One question that immediately comes to my mind after reading this article…
If Gary Hall Jr. did NOT sign the so called “Code of Conduct” would they have let him participate and swim in the Olympic Games? If not, then he was FORCED to sign that under duress.
Originally posted by Tom Ellison
One question that immediately comes to my mind after reading this article…
If Gary Hall Jr. did NOT sign the so called “Code of Conduct” would they have let him participate and swim in the Olympic Games? If not, then he was FORCED to sign that under duress.
Not really. Since he could have refused to particpate he was not forced to sign. Particpation is not a right, it is a priviledge which is regulated by a duely appointed body. It is rather like driving in that regard: If you disagree with the use of red lights to stop, you are free not to drive; if you disagree and drive anyway, you are subject to the penalties that may be incurred.
-LBJ
Wow, now here is a different angle….I am going to take a 180 degree stance then my friends on this one. I believe it IS his right. The fastest guy should go. Why does membership on a TEAM have to be a requisite to represent his country? Heck, he swam the time required to go to the Olympic Games….so he should go!
As to him NOT signing and then NOT swimming. Heck, where did it ever say all the years he competed in competitive swimming that once you grow up to become the fast guy in the USA in the 50 free….that you had to sign away your rights to represent your country by joining the TEAM. TEAM in this case should be the USA. Is he a USA citizen or fall under the guidelines to swim for the USA? Yes, he is….so why should HE be denied HIS RIGHT to swim for his country because he does not want to be a member of the TEAM. Talk about BIG BROTHER cramming his WILL down on you. Money and power drive this bus...NOT who is the fastest in the pool and that is what I find fault in this process.
Now, would I be a member of the team? Yes, I would....but that does NOT mean Gary Hall Jr. has to.
I am a huge Gary Hall Jr fan and have been from the beginning. What cracks me up is the whole "team" idiology. Swimming might be the least team sport of the team sports. It's as much an indivudual sport as it is a team sport. Your team wins or loses a meet but the individual wins or loses medals, state or national qualifiers, All American honors. What is there for your "team" after the Olympics? ZERO! Are there any "team" endorsements? No! Any "team" photo gracing the front of a Wheaties box? Gary know's that he will never be the darling of swimming like Phelp's(nothing against Phelps at all) but Gary know's that he has to go it alone, smart man. I think that there are many people that are jealous of him to be honest.
Athlete's in other sports have the ability to market themselves and draw attention to themselves as long as it doesn;t detract from the game. If they break the rules they willingly pay the fine, i.e. Terrel Owens. Gary wasn;t a disgrace nor was he disrespectful to the U.S. or the team. In fact, I thought the rest of the team should have been wearing what he was wearing. I mean let's look at the track athletes, have you seen their shoe's? Pretty nice, pretty flashy, pretty individualistic, not to mention their antics at times. Then if they win they jog along with their countries flag waving over their heads. As a matter of fact all winning runners do this, regardless of their country of origin.
I applaud Gary for breaking out of the prehistoric box that swimming has kept itself in for decade after decade. I am more opposed to the body suits than I am at a warm up! What if he wore a stars and stripes body suit? As long as he wasn;t disrespectfull to the U.S. or the team, then it's all good in my humble opinion.
One more thing. If he was truly a self promoting maverick then why didn;t he ever mention his business venture's like The Race Club? I saw all of his interviews including the Today show and he never mentioned it once.
Tom -
Here is another side: For many sports, especially the minor ones, keeping a sponsor is vitally necessary. If people wish to compete on the international stage, the governing body of a sport must have the money to send teams, help with expenses, etc. No money, no competition. A sponsor is shelling out big $ hopes to get some publicity in return. If they don't or, as in the case of Gary Hall, another company gets the publicity, sponsors very often take their money elsewhere. Gary Hall put his personal monetary interests ahead of the team's, which is his right. However, since he made that choice after having signed a contract, he must accept that there is a penalty.
Two cases in point from my personal experience:
1) 20+ years ago, racewalking managed to get Mazola to act as sponsor. Due to non-compliance by the athletes to some of the requirements, the sponsorship was lost after a year. As a result of the bad word of mouth, it took years to find anyone else to donate much money. Who suffered? The next generation of athletes who followed the athletes who refused to abide by the sponsors (relatively minor and painless) requests of the sponsor.
2) At one time, U.S. Weightlifting was sponsored by Mack Trucks. On top of the sponsorship money, all the weightlifters at the training center got some t-shirts that said "Built Like a Mack Truck." The athletes, realizing what the $ money meant, lived in those shirts - to the point that some of them had to be occasionally reminded (politely - they are BIG) to launder them a bit more often. They kept Mack Trucks as sponsors for at least 4 years.
Gary Hall is free to do as he pleases, including not compete or set up a competing swimming federation (i.e. http://www.adultswimming.com ). But I was always taught that once you agree to something, you either follow through on it or accept the consequences of not doing so.
-LBJ
Tom, the keyword is "TEAM" No one said he couldn't go. But to go as part of USA he has to be a part of the TEAM. When you go to a meet, do you go as an individual? Or as part of a team? You can do either! I don't think anyone was there twisting his arm to sign up as part of the TEAM. If he signed up for that, he has to live by that TEAM's rules. If he breaks one of the rules, he pays. Again, I would bet money that no one forced him to sign up for this!
I freely admit to being a rules are rules kind of guy.
Gary Hall did sign the document that outlined what was expected of him. He's a smart guy and knew exactly what he was doing and had to know there would be consequences for his actions.
He's never been afraid to speak his mind before. I don't remember hearing him, or his agent, say anything in public about how they were forced into signing the code of conduct. He signed it and should have lived up to it. Being Gary Hall doesn't warrant being treated differently.
