5 People I'd Pay $30 To Meet

Earlier this week, I was chatting with Brandon and we ended up on the topic of how I met Jim Craig and Buzz Schneider. Brandon has met Jim Craig for professional reasons, and got to interview him (and also Mike Eruzione and Mark Johnson and let's. not. talk about it.), while I met them at an autograph show for about $30 apiece. Always one to defend my own sanity, I mentioned that the list of people I would pay $30 to meet is very short. I mean, it was on my bucket list to meet Jim, and I named my car after Buzz. I'd only pay to meet people who are very near and dear to my heart.

That prompted quite an interesting discussion as we both mulled over who exactly we would be willing to pay $30 to meet. This "meeting" means an autograph, a picture and a brief conversation. It was actually kind of hard to even make a list at all, and took a good amount of thinking, but I finally came up with my picks!

For some reason, I fell in love with Kristi when I was barely older than a toddler. Actually, I think that reason may have been because she played Jasmine in Aladdin on Ice. I'd really love to meet her just so I could tell her I wrote to her when I was five. And that she wrote back to me. Aaaaand that I still have the note she sent me.

I loooove Apolo. I think of him whenever I yawn particularly big. Is that weird? What can I even say about this dude? He's probably my favorite modern-day Olympian, and he will forever hold a place in my heart.

I feel like I mention Pav really super frequently on this blog (or maybe I'm just confusing this with Tumblr...), but that's because he gives me all the feels. I mean, not only was he an absolutely ridiculously talented hockey player, he's short and quiet, so I feel like we're kindred spirits. And in addition to that, he's kind of a hermit, so if he were ever to emerge and do an autograph signing, I'd pay that $30 in a heartbeat. Hell, I'd pay several times that! And probably cry tears of joy.

Personally, I'm more in awe of Eric's Olympic achievements than pretty much anyone else's in the history of ever. By far. I mean, hello, he swept every speed skating gold medal! Let Usain Bolt start winning marathons in addition to the 100m and then we'll talk about greatest Olympic achievements! But wow, if I ever get to meet Eric Heiden, I'll have to work really hard to pretend I'm not starstruck.

If you're looking for a guy that singlehandedly changed the face of his sport forever, this is him. All high jumpers now use the technique first developed by Dick Fosbury. No exceptions. It's pretty amazing. He's the definition of revolutionary. And legendary. And probably a bunch of other -arys.

If we're being real about this, I could've easily included a solid half of the Miracle on Ice hockey team on this list (especially since my Jim Craig and Buzz Schneider extravaganza was originally supposed to include Mark Johnson). And I would've included R.A. Dickey, but I've already met him... for free. Aw yes. :)

What's kind of interesting is that I think there are different tiers of being willing to pay to meet someone. The people I listed are the people I'd pay to meet without even thinking about it, hands down, no questions asked, willing to go by myself. But I'm sure there are more great athletes I'd decide to pay to meet after weighing the situation a little, and rolling it around in my brain. (See also: John Carlos. You can't say no to meeting a legend like that!)

I also tried to think of non-athletes I'd pay $30 to meet, but I only came up with two: Jon Bon Jovi and J.K. Rowling. So clearly we know where my priorities lie!

What about you, friends? Who would you pay $30 to meet?

Rant of the Week: The Olympics and Politics

Mixing sport and politics is a huge stinker of an issue. There are some stalwarts that believe that the Olympics should remain free of them, but aren't those keeping athletes out of the Olympics because of their politics acting on politics? Kinda makes your head hurt, doesn't it?

I've spent the last day or so reading The John Carlos Story. If you don't remember my earlier post, John Carlos is one of the men that participated in the infamous black power salute in 1968. It was really interesting to read about his motivations, what got him to that point, and what happened in the aftermath. But even more than that, it got me thinking about boycotts.

There was a big movement among black athletes to boycott the '68 Games, but with the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and the exclusion of apartheid South Africa, the wind was taken out of its sails. America's black athletes arrived in Mexico with a pact to each do their own thing and to have each others' backs if/when they did. Smith and Carlos did their thing, and their stand is an image that has been burned into our collective memory. It may not have accomplished much right off the bat, but it invited the world to see that America wasn't as all-inclusive as everyone believed it to be. I don't think it's a reach to say that it went a long way in instigating change.

Now, would a boycott have done the same?

The US and a good chunk of other nations boycotted the Moscow Games in 1980. The Soviet Union then reciprocated, along with their own chunk of nations, at the LA Games in 1984. These were the two biggest boycotts in history, and what did they accomplish? Does anyone even remember them? I only know about them because this is the stuff I research, as opposed to the black power image, which I'm pretty sure is printed in textbooks.

Carlos was talking about how he happily would've given up his place on the Olympic team, despite it having been his dream since he was a child, because a boycott would've made waves. And yeah, maybe some people would've scratched their heads and wondered why America's delegation was mostly (if not entirely) white. Yeah, maybe some extremely perceptive and tenacious people would look into this problem of racism. But there were 5,530 athletes competing at these Games. I have no idea how many athletes were planning on boycotting, but let's say 100. Would anyone have noticed their absence?

