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Angeles, March 10, 1999 Vol. 11, No.1 Dear Reader: The pot calls the kettle black . . . As the Olympic bribery scandal has widened, former U.S. Olympic Committee President and International Olympic Committee member Robert H. Helmick has been a highly visible media presence, criticizing IOC ethics, recommending reform and calling for the resignations of the IOC president and executive board. The irony, of course, is that Helmick himself resigned from both the US presidency and the IOC in 1991 amid charges of wrongdoing. A further irony is that some reporters who so diligently pursue every nuance of the current scandal seem to accept unquestioningly Helmick's claim that he was "exonerated" of the 1991 charges. See most notably, for example, Time (January 25) and "60 Minutes" (January 24). Even before the Salt Lake City story broke, Helmick floated the notion that he had been cleared of the charges against him. As SportsLetter reported in March 1998, Helmick argued that sympathetic news stories following his resignation and the USOC's failure to "accept" its special counsel's report on Helmick amounted to exoneration. Given Helmick's recent emergence as an Olympic ethicist, the whole affair deserves further review. The USOC, on September 10, 1991, appointed a special counsel, Arnold Burns, to investigate press reports that Helmick had engaged in activities alledged to be conflicts of interest. Eight days later, Helmick resigned as USOC president. Burns delivered his report to the USOC executive committee on November 23. The next day the USOC presented the findings at a press conference and distributed copies of the report to reporters in attendance. The report stated that "Helmick repeatedly violated the conflict of interest provisions of the USOC By-Laws, as well as the Statement of Principles, by virtue of his paid representation of clients having business with the USOC and that he did so without adequate disclosure – or in several cases without any disclosure." The special counsel concluded that Helmick violated the USOC Statement of Principles on eight points, including "failing to subordinate his individual interests to the interests of the Olympic Movement" and "failing to serve without personal gain." Included among the ethical violations were: "participating in a license agreement between the USOC and a client while having a financial interest; taking payment from a major equipment manufacturer of a sport hoping to gain a place on the Olympic Programme; accepting payments from the United States Golf Federation in its attempts to be recognized as the national governing body for the sport of golf, and acting as a paid representative for Turner Sports in USOC-related matters. " The USOC chapter of the story concluded on November 24 when the USOC executive committee "concluded that as Mr. Helmick had resigned as president and the Special Counsel found that no USOC contracts had been improperly influenced, the USOC inquiry into Mr. Helmick’s contract should be concluded." In other words, Helmick's resignation made further action on his misconduct as USOC president unnecessary. Some exoneration. Remarkably, despite the fact that "Helmick repeatedly violated the conflict of interest provisions of the USOC By-Laws," he still serves as a member of the USOC board of directors. A provision of the USOC constitution allows all past presidents to serve on the organization’s board of directors. The IOC also investigated Helmick's conduct, appointing an inquiry committee under the direction of IOC member Judge Kéba Mbaye, of Senegal. Helmick resigned from the IOC on December 3, 1991, one day before the IOC executive board was scheduled to discuss the inquiry’s findings. If, as expected, the executive board had moved to expel Helmick, he would have had the chance to defend himself before the entire IOC Session the following February. Instead, he chose to resign his position as IOC member. Once again, Helmick tendered his resignation before any decision could be reached. The Report of the Special Bid Oversight Commission, commissioned by the USOC and headed by former U.S. Senator George Mitchell, released its report on the Salt Lake City bid process March 1. The report makes several recommendations on restructuring the IOC, including one stating that a "substantial majority of IOC members should be elected by" the various national Olympic committees, international sport federations and other "constituent organizations." The New York Times, in a March 3 editorial, endorsed the proposal. We do not know whether this idea really comes from the senator or the USOC itself, but anyone who thinks that greater NOC involvement will ensure honesty in Olympic affairs is seriously deluded. National Olympic Committees, in fact, have produced almost all of the IOC members involved in the present scandal. The IOC, on January 24, 1999, recommended the expulsion of six members for corruption. Every one of them was, at the time or in the past, the president of his NOC. Three other IOC members named January 24 as requiring further investigation also were former NOC presidents. Two other IOC members who resigned as a result of their involvement in the Salt Lake City scandal, Bashir Mohamed Attarbulsi, of Libya; and David Sibandze, of Swaziland, served as their NOC presidents for a total of 26 years. And, of course, before Salt Lake City, there was the USOC’s very own Robert Helmick. Great idea guys.
