"At the end, he said, 'I believe we will win — sport and peace and
friends will win.' "
Aug. 10: "Oh, goodness, things are changing every day. What was a
laid-back atmosphere last week has become quite serious. Two days ago,
soldiers with machine guns appeared on the street in front of the Main
Press Center. The guns look like toys, but
I think they're not.
"Played a little more hooky tonight and went downtown to see the
Acropolis at night.
"The sun set in an orange blast behind the building across the street.
Dusk followed and one-by-one, like John Boy's house in the morning, the
Acropolis lights came on. We sat mesmerized, chewing fine Caesar salad
with chicken and 1.7 beers, and
watched the spectacle.
"Dark came and went, and then the lighted Acropolis swam out of the
ebony sky and shot goose bumps at me."
Aug. 11: "People love to ask where you're from, and Hrysopiyi, a Village
volunteer, did. I said Oklahoma. Sometimes I say Kansas, sometimes
Indiana, just for kicks.
"I asked her if she had heard of Oklahoma. 'Of course, because of the
musical,' she said. 'People Will Say We're in Love, and The Farmer and
the Cowman, and the one about the buggy.'
"I drove on Athens' streets this afternoon, heart pounding while
bringing gymnasts to the Main Press Center for a news conference. No
problems; they think I'm the Parnelli Jones of Athens. I don't tell them
differently."
Aug. 12: "The Greeks are very excited to have us here. Someone asks,
'How do you like our country?' a dozen times a day. I always say, 'I
love it.'
"Opening ceremonies are tomorrow. Don't know whether we'll have tickets
or not. I've been to five; if there's a choice, I will give mine to a
young person."
By Friday evening, no more e-mails had arrived. But Bill Hancock's
excellent adventure had just begun.