“Olympism is a philosophy of life calling for the holistic development of the body, will, and mind. It is a fusion of sport, culture, and education within the acceptance of universal and ethical principles. Its goal is to contribute to world peace through sporting competition, competition that is to be non-discriminatory and participated in in a spirit of friendship, solidarity and fair play” (International Olympic Committee, n.d.).
The philosophy of Olympism has undergone a vast transition over the past decade as a result of the severe environmental damage caused by these mega events on their host cities. It does seem quite illogical to spend millions to earn a bid and in return have to spend millions once the games have finished to counteract the negative damage done. The 1998 games in Nagano, Japan marked the first games in which the IOC or International Olympic Committee invested it environmental protection to attempt to ensure environmentally friendly games. This trend is a growing one as in order to win an Olympic bid you must now clearly illustrate your cities plan to incorporate sport, culture, and now the environment as the three tiers of the Olympic movement. This is of the utmost importance when concerning all mega projects. An example I experienced firsthand was the construction of the new Yankee Stadium.
Yankee Stadium is located in the South Bronx, an already depleted area in need of dryer help, rather than investing in developmental projects to enhance the area, New York City and Mayor Bloomberg felt in appropriate to greatly finance the monster project. The construction of the new stadium only furthered the devastation surrounding the South Bronx, and as a result furthering the poor living conditions for local Bronx residents. Similarly to the Olympics I believe that if a professional sports franchise was to create a new stadium they must do so in an environmentally friendly manner as well as adding to the existing environment that they plan to erect their new home. Until forced to do so teams will continue with plans similar to the Yankees and local residents and the environment will be the only things hurt. A change needs to be made and now!
Ian, as a lifelong Yankee fan and resident of NJ,I 100% agree with your assessment of New Yankee Stadium. Too much public money was spent on a private business. The people who actually live in the South Bronx suffered the most with the new stadium.
ReplyDeleteThanks for both of you sharing your perspectives on the environmental costs of the new Yankee Stadium. I wonder how all of the professional sports teams would measure up if they were graded on how well they implement environmentally friendly practices.
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