What’s a guy have to do? . . . World champion sprinter Maurice Greene recently was the subject of a Los Angeles Times article by J.A. Adande decrying the lack of recognition that the world’s fastest man gets in the United States. The Times article made its point in more ways than one. Accompanying the article was a photograph purportedly showing Greene in fine racing form. In fact, the photo showed Greene’s training mate, Jon Drummond. The Times printed a correction a few days later.
Spin move . . . The NBA's new collective bargaining agreement adds marijuana, some hard drugs and illegal steroids to the league’s list of prohibited substances. The new policy, in reality, does not pose a major threat to would-be potheads and steroid abusers. NBA veterans must undergo only a single pre-announced, pre-season drug test. A more stringent policy applies to rookies, who are subject to four random tests during the season. Since almost every expert agrees that unannounced random testing, including out-of-season testing, offers the only hope of effectively policing drug use in sport, do not expect to see many abusers caught. Add NBA . . . Those few NBA players who do get snagged in the league’s drug dragnet will not pay much of a price. The penalty for a first offense for marijuana requires the offender to enter an anti-drug counseling program. A second offense brings a $15,000 fine and the program. A third strike results in more program participation and a five-game suspension without pay. The penalties for steroid use are a bit stiffer. In addition to the anti-drug counseling program, a positive test for steroids will get a player suspended for five games for a first offense; 10 games for a second, and 25 for a third. This is a slap on the wrist compared to the two-year ban called for by the International Basketball Federation (FIBA) and almost all other Olympic sport federations. It is unclear how a positive NBA drug test would affect a player’s eligibility in international competition. According to Caroline Williams, assistant director of media/public relations for USA Basketball, differences between NBA and USA Basketball testing protocols and lab requirements mean that a positive test by the NBA has no repercussions as far as USA Basketball is concerned. That’s not necessarily the case with the International Basketball Federation (FIBA). FIBA’s Doping Control Regulations give the federation the right to impose penalties against players "found guilty of doping during doping control tests conducted under the control of organisations outside FIBA."
Do they get residuals on syndication? . . . Sometimes fact follows fiction. The ABC television sitcom "Coach" depicted the comic mishaps of Hayden Fox, the head football coach of the Screaming Eagles of fictitious Minnesota State. Though the show no longer exists, Minnesota State now does. On September 18, 1998, the Minnesota State College and University Board of Trustees renamed the school formerly known as Mankato State University as Minnesota State University, Mankato. No word on whether Coach Fox will be coaching.
Tuning in from Nepal . . . We all know that the Super Bowl is the biggest media event in the United States. The NFL says that the game also is very popular worldwide, drawing an estimated 800 million viewers. That figure equates to roughly one of every seven people on the planet. SportsLetter is skeptical. According to the NFL, the U.S. provides about 130 million viewers. That means that 670 million people in other countries would have to tune in. Given that the game begins after midnight in most of Europe and Africa, and that most of Asia is beginning its Monday morning workday at kick-off time, this seems like a bit of a stretch. For its part, the NFL acknowledges the international audience is a loose estimate based on figures supplied by foreign terrestrial broadcasters and international satellite and cable systems. Pete Abitante, the NFL’s director of international public affairs, admits the difficulty of measuring the international audience accurately without any reliable hard ratings. When asked by SportsLetter if the figure of 800 million is accurate to within 25 or even 100 million, Abitante said he would be comfortable with either margin of error as long as the total audience is considered "an estimate."
