The IOC Has Seen Better Days

The International Olympic Committee is threatening to remove wrestling, among another eight events, from the 2020 game schedule. Say what you will about what the Olympics have become, but to lose wrestling is to lose a sport that has been integral to the Olympic dynamic since Jesus wore sandals. I believe that the IOC has NO intentions of removing wrestling from their program, and the info leak has the trappings of a publicity stunt. Given that we’re entering an Olympic lull between summer and winter games, it’s in their best interests to maintain popularity in the public eye, until…

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Until one of their high profile athletes is charged with the brutal premeditated murder of his girlfriend on the morning of Valentine’s Day. Oscar Pistorius, famed “Blade Runner” of the 2012 London Olympics, was formally charged this morning with the first-degree murder of his girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp on February 14th.

The Pistorius murder story gets stranger by the day, with new evidence pointing towards a domestic incident preempting the savage killing, a stark contrast to a case of mistaken identity as Pistorius first claimed. Recent allegations are surfacing that Pistorius took the time to attach his prosthetic legs prior to the murder, which would seem unlikely in the event that he was startled by an intruder and acted out of impulse- the crux of the Defendant’s case.

Seen as a hero this summer as the first double amputee to participate in the Olympic Games, this is another case of a famous Olympian falling quickly from the mountaintop, joining Lance Armstrong and Marion Jones, among others. The similarities have yet to be examined, but it would be no surprise if performance-enhancing drugs and the resulting “Roid Rage” played a part in the incident. The difference in these situations, however, is that while Armstrong and Jones ruined their careers, Pistorius (allegedly) destroyed the life of an innocent woman. The extremity and severity of this case has led me to question whether I can be surprised by any future incident in a professional athlete’s life, since this sets the heinous-bar insanely high. 

- Chad "Chadillac" Hoyle

For more Chadillac, tune in to Psycho Sports, Tuesdays at 7PM (or catch the podcast), right here on 990WBOB. 

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