What changed the Olympics forever
buy canada goose jacket (CNN) For all the cheers, roars and ovations in all the Olympic stadiums and arenas over all the years, perhaps the most significant Olympic sound heard in the last quarter century was a yawn. buy canada goose jacket
canada goose coats on sale Because a yawn, symbolically, was how the public greeted what might have canada goose victoria parka outlet been the most controversial change in rules that the International Olympic Committee ever instituted. canada goose coats on sale
The one firm rule that always governed the Olympic Games was that amateur athletes were permitted to compete. Professional athletes were not.
In the most famous example of the inflexibility of the Olympic organizers, Jim Thorpe, perhaps America’s finest athlete of all time, had his gold medals in the decathlon and pentathlon in the 1912 Olympics stripped, and his achievements nullified, because he had once accepted small amounts of money for playing semi pro baseball during his college summers. canada goose outlet black friday It broke his heart. The medals were reinstated in 1983 30 years after his death, 30 years after the moment could have given him any comfort.
Torch starts final leg before London Olympics open
It may be hard for young viewers of this summer’s London Olympics to imagine, but all the sponsorships, advertisements and marketing hoopla that are a standard part canada goose outlet montreal of big dollar contemporary Olympic Games were thought to be an insult to the Olympic spirit not so long ago. The Olympics were supposed to be about love of sport, not love of money.
buy canada goose jacket cheap The president of the IOC during the years of television’s phenomenal growth was an American, Avery Brundage, and the guiding principle of his reign (1952 1972) was what was called the “amateur code.” He was unbendable on the subject. In a 1955 speech, Brundage said: buy canada goose jacket cheap
“We can only rely on the support of those who believe in the principles of fair play and sportsmanship embodied in the amateur code in our efforts to prevent the Games from being used by individuals, organizations or nations for ulterior motives.”
But once Brundage was gone, the floodgates opened. The IOC, after his regime, realized that commercial interests could turn the Olympics into a bottomless goldmine. And to bring in viewers, it was determined that an effective lure would be the presence of the greatest and most famous canada goose jacket uk athletes in the world. Many of whom are professionals.
uk canada goose outlet “The pros are there for a reason,” the esteemed sports journalist Ron Rapoport, who has covered six Olympics, told me the other night. “People will tune in to watch athletes they know. The pro athletes are pre sold to the public, which means increased viewership.” uk canada goose outlet
Canada Goose sale What made it an easy sell was the suspicion that athletes from certain Eastern Bloc nations were de facto professionals anyway: They were supported full time by their governments to train and compete. So, cheap canada goose by the end of the 1980s, the move toward professionalization of the Olympics had gained full steam. Canada Goose sale
Which seemed to be just fine with the fans. If the best athletes were paid for their skills, or for granting endorsements, why not? The concept of “selling out” once such a pejorative had become almost meaningless. Making a lot of money for being good at a sport was a badge of honor.
cheap Canada Goose When the Dream Team of National Basketball Association players from the United States went to the Barcelona Olympics in 1992, the transformation was complete. If you spent any time around the members of the Dream Team in the months leading up to the Olympics, you couldn’t help noticing that they were not exactly a canada goose outlet store near me bundle of nerves. They were going to win, and they knew it Michael Jordan spent much of his time in Barcelona either playing in all night card games or getting in 36 holes of golf a canada goose outlet reviews day. basketball canada goose outlet seattle interests; the real dream was the one realized by David Stern, the NBA commissioner. The 1992 Olympics were the best global marketing tool the NBA ever had. I’ve always thought that there was an even more extraordinary one: The Dream Team was so good that its head coach, Chuck Daly, did not canada goose outlet niagara falls call a single timeout during the entire Olympic tournament.) cheap Canada Goose
canada goose clearance Of course the problem with the Dream Team, and its successors representing the United States in Olympic basketball, is that they are automatic overdogs. The world outside the United States would love to see them lose it’s “Break up the Yankees,” on a planetary scale. ice hockey team at Lake Placid in the 1980 Winter Olympics the “Do you believe https://www.buy-canadagoose.net in miracles?” team was cherished because they won when they were said to have no chance. basketball pros will ever know that feeling; the “Do you believe in miracles?” emotion will be reserved for teams who are trying to knock them off. canada goose clearance
canadian goose jacket The size and scope and riches of the 21st century Olympics are a far cry from how the games began, and there’s no going back. Few people seem to want buy canada goose uk to. The spectacle is hypnotic. canadian goose jacket
canada goose clearance sale There would be a sure fire way to restore what was seen as the purity, and the love of competition for competition’s sake, of the early Olympics a way to drive the marketers and merchandisers and global sponsors away so that the Games would simply be games again. All the IOC would have to do is add a short sentence to the Olympic Charter: canada goose clearance sale.