Comments on: Olympic Injustice http://blog.sojo.net/2009/07/15/olympic-injustice/ A Blog by Jim Wallis and Friends Sat, 21 Nov 2009 09:27:14 -0700 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.8.4 hourly 1 By: barneroo http://blog.sojo.net/2009/07/15/olympic-injustice/comment-page-1/#comment-90368 barneroo Sat, 25 Jul 2009 16:54:19 +0000 http://blog.sojo.net/?p=10098#comment-90368 Campbell chose (I don't really believe he was forced either) to make money by legal means, and there should be no way to penalise his Olympic selection. <br>If you want to argue about the morality and legality of prostitution in New Zealand, then that's fine, but I don't see what that has to do with sports of any kind. Athletes are constantly expected to live up to a higher standard of morality than the rest of the population, which I don't believe is fair.<br><br>regarding the virtues of amateur sports compared to professional sports: keeping sports amateur doesn't keep level the playing field for poorer athletes. Rather the opposite is true. Keeping sports amateur means that any athletes who are financially able to train fulltime without earning any money from it are at a distinct advantage. It was for this reason that endurance sports (which require long periods of training) were amongst the first to allow professionals to compete in the Olympics.<br><br>Read my blog: <a href="http://sportstechethics.blogspot.com" rel="nofollow">sportstechethics.blogspot.com</a> Campbell chose (I don't really believe he was forced either) to make money by legal means, and there should be no way to penalise his Olympic selection.
If you want to argue about the morality and legality of prostitution in New Zealand, then that's fine, but I don't see what that has to do with sports of any kind. Athletes are constantly expected to live up to a higher standard of morality than the rest of the population, which I don't believe is fair.

regarding the virtues of amateur sports compared to professional sports: keeping sports amateur doesn't keep level the playing field for poorer athletes. Rather the opposite is true. Keeping sports amateur means that any athletes who are financially able to train fulltime without earning any money from it are at a distinct advantage. It was for this reason that endurance sports (which require long periods of training) were amongst the first to allow professionals to compete in the Olympics.

Read my blog: sportstechethics.blogspot.com

]]> By: arachne646 http://blog.sojo.net/2009/07/15/olympic-injustice/comment-page-1/#comment-90036 arachne646 Sun, 19 Jul 2009 18:05:51 +0000 http://blog.sojo.net/?p=10098#comment-90036 The Olympics' insistence on amateur as opposed to professional atheletes was instituted from the start of the games to ensure only "gentlemen" participated, and not employees, like the golf pro at your club, or others from the working class.<br>Vancouver is hosting the 2010 Winter Olympics, and we were promised by the government that inexpensive housing would not be torn down without replacement, and the homeless and troubled people in the Downtown Eastside would not be cleaned out of the neighborhood where there are services for them, into the suburbs. Housing is harder to find, and even though our mission gets much more cooperation and help from the new Mayor and council, hosting the Olympics is a pet project for the Premier of British Columbia, and a hole in the ground for public funds which are needed elsewhere. The Olympics' insistence on amateur as opposed to professional atheletes was instituted from the start of the games to ensure only “gentlemen” participated, and not employees, like the golf pro at your club, or others from the working class.
Vancouver is hosting the 2010 Winter Olympics, and we were promised by the government that inexpensive housing would not be torn down without replacement, and the homeless and troubled people in the Downtown Eastside would not be cleaned out of the neighborhood where there are services for them, into the suburbs. Housing is harder to find, and even though our mission gets much more cooperation and help from the new Mayor and council, hosting the Olympics is a pet project for the Premier of British Columbia, and a hole in the ground for public funds which are needed elsewhere.

