For Thursday blog entries, after attendance and other announcements, you will have 20 minutes to complete your blog entry reflection/response assignment. Once completed, please log off the computer and return to your seat.
As many of you know, the 2010 Winter Olympics begin this past week in Vancouver. Please visit the following link and read the ESPN article written by Howard Bryant. The article deals with the major differences in pay that some US Olympic athletes earn as compared to some other US Olympians.
In paragraph # 1, after reading the article, in a minimum 5 sentence paragraph, provide your comments and your thoughts.
http://sports.espn.go.com/olympics/winter/2010/columns/story?columnist=bryant_howard&id=4883638In paragraph # 2 (at least 5 sentences), please give your opinion on whether or not countries should be able to use professional athletes in certain events. For example, using NHL players for the Olympic hockey event. Explain and be specific.
Once you have completed your blog entry, please sign your name to the bottom.
My thoughts about the article came to me real easy. To earn the most money and to have the glory you have to be the best and take part in a game that people love to watch and understand when watching. When you think about the olympic games, and the first thing that comes to mind is the fact that there are athletes that get paid more and its not fair to the other athletes, then you have the olympics all wrong. The olympic games are about representing your country and bringing home gold to your homeland. When it comes to the Olympic games at the end of the day, its not the name on the back of the jersey or jumpsuit, but its the name of the country on the front. There are athletes that are walking billboards, but they are all successful athletes that are role models to all people in there respective countries. Im not saying that the other athletes aren't role models or are as not important, but they are just not as big as the perennial stars of today that get all the glory.
ReplyDeleteI fully believe that countries should be able to use professional athletes to represent their country in the Olympic games. Just because they make millions and are supposively relatively better do to the fact they have the professional title. I strongly believe that each country shall be allowed to display there nations best athletes in order to produce a gold medal winning team. For the record, Ryan Miller is an idiot to think that the Stanley Cup is more important then an Olympic gold medal. Because when you win the stanley cup, you win it for a city, sometimes a state. When you win an Olympic gold medal, you win it for a nation!
-Josh Knupp
The endorsment deals that these athletes are recieving are insane amounts of money for only a week of TV air time. With little to none 1 on 1 time with reporters to actually get to know who you are and where you came from. Poeple don't realize that these players go back home and practice for another four years to get back to where they are now unlike pros who play every year on national TV and get paid twice as much as the olympic athletes.
ReplyDeletePersonally i don't think that profesional players should be able to play at all in the olympics becuase it is about the spotlight for the common man, not the over payed athlete. Using pros is an unfair advantage to the rest of the world and it should be ban in my opinion. Giving the chance to the under payed athelete with 2 kids and a wife who makes his money in side tournaments and betting pools at home is the man who should be in the olympics. if we keep using pros then it will continue to grow and we will be using more and more athletes instead of that kid with dreams of going to the olympics.
My thoughts on this article are that the the pro atheles who are in these competitions are very important. They play a big role for wich ever country the represent. Reason for saying, is because all over the world there are great athelets an theire shoukd just be random selection of people it should be the best if the best. But this article states pretty good facts about the oliympics an olyioians in the competitions.
ReplyDeletei feel that professianal athelets should be able to be in the olyimpics. Because the olympics is to basiclly show of your good talent in support your country. It shouldnt matter who competes as long as that person is the right choice for the competition.People want theire country to win so in that case if a pro athelete is the best one for the job he should be the one competing.
Kejaun
This time of the year, everyone is focused on the Olympics and who is taking home which metal or any kind of acknowledgement of achievement in their profession. The 2010 Olympics is known as the most competitive event this time of the year and all of the competitors are fighting to become known as the best in their sport. The article reflects on the importance of the Olympians and what investments have been made in their careers, such as their endorsement deals with well known companies. This is just one of the few perks that come with being a favored or winning athlete. Some of the athletes have expressed how important these deals are to them as much as their salary is also an important aspect of their career, as well as representing their country with pride. Though the money is important, the players’ love of the game is what attracts them to enjoy their careers.
ReplyDeleteI don’t think that countries should be able to use professional athletes in certain events. It’s an advantage that not all countries may share in every sport and it is ruled as unfair in a sense. Unless there are professionals representing each country, I don’t agree because not all players will at least almost be on the same level or noted as “professional.” The article exemplifies what some people would rather see when watching the Olympics. Knowing that one country has professionals, competing against one that doesn’t is already to be assumed to who the winners will be. That’s not an event that viewers would be interested, in my opinion.
The article was helpful to understand how some non-higher paid stars felt about there shot to make there money for the games. The games help get there name out there for companies to see them. The better some one does at the games will help them make there money. Like the players in the NHL they don't play in the games to get there name out to make there money. They get there money for the team they play for. But like the non-higher paid players say they dont mind because they love to play the sport. They aren't playing for the money but for what they love.
