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Becky Hammon known to be a Traitor (An important message)Becky Hammon, a native of South Dakota and an All American Girl who plays for the WNBA [Women's National Basketball Association] has been called a traitor. The reason is that she is playing for the Russian Women’s Basketball Team during the 2008 Beijing Olympics. The accuser is Anne Donovan who is the coach of the USA Women’s Basketball Team.
People would like to defend the decision of Becky Hammon to play in the Olympics for Russia. The Olympics is about participating in sports without the politics and ideologies ruining the game. It is unfortunate that a group of people have to ruin what should be the historical sporting event for the year 2008. It is also fashionable in this ever globalizing world that players can cross frontiers and play for other teams without sacrificing their loyalty to their country.
Some people would also like to take advantage and criticize some of the members of sports associations in America who actually sign talent from other countries and resolve their paperwork while the local talent in America remains on the sidelines. The United States of America accepts sports personalities from other countries yet Anne Donovan appears to practice what is sheer hypocrisy. The United States Women Basketball Team should take a look at their way of recruiting their athletes for the Olympics. After all, it is not fair that the best in the majority of cases are not accepted or are sidelined.
It is not the fault of Becky Hammon that she wants to play basketball for the Olympics. It is her right and if a team has signed her to a contract to play then it would be good for her and for the United States of America as a whole. Maybe the Anne Donovan’s of the day may get away with their comments because of the envy they carry within them but in the end, Becky Hammon will carry the day.
I would like to predict that in five decades when the 2008 Beijing Summer Olympics is in the history book, Becky Hammon will be remembered in a stamp in the United States Postal Service for her services to basketball regardless of whether she played in the United States of America or the Russian Federation.
It is with this article and comments that most of her fans & well wishers would like to tell the Anne Donovan’s in the United States Women Basketball Society that the Cold War is over, the Olympics is a Sporting Event, and Becky Hammon is a jewel that the United States did not appreciate. "We wish Becky Hammon the best in her endeavors."
Becky Hammon
Age: 31
Height: 5-6
College: Colorado State
Years pro: 10
Notable: Four-time WNBA All-Star (2003, 2005, 2006 and 2007). ... Was
second-leading vote-getter for the '07 WNBA All-Star Game. ... Named
first-team All-WNBA in 2007. ... Named 2007 San Antonio Express-News
Sportswoman of the Year after helping guide San Antonio to the Western
Conference finals. ... Went undrafted out of college. ... Holds the
Guinness world record for most free throws made in a minute by a woman
after swishing 38 of 42 attempts in 60 seconds on Feb. 16, 2008. ...
Spent the 2007-08 off-season playing for CSKA in Moscow.
ATLANTA: Becky Hammon had 25 points and a season-high nine assists, Ann Wauters added 18 points and 14 rebounds, and San Antonio beat winless Atlanta 81-66 Wednesday night in the WNBA.
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WNBA's Hammon pursuing an Olympic dream with Russia
Growing up a pony-tailed patriot in America's heartland, shooting hoops on a cement slab at her family's rural Rapid City, S.D., home, where a flag proudly hung from the front porch, Becky Hammon always dreamed of playing basketball in the Olympics.
"I don't know how anybody could be more All-American than me," says the San Antonio Silver Stars guard, last season's runner-up for WNBA MVP. "I grew up in America's heartland, where we live by the credo: God, family and country. We had no WNBA back then: The Olympics were the ultimate."
At the end of July, when the WNBA takes a short hiatus for the Beijing Olympics, Hammon finally gets the chance to fulfill her childhood dreams, although not in the scenario she had played in her head as South Dakota's Miss Basketball. Instead of representing the USA, she'll travel to Moscow to try out for Russia's Olympic team. She'll be joined by two WNBA players — Detroit's Deanna Nolan and Phoenix's Kelly Miller.
Playing for Russia, ranked No. 3 in the world, wasn't a slam dunk for Hammon. She agonized for months, coming to peace with it through prayer.
"The true agony was accepting that I wasn't going to be on the USA squad," says Hammon, 31, in her 10th WNBA season as an undrafted free agent out of Colorado State. "It was very hard to swallow.
"It was difficult for me to envision myself playing for Russia. I had stereotypes and perceptions that I had to get over. Growing up in the '80s, after I saw the movie, Red Dawn, I slept in my parents' bedroom for months because I thought the Russians were going to invade the USA."
