Sports & Politics: Notoriety rises, falls with funding levels
Most anyone who knows anything about winter sports has heard of Lindsay Vonn… but I’m sure few have heard of Marit Bjoergen—in our country anyway.
Bjoergen, the most dominant female Nordic skier in the universe, does not gain anything near the American publicity that Vonn, the downhill queen of the world, captures daily.
This is the story of most cross country skiers’ lives, unfortunately. Our sport, equally as athletic and entertaining—as fans in other countries will attest—does not gain the attention it deserves.
Why? Anyone familiar with the two sports’ reach in the United States understands that it is due to one factor: money.
Money drives publicity and participation, which in turn drives the knowledge and popularity of each sport.Since there are not nearly as many sponsors and fans supporting Nordic skiing as there are on the Alpine slopes, the races that go up the hills are largely ignored by the American public.
This draws incredible parallels with the political world.
Many times each year, political parties endorse and invest in a candidate they think will best relay their ideologies in public office.
They fund-raise, advertise, and organize this candidate.
Millions upon millions of dollars are spent each year on United States campaigns, much of it spent by the party sponsoring the candidate.
The Democratic and Republi-can candidates draw almost all the press in elections, right down to our local contests.
This year’s long “primary season,” will determine one thing: who gets the money and support of the Republican Party.
There are, believe it or not, others will run in November’s general election, not just a Republican and Democrat.
But those other people, no matter how competent they are or how much we agree with their policy views, don’t have a shot at winning due to a severe shortage of publicity.
And they won’t have the money or base to compete with super-organizations like the GOP or the Democrats.
So I encourage you, however cut and dry your vote may be this November, to at least glance down the ballot. Allow yourself a glint of guilt for the worthy yet unknown candidates tucked in the corner.
Since I ski up the hills, I know exactly how they feel.
You can follow Colin Criss on Twitter @ADKCurrent
