The Olympics were designed as the premier competition of amateur athletes.
In a sport like Golf, the Olympics makes no sense. There are already 4-5 other tournaments that are bigger and more profitable and more important than the Olympics.
However, with sports such as Athletics, wrestling, swimming, etc., the pinnacle, the goal that every young amateur strives for, is to compete in the Olympic games.
Instead of amateurs (those who play for the love of it, by definition) we get millionaire tennis stars, and millionaire golfers.
It makes me SICK. One of the greatest athletes ever, and the GREATEST OLYMPIAN, Jim Thorpe, was stripped of his medals when they found that he had played minor league baseball for money. (Edit) His medals were reinstated in 1983, nearly 70 years after he earned them by whuppin ass.
There are now millionaires, professionals in every sense, competing in the Olympics, from basketball, to golf, to hockey, to tennis. PATHETIC!
|