If not for the support of her family and friends, Hammon says, she would have agonized even more after learning about recent derogatory comments made against her by U.S. Olympic coach Anne Donovan. Donovan told ESPN's Mark Schwarz, "If you play in this country, live in this country, and you grow up in the heartland and you put on a Russian uniform, you are not a patriotic person in my mind."
"I know people have certain opinions," Hammon says. "I'm not on the internet…I'm not giving weight to untruths in regards to me."
Dan Hughes, Silver Stars head coach and general manager, defended his star player. "She has been an incredible, first-class player for the WNBA and San Antonio. Becky is playing within the rules of international basketball. I've known her to be an incredibly poised and impactful player for us. I have nothing but respect for her. She has been an absolute joy to coach."
Hammon's Russian basketball odyssey began last summer, when USA Basketball released its list of 23 players being considered for the Olympic team. Long overlooked by the U.S. senior national team, her name was not on it. She subsequently signed a lucrative contract with club team CSKA Moscow.
Hammon has no ancestral ties to Russia, and under Russian league rules, she was eligible for a Russian passport and to become a naturalized citizen. She received her passport in March. As part of her CSKA contract, her agent Mike Cound says, she agreed to participate in the training camp for Russia's Olympic team.
According to FIBA rules, "A national team participating in an international competition of FIBA may have only one player who has acquired the legal nationality of that country by naturalization or by any other means." Hammon says that, barring injury, she has the lone spot all but wrapped up.
Meanwhile, J.R. Holden, a former Bucknell point guard who plays for CSKA Moscow, is expected to play for Russia's Olympic men's team.
In addition to erasing her own stereotypes of Russians, Hammon also had to change their perceptions of Americans.
"A lot of Russians didn't want a naturalized player on the Olympic team, especially an American," Hammon says. "I had to prove that I could be trusted. I had to build a bridge of friendship, respect and camaraderie."
She says Maria Stepanova, Russia's national team captain and a CSKA teammate, eventually told her: "I know you now. You can play for my team any time."
The earliest the USA and Russia could meet would be the Olympic quarterfinals. How will Hammon feel if she hits the game-winning shot to defeat the USA?
"I asked myself, 'Am I OK with winning the gold? Am I OK with not winning any medal?' " she says. "But until I walk into the stadium during opening ceremonies with Russia across my chest, I really won't know how I'm going to feel."
Her parents, Marty and Bev, will be with her in Beijing, along with sister Gina and some friends. Will they dress in USA garb? Or will they wear Russia's colors?
"They'll go neutral," she says. "They'll wear Becky Hammon shirts."
Russia, U.S.: Becky Hammon
An American athlete joins the Russians: Becky Hammon a traitor or a savvy capitalist?
The story in a nutshell: Hammon, 31 and from South Dakota, plays basketball for the San Antonio Silver Stars, where she earns the maximum WNBA salary, about $95,000, and was last season's runner-up for the league's MVP. Last year, she signed a four-year contract worth more than $2 million to play with a professional Russian team in the off-season. Russia then fast-tracked her to citizenship, and she became a dual U.S.-Russian citizen early this year. Two weeks later, she became a member of Russia's national team and will now be representing Russia at the Olympics.
Hammon, who has no Russian heritage, says it was simply a smart business decision. Dual citizenship makes her more valuable because her Russian league requires two Russians on the court at all times and each club permits only two American players. "There's nothing more American than taking advantage of an opportunity," she told ESPN.
Hammon insists she never had a serious chance of making the U.S. Olympic team. She wasn't on USA Basketball's original short list of 23 candidates last year and, given that she's 31, this Olympics is probably her last shot. (Why an MVP runner-up didn't even make the short list is another subject altogether.)
Some may criticize Hammon for being unpatriotic, but she is embracing two things Americans love dearly -- capitalism and the freedom to pursue happiness. In a world of athletes without borders, such as Lukas Podolski, expect more talented sports players to go to the highest bidder.
Still, most of the people are curious to see if her eyes tear up to Russia's national anthem if she gets to mount the medals podium this August.
