The International Olympic Committee finally lived up to their threats today and dropped baseball as an Olympic sport. This only confirms what I have always maintained. The IOC has only two motivations. First, to make the Olympics the championship event in every sport. Second, to make lots of money in the process.
Many are arguing that the IOC's decision to drop baseball and softball is anti-American. It is, of course. One look at soccer, which doesn't send it's best players either, but doesn't appear to be in jeopardy as an Olympic entity, tells you all you need to know.
But the IOC's decision is also a result of their incredulous attitude about Major League Baseball's refusal to stop their regular season to play in the Olympics. The IOC is appalled and shocked that a lowly sporting league, let alone an American based one, feels its season is more important than participating in their spectacle. For an organization that is accustomed to being pandered to, this is quite a let down.
Forget this nonsense about the IOC being upset about baseball's drug testing policy. That's merely a smoke screen. Honestly, that sentiment, in light of the Olympic's nearly continuous losing battle against illegal substances, is not only laughable, but irrelevant. Regardless of MLB's drug testing policies, if the IOC's testing methods are so accurate, wouldn't all the cheaters get caught before they participated? So, what's the problem if the cheaters don't play?
The problem is, of course, that MLB players aren't playing. If tomorrow morning MLB decided to send their players, which, by the way, is exactly what the IOC is hoping for, the drug testing issue would go bye-bye quickly. The high and mighty IOC would reinstate baseball (and probably softball, too) immediately and hold it's collective nose all the way to the bank to cash those checks while proclaiming to be the first true World Series.
Therein lies the core of the issue. The IOC wants to be sports ultimate governing body and the premier championship in every sport. Why? In part because of ego, in part because it makes lots of money. Think of the IOC as a James Bond villain bent on world-wide domination through sport. Only the IOC is real and much, much worse.
In issuing their referendum on baseball, the IOC was demanding MLB to genuflect to their superiority. IOC members, who I am trying to find polite derogatory comments to describe, basically want MLB to crawl back to the IOC begging for forgiveness and acceptance.
Dick Pound, a veteran IOC member, reflected that tone when he suggested "A lot of members were fed up with the attitude of Major League Baseball". The IOC is fed up with MLB's attitude? Pot? Kettle?
Is there any other organization on the face of the planet with as much attitude as the IOC? Again, the James Bond villain analogy fits. (Insert maniacal laugh here.) The IOC has come to view itself as sports' moral north and its' last true defender. Just like a Bond enemy, the IOC views itself as righteous while actually being the most evil force alive. (Note they have Olympic flag bearers wear white gloves, while the IOC has a history of having their hands open for bribes, phony baloney jobs and other benefits from host nations.)
Unfortunately for the IOC, they are not dealing with James Bond. No, they are dealing with Bud Selig. Crazy Uncle Bud may not be a genius, but his ignorance is bliss. Bud can't understand what the IOC can't understand about not stopping the MLB season. And, in turn, the IOC can't understand what Selig can't understand about the Olympics being so wonderful.
Amazingly, Uncle Bud is actually providing the IOC with some true insight. The insight of baseball fans. For all his cluelessness (is that a word?), old crazy Uncle Bud does reflect the average baseball fans' opinion about Olympic baseball. They don't care. They really don't. The average baseball fan has zero memories of Olympic baseball. They have zero connection with Olympic baseball.
The average fan views the Olympics as the championship for all those other sports we don't have championships for. That's a jigoistic concept, I concede, but it doesn't make it any less true. It also doesn't mean Americans, or baseball fans, don't like the Olympics. They do. They just don't think baseball when they hear that Olympic theme music begin. Nor do they care to.
Uncle Bud also has the IOC's shorts in a knot for another reason. See, Bud may be crazy, but we must remember he's an old used car salesman. That means Bud likes cashing checks. So, while stopping MLB's regular season to participate in the Olympics doesn't yield him a thing (in fact, it may cost teams money in cancelled gate revenue), running his own international tournament means MLB can make money on the idea. That's annoying the IOC, too.
This nutty old guy not only refuses to acknowledge the greatness of the Olympics, but has the audacity to start up his own international tournament while keeping the majority of the profits all to himself? What type of neophyte is the IOC dealing with? Oh, he's plenty crazy. Crazy like a fox.
Unbelievably, Selig's old fashioned, simple ways may have blindsided the IOC. Unable to get him to see their superior ideals and unable to reason with the guy, the IOC tossed his sport out on its ear. They figure baseball will eventually have to crawl back. Well, maybe. Maybe, not.
The IOC may feel baseball needs the Olympics, but history thus far proves them wrong. The sport, ignored for the better part of a century by the IOC, has done nothing but grow in world wide popularity. Take a look at any MLB roster. It's littered with players from all over the globe. In some of those nations, baseball is the sport. It's elevated itself past all others without a bit of help from the Olympics.
Contrary to what the IOC may believe, the Olympics are not the only thing in sport that matter. Even Bud Selig can figure that out.
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