OK, another one…
Hey Waller, got a minute or two? I'd like to tell you a few things about the whole Sarah-sticker thing and why the IOC-rules make me so pissed. Sit down, grab a coffee, because this may be more words than you are used to...
What about IOC?
The Olympics are governed by the International Olympic Committee and
the Olympic Charter*. IOC are a bunch of very high-paid individuals, mostly retired athletes but now so heavily wined, dined and bribed that they completely have lost touch with reality (if a city/country wants to become a candidate for the Olympics, they'd better be prepared to open their wallets…).
What did Sarah do?
Sarah Burke invested heaps of hours in meetings with FIS, IOC and other organizing bodies to convince them that pipe is a sport for both men and women (which was an important criteria for accepting the sport into the Olympics).
Sarah helped them to wipe some dust off their aging games, convincing them to add new and exciting sports that would draw new viewers. Quick note: Without being able to sell TV-rights, there would be no games – and broadcasters would never pay big bucks if the ratings weren't high enough. New sports = higher ratings.
In short, Sarah ensured them continued success with the games. Considered how small our sport is, we're getting mucho mucho media attention everywhere. Look what images are coming out of Sochi. Heck, in Sweden even the milk cartons have a freeskier on them along with those Olympic rings!
Yeah, freeskiing is getting attention, so why am I so upset with this particular sticker ban?
I'm probably much older than you, Wallar. However, my age and what I work with is of very little importance here, but let's just say that I have been involved in making companies and organizations successful by helping them to act a little more like human beings, not as badass, greedy corporations.
The sticker thing shows that one fat hand of the IOC is completely unaware of what the other fat hand is doing. I'm VERY aware of the fact that there are rules for logos and whatnot on the athletes jackets, skis, helmets and blablabla – but just because there is a rule, doesn't mean that you can't speak out against it. Trennon Paynter may be right, everyone in the games WILL be skiing for Sarah, but that will remain unknown to most viewers.
And in this case, there were no politics involved, no business, nothing but honoring a beautiful human being who – I'm repeating myself here – helped IOC to make their games more successful, watchable and marketable (and trust me, they like dollars...).
I'm done pretty soon. Keep reading.
The Fundamental Principles of Olympism (page 12 in that pdf) are a bunch of very beautiful words. They talk about good example, development of humankind and human dignity.
But the way the IOC is enforcing their rules, show that these principles are just two pages of nicely written caca and that the IOC are just a bunch of bureaucrats who no longer are connected to the world of sports and the athletes that they are paid to rule over.
TV-rights, sponsorships and sucking up to non-democratic leaders are apparently way more important to the IOC than the humans that make the games possible in the first place. The Principles are just two pages in a pdf.
I used to be all for freeskiing in the Olympics. But, as far as I'm concerned, every little step on the road to Sochi has shown that the games are not a good place for freeskiing to be in. And in my book, the sticker affair was just the straw that broke the camel's back. Therefore, again, fuck the IOC.
Thanks for reading this. Now do have a nice day.
:: hkn ::
*check Rule 50 out on page 94 in the pdf if you want to know about advertising.
WARNING: Sensitive message will be repeated below.
