On eve of Vancouver Olympics, the pariah of the Salt Lake games moves on

So it all turned out wonderfully for Dave Johnson.

The pariah of the Salt Lake Winter Olympics, the man who was villainized by the Salt Lake Organizing Committee, the man who, along with partner Tom Welch, was left to twist in the wind by his co-workers, is living a happy ending. Well, other than falling off a cliff, but more on that later …

"If am lucky," he says.

On the eve of another Winter Games, this one in Vancouver, Johnson is successful, content and happy. If living well is the best revenge, then consider Johnson avenged.

Once unemployed and unemployable because of the scandal, he is now vice president of a thriving company that has grown from about 35 people to more than 5,000. The company has revolutionized communication between deaf people by allowing them to communicate face to face over the Internet. It has more than 100,000 customers.

Once the maniacal career man, he makes breakfast for his children most mornings and drives them to school. He takes them skiing on weekends. He praises his wife and their marriage. Life is good, he says.

The scandal and the hell he endured proved to be a blessing, he will tell you. It turned a driven type, who was on the road up to 260 nights a year for 15 years trying to win the Olympic bid, into a dedicated father and husband.

"We didn't have anything but our family during (the scandal)," he says. "I am really reaping the benefits of that. Family was everything and it still is. My priorities were a lot different then. Now I just want to be a good dad and husband."

He confesses that a phone message from the media Monday morning dredged up all the old bitter emotions. He would rather forget the nightmare he lived from 1999 to 2003 when he was fighting for his freedom against obsessive federal prosecutors.

You remember that ugly business, don't you? When the International Olympic Committee's dirty little secret was brought to light: that cash and gifts to delegates were the way to win an Olympic bid. Suddenly, it was branded criminal activity. Most absurdly, Salt Lake Organizing Committee successfully assigned all the blame for the entire, massive operation to just two people, Johnson and Welch, and denied knowing anything about it. In 2003, a federal judge laughed the case out of court and scolded federal prosecutors like errant schoolchildren.

Since then, Johnson has enjoyed operating "under the radar" and tries not dwell on the past, but as the conversation unfolds, it is apparent we are picking old scabs.