Monday, 'February 20, 1924
Daily Webraskan
Professional athletes overshadow
amateurs in watered-down Olympic
The ideal of only amatwir Mhut
the Olympics is noble indeed. Unfortunately that's
all it is; an ideal, not reality.
WcVe all heard the complaints about "amateur
athletes" from Extern block countries at the Olym
pics. What' they are, in reality, are government
employees who have Dhonv inhi
obscure bureaucrats, or whatever. The reality is
)
;
John
KopStsky
that they sre professional athletes. The Soviets
hadn't lost an' Olympic gold medal in hockey in 20
years when the Lake Placid miracle occurred in
1980. The reason? Most of the players on that Soviet
hockey team had been playing together for eight or
12 years'. Amateurs? Hardly.
A case could be made against some American
competitors, too. The International Olympic Com
mittee has approved athletes taking money for
endorsing shoes, athletic equipment, and the like.
These endorsements dont alter their amateur stand
ing one bit.
Professional cthletes ;
If the idea of the Olympics is to showcase the best
athletes in the world, why not open it up to all
athletes? In today's world, ways of skirting the ama
teur r ale are a dime a dozen, thus rendering the rule
a joke. Let's drop all pretenses, and recognize the
Olympics for what they are...a major international
event, deserving of only the best.
Can you imagine Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Moses
Malone, and Julius Erving playing basketball in the
Olympics? Munch, munch, munch.
While we're on the subject ofthe Olympics, did you
hear about the efforts ofthe Montreal Canadiens to
lure away Russia's best goalie? Vladislav Treitak, 31,
has been recognized as world-class for years. The
Canadiens, in dire need of someone to play the goal,
have offered the Soviet Ice Hockey Federation
$500,000 for the rights to sign Tretiak.
Image that. The Soviets selling away, to us run
ningdog capitalist pigs, no less, one of their heroes
for a mere 3A of a million rubles. Is there no honor?
One more Olympic item: Why do they keep rotat
ing the site for the Games?. They are enormously
expensive, they are embroiled in politics, they de
serve one heme. The citizens of Canada, and Mont
real in particular, will be paying for the 1976 Games
for years ar.d years. What did they get out of it?
Olympic Stadium and that's about alL
Los Angeles is taking a somewhat more sensible
approach to hosting the Summer Games. Instead of
building a village and a whole new complex ofbuild
ings, they are using existing structures. The Coli
seum (built for the 1C32 Games), Pauley Pavillion,
the Forum, and Dodger Stadium are all being util
ized in one way or another. One of the few new
structures that had to be built was a velodrome for
bicycle racing, and that was paid for by Southland
Corporation (er.e cf thousands of "Official Sponsors
ui uie oumir.cr uiymmc names i. vvnue mis ap
a
. Having the Games at one permanent site would go
. a long way toward eliminating the politicking that
focson. Would the U.S. have led the boycott ofthe
1980 Games if they hadn't been in Moscow? No way!
'throughout their history, the Olympics have, in
spite of their ideals, been entangled in international
politics. Moving the Games to even a semi-neutral
site would help get rid of the problem.
Moe must goe. Must Moe goe? Oh, I don't knoe. It
has been, at best, a very disappointing season for the
Husker basketball team. All ofthe enthusiasm of last
year s success has disintegrated into the cascade of
booing heard at Saturday's humiliating loss to Iowa
State. ,-, .
What's wrong with the Huskers? If I knew, I'd be
the first to tell Moe. It's frustrating for the fans, sure,
but it has to be extremely frustrating for Iba.
How can a team win the road games in the Big
Eight (at Ames, where Iowa State had beaten Okla
homa and Iowa less than a week before; at Manhat
tan, where Nebraska has won six times in 34 years;
and at Columbia, where Nebraska has won three
times in 16 years), and then lose four of five confer
ence games at home? Is it because the players feel
too much pressure to win? Is it because other teams
are playing sky-high against Nebraska in Lincoln?
What is it?
Whenever a team has a disappointing season, the
first finger is pointed at the coach. That's the cruel
reality of sports. Moe Iba has taken a lot ofheat this
year, just a year after perhaps his finest hour in
coaching. The other day, I saw a letter in the Omaha
World-Herald demanding Iba's departure. I don't
think that Moe Iba is in any danger of losing his job,
but until results are produced that the fans feel
should be produced, Ib'a will continue to feel the
heat.
Unfortunately, the way Nebraska played Satur
day night, those results may be a long time coming.
Instate Player . . -'
Think ofthe possibilities...FOUR Nebrsskans start
ing for the men's basketball team next year. Dave
Hoppen, John Matzke, and transfer Bill Jackman
are almost sure-fire starters right now. Lurking in
the wings are James Moore and Mike Martz. Moore
would seem to have a better shot than Martz, based
on playing time this year. The other possibility is
Millard South AH-tater Joel Seskr, who has al
ready committed to the Hus!;rrs.
Finally, I couldnt let this column go without a
word about Lyell Eremser. His retirement after 45
years at the mike for KFAB was a surprise, although
not completely unexpected. Bremser, 66, will turn
over the play-by-play to 34-year-old Kent Pavelka,
his color man and voice of Husker basketball for 10
years. Pavelka just might be the best sports broad
caster in the state. He was honored as the 1933
Nebraska Sportscaster ofthe Year. He is articulate,
exciting, and accurate.
Good as Pavelka might be, however, things just
won't be the same without Bremser. He outlasted
nine coaches, in a career spanning six different
decades. He saw the Husker program rise, fall, and
rise again to dizzying heights. If one person might be
said to be bigger than Bob Devaney or Tom Osborne
when it came to Husker football Bremser would be
preach malxs sense, it makes even more sense to Pavelka, who said following Bremser would be
build a permanent Olympic Village in Greece. After
.11 A 1 f T a
mi, uiai s wnere tney started.
fcfh
-in r
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akin to following a legend, said WVrinp "TWa
will never, ever be another Lyell Bremser."
Cyclone rally . . .
Ccr.tiaced frcn Pegs 12 .-. "' .
. Iim said she wasni pleased with the team's sloppy
play in the second half, but she was happy wls.ii their
determination.
."They dug in their heels in the lost couple of min
utes and wanted to win the game," Hill said. "We're in
pretty good shape in the conference now. If we
knock off b n Oklahoma school cn the road we might
finish in the top four."
Nebraska's next game is Wednesday night against
Oklahoma State, at Stillwater. The Huskers return
home Feb. 22 for a Saturday match with the Colo
rado Buffaloes.
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