The Sound Of Cowbells Haunts Olympics Reporter

On the slopes, athletes are cheered on by fans, family and friends ringing cowbells. Does it help? Is it too much?

STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:

We're going to keep this next story very short - and you're going to hear why. NPR's Robert Smith is at the Olympics, and something is driving him crazy.

ROBERT SMITH, BYLINE: When I go back to the hotel after a day of covering skiing, this is what I dream about.

(SOUNDBITE OF BELLS CLANGING AND CHEERING)

SMITH: The yelling, the cowbell, more cowbell.

(SOUNDBITE OF BELL CLANGING)

SMITH: Oh, the cowbell. It is a European tradition to clang these things to cheer on a skier and after 14 days of the Olympics, I am begging you: Less cowbell.

(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "DON'T FEAR THE REAPER")

SMITH: Now, don't get me wrong - I appreciate a cowbell in a classic rock song.

(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "DON'T FEAR THE REAPER")

SMITH: To quote the great Bruce Dickinson from the "Saturday Night Live" sketch...

(SOUNDBITE OF TV SHOW, "SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE")

SMITH: But the album version of "Don't Fear the Reaper" was five minutes and eight seconds long. The men's giant slalom competition lasted three and a half hours.

(SOUNDBITE OF BELLS CLANGING)

SMITH: OK. Maybe it is just me, because everyone else seems to like it. And it does make sense; you can't clap with mittens on. But for some reason, when you have a cowbell in your hand, it is like you can't hear it anymore.

After two hours, does the cowbell ever get old to you?

UNIDENTIFIED WOMAN #1: No, but it probably gets really old to the people sitting in front of me.

SMITH: You've seen them turn around and give you a look like, is she going to ring the cowbell for all the...

UNIDENTIFIED WOMAN #1: Oh, I have got - a lot of those looks, yes.

SMITH: And it'd be OK if people just cowbelled for their own country. But no matter what flag you are skiing for, the cowbell tolls for thee.

YURIV FLESHNIGARD: I cheer for everyone.

SMITH: Yuriv Fleshnigard(ph) is from Norway. Her cowbell is international.

If somebody's skiing from Sweden, what does it sound like?

(SOUNDBITE OF BELL CLANGING)

SMITH: All right. If someone is skiing for Norway, what does it sound like?

(SOUNDBITE OF BELL CLANGING)

SMITH: Maybe it's because I'm trying to radio interviews here that I'm more sensitive. Maybe I'm a cowbell curmudgeon. The skiers don't mind. When the slalom racer from Zimbabwe, Luke Steyn, came down, most of the crowd had left. He finished 61st. And yet a few cowbells made him feel like a star.

LUKE STEYN: Even though like, my legs felt like concrete, I could still hear the crowd cheering for me, which is great.

SMITH: See, for some, just the right amount of cowbell. Robert Smith, NPR News, Sochi.

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