Tuesday, December
3, 2002
Don't
let the Games buckle under weight of big names
By Linda Robertson
Knight Ridder Newspapers (KRT)
The International
Olympic Committee has spared us, at least temporarily, from the
ridiculous scenario of Tiger Woods, Ernie Els and Vijay Singh
scuffing up platforms and being draped with medals as their flags
are raised to the tune of ``The Star-Spangled Banner.''
Golf in the Olympics?
This prompts the question: Would the caddies get to march in the
Opening Ceremony?
We don't want to
see Woods in the Olympics any more than we want to see Barry Bonds
or Peyton Manning in the Olympics.
While we're on the
subject, we don't want to see Venus Williams, Andre Agassi, Kobe
Bryant or Mario Lemieux in the Olympics either.
The Olympics don't
need them and they don't need the Olympics.
On Friday, the IOC
postponed a vote on whether to drop baseball, softball and modern
pentathlon from the Olympics until after the 2004 Athens Games.
Nor did the IOC vote on a committee recommendation to add golf
and rugby.
We can watch golfers
year-round as well as the other major sports' pro athletes in
the events that represent the pinnacle of their endeavors - The
Masters, the World Series, the Super Bowl, Wimbledon, the Stanley
Cup.
Let's reserve those
two weeks every two years for athletes who personify the Olympic
ideal, or what's left of it. Let's celebrate athletes such as
Jennifer Rodriguez, who says she survives on about $15,000 a year
in grants and prize money and trains long, lonely and painful
hours on the speedskating track. Let's be inspired by Josia Thugwane,
a 5-2 coal mine janitor who became the first black South African
gold medalist when he out-sprinted two other runners to win the
1996 marathon - 2 hours 11 minutes ahead of Afghanistan's Abdul
Baser Wasigi, who stubbornly limped to the finish line, cheered
on by the volunteers who waited in the stadium.
Otherwise, the IOC
might as well open boxing to Mike Tyson and Lennox Lewis and invite
World Cup stars David Beckham and Ronaldo. Rulon Gardner gets
displaced by Goldberg.
Spare us the sight
of Woods stopping by the Athletes Village to slum with the poor
fencers and divers and sign autographs for the Chinese weight-lifters.
We've all gagged
on the prospect of having ballroom dancing added to the Olympic
menu, but if the greedy IOC keeps going in the wrong direction,
it won't be long before we see Formula One racing in the Olympics
(most of the members are European, or it would be NASCAR instead).
Why not substitute power boats for those pokey old eight-oared
shells?
The vote postponement
probably means there will be no changes to the Summer Games lineup
until 2012.
But procrastination
won't solve one of the IOC's biggest problems - aside from drugs
and corruption. It's called gigantism. It's the threat of the
Games becoming too cluttered, commercialized and expensive and
collapsing under their own weight. It's time for stomach stapling.
Not one sport has been cut since polo was sent out to pasture
in 1936. The IOC has not hesitated to add, however. Now we've
got beach volleyball, tae kwon do, mountain biking, triathlon,
freestyle skiing, skeleton, curling and short track speedskating.
The IOC must stay
hip to the changing sports scene. That's why croquet and tug-of-war
are out and snowboarding and sailboarding are in. But the IOC
should be less concerned about the marketability of its brand.
The 2002 Salt Lake City Games made a profit of $90 million. The
Olympics are not at risk of going broke.
It's the dilution
factor, too. You or I will soon be trying out for the web-surfing
or power-napping teams. The Iron Chef will someday compete in
the kitchen venue.
Far-fetched? Remember,
trampoline is a medal event. There were 301 events at the 2000
Sydney Games, too many in equestrian, cycling, canoeing, rowing,
shooting and wrestling.
The IOC is in the
unenviable position of alienating entire sections of the world.
Americans might not have a taste for team handball, but it is
popular in Eastern Europe and Scandinavia; Iceland's men finished
fourth in 1992. We don't follow weight-lifting, but that will
be the hottest ticket among Greeks in 2004.
Should modern pentathlon
get the coup de grace? Baron Pierre de Coubertin created the sport
in 1912 to mimic the challenge of a soldier delivering a message.
It's fascinating, as I learned when I spent a day following the
pentathletes to fencing, shooting, swimming, horseback riding
and running venues in 1996 and it came down to the last 10 meters.
Great drama but few spectators. Cut it or keep it?
The Olympics began
in 776 with one event, a 200-meter sprint called the stadion.
We needn't downsize that far. Let's keep athletes such as Dot
Richardson, who played softball while going to medical school,
changing from scrubs to uniform after 36-hour shifts. As for Tiger,
a gold medal wouldn't mean as much to him as it did to her.
___
©
2002, The Miami Herald.
Visit
The Miami Herald Web edition on the World Wide Web at http://www.herald.com/
Distributed
by Knight Ridder/Tribune Information Services.
Start or Join A Discussion
about This Story
Send
the URL (Address) of This Story to A Friend:
|
