Sadness: With Olympics Ending, Money-Corrupted Sports Are All We Have Left

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There is sadness today.

The Paris Olympics Closing Ceremonies happened this past Sunday.

We are at the end of two weeks and it is giving me chills in my head and arms as I think about all we saw that felt authentic and stirred our souls.

Cole Hocker kept quiet as two European runners bragged about themselves, then beat them both for Gold in the 1,500 meters. They looked like arrogant cusses; he looked cooler and more clutch and we love him forever for it.

We saw tears of joy and disappointment and agony and despair. All that.

The Olympics are provocative because of the personal sacrifices these athletes make to be great at something, and they don’t do it primarily for money or endorsements. This is not a tainted greed-fest at the Olympics. There is no name, image, and likeness money – which begets greed and selfishness – that is now corrupting and making less appealing college football and basketball. Olympic athletes aren’t selling their skills to the team that will pay them the most.

Money is not the main Olympic motivation, which is a central catalyst of everything going on in college sports and, oh by the way, across pro sports where players are getting tens of millions of dollars a year to play football and basketball. No Olympic athletes hold out from training camp demanding to be paid more as is happening now in the NFL.

Money is necessary but it also corrupts and diminishes the allure of athletic competition.

Granted, Olympic athletes may have several motives to win Gold Medals beyond the thrill of winning. They may be doing this with hopes of also gaining sponsorship and advertising deals and some do.

But money isn’t the driving force beyond their pursuit of excellence. The big motivation is to practice and perform and improve and compete for a medal, which generally isn’t worth all that much. It’s a symbol that you won, not a multi-million-dollar paycheck. I like the motivation of aspiring to greatness without money being a factor. It feels more honest and admirable.

We’re now entering a four-year lull until the next Summer Olympics. Between now and then, we’re going to get a full dose of sports where money is tightly entangled. College football is coming in a few weeks, and while I like it I don’t admire what it has become, essentially buying players. It seems more and more the game is this: the college with the most money can buy the best players and they will win the most games; those with less money will lose more.

That’s less compelling than an athlete trying to win a medal.

In pro football it’s about how many ads can be squeezed into a three-hour football game that is becoming more boring to sit through; the main reason pro football is America’s most popular sport is not because the games are fun to watch; it’s because so many people bet on games in various forms including fantasy football which I find to be time and money not well spent.

In pro basketball the regular season doesn’t matter and greed is widespread. In pro golf we’ve seen a bunch of guys tell us by their actions that money is more important to them than playing on the U.S. pro tour; in other words, they love money more than golf.

Fine, take your money but I’m not going to watch you because you strike me as greedy more than committed to being a great golfer. You seem pretty selfish and why would I want to spend time watching selfish people play golf? Why would anyone?

Is it just me or are all these money-driven sports becoming less entertaining to watch? It’s just not enthralling; I’d rather watch a Ted Talk about virtually anything: the solar system, yoga, creativity, and how to write software code.

March Madness hoops aren’t as alluring because the same blue bloods win it all – that’s dull. The NFL Super Bowl is nothing more than advertising with a little football thrown in with stoppages for 10-minute reviews of plays.

I wish all sports could be like the Olympics with instant drama and compelling stories of people who don’t have tons of money trying to be great. This is sports as it should be.

It’s more entertaining and honest. It feels more real.

And it’s therefore better and more worth my time.