ReplyDeleteI feel that the professional athletes should be able to play. By doing that it gets more views becuase people watch the games to watch there fav. athletes as well as a close event. Not as many people would watch an event that one team or person is going to win easy every year. The goal for the games to have as many people watch as possbile so there wouldn't be a good point in taking some for the best athlets out of the games if it is just going to lower the ratings. That is my opinion on professional athletes playing in the games.
Mike Dent
This is always going to be a common dilema in the sports world in the sense that we the audience wants to see the best play but that may not in fact be in the best interest of the player. The conflict and big debate as to whether professional atheletes should be able to compete in the olympics will always be there no matter what route they olympics chooses to take in the long run. I definitaly think that there is a point to be made with realizing that these athletes don't get paid enough. the only problem i see with that is the economy thrives on the idea of supply and demand, the world wants to see what interests them the most. So as far as the money distribution goes there is honestly no equality in the payment of players, who ever the world is most interested in seeing perform is who will ssee the most revenue.
ReplyDeletePersonally I think that the option for a professional to compete in the Olympics should be left soley to the choice of the player. All in all the best should play but if they feel that it will put there proffesional career in jeprody than that is something that they will have to decide. But I believe putting a restriction on these players is unfair. the idea is to compete with other countries to compete with the best around the world. Restricting the involvement of the best would be a diservice to the sport as well as there respective countries.
Ej Rogers
I think it is kind of selfish that some players take the olympics for granted. This one guy was telling how one of his friends said the stanley cup was 10 times more exciting than the olympics. I guess its all about the money to them, althoug he could get endourcements from the olympics. Im pretty sure that if Shawn White wasnt as successful in the olmpics or X Games he wouldnt have half of the stuff he has. Each ear he makes one million dollars form endourcements, while other low profile olmpians make little money.
ReplyDeleteYes, I think that countries should use their professional athletes when competing. Sense the begginging of time the olmpics were all about getting the best and making sure you win. The didnt say anything about keeping the best at home and taking the third and fourth in the depthchart to compete. Although they have good arguements that the dont want their plaers to get hurt. If you think about it though those players could get hurt walking up and down stairs. Personally I think it should be players own decision to go and represent his country to the world.
Rodney Colley
I think that at the olympics money shouldnt be an issue. You should be there because you want to win not because you want money. I think that if you are good enough that people want to endorse you then its ok, but you should focus on winning first and money second. I think that if you want to make money in your sport then you should become a professional athelete and make money that way.
ReplyDeleteI think that countries should be allowed to use professional atheletes for the olympics. The country's olympic team should consist of the best players in the country, it should not matter if they play for a professional team or not. however, I think that if you are from a different country and you play in an american league you shouldn't be allowed to play. If you play for an american team then you should also play for the american olympic team. Like Alex Ovechkin or Sidney Crosby, they the two best players in the NHL, but they are playing for other countries. I think that since they live in the U.S. and play for the U.S. then they should play on the U.S. olympic team.
In my perspective, there is nothing wrong with millionare atheletes being in the Olympics, it's all ab out representing their countires. I like watching pro athletes in the Olympics because they make it competitive rather than put amateurs in the Olympics which will make the game boring an d may lack lots of fan in the sport.
ReplyDeleteAnd in the Olympic vs. Stanleys cup, i rather win the Olympics because it's only comes once in four years unlike Stanley which comes every year. Olympics should be a matter of money, it's all about representing their countries and showing their skills to the entire world. I don't like the idea of rich athletes taking the sport for granted.
Ian Kibet
The Olympics is a great time for huge athletes to compete with other athletes from different countries. You get to experience on how well you have done and see if your hard work has paid off at the end. You will sometimes experience mistakes throughout the olympics and you will learn from it and not make it again. The Olympics is an annual event held once a year. In the Olympics you get to see who really is the best in the sport that you play.
ReplyDeleteI don't think that countries should be able to use proffesional athletes in the Olympics. If you were to use a proffesional hockey player from the NHL, and put him on a team his team would most likely win. It would not be fair to all the other hockey players who are in the olympics. Sure it would give them a challenge but this is my opinion.
Brian Villazon
I feel that how they are paying some US Olympic athletes compared to some US Olympians is good because if your a professional athlete and your good you should get payed alot expecially in the olympics. The US Olympic athletes play on a professional team and get selected to play in the olympics because they are good at what they do and i feel they should get payed more than some US olympians. US Olympians just participate in the Olympics, not saying its a bad thing just saying thats all their doing. I feel that countries should use professional athletes in some events because they are good enough and they would have a better chance in winning the gold medal because putting good athletes on one team makes the team stronger. also, i feel they deserve to play in some events only if they are good enough
ReplyDelete