Thanks to GM and the IOC, the Olympic Ideal has Officially Died

Baron Pierre Coubertin must be feeling seriously angry, if there is indeed an afterlife. When he created the modern Olympic Games in 1896, his dream was to create an amateur sporting ideal which has since died as the Movement became a part of our popular culture. Coubertin imagined that the Olympics would bring together the youth of the world in a celebration of human drive and spirit. How far we have fallen...
Following his Olympic success in 1994, on his home soil of Norway, Johann Olaf Koss was an Olympic icon. He excemplified class and perfection. It was not his sporting success that has made him such an amazing human being, however. It was something he did after he had achieved his fame. He retired from speed skating (long track) and decided that he would use his newfound celebrity for the betterment of the planet. He created the charity "Right to Play", which was a charity that enabled disadvantaged children (the youth) in many diverse and poverty stricken nations to become involved in sport. Koss, along with many other athlete volunteers travels to these nations, and provide the infrastructure for these kids to, in effect enabling them to become exposed to sports in a way that they would not otherwise be able to. In a manner of speaking, Koss and his colleagues are actually embodying the original ideal; letting the youth of the world come together and play, not a collection of professional athletes vying for glory. Since its creation, Right to Play has been a close associate of the Games, which seemed in line with the Olympic passion and ideal envisioned by Coubertin.
There is a problem now though: the IOC has dropped Right to Play from the Games, starting (to our great national shame) at the Vancouver Olympics. How can this be when they do nothing other than perform the great ideal, or at the least, help a LOT of very poor children have some fun, making dark lives a little brighter. Let me tell you how. The IOC is now just a corporate whore, lusting after money, not any sort of grand ideal. Right to Play receives sponsorship money from Mitsubishi, in the neighbourhood of $480,000. The Vancouver Olympics are getting sponsorship money from General Motors, for $67,000,000. GM does not want any competition, and by taking money from another car company, Right to Play is somehow competition for GM, so they have asked the IOC to remove the charity from the Games, and the IOC has complied. And so, the wonderful charity that encapsulates the Olympic spirit in a way that the actual Olympics have failed to do for many, many years is no longer a part of the Games. Axed, due to dollar signs. This raises two issues: 1) boycott GM, they deserve to fail (that they can pull this stunt while begging for public dole money burns my ass), 2) express your disgust with your MP, or MPP, and 3) encourage every Canadian athlete who takes the podium in 2010 to wear a Right to Play shirt, to protest this despicable event, this final death of what was once a wonderful dream.