It's time for Games in Topeka I t's a worst-case scenario, but

As a civic booster of Topeka, let me suggest that our fair city start working for position over Nagano, Calgary, Lillehammer, et al, should the Winter Games come our way on therebound.

Stop laughing and consider this seriously.

Really now, what do those places have that we don't other than, well, mountains and lots of snow? Picky, picky, picky. I say there's nothing missing here that industrious Topekans can't overcome to become a viable Winter Olympics venue. Bill Kentling has shown us the way at Heartland Park Topeka, the motorsports mecca that can easily accommodate 30,000 spectators. The innovative Kentling plans to build a temporary quarter-mile dirt track racing oval over the current drag strip and provide sprint car racing at a place previously unable to handle it. Now, I figure if you can build a makeshift race track, you can easily construct a speed skating rink on the same site. Now extend that thinking to other Winter Olympic sports. Really, if you can build something temporary to accommodate The World of Outlaws, it's just an extension of logic to do the same for Tanya Harding or the pot-smoking half-pipesnowboarders. HOCKEY AND figure skating facilities already are available now that we have ice in the Expocentre. There's nothing to keep Michelle Kwan, Todd Elderidge and Punsalan and Swallow out of Topeka except for maybe a conflict in dates with the ScareCrows. You like curling? Put some extra oil on the lanes at Southwest Bowl and you've got a world-class curling facility. Building a run for the luge and bobsled could be a problem, but here's an idea. Have you ever tried getting up 13th Street from Louisiana Street to the KU Student Union on an icy day? Put some turns and twists in that puppy and Lawrence can share in our Olympic experience. The ski jump is no problem. We'll need a place for the biathlon, and the Ravenwood Hunting Lodge seems ideal. Joe Schrag already has carved some nice trails for cross country skiing along Shunga Creek. And what better place for moguls jumping than the now battered Quinton Heights hill? ALPINE SKIIING will be a challenge, but we are up to the task. We'll have to revive the old ski runs down Mt. Blue to be renamed Mt. Bleu, to add an international flavor near Lawrence. Now, I know it's not an Olympic-sized mountain, but it ought to be long enough for at least a G event, if not the Super G. As for snow? Well, if you think George Toma is good with grass, you should see what he does with artificial snow. Tomba will want to come out of retirement. Finding space for press and broadcast centers is no problem, given all the vacant storefronts (Venture, Builder's Square) in Topeka. Finding suitable bribes for IOC officials shouldn't be a problem, either. I know for a fact that Jim Ramberg already has selected the guns he'll offer Juan Antonio Samaranch. And what greedy IOC official could say no to a "scholarship" from Washburn's Law School? Let the games begin.

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