'I have never seen people work harder or longer'

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|| SportsShooter.com: News Item: Posted 2004-08-26

'I have never seen people work harder or longer'
Contra Costa Times Executive Photo Editor Alan Greth is in Athens, Greece editing his first Olympic Games for KRT

By Alan Greth, Contra Costa Times

Photo by Karl Mondon / Contra Costa Times

Alan Greth enjoys some sight seeing at the Parthenon in Athens, Greece before the Olympic Games started.

Editors note: SportsShooter.com member and Contra Costa Times Executive Photo Editor Alan Greth is in Athens, Greece editing his first Olympic Games for KRT (Knight Ridder Tribune). KRT is a wire service - there are seven others there from KRT papers: The Charlotte Observer, St. Paul Pioneer Press, Kansas City Star, Miami Herald, Philadelphia Inquirer, Contra Costa Times, and the Detroit Free Press.

I have never seen people work harder or longer. No I'm not talking about a construction site or a hospital, I'm referring to the 2004 Summer Olympic Games in Athens, Greece.

Here, events are spread around the Athens area at various venues. The events begin at 8 AM and start as late as 11:15 PM. The U.S. men's basketball game started at 10:15 PM the other night. With sporting event start times spread over 14 hours, both shooters and editors are putting in 18 hour days and pushing themselves to the limit. Oh Yeah, did I mention that this pace continues for 16 days straight?

At the venues, it's a zoo. There are photographers from all over the world here. These men and women did not get to the Olympics because they are timid. The got here because they deliver.

As you can imagine, when you get hundreds of these photographers crammed into the same place at the same time, tempers can flair. The venues are staffed by hundreds and hundreds of volunteers. These people are working for three weeks straight for only the clothes on their back. All volunteers are outfitted with Olympic logo clothing as their uniform.

These people are from all over the world, speak a variety of languages. They take their jobs very seriously. In some cases a bit too seriously. When I was at the Olympic Stadium for the opening night of track on Friday, August 20, 2004, I heard the quote of the week from the Photo manager of the venue:

Photo by Joe Rossi / St. Paul Pioneer Press

From left, Nhat Meyer, Ron Cortes, Alan Greth and Jeff Lawrence (KRT systems director) edit and transmit pictures after a night of Olympic track and field action at Olympic Stadium in Athens Greece Saturday, August 21, 2004.

"Come on and use some common sense man‚" he said as he was talking to an overzealous usher on his cell phone. "The photographers are free to roam the stadium and shoot from empty seats as long as they are not blocking a paying spectator," he said with a thick Australian accent.

I was thrown out of the stadium earlier in the week for photographing the infield grass being set into place by forklifts. Who knew?

I have been fortunate to get an assignment as a Photo Editor for Knight Ridder Photo Service working with KRT Photo Director Harry Walker and Photo Editor George Bridges. KRT has eight shooters here. Including writers, Columnists and reporters, we have a team of 50 people.

It is an impressive group of journalists from Knight Ridder newspapers from around the United States. Our shooters are: Patrick Schneider from the Charlotte Observer, Karl Mondon from the Contra Costa Times, Julian Gonzales from the Detroit Free Press, SportsShooter.com member Dave Eulitt from the Kansas City Star, SportsShooter.com member Al Diaz from the Miami Herald, Ron Cortes from the Philadelphia Inquirer, Joe Rossi from the St. Paul Pioneer Press and SportsShooter.com member Nhat Meyer from the San Jose Mercury News. Quite a talented crew.

KRT Photo Director Harry Walker asked us to arrive in Athens on August 10. This was three days before opening ceremonies. Before I got here, I thought three days early might have been excessive. I was wrong. We had DSL and phone lines at six different venues. The photographers had to first find them, then test them. And oh yeah, we had to figure out how to use them.

You see in Greece, It's all about the phone cards. You need one card to make a local call, one card to set up an Internet connection, and maybe another phone card to call home. And don't forget your Cosmote cell phone so your editor (me) can call you and bug you any time of day or night.

Our Knight Ridder operation is in the Main Press Center called the MPC. There are print organizations from all over the world. Thousands of people in this building alone. When we all cranked-up and started sending pictures back to our offices, our DSL lines were overloaded and slowed to a crawl. After many phone calls to OTE, the local communications company, KRT Systems Director Jeff Lawrence dropped 1000 Euros ($1,229.30) and had our DSL line at the Olympic Stadium upgraded to higher speed. It was worth the money in my book as I edited from out at the Stadium Friday and Saturday night.

Photo by Alan Greth / Contra Costa Times

Alan Greth's brick of laundry at the Hotel Pythagorion set him back over 28 Euros.

Well, today (August 25, 2004) is Day 13. It's a good thing my Macintosh computer has the day and time on the screen, otherwise I'm not sure I could tell you what day it is. Last night's track events ran past midnight.

In fact, a new women's world record was set in the pole vault about 12:14 AM according to Orange County Register staffer Bruce Chamber's captions. The KRT photo bureau was churning out pictures until 2:15 AM Wednesday. Of Course, We had to open up shop and do it all over again today!

Some of us were hungry and thirsty after the 30 minute bus ride back to our hotel, the Hotel Pythagorion, so we stopped at the "sports bar" next to our hotel for a Mythos (beer) and food. I had spaghetti bolognese. Got back to the room, kicked off my shoes at a respectable 4:02 AM and went to sleep.

Our hotel isn't too bad, especially if you like tile. There is tile EVERWHERE and they did a real nice job! The Amstel Lights in the minibar are only one Euro. I had my laundry done the other day for 28 Euros and 50 cents ($35.03 US). One Polo shirt cost six Euros to clean.

I am still trying to get used to my room though. Today there was no hot water. The air conditioning blows ever so lightly. It takes several hours to cool the room and you have to put your key in a slot in order for the electricity to go on!

I don't take naps. I've never been able to sleep during the day, wake up and continue on. That changed today. Fortunately someone in our company had the foresight to order a couch for the bureau. Today I took advantage of the couch.

The music in Athens has been... well Greek. No offense to Greek recording artists, but I don't care for the music.

I don't know why it took me 15 days to do this, but I listened to my favorite San Diego radio station, 91X, on the web while on the couch. It was therapeutic. It almost felt like I was home. Almost. One of our shooters walked in at that time and shook his head. I'm sure he was thinking "Why is that photo editor tired, all he does is sit around for 15 hours."

Photo by Alan Greth / Contra Costa Times

Motorcycles and scooters own the road in Athens. At every stop light, motorcycles and scooters make their way to the front of the pack, reving their engines as they wait for the green.

Scooters and motorcycles rule the road in Athens. At every stoplight they make their way to the front of the pack, rev their engines and prepare for the green light. I don't know of any better way to say it. Those guys are crazy! They tear in and out of traffic. Today, one guy passed between two of our busses on the two lane road. He could have been squished like a bug.

I learned this week that we need to arrive at the airport six hours prior to our flight home. Let's see... my flight leaves at 5 AM... that means I have to go to the airport at 11 PM for a 5 AM flight!

I've been talking to some people who arrived at the airport five hours early to return home from the Salt Lake City Winter Olympics in 2002 and almost missed their flight. Guess we better follow directions.

All in all, covering the Olympics is a great opportunity. There are so many nice, talented people here to outweigh the negatives. When the Olympics come back to Athens in another 112 years- try to make it!

Related Links:

Alan Greth's member page

KRT Photos Live