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Unpatriotic or simply a professional? Becky Hammon and the Olympics
A star on the Colorado State women’s basketball team, undrafted after college she has become a perennial favorite of WNBA fans, finishing second in the league’s MVP voting last year and won the league’s assist title, she is Becky Hammon. Hammon, described by peers as the Steve Nash or Mark Price of the WNBA has caused a stir as the Olympics near. A native of Rapid City, South Dakota Hammon plays for the San Antonio Starz and has decided to play for the Russian Olympic Women’s Basketball Team in Beijing, China this summer. In an interview with ESPN2’s First Take, Hammon explained:
It has always been a dream of mine to play for my country, it took until I was thirty one years old to let that go and realize that it was not going to happen. I am just walking through the opportunities that present itself, its scary at times cause it could go really bad or be really great. I am just trying to highlight that Olympics is something that brings us all together, its something that all countries have in common, sports is a great thing, its a unifier since its existence, they have broken a lot of stereotypes for me and I have broken a lot of stereotypes for them.
After she received her dual citizenship from Russia in February, Hammon signed a four-year deal worth more than $2 million with CSKA, a Russian professional club. Citizenship makes Hammon much more valuable to her Russian club because league rules give the team the ability to recruit, sign, and play other talented foreign players. Hammon earns $95,000, league maximum, with her present WNBA club. She does not speak Russian, but Olympic rules allow her to play for the Russians because she has not previously participated in the games for another country. If the Russians win a silver medal, Hammon will receive an additional $150,000 in bonus money and if they win the gold medal then Hammon will get $250,000.
I believe Hammon has made her decision based on the fact that she would not make a US Women’s Olympic Basketball squad and this is a dream she has always had. In an interview with Mark Schwartz for ESPN’s Outside The Lines Hammon explained:
“When their list of 23 players came out last year, we’re talking about 23 players, and I was not on it, that’s a pretty strong statement that ‘we’re not considering you.’â€
Hammon’s decision has drawn criticism from women basketball greats like Anne Donovan, current coach of the USA Olympic Women’s Basketball team.
“If you play in this country, live in this country, and you grow up in the heartland and you put on a Russian uniform, you are not a patriotic person in my mind. If you’d slit my wrists, I’d bleed red, white and blue. Once you give up your jersey and your right or opportunity to try out for this Olympic team and you go someplace else, you’ve given up your right for people to think that was a smart decision.â€
Nancy Lieberman believe Hammon made a smart financial decision. As the WNBA missed Hammon in the draft, perhaps the Olympic Women’s Basketball Team has over looked Hammon’s value as a player and as a winner. Donovan’s bleeding red-white-blue statement with regards to today’s Olympics rings crazy and fanatical to me. Hammon’s window of opportunity to earn money as an athlete is fleeting and she needs to strike while her skills are in demand. The Olympics with drug testing issues and the ability of athletes from poor countries to obtain dual citizenship so as to reap the financial benefits of competing for a wealthier country leaves Donovan’s comments dated and xenophobic. The Olympics has become like much of sports - it is really all about the money.
Hammon has put herself in a situation where she can accomplish a personal goal of competing in the Olympics, while taking care of herself financially doing something she loves; a win win for the young woman from Rapid City. Watching her in the WNBA All Star Game last year I believe she brings something extra to a team; the ability to score or make the right move when it is necessary for the team to win. It looks to me like Hammon has done for her career what she so often does on the court, win. Hopefully the US Olympic Women’s Team will not be missing this type of player when they face the Russians this summer.
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Basketball player's Olympic dream takes patriotic turnA rural Red state girl with a basketball dream It wasn't to play one day in the WNBA. The league didn't exist. It was to play in the Olympic Games.
In August in Beijing, she will realize that dream when she walks into National Stadium for the opening ceremonies with the rest of the Russian team.
Hammon went to college at Colorado State and plays for the San Antonio Silver Stars. She has no Russian ancestors. She wishes the situation were different. She would love to play for her country. But her country didn't love her back. When 23 names were released to compete for spots on Team USA last summer, Hammon's name was missing. This in spite of the fact that she was rapidly becoming one of the WNBA's top players. Last year, she was runner-up for the league's MVP award.
Dallas' Nancy Lieberman is a friend of Hammon's. And when Hammon told her she wasn't being invited to try to make the team, Lieberman couldn't believe her ears.
"Four years ago I'm not sure she would have belonged on the list," said Lieberman, a Hall of Famer. "But two years ago, she was playing at a high level. I called USA Basketball and said, 'What are you doing?'
