Tuesday, Aug. 5, 2008, Editorial • Olympics aren’t about amateur athletes anymore

Publisher’s note: This editorial originally appeared in the Tuesday, Aug. 5, 2008, edition of the Lassen County Times.

Contrary to what my editor says, the Olympics aren’t about the amateur athletes anymore. In the last 25 or so years, the IOC rules for allowing professional athletes to compete have changed.

The first major change for the United States, the one people remember, was the Dream Team of 1992 when professional basketball players from the NBA came together and won the gold medal.

Was this the right thing to do for the United States? That all depends on whom you ask. I say yes. The top athletes from our country should be out competing and representing our country, and the top athletes are always professionals.

One of the greatest Olympic moments was the Miracle On Ice, the 1980 gold medal hockey team made up of collegiate hockey players who took down the unstoppable Soviet Union team.

The reason the Soviet Union team was so unstoppable up to that point was their “amateurs” were basically professional athletes who were being paid by their country and not a professional organization. Those amateurs had been competing together, much like a professional team, for several years, and not just a few months like the United States.

Shortly after, the United States realized that if it were to seriously compete with the Eastern European “amateur teams” on a consistent basis, it would have to allow professional athletes to compete. Heck, most of the athletes from the United States turn professional right after the Olympics anyway. This just saved them time.

Since we started allowing professionals to compete, we have been atop the medal stands more than any other country in the world. Things have to eventually change, otherwise the IOC would still be using the same rules that were implemented centuries ago.

I feel that just because you get paid a large amount of money, that shouldn’t stop you from being able to represent your country at the highest athletic event. In my opinion, professionals make the Olympics more entertaining than they have been.