Games Are Big Enough for All

What is it about the Olympic Games that causes people to trip over themselves? First it was the scandal over gifts to Olympic committee members. Now it’s the on-and-off invitations to Orange County marching bands to help inaugurate the 2000 Olympics in Sydney, Australia.

Yes, 7,500 miles is a long way to go for 10 minutes of work, unpaid work at that. But band members at Irvine High, John F. Kennedy High in La Palma and El Dorado High in Placentia were willing to pay their way.

Their reward was to be performing in the opening ceremonies. But some Aussies got worked up that Americans and Japanese were to fill 1,500 of the 2,000 band slots. The natives demanded that Australians get the lion’s share. So the foreigners were told that while they’d still be welcome, they’d be playing at other venues--venues that the band members said were in the middle of nowhere.

This shouldn’t be a hard problem to solve.

Why only 2,000 band slots? Put the number at 3,001 and leave the American and Japanese contingent at 1,500: less than half. Everyone loves marching music; having it last an extra half an hour or so wouldn’t be a problem.

The high school students have invested a lot of time in fund-raising and extra practice so they could pay for trip expenses and sound good as the world watched and listened.

There still is such a thing as Olympic spirit, despite the scandal over the awarding of the 2002 Winter Games to Salt Lake City. Getting the originally invited foreign band members into the opening ceremonies for next year’s Summer Games would keep the true spirit of the competition flowing.

Southern Californians remember the 1984 Games, including the events in Orange County, with well-earned pride and warm feelings. Being a part of the Games, whether as spectator, participant or support staffer, produced happy memories.

Australian shock radio appears to have played a part in whipping up the anti-foreigner sentiment. Now there are indications that some people down under are taking a more reasoned view. The Irvine High School Web site has received messages of support from Australians. Given the logistics of summer jobs and school schedules, time is running short. Australian organizers need to do the right thing quickly.