"And by the time they got around to expanding the list and adding her name to it, she already had the offer from the Russians."
The offer was a good one. More than $2 million over four years to play in Russia during the off-season and to be naturalized as a Russian citizen in order to realize that Olympic dream. WNBA players don't command NBA-type salaries. Hammon is 31, a 10-year veteran of the league. Her days to cash in on her basketball skills are winding down. If Hammon were going to play for England or Italy, maybe this wouldn't be a big deal. Maybe USA coach Anne Donovan wouldn't be questioning her patriotism. But for some of us, it's hard to distinguish the capitalistic Russia of today from the Soviet Union that had us boycotting the Olympics 28 years ago.
Lieberman was part of that boycott.
"I missed out on an Olympics because of the Soviet Union's invasion of Afghanistan," Lieberman said. "Becky's not part of that culture. What does she know about the hatred between two countries 20 years ago?"
And while Mavericks president Donnie Nelson doesn't begin to challenge Hammon's motives, he thinks she will have a difficult time. He knows from personal experience.
Nelson's involvement with foreign players goes back two decades to Sarunas Marciulionis coming out of the Soviet Union to play for Golden State. That experience enabled him to serve as an assistant coach for Lithuania. And it was a great experience for Nelson. Right up until Lithuania had Team USA on the ropes in the 2000 Games at Sydney.
Team USA had to rally in the last two minutes to secure an 85-83 victory with Lithuania missing a 3-point attempt at the buzzer.
"The only thing I can compare it to is it's like you're in a boxing match and you're getting ready to go for the knockout punch, and suddenly you're looking at your mother's face," Nelson said.
He said he spent a sleepless night, then walked around the village the next day before telling the rest of the coaching staff he could never again be involved in a game plan or in-game coaching for Lithuania.
That's why Nelson wonders exactly how Hammon is going to feel walking into the stadium for the opening ceremonies under the banner of the Russian flag.
"It's an incredible once-in-a-lifetime feeling," Nelson said. "And I'm just not sure what that's going to feel like for her."
Given the way we have seen so many Olympians cheat their way to gold and given the fact that Hammon was snubbed by Team USA, it's hard to say she's doing the wrong thing.
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Early lifeHammon grew up as the youngest of three children and played high school basketball at Stevens High School in her hometown of Rapid City, South Dakota. As a junior, she was South Dakota Miss Basketball. As a senior, she was voted the South Dakota Player of the Year after averaging 26 points, 4 rebounds and 5 assists per game.
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College careerHammon had a distinguished career at Colorado State. Her prolific scoring made her an All-American as well as Colorado Sportswoman of the Year. She led her team to a 33-3 record in the 1998-1999 season and helped them advance to the NCAA Tournament's Sweet Sixteen. She was the WAC Mountain Division player of the year for the 1998-1999 season and surpassed University of Utah player Keith Van Horn as the WAC's all-time leading scorer.
Hammon set many Colorado State all-time records, including points (2740), points per game (21.92), field goals made (918), free throws made (539), three-point field goals made (365), assists (538) and steals (315).
On November 12, 2004, Becky Hammon was inducted into the Colorado State University Sports Hall of Fame. On January 22, 2005, her #25 Colorado State jersey was retired at the Moby Arena.
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Professional careerUndrafted during her rookie season, Hammon was signed to the WNBA on May 12, 1999 and joined the New York Liberty. She had a surprisingly solid rookie season statistically, backing up starting point guard Teresa Weatherspoon. Her aggressive play at both ends of the court quickly impressed the coaching staff and made her a favorite among Liberty fans. After the 2003 season, Hammon took over for Teresa Weatherspoon as the Liberty's starting point guard and along with Vickie Johnson and Crystal Robinson, became one of the team's co-captains in 2004.
In her first season in 2003 with the Tennessee Fury of the NWBL (National Women's Basketball League), Hammon led the league in scoring, averaging 20.6 points per game. In 2004, Hammon signed with the Colorado Chill, a new team to the NWBL, but played in only 2 games because of a knee injury she sustained in the 2003 season when playing for the New York Liberty.
Primarily used to provide instant points off the bench, Hammon finally had a breakout season in 2003, providing much-needed offense for the Liberty. However, her season was cut short by a knee injury.
