Lochte: The Loser & His Loss

The 2016 Rio Olympics are over.

America and a large assortment of Americans, in a host of sports genres, have earned (not won) more Olympic medals than any other nation represented in the Summer games. Their athletic abilities, moral character, and in many cases, Christian testimony ‘have done them proud,’ and brought great credit upon themselves and the United States of America;

…with the exception of a few knuckleheads who couldn’t resist the opportunity to make complete ‘arses’ of themselves. 

Ryan Lochte, one of America’s premier swimmers, and winner of multiplied medals in numerous Nationals and Olympic contests, along with several of his compatriots, recently ‘made a night of it’ in Rio; during which time he visited one or more clubs, ‘drank the trough dry,’ almost single handedly destroyed a service station bathroom, and publicly discharged a copious amount of yellow liquid upon the ground.

To make matters worse, upon questioning by the sports media, and before millions of people, lied about the whole sorted affair. And if this were not enough, after preliminary questioning by authorities, Lochte managed to flee the country; leaving his teammates to answer for his and their misdeeds. 

It seems Ryan has a long history of those embarrassing misdeeds; not unlike his teammate, Michael Phelps. However, in this particular case Michael seems to have learned his lesson, and chose to acquit himself well. Lochte should have followed his lead.

I, for one, am not short of amazed how the Olympic tradition of amateurism has metamorphosed into something I am unable to recognize. Whereas, one of the early American track greats, Jim Thorpe, was stripped of his Olympic gold medal for having participated in a few semi-pro ball games, nowadays it seems ‘all bets are off.’ And for all the world, I cannot understand why. 

I mean, there is little or nothing left of the ‘Only Amateurs Welcome Here’ tradition which traces its roots to the games of ancient Greece. In the past couple of decades the Summer Olympics, in particular, has featured a host of professional basketball, tennis, track, and water sports multi-millionaires; and allowed them to compete against less talented, (and far poorer) ‘wannabes.’ 

But to return to the matter at hand, it has been reported that Ryan Lochte has amassed a fortune of no less than $6,000,000 dollars; primarily the result of advertisements and book deals. (Count ‘em. That’s 6 with 6 zeros)!

As a lowly pastoral counselor I teach a concept I refer to as, Short Term Satisfaction vs. Long Term Results. 

And I think this principle applies very well here. For you see, Ryan Lochte and his compatriots are likely to pay and pay dearly for their few mindless minutes of mayhem, and having left a few hundred dollars of destruction in their wake.

It almost goes without saying that the multiplied millions in potential endorsements Lochte might have earned, as the result of his athletic prowess at the Rio games, may now be barely enough to cover the fine the Brazilian authorities have levied upon him.

Worse yet, the International Olympic Committee, or one of its subsidiary associations may conceivably suspend Lochke from any further participation in his chosen sport.

Inestimably sadder, the sullied reputation of a great athlete who, though worthy of God’s grace, forgiveness and reconciliation, is unlikely to receive all that much of it from his fellow man.

Short Term Satisfaction vs. Long Term Results


By William McDonald, PhD. From (Mc)Donald's Daily Diary. Vol. 41. Copyright pending

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