| Salt Lake City |
 |
 |
| GER |
12 |
16 |
7 |
35 |
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| USA |
10 |
13 |
11 |
34 |
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| NOR |
11 |
7 |
6 |
24 |
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| CAN |
6 |
3 |
8 |
17 |
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| RUS |
6 |
6 |
4 |
16 |
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| AUT |
2 |
4 |
10 |
16 |
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| ITA |
4 |
4 |
4 |
12 |
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| FRA |
4 |
5 |
2 |
11 |
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| SUI |
3 |
2 |
6 |
11 |
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| NED |
3 |
5 |
0 |
8 |
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After a weak week, business picks up at parties and clubs
By Brady Snyder
Deseret News staff writer
After a week of sometimes lethargic business inside Salt Lake's private clubs and at Olympic parties, the weekend swept in a mass of beer drinking, vodka swirling, booty-shaking revelers.
That's the good news for downtown private club owners.
The bad news is that before the weekend, the 2002 Winter Games party wasn't so hot and after the weekend the party could return to the midweek doldrums.
"That first week kind of reeked," said Scott McCagno, owner of Club Manhattan.
McCagno, whose establishment serves lunch and dinner before becoming a dance club after hours, said he's had trouble attracting anyone to come eat.
He's one of several downtown party providers who hope the weekend success will parlay into a weeklong party.
Last week things became so slow that organizers of Winterfest 2002 dropped entry fees from $18 to $6.
"The first seven or eight days weren't up to expectations," co-manager Steve Nuttall said. "A lot of nights we just opened up and let people in for free. Along with everybody else I thought we be a lot more busy during the first week."
Most party planners expected crowds like those that packed Salt Lake Friday and Saturday to come downtown every day.
At the Last Lap, which bills itself as the place where Olympic athletes come to party, Saturday night was the first time a 2002 Olympic gold medalist visited the club.
Short-track speed skater Steven Bradbury, who won the 1000 meter Saturday headed for the club to celebrate his country's first ever Winter Olympic gold with about 100 other Australians.
"He's like the hero of all Australia," co-manager Nick Cummins said.
Beyond Bradbury, stars like R. Kelly, Coolio, Bob Saget and Olympic champions Janet Evans and Kristi Yamaguchi have graced the scene.
And while there have been people to join them most nights the crowds haven't match the throngs the Last Lap had two years ago.
Until this weekend, the Salt Lake version had been drawing an average of 1,000 folks a night, a lot less than in Sydney where club organizers had a larger building, a bigger city and greater crowds for the Summer Games.
E-MAIL: bsnyder@desnews.com
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February 18, 2002
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