When aging star Teresa Weatherspoon was not re-signed by the team that year, Hammon was thrust into the starting point guard role. She would help guide the Liberty to a playoff berth in 2004 amongst very close competition in the Eastern Conference.
On August 5, 2004 Hammon represented the WNBA All-Stars in the WNBA vs. USA basketball game that pitted the 2004 USA Women's Basketball team against WNBA players at Radio City Music Hall. On August 16, 2005, Hammon scored her 2000th WNBA career point. At the end of the 2005 season, she was named to the All-WNBA Second Team.
In 2005, in a rematch of the previous year's championship game, Hammon and the Chill defeated her old team and won their first NWBL title. Hammon received the game's Most Valuable Player award with 31 points, 6 assists and 3 steals.
In 2006, Hammon was named Most Valuable Player of the NWBL, leading the Chill to a second straight Pro Cup title.
In the 2006-07 WNBA offseason, Hammon finally made New York her offseason home.
In January '07 she moved to Spanish League and played for Rivas Futura.
On April 4, 2007 during the WNBA Draft, Becky Hammon was traded to the Silver Stars along with a second round draft pick in the 2008 draft for the second overall first round pick in the 2007 WNBA Draft, center Jessica Davenport.
Hammon had her best season of her career in 2007 posting career high averages of 18.8 ppg (fourth best) and 5.0 apg (first in WNBA). She is also an MVP candidate after leading the Silver Stars to a 20-14 record and the second seed in the Western Conference. While in San Antonio, Hammon earned the nickname, "Big Shot Becky" because of her ability to hit shots in clutch moments. It comes from the nickname "Big Shot Bob" given to San Antonio Spurs forward, Robert Horry.
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OlympicsAfter getting the impression that she would once again fail to make the U.S. Women's National Basketball Team, Hammon announced she would try to claim a roster slot on the Russian basketball team in the 2008 Olympics in Beijing, China. Coach Anne Donovan, one of the most decorated figures in women's basketball and coach of the 2008 United States Women's Olympic Basketball team said concerning Hammon's decision, "If you play in this country, live in this country and you grow up in the heartland - and you put on a Russian uniform - you are not a patriotic person." This has fueled controversy in which Hammon has been labeled a traitor for choosing to directly compete against her country in an event long predicated on nationalistic pride.
Hammon became a Russian citizen earlier in 2008. The coach of Russia's team, Igor Grudin, is also the sports director of the CSKA team that Hammon plays for in Moscow during the WNBA off-season. The announcement that she would participate in camps for the Russian national team came the same day that it was also announced that national team player (and CSKA teammate of Hammon's) Olga Arteshina had become pregnant. Hammon also signed a three-year extension with the CSKA team at around the same time she was named as a prospect for the national team.
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BroadcastingIn 2006, Hammon began working during the WNBA offseason as a sideline reporter for ESPN telecasts of NBA basketball games. Her first broadcast was a Spurs-Cavs game in San Antonio on November 3, 2006.
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Read an important message from Becky in her journal.An Important Message to My Fans Regarding the Recent Trade
To all my fans,
I wanted to write a brief statement regarding the recent trade which has me heading to San Antonio. Most importantly, let me thank all of you for your e-mails, notes and concerns regarding my personal well-being, and also regarding my playing career and future. In addition, I want to thank Jim Dolan for giving me the opportunity to play on the world’s greatest stage, and for amazing experiences he has provided to women not just in the WNBA but in every sport played at Madison Square Garden.
I received news of the trade at the same time all of you did and, to tell you the truth, I was equally surprised. New York City, the Garden, the fans, and my past and former teammates will always have a very special place in my heart, and for that I thank you all for making the past eight years so unbelievable for me. Along with the many words of encouragement, there have also been many questions and rumors regarding my interest in moving. I can assure all of you that I did not ask for this trade. I believe firmly, however, that everything happens for a reason. I know that God has guided my footsteps from day one, and this situation is no different. I'm extremely excited to be heading down to Texas to play for the Silver Stars. I have heard nothing but great things from players about the coaches and the organization as a whole. I hope you will all continue to support my career in San Antonio as a member of the Silver Stars. Thanks again for being the greatest fans in all of sports!
Becky Hammon
Russia’s New Point GuardBasketball fans have a little something extra to look forward to this summer. Even though the finals are over, the Summer Olympics are fast approaching, with basketball being one of the events. However, talks of how one player is being considered un-patriotic have grabbed Bill Littlefield’s attention. Bill comments on Russia’s newly acquired point guard.
