Update on the Olympic Ideal: Athletes Are Going for Green

Thoughts of the Barcelona Olympics continue to surface as columnists review the changing face of the Games. Wrote Donald Kaul in the NCAA News:

“The Olympic Games (was once) a unique coming together of nations to demonstrate that international fellowship is possible, if only in the Games. It is, theoretically, a timeout of war. Forget the theory. What it’s about now is winning and seeing how much cash the winning gets you. That’s the new Olympic spirit.

“It is a malignant attitude that expresses itself most pathetically in ‘women’s’ gymnastics. Those poor little girls, with their wan, tragic faces, came out there looking like refugees from an Albanian orphanage. Our best gymnast weighed 69 pounds, for crying out loud! Is that normal?”

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Fair warning: If thieves don’t like rap music, it behooves them not to mess around with the four-wheel-drive vehicle driven by Kerry Glenn, a special teams player for the Miami Dolphins.

According to the San Francisco Examiner’s Frank Cooney, when the vehicle’s security alarm is set off, this rap message from Glenn plays: “Yo, I know you want to see inside, but I suggest you step aside. I don’t want to sound mean, but you better leave the scene.”

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Trivia time: Which golf course is at the highest elevation in the United States?

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Racing hazards: Bill Holland won the 1949 Indianapolis 500, but the most exciting moment might have come on the second lap after George Lynch crashed in the second turn.

Trying to get a better view of the accident, nearly a hundred fans climbed onto the roof of a rest room. When the roof gave way, more than a score of spectators crashed through on the surprised lone occupant. He and at least a dozen fans were injured as seriously as Lynch, who had a broken ankle, cuts and bruises.

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A tough ticket: Janis Kanavin, consul and director of Norwegian information service for the United States, speaking at a luncheon about the 1994 Lillehammer Winter Olympics, said: “People from the U.S. have been asking me where they can buy tickets. Well, the answer is that they can’t. Those things are handled in each country by its organizing committee (the United States Olympic Committee) and no travel service or agency has yet to be appointed by the USOC. There are two countries that, to date, have not selected agencies for Lillehammer tickets: the U.S. and Albania.”

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Sinking feeling: Eastern Michigan Coach Jim Harkema, after watching his team fall behind, 28-0, against Penn State before it got a first down, had this to say:

“It’s like playing Jack Nicklaus and you hit the first five tee shots out of bounds. You say, ‘Hey, can we go home now?’ ”

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Not for sale: Boxing gloves used by James J. Corbett and John L. Sullivan in their historic heavyweight title fight Sept. 7, 1892, will be displayed at a sports auction of the American Sportscasters Assn. in New York on Oct. 1. The gloves’ estimated value is $100,000, but they will not be on the block.

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Changing thoughts: Top fuel dragster Joe Amato is featured in “Joe Knows Drag Racing” commercials, but after rival driver Kenny Bernstein ran a record 301.20 m.p.h. at Indianapolis, a sign at the track read, “Joe Knows, but Kenny Goes.”

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Trivia answer: Mount Massive Golf Club in Leadville, Colo., at 10,200 feet.

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Quotebook: San Diego Charger Coach Bobby Ross on Pittsburgh Steeler runner Barry Foster: “He’s kind of like a bowling ball.”