poet, playwright and athlete, wrote that “out of the

poet, playwright and athlete, wrote that “out of the tens of thousands of ills in Greece, none is worse than the tribe of professional athletes."

In the modem version of the Olympics as revived in 1896 by Baron Pierre de Coubeitin. political influences. rather than economic ones, appear to have born strongly on the Olympics, affecting selection of events, eligibility of participants, referees, equipment, location. etc.

The 1896 Olympic events were limited largely to the classical contests of speed, endurance, strength of the individual athletes. Team games were not included, or events involving the use of equipment, or props of various kinds.

We have come a long way since that simple revival nearly one hundred years. This year sailing, kayaking, wind-surfing and judo will be a part of the competition. No one of these sports is likely to last long, unless it provides photo-opportunities and popular television watching support. Otherwise they are likely to go the way of some fifty events that have been included in one or more of past Olympics and then dropped: such activities as rope climbing, one-handed weight lifting, Indian club swinging, motor boating, fishing, the firing of large caliber cannons, tug of war, musical composition and even poetry, and holding one's breath under water, a contest conducted only once and won by a Frenchman who stayed submerged in the Science for 68 seconds.

Whereas President Jimmy Carter took us out of the 1980 Summer Olympics for political reasons, we may anticipate a time when NBC may do the same for “bottom line” considerations.