Simmering over the flame

Sporting News, The, June 14, 2004 by J.C. Watts, Jr.

I used to look forward to the Olympics. Because the Olympics came around only once every four years, I got even more excited about the Games than I did about the first kickoff of the fall.

I am partial toward the Summer Olympics. As a kid growing up in Eufaula, Okla., I didn't get much of a chance to perfect my figure skating technique. On our side of the tracks, we didn't spend a lot of time increasing our ski jump distances. The memories of Bruce Jenner's decathlon victory, Bob Beamon's long jump, Michael Johnson's flash and dash and Mark Spitz's seven gold medals still thrill me.

But I have to tell you, the Olympic committees--U.S. and International--are taking away some of the thrill this year.

An initial report from the U.S. Olympic Committee media summit said our athletes would be warned against waving the Stars and Stripes at the upcoming Olympics in Athens for fear of inviting contempt toward them and our nation. The USOC clarified its stance after a justifiable outcry and resulting negative publicity. It expressed its desire for athletes to avoid displaying the kind of arrogant behavior that has become more common in recent years.

That's fair. I'm glad the USOC clarified that. I have news for anyone who thinks otherwise: Our detractors around the world aren't going to like us any more if our athletes wear chartreuse and chantilly lace instead of red, white and blue and wave the Mickey Mouse Club banner instead of Old Glory. The hard truth is they hate us because of who we are. Because of what's in our DNA. They hate us because we stand for freedom. Freedom of speech. Freedom of religion. Anyone who thinks they're going to like us more if we don't show our colors is smoking something that hasn't been approved by the FDA.

Sadly, USOC chief executive Jim Scherr felt it necessary to warn athletes about their personal conduct at the games. The goal is to avert the obnoxious demonstrations of jingoism and outbursts that a small minority have unleashed in past Games. "We want our athletes to be champions who conduct themselves with class and, if it is the case, to lose with grace and dignity," he says. "Additionally, we are reminding them to treat the United States flag with the respect it deserves."

Is it just me, or do you find it a little disconcerting that the head of the U.S. Olympic Committee feels compelled to remind adults to behave the way their mamas raised them?

In another Olympics development, it was determined that manmade men and women (after sex-change surgery) can compete on the grandest athletic stage of all.

It's official: We have gotten so politically correct that we have lost all conviction. Not only that, but the IOC has made the playing field uneven.

Sure, the rules call for two years of postsurgical hormone therapy before being eligible for the Olympics. Experts tell us that although men have higher levels of testosterone and greater muscle-to-fat ratio and heart and lung capacity, testosterone levels and muscle mass drop after hormone therapy and sex-change surgery.

Whatever.

A pretty big, burly former major league baseball player hosts a sports radio talk show in Oklahoma City. One of his on-air colleagues joked about how dominant the player would be in women's Olympic softball if he were to go under the knife. Though I didn't find that particularly humorous, he made a valid point.

No less of an expert than Dr. Renee Richards--she used to be known as Richard Raskind and played a little tennis--says this could open Pandora's box. As Richards says, consider the possibilities if a young athlete with the talent of Jimmy Connors or Tiger Woods were to make this life-altering decision. Can you imagine the havoc it would wreak in the arena?

This decision was brought down by the same group that tells an athlete with allergies that he or she cannot use a nasal spray to relieve itchy, watery eyes. But go ahead and change your gender, if you want. The IOC lists testosterone among its banned substances, but go ahead and pop all you want if you're in the new, protected class.

Unbelievable. Welcome to the enlightened age, where anything goes.

J.C. Watts, a former U.S. representative from Oklahoma and quarterback for the Oklahoma Sooners, is chairman of J.C. Watts Companies. E-mail him at jcwatts@sportingnews.com.