Hockeystate, USA -- Since 1986, four Michigan universities have won a total of seven NCAA Division I men's hockey championships. Lake Superior State University, a 3,500-student school in Sault Sainte Marie, has won the title three times. The University of Michigan has captured the crown twice since '86. Michigan State and Northern Michigan have each won one title during the period. What is more, at least one Michigan school has made it to the Final Four in 12 of the last 13 tourneys. Add hockey . . . Michigan college teams do not lack for fans. A crowd of 19,983 turned out February 20 at Detroit’s Joe Louis arena to see Michigan State defeat cross-state rival and defending NCAA champion Michigan, 3-1, as the Spartans won their second consecutive conference title. And, you thought the ABA was crazy? . . . With the start of the Major League Soccer just around the corner, we thought it would be worthwhile to reflect on the departed, but not forgotten, Los Angeles Aztecs of the North American Soccer League.
Money changes everything . . . SportsLetter reported in October 1994 that Canadian skier Melanie Turgeon, winner of five medals at the 1997 World Junior Championships, had put together a $1.5 million (Canadian) support package that included her very own two-person coaching staff to advance her career. Things have not exactly worked out according to plan. Plagued by injuries, Turgeon finished 82nd in the 1994 overall World Cup standings, 74th the following year, and did not compete on the World Cup circuit in 1996. She described the decision to train apart from the national team as the "worst thing," and resumed training with the Canadian team in 1997. Turgeon has not repeated her spectacular junior results, but did finish a respectable 20th in the Super G at the Nagano Olympic Winter Games and a strong seventh in the downhill at the recent world championships in Vail, Colorado.
From the urban myth department . . . Discussions of why athletes take performance-enhancing drugs often refer to the "Goldman Survey" that claims over 50% of top athletes would willingly take a drug one time that would enable them to win every competition entered during a five-year period, even if they knew the drug would kill them at the end of that period. Osteopath Dr. Bob Goldman first reported this finding in his 1992 book Death in the Locker Room, II. He interviewed 198 elite athletes, with 103 (52%) saying that they would take such a drug. Goldman claims to have repeated the survey several times since then with smaller sample groups, achieving similar results. The problem with Goldman's claim is that the survey is merely anecdotal and is not based upon accepted statistical sampling. Goldman freely admitted to SportsLetter that the survey results are culled from his own informal questioning of athletes with whom he comes in contact. The survey never has been submitted to a peer review and never has been published. All of this casts doubt on the value of Goldman's findings. Other investigators of steroid abuse strongly question Goldman's claims. Dr. Charles Yesalis, a noted expert on anabolic steroid use at Penn State University, has found that less than 25% of both adolescents and elite powerlifters say they would take anabolic steroids if it was proven that steroid use would lead to heart disease, liver cancer, or sterility – much less guaranteed death. Moreover, Yesalis says that in his own face-to-face discussions with more than 1,000 admitted steroid users over the years, only a small fraction of them said they would use steroids no matter what the consequences.
Saddle up! . . . The NCAA, in 1994, created a category called "emerging sports." Sports in this category are recognized by the NCAA as providing athletic opportunities for women, thereby making it easier for some schools to comply with Title IX. There are no NCAA championships in emerging sports, but an emerging sport may evolve into a full-fledged championship sport, as was the case with women's rowing, which held its first NCAA championship in 1997. According to the NCAA News (February 15), the sport of equestrian may be headed for recognition as the newest emerging sport. Other sports in the category include: ice hockey (40 institutions), water polo (37), squash (27), bowling (21), synchronize swimming (8), badminton (3), archery (2) and team handball (0). Team handball appears not to be emerging too quickly.
Wishing you were out on the slopes? Meet Dusty, the golden eagle mascot of the 1999 World Alpine Ski Championships held February 2-14 at Vail/Beaver Creek, Colorado.
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