03:26 PM ET  06.12 |      The Olympics have always taken my breath away. I remember watching US swimmer
Michael Phelps win a record eight gold medals in one year. I remember watching
Jamaica's Usain Bolt utterly destroy the competition, winning the race in style
while beating his chest, though it cost him an even lower world-record time. I
remember watching dreams come true, and I fear all of that may be coming to an
end.  I am worried that the Olympics, arguably the one pure form of competition
left and where athletes compete for love of country, not for money, will become
akin to what people are trying to make college athletics-a moneygrab for it's
competitors and nothing more. I fear that those who do compete for the love of
the game are few and far between, and most likely do not come from the United
States of America.

     When Dwayne Wade of the Miami Heat came out and
said that he wants to be paid for his time on the Olympic Basketball team, I
immediately asked myself, "Why?". Wade already has his millions, and I assume he
loves his country, so why would he want to demand payment for something millions
of people would do for free? He's greedy. It's a natural instinct to want to be
fairly compensated, I get that, and I understand where Wade is coming from in
regards to his desire to receive payments, or at least a percentage of the
profits from every jersey bearing his name, but why? Because the Olympics are
becoming the world's biggest advertisement for an athlete's talents and
endorsement opportunities. Get on the podium, get your millions in watch deals.
It's simple really. I'm fine with that. Companies need a face to be competitive,
whether it be a gorgeous supermodel  or a talented athlete, and the Olympics
give an athlete a stage to audition on. But in their heart, the Olympians know
that the hopes of a nation rest on their shoulders. They compete for the love of
the game, not for money. At least they're supposed to. Wade's comment sounded
eerily similar to the argument made by proponents of paying college athletes.
People go to college to prepare themselves for the rest of their lives, and play
sports because they can, not to play sports then drop in on a few classes.
Collegiate athletes will tell you that they play to win a championship, not for
payment. The same goes for some professionals, who stay with one team their
entire careers for the love of the game, even though they could move to more
marketable teams. Therefore, if one college can offer more money to a player
than another university could, the player would almost always go to the school
offering more money. The same concept applies to the Olympics. If John Doe is
theoretically able to compete for three different countries, then he will most
likely compete for the nation offering the most money to compete, not
necessarily for medals as is custom now, putting smaller, less developed nations
at a disadvantage, sucking the soul out of the games in a ruthless monetization
of citizenship.

     The real issue, at least for me, is where is the
love of the country? The Olympics are the embodiment of nationalism, or heroism,
of athletic immortality. There is no drive to compete if one knows they will get
paid regardless. The only incentive someone should need for competing in the
Olympics is knowing they are going to battle for their country in a (mostly)
bloodless war for dominance. Do you think the Miracle on Ice would have happened
if there was no drive to compete? The ragtag team beat the Soviet Union for a
reason--that they were representing the free world-- and they knew it. They
accomplished the impossible, but they had to continue competing. Would there
have been a drive in the gold medal match against Finland if they received their
compensation beforehand? I'm not sure, but it's a valid question. The true
beauty of the Olympics lies in an athlete's desire to perform for his country
without getting paid for simply showing up.  Why even have a competition between
nations if it is simply another way for athletes to make money, not to represent
their love of their country? The moment Olympians start getting paid will be the
moment it will lose it's soul.