Dutch speed-skating fans make Oval Lingotto the place to be
BY TOM REED
Akron Beacon Journal

TURIN, Italy - The best fans at the Winter Olympics arrive early, stay late and bring their own brass band.

They wear hunter-orange outfits, goofy hats and look like they belong at an Elmer Fudd convention. They are more polite than Bill Gates is rich and wouldn't dream of booing an opponent, even if his name is Chad Hedrick.

Introducing the Dutch speed skating fans: the gold standard by which all Olympic support is measured. They were at it again Sunday night, singing, dancing and cheering countryman Marianne Timmer to a gold medal in the women's 1,000-meter race.

The biggest party in Turin is in the end-zone seats at Oval Lingotto, where Browns fans could come for a refresher course on what it's like to have so much fun wearing orange. The Dawg Pound hasn't rocked like this in years.

"The Dutch fans are really passionate about speed skating," said U.S. gold medalist Shani Davis. "They bring a lot of energy and atmosphere to our sport."

What Americans see as two spandex-clad skaters going around in circles, the Dutch view as art work on the level of Rembrandt. Each night they pack the speed-skating venue, sometimes occupying more than half the 8,500 seats.

Not that they use them.

The Dutch give standing ovations to anybody. Dutch skaters. American skaters. Canadian skaters. The guy who takes the ice temperature. Doesn't matter.

The Dutch love all things speed skating. Even Hedrick, the cocksure Texan who has a running feud with Dutch skaters. When Hedrick won the 5,000-meter gold medal last week, Orange Nation rose to applaud the effort.

Imagine New York Yankees fans cheering a walk-off home run by Manny Ramirez.

"That's the culture of skating," Dutch fan Freek Visser said. "May the best man win. You should never boo."

The Dutch can riot at a soccer game with best of any Europeans, but a different code of conduct applies to speed skating. It must have something to do with the placid sounds of metal blades digging into freshly resurfaced ice.

Or, it might be that Dutch kids are born with wooden runners on their feet. The nation of 60 million is one giant all skate. Water covers large areas of the Netherlands and when it freezes, the Dutch lace `em up and go out for a skate.

"If there is natural ice I will take a day off work," said Anneke Boot, wearing an orange hat and fleece sweatshirt.

Those days are a rarity. Winters are becoming increasingly mild in the Netherlands. The beloved Eleven Cities Tour, a 124-mile skate marathon on glazed waterways, hasn't been held since 1997. There is no set date for the event, but once officials give the OK, thousands of participants, fans and journalists would instantly mobilize.

"I have told my (editor) that if the Eleven Cities happen when I am at the Olympics I will have to return home," Dutch journalist Renze Lolkema said. "He would not be happy about this, but it would be bigger than the Olympics."

Hopefully, they wouldn't take the Kilntje Pils (Small Beer) brass band home with them. The 12-piece group - which plays everything from Dutch standards to "Proud Mary" - is a sensation at Oval Lingotto. The band's logo is a caveman carrying a club in one hand and a beer mug in the other.

I've covered three Olympics, two Stanley Cup Finals and a pair of World Series and have never seen anything quite like the sight of 2,000 Dutch swaying arm-in-arm to a cover of Kenny Rogers' "She Believes In Me."

"In our country it's a beautiful love song," said Kilnjte Pils band member Das vender Wal, performing at his third consecutive Winter Olympics.

Vender Wal said it while wearing a red, white and blue soccer shirt and a pair of orange wooden shoes. The Dutch have a term for people like him: conservative dresser.

Dutch speed-skating fashion runs the gamut from orange cow hats to full-length orange terrycloth robes with faux fur trim. The orange obsession is tied to Dutch royalty and originates with William I of Orange (1533-84), who, legend has it, was a 10,000-meter specialist.

"Part of the fun is trying to outdo other fans with your outfits," said Patrick Voorn, sporting the cow hat, a tribute to the Dutch countryside.

"We also like to party, drink a lot of beer," said Janneke Kelder, who was double-fisting at the time of the comment.

After serenading their gold medalist, Timmer, the celebration moved downtown to the Heineken Holland House. The band was scheduled to play, and Timmer was expected to appear.

Many nations have these houses as a courtesy to homesick fans. Only one, however, has a miniature speed-skating oval that allows fans to rent skates. Any takers on the color of the skates?