A lot of bottle
Sir: Toby Young (`First smokers, now drinkers', 15 November) would have rel- ished being present at the bar in the Main Press Center in Atlanta at the start of the Olympic Games, when Ian Wooldridge of the Daily Mail earned the undying gratitude of all the British journalists and PRs present.
Noting, as we all had, that an order for one alcoholic drink was met with hesitation, and a request for a repeat led to huddled consultations, the great Wooldridge rapped on the bar top and told the bar staff to gather round. He then gave them a talk, describing the hours that he and his col- leagues were working, and comparing them to the much easier work pattern of Ameri- can opposite numbers. From now on, he wanted no more nonsense. When he or any of those present ordered a round, it was to be served double quick and no hesitation. We never had any trouble after that.
One member of the IOC told me that for him to vote ever again for a United States city, it would not be enough for it to prove that it had muzzled commercialism and mastered security and public transport, it would also have to prove to him that, when he took his wife to dinner at a $60-a-head restaurant and ordered wine, the maitre d' would not be heard muttering as he walked away, 'Jesus Christ! That guy just ordered a whole bottle.'
Osman Streater
Savile Club, 69 Brook Street, London W1
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