Becky Hammon, a perennial WNBA all-star, says her favorite foods are pasta, lobster, and steak the way her mom makes them.
She says the playing of the National Anthem is her “favorite moment before each WNBA game.â€
At a recent San Antonio Silver Stars promotional event, Hammon served up chicken sandwiches at McDonalds.
Despite the fact that she did not include apple pie with that pasta, lobster and steak, Becky Hammon is about as all-American as a young woman could be.
So why does Anne Donovan, the coach of the women’s basketball team the U.S. will send to Beijing, regard Hammon as unpatriotic?
Because at the summer games, Hammon will play for Russia.
That opportunity arose because during the winter, Hammon plays basketball for CSKA, a professional club in Russia that pays her six times as much as the $95,000 she makes playing summers with the Silver Stars, and because last year, when U.S.A. Basketball invited twenty three players to try out for the Olympic team, the list did not include Becky Hammon, though she was last season’s MVP runner-up in the WNBA.
When that list was expanded to thirty in September, Hammon did get a call. She chose honoring her Russian contract over what she regarded as a long shot to make the U.S. team.
Becky Hammon acknowledges that money did play a part in her decision. She is, after all, an American. But she maintains that the more compelling reason for taking advantage of the duel citizenship Russia granted her in February is that she wants to play in the Olympics. She’d rather wear red, white, and blue, but if it’s a choice between wearing Russian red and white and watching the games on t.v., she’ll suit up for Russia.
There is much to celebrate in this decision. To shrug off the notion that the Olympics must be about the bragging rights one country achieves over another is not unprecedented, but it is rare and admirable. Beyond that, in the face of charges that she is unpatriotic, that she is a greedy ingrate, and that she has, essentially, defected, Becky Hammon has said, “this is a game of basketball.â€
It’s easy to root for that magnificently sensible observation.
Becky Hammon: More Evidensky That the Olympics Are a Fraud, Games Outlived Their "Purpose"By Debbie
Longtime readers of my work know that I am not a fan of the Olympic Games. This is despite the fact that I represented Olympic Silver Medalist Diver Scott Donie during the 1996 Olympic Games, as his agent and attorney.
In reality, the Games are not about international competition or peace and understanding, as they are billed. They are about promoting Anti-Americanism, Communism, Islamic terrorism, and Anti-Semitism. All of these things have been part and parcel of the Olympics throughout the last century. The International Olympic Committee still refuses to memorialize the slaughtered Israeli athletes who gave their lives at the 1972 Munich Games. The only good thing about the Olympics was the 1980 USA Hockey Team defeat of the Soviets in the semi-finals at Lake Placid, a glorious moment the world wishes to minimize, as does the Olympic Games governing structure.
Now, there's the issue of Becky Hammon, as yet another example of how fraudulent the Olympics is. Her story will shine the most attention on Olympic Women's Basketball that it's ever gotten and far more than it deserves. But it also sheds light on how fake the "international" aspect of the Olympics actually is.
Hammon--one of the few WNBA players who actually looks like a woman--was not chosen to play for Team USA. So, this blonde native daughter of South Dakota--who didn't speak a word of Russian--chose to play basketball in Russia. They made her a quickie citizen. And, now--Strasveui, Bekki ("Hello, Becky" in Russian)--meet the newest Russian Olympic basketball player. She will be the only member of the team who doesn't wear a Cross Your Heart Hammock, er . . . Bra. But even she has glammed down to look like a true WNBA, er . . . Russian basketball player.
This chick is as American as apple pie. She's as much of a Russian as I'm from Fiji. And this is the BS of the Olympics. Athletes who don't make it in their native country can now pick and choose.
The games aren't amateur either, as they once were. That was the beauty of the USA Hockey Team's 1980 win. They were true amateurs who slept on old prison cots at Lake Placid, against steroid-ridden professional Russian players. Now, everyone is a pro, with thousands to millions of dollars in sponsorships and lucrative advertising deals.
And since the athletes are neither amateurs nor real natives of the countries for which they play, what's the point? No point, other than mucho dinero for Olympic athletes, the multi-billion dollar bloated Olympic bureaucracy, and NBC (which currently holds the broadcast rights).
No, there is nothing "Olympic" about the Olympic Games anymore.
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