(Click to enlarge.)

The Olympics are so massive that, honestly, I don't think that any conceivable boycott could make a difference or have any true significant impact. Especially now, people are content to shrug things off without much thought. Out of sight, out of mind. Nowadays, about 200 nations compete. Tell me, would you notice if it was 175 instead? There would still be thousands of people swarming around the field of play during the ceremonies, right? Nobody would miss a couple hundred, let alone a handful of black athletes during an extremely racist time.

What Smith and Carlos (and, let's be honest, Peter Norman as well) did that day, in my mind, made far more of an impact that any boycott ever could. All eyes are on the athletes when they're on the podium, so it would be impossible to ignore a statement made here. If you want people to pay attention to your cause, you have to force them to see it, and that's what they did. It may not've been their first choice of a course of action, but Carlos himself wrote that he never could've dreamed how iconic that image has become.

...Wait, the US boycotted the Moscow Games in 1980? Oh yeah. Totally forgot.

This is not me advocating political protests at the Olympics. Far from it. I'm the first person to argue that the Olympics should be a place free from protest and politics and all that crap that plagues day to day life. This is me saying that the idea of boycotts makes me roll my eyes. If you're trying to make a statement, actually saying something certainly helps. A pair of black gloves is far more memorable than the proverbial silence.

Thoughts?

Olympic Adventures: Meeting John Carlos

A few weeks ago, I read an article that said that John Carlos (one of the men that participated in the infamous black power salute incident at the 1968 Olympics) was going on a speaking tour in the UK. After flailing for a bit, I realized that the only London date that wasn't sold out was on May 29th, and I had a London 2012 Ceremonies shift that night. But I couldn't NOT go to this discussion, right? Right. So I withdrew from the shift, and on Tuesday evening, I headed to a movie theatre in Stratford to hear the wise words of an American sports icon.

I got to the theatre pretty early (just in case), and it was definitely unlike anything I've ever seen before. I mean, there was a bar there. So you could buy an alcoholic beverage (or tea, if you prefer) and bring it into your movie. This country, man.

But anyway! The theatre was pretty crowded, which made me happy -- I mean, I didn't really know that John Carlos was a big deal here. I managed to get a seat that was about third row center. It started with the moderator introducing himself and such, and then John Carlos walked out.

First impression? He's a big dude. Olympic athletes, especially track athletes, usually are, so I'm not sure why I wasn't expecting it. But he's seriously a giant.

Terrible lighting = terrible pictures. My apologies.

The Olympics actually factored into the discussion very little. It was really about him and his history and how he got to the point where he did what he did. He really stressed that his actions were standing up for human rights, not black rights, but it became about black rights because he's a black man. And he said "the Olympics' platform is human rights."

Growing up, he always thought everyone was a runner because his mother once chased down a purse snatcher and got her purse back. He idolized Robin Hood and thought of him as the first activist that he'd come across, and decided to become the Robin Hood of Harlem. When the police got word that he might be behind it, they confronted him and -- get this -- put him in touch with a track program.

In response to people who call(ed) him a troublemaker, he says that the likes of Gandhi, Martin Luther King Jr., and Jesus Christ are all called troublemakers. "If they call you a troublemaker because you think out of the box," he said, "just remember you're in damn good company."

When the audience was allowed to ask questions, someone asked about his regrets, and if he would do the salute again if he had the chance. After all, his first wife killed herself because of the fallout from it. But he said, "I was born to do that." I think it's awesome that he's just owning it. No regrets. He felt that strongly about his cause.

He also started the discussion by saying, "If I'm an icon, than everyone in this audience is an icon. I'm you." Proof that a normal guy doing what he feels is right can change the world.

Something else that really stuck with me is what he said about Peter Norman. 'Who?' you ask? The white guy on the podium in the picture. I always thought that he'd had no idea what was going on and looked slightly awkward and out of place, but I couldn't have been more wrong. He borrowed one of the Americans' patches for the Olympic campaign for human rights and wore it on his jumpsuit while receiving his medal. He told the two of them that he supported their cause and, because the environment in his native Australia at the time was akin to that in South Africa, faced a lot of trouble when he returned home. John Carlos was just gushing respect for him, and it was amazing.

After the talk ended, he literally ran out of the room, and I was prepared to write a disappointed blog about how I didn't get to meet him. But wait, dear readers! I was quite wrong! It turns out he was running to get to his merch table before the crowd. I hadn't really wanted to buy anything, but at the last second thought "YOLO!" and bought his book. It was £15 I really didn't need to spend, and another book I'll have to lug home, but who cares? It's now signed by one of the most iconic sports figures in the world!

I love when famous people are gracious about their fame. He'd mentioned that he hates when athletes are rude to their fans, because the fans are the reason they're successful, and he certainly lived up to his beliefs. He offered me his hand to shake, and asked how I was doing. And then I took a picture with him. :)

An autograph, a handshake, AND a picture? Successful day, man.