]]> By: nuclearferret http://blog.sojo.net/2009/07/15/olympic-injustice/comment-page-1/#comment-89917 nuclearferret Thu, 16 Jul 2009 15:32:35 +0000 http://blog.sojo.net/?p=10098#comment-89917 Seriously? I would think Logan Campbell is simply financing his foray in sport the same way all sports are funded at the high school, college and professional levels: using others to make money for himself to achieve his own ends. Is what he doing, save for his work being related to sex, any different than Don King has done for decades? How about the owners of a pro sports team, threatening communities with departure lest the taxpayers build a new stadium? Colleges and universities admitting miserably educated and under-prepared "students" in, as long as they can dribble a ball well enough? The Olympics are no more about building a better world than the World Cup, Super Bowl or Professional Wrestling. They are about making money, one way or another, for sponsors and athletes (at least those in "worthwhile" sports) and for cities to get investment (and taxpayers) to replace ghettoes and antiquated facilities relatively easily. Seriously? I would think Logan Campbell is simply financing his foray in sport the same way all sports are funded at the high school, college and professional levels: using others to make money for himself to achieve his own ends. Is what he doing, save for his work being related to sex, any different than Don King has done for decades? How about the owners of a pro sports team, threatening communities with departure lest the taxpayers build a new stadium? Colleges and universities admitting miserably educated and under-prepared “students” in, as long as they can dribble a ball well enough? The Olympics are no more about building a better world than the World Cup, Super Bowl or Professional Wrestling. They are about making money, one way or another, for sponsors and athletes (at least those in “worthwhile” sports) and for cities to get investment (and taxpayers) to replace ghettoes and antiquated facilities relatively easily.

]]> By: The Twenty Twelve Games http://blog.sojo.net/2009/07/15/olympic-injustice/comment-page-1/#comment-89910 The Twenty Twelve Games Thu, 16 Jul 2009 12:22:49 +0000 http://blog.sojo.net/?p=10098#comment-89910 [...] View original here: Olympic Injustice [...] [...] View original here: Olympic Injustice [...]

]]> By: jonabark http://blog.sojo.net/2009/07/15/olympic-injustice/comment-page-1/#comment-89904 jonabark Wed, 15 Jul 2009 23:16:36 +0000 http://blog.sojo.net/?p=10098#comment-89904 She says nothing that specifically justifies Campbell's behavior, and points out his hypocrisy, calling him a pimp. This is not taking him seriously but pointing to a widespread problem that seems to lead to moral compromise.<br><br>Training athletes is an expensive proposition, and the Olympic system is rife with abuse. Who can really find the hype or the results credible? <br><br> In answer to Voldemorts ridiculous suggestion that Govmint is the problem, in my life I have watched the professionalization and comodification of every aspect of sport at the same time as I watched the decline in sport for fun and health. Americans are satiated with sport as entertainment as they grow obese, lazy and out of shape. HS students take steroids. Forget the Olympics; get out the tennis racket, find a softball game, play volleyball, ride your bike. There is little on the tube but death and lies. She says nothing that specifically justifies Campbell's behavior, and points out his hypocrisy, calling him a pimp. This is not taking him seriously but pointing to a widespread problem that seems to lead to moral compromise.

Training athletes is an expensive proposition, and the Olympic system is rife with abuse. Who can really find the hype or the results credible?

In answer to Voldemorts ridiculous suggestion that Govmint is the problem, in my life I have watched the professionalization and comodification of every aspect of sport at the same time as I watched the decline in sport for fun and health. Americans are satiated with sport as entertainment as they grow obese, lazy and out of shape. HS students take steroids. Forget the Olympics; get out the tennis racket, find a softball game, play volleyball, ride your bike. There is little on the tube but death and lies.

]]> By: ando http://blog.sojo.net/2009/07/15/olympic-injustice/comment-page-1/#comment-89903 ando Wed, 15 Jul 2009 21:42:59 +0000 http://blog.sojo.net/?p=10098#comment-89903 "I think the Olympics are very far removed from the purity of amateur athletics."<br><br>I remember Jim Thorpe having his gold medals stripped from him because he had happened to make a few dollars playing sandlot baseball one summer, and thus was a professional. They were only returned to him posthumously. The modern Olympics are nothing more than a joke and a charade when it comes to amateur athletics. “I think the Olympics are very far removed from the purity of amateur athletics.”

