peaks towering above and the plainsnspread out below him, with his enemiesnvisible as small figures marchingnin search of their quarry, the Westernnartist is like Abbey’s Jack Burns. But innpracticing his craft upon his subject, henwill, I suspect, prefer to make a standninstead of retiring into the “timber,” ornsome other country of the mind. If wenwait and watch his performance, wenshould enjoy the “ruckus” that isnbound to occur.nM.E. Bradford is professor of Englishnat the University of Dallas, and hisnmost recent book is RememberingnWho We Are: Observations of anSouthern Conservative. He is the sonnand grandson of Southwesternncattlemen.nSPORTSnAmateurs and thenOlympicsnby Ed MarkeynIn 1889, when the Baron Pierre denCoubertin was in the middle of formulatingnhis plan to revive the OlympicnGames of ancient Greece, one of hisnprimary worries was the use of cash asnan incentive for performance. Henfeared that “a mercantile spirit threatenednto invade sporting circles,” andnthat amateur sports had to be “purifiednand united.” In the first modern Olympicsnheld in 1896, first and second placenfinishers were awarded silver and bronzenmedals; gold was thought to connotengreed. The third place finisher settlednfor a hearty handshake.nAfter 92 years, the prize structure hasnescalated to three Olympic medals, includingngold, and “unofficial” awards,nmostly green. In addition to competingnfor a medal in Seoul, athletes fromnKorea, the Soviet Union, and France,namong others, were striving forngovernment-granted financial rewards.nAn Olympic judo champion from Koreannow has a gold medal around hisnneck, and 900,000 won (about $1,250)nper month in his pocket. For Sovietnathletes, the value of a gold was 12,000nrubles, or roughly $19,200. After hisn1984 Olympic victory in the 5,000nmeters, Morocco’s Said Aouita movedninto a new house, donated by the kingnof Morocco.nThese are examples of just one formnof professionalism in the Olympics. Fornmany years. Eastern bloc athletes havenbeen among those who are given “jobs”nthat enable them to concentrate onntheir athletic training. This year, professionalntennis players were allowed toncompete for Olympic medals, and itnappears that NBA basketball players willnbe allowed to wear Olympic colors inn1992.nAs things stand now, the definition ofnamateur or professional cannot be appliednequally in all sports. Take fournexamples: Danny Manning, EdwinnMoses, Sergei Bubka, and HeikenDreschler. These four all make moneynthrough sports, they are all, in somensense, “professionals,” yet they cannotnbe treated equally. Just out of collegenlast summer. Manning played on thenOlympic basketball team as an amateur.nHe then signed a $10 million (.oiili.unnnwith the LA Clippers to play pro ball.nEdwin Moses is self-employed in thatnhis money is made on a per-appearancenbasis. When, years ago, Moses wasnasked how he could make a living onntrack as an amateur, he responded succinctlynthat he was “an enlightenednamateur.” The Athletics Congress, thengoverning body of track and field in thenUS, has a trust fund system, in which annathlete’s earnings are placed into annaccount in his or her name, and withdrawalsnare made for “training” expenses.nIt is a de facto savings account.nBubka (from the USSR) is reimbursednby his government for each world recordnhe sets and gold medal he wins innthe pole vault. And Dreschler is essentiallynan investment of the EastnGerman government, which has paidnfor her education and funded her training.nNew rules must be introduced tonconform to the new status of OlympicnI •> Edwin Moses at the World Champi-n’vj«B«^ onships in Rome, September 1987.nFEBRUARY 1989/47n