Professional Athletes in the Olympics

This blog post was originally written on 7 February 2006. It is reproduced here for archival purposes and your reading pleasure. It is reproduced as accurately as possible with no style, mechanical, or spelling corrections whatsoever.

Current mood: nostalgic

Thanks to all of you who actually did decide to subscribe to my blog. I apologize for the many spelling and grammar mistakes that appear throughout them, but in all honesty I tend to write in the middle of the night, and by the time I am done, I am usually to tired to proofread. Anyway without further ado.

Tonights topic: Professional Athletes in the Olympics
Better Competition, or Commercialization of a Pastime?

For thousands of years the Olympic games have been an international competition tradition. The worlds greatest athletes would gather and compete on an equal playing field. In the ancient times the games were used to settle international conflicts. They felt that running, jumping, and throwing faster, farther, and higher than your enemy was a practical alternative to war. After all the Olympic motto is Citius, Altius, Fortius which means Faster, Higher, Stronger. In modern times the games have continued many of the traditions on which they were founded. Men and Women from all around the globe watch the Olympics and imagine what it would be like to compete against the greatest competition in the world. Perhaps the greatest thing of all was that anyone who was willing to work hard enough and long enough could compete in the Olympics. Ordinary people dreamed of competing in the Olympics, and the dreams spurred athletic activity everywhere.

Unfortunately in very recent years this has all changed. Today Olympians are professional athletes. They don't have jobs of any kind except to train. They no longer compete for the pure joy of the sport. They don't train because ofter it is over they know that they have done something special that only a few others have done before. They don't practice endless hours because they know that they could do what no one has ever done before. Today Athletes compete in the Olympics because they are paid to do so.

Or do they? It is true that today athletes are vastly professionals, but is it true that the money is the reason they are Olympians? The professionals still have to train as hard as the amateurs did in the past. Possibly even harder to face the steeper competition that professionalism has brought with it.

As a high school student I am surrounded by athletes of all times: from football players to golfers to cheerleaders. All of these athletes are amateurs and compete purely out of love of their respective sports. Many of them dream of going on the be professionals. The very vast majority of professional athletes today started in high school or college where professionalism is strictly prohibited. This means that even the pros began competing because they loved the game. So if the pros also love the game what is the problem with letting them into the Olympics. After all there is no rule prohibiting an amateur from competing in modern Olympic games.

The issue is whether the athletes care about the sport above all (or nearly all) other aspects of their lives. In the days before professional Olympians an competitor had to find time and money to support their training. Many of them had families, jobs, or academic careers to tend to in addition to their training. For someone to be willing to train hard enough to compete against the best in the world as well as have a life outside of their sport is amazing.

Let me use an example to illustrate this point. The movie 'Miracle' is about the 1980 Olympic Hockey team. This was set six years before professionals were allowed to compete in the Olympics. The team was composed of college athletes from all over the country. One scene in the film shows the players doing drills to the point where they are unable to remain on their feet. This captures the essence of what Olympic training is. Today Olympians are paid to train, and compete. They have the most expensive equipment provided free of charge.

Many of you are probably thinking: So even if the modern Olympians do have it a bit easier, what is the problem. After all they still compete on the same if not a higher level as the amateurs did two decades ago. Most of us are probably too young to remember the 1992 Barcelona Olympics. Michael Jordan and the "Dream Team" considered boycotting the medal presentation because they were sponsored by Nike, and the podium displayed the Reebok emblem. This is certainly not what the Olympics should be.

So the question is has corporate influence ruined the Olympic spirit? Was allowing professional Athletes to compete a mistake? Or... Did the sponsorship of Olympians lead to better competition?

Thats all for now. Please post any thoughts or ideas as comments.

love, Joshy Woshy

I was hesitant to reproduce this entry here, but for the sake of completeness, I decided I would. I'm not too proud of this blog because it is at least partially plagiarised from another internet source which I'm unable to find at the moment. I also don't feel nearly as strongly about the issue as I did at the time of posting, and I'm actually kind of agnostic about the whole thing. Shortly after I wrote the article my friend Tyler said to me, "It is supposed to be a competition between the best athletes in the world" and our swim coach replied, "Is it; is that what the olympics are about?" I almost instinctively answered that in fact that is what the olympics are about, but held my tongue realizing at the last minute that by answering I would completely discredit my argument. So let me now appeal to Ralph Waldo Emerson who said that "a foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds," and admit, that if I had to take a side now, it would be to agree with Tyler's point.

post your thoughts and ideas as comments.

love, Joshy Woshy