I remember Jim Thorpe having his gold medals stripped from him because he had happened to make a few dollars playing sandlot baseball one summer, and thus was a professional. They were only returned to him posthumously. The modern Olympics are nothing more than a joke and a charade when it comes to amateur athletics.

]]> By: Palosaari http://blog.sojo.net/2009/07/15/olympic-injustice/comment-page-1/#comment-89889 Palosaari Wed, 15 Jul 2009 18:01:20 +0000 http://blog.sojo.net/?p=10098#comment-89889 And the oppression continues in the upcoming Sochi games. Not only are they displacing many people from their homes, and causing environmental destruction. I noticed this during the Russian invasion of Georgia during the Beijing Olympics- Sochi is only approximately 19 miles from the border of Abkhazia and Georgia. Past Olympics saw an aggressive country stripped of its right to host, but not this time. There is an issue here in these upcoming games of the Olympics supposedly representing peaceful relations between countries. The Sochi Games in particular are a travesty of what the Olympic Spirit stands for. See <a href="http://biosaari.blogspot.com/2008/08/olympic-truce.html" rel="nofollow">http://biosaari.blogspot.com/2008/08/olympic-tr...</a> And the oppression continues in the upcoming Sochi games. Not only are they displacing many people from their homes, and causing environmental destruction. I noticed this during the Russian invasion of Georgia during the Beijing Olympics- Sochi is only approximately 19 miles from the border of Abkhazia and Georgia. Past Olympics saw an aggressive country stripped of its right to host, but not this time. There is an issue here in these upcoming games of the Olympics supposedly representing peaceful relations between countries. The Sochi Games in particular are a travesty of what the Olympic Spirit stands for. See http://biosaari.blogspot.com/2008/08/olympic-tr...

]]> By: Lord_Voldemort http://blog.sojo.net/2009/07/15/olympic-injustice/comment-page-1/#comment-89882 Lord_Voldemort Wed, 15 Jul 2009 15:50:29 +0000 http://blog.sojo.net/?p=10098#comment-89882 A question: does Ms. Clawson really think that Mr. Campbell is credible when he claims that the only way he can fund his training is to open a brothel? I find that claim preposterous but she seems to take him seriously.<br><br>Second, I hope she and the rest of the staff at Sojo will note that, Campbell's funding issues aside, nearly all of the outrages she cites involve government agencies created to host sporting events. Just sayin'.<br><br>LV A question: does Ms. Clawson really think that Mr. Campbell is credible when he claims that the only way he can fund his training is to open a brothel? I find that claim preposterous but she seems to take him seriously.

Second, I hope she and the rest of the staff at Sojo will note that, Campbell's funding issues aside, nearly all of the outrages she cites involve government agencies created to host sporting events. Just sayin'.

LV

]]> By: lumens http://blog.sojo.net/2009/07/15/olympic-injustice/comment-page-1/#comment-89878 lumens Wed, 15 Jul 2009 14:32:25 +0000 http://blog.sojo.net/?p=10098#comment-89878 "There are many other ways to make money."<br><br>Teaching Tae Kwon Do, for example. “There are many other ways to make money.”

Teaching Tae Kwon Do, for example.

]]> By: Eric77 http://blog.sojo.net/2009/07/15/olympic-injustice/comment-page-1/#comment-89877 Eric77 Wed, 15 Jul 2009 14:24:04 +0000 http://blog.sojo.net/?p=10098#comment-89877 I sympathize with Julie's point that there are injustices involved in the Olympic Games, but the example of Campbell is not one of them. No one "forced" Campbell to open a brothel. He <i>chose</i> to become a pimp. There are many other ways to make money.<br><br>I think the Olympics are very far removed from the purity of amateur athletics. And don't get me started on the media coverage. ugh. I sympathize with Julie's point that there are injustices involved in the Olympic Games, but the example of Campbell is not one of them. No one “forced” Campbell to open a brothel. He chose to become a pimp. There are many other ways to make money.

I think the Olympics are very far removed from the purity of amateur athletics. And don't get me started on the media coverage. ugh.

]]>