U.S. Champion Ian Garvey may have not taken home the gold from Sydney, but he did a fine job nonetheless representing our great country. He deserves our utmost respect and support for his fourth place finish at the Pokemon 2000 World Championships. Looking back at all that Ian has done, one cannot help but to marvel at all he has accomplished. Ever since he was a young boy from New Hope, Pennsylvania, Garvey knew he was destined for greatness. As the story goes, he once wrote on his bed frame, “I’m going to be the Pokemon 2000 World Champion in 1992.” Of course, his chance to fulfill this dream would have to wait eight long years, due to the fact that in 1992, he was only five years old and Pokemon had not been invented yet. Undaunted, Garvey has consistently prevailed through hard work, dedication, and the support of his loving parents, Mr. and Mrs. Garvey, to achieve greatness. He stands as one of the great American heroes of our time, next to such luminaries as Maurice Greene and Marion Jones. Well, at least in my mind. To hundreds of corporations who snap up millions in advertising hoping to cash in during Olympic season, however, the athlete is king. And they don’t let us forget it. Nobody’s as cool as a woman who can run a hundred meters 0.37 seconds faster than anyone else. For a price, though, you can buy the shoes she wears. Can’t golf like Mr. Woods? You could buy the car he drives. I have nothing against athletes who train for years to run in big circles really fast or smack balls with various sized sticks – only the corporations that defy them in order to hawk their wares. Like Nike, the shoe company that also has entire clothing lines for people who want the opportunity to advertise their logo on their head, shirt or socks. Nike gives away these promotional items free to athletes, but you’ll have to pay big money for the right to become their human billboard. Americans are a materialistic bunch. We’re so materialistic that our sense of identity is defined by the clothes we wear, the music we listen to, and the cars we drive. A T-shirt is only worth as much as the logo printed on it. The difference between a plain white T-shirt and one with a corporate advertisement like “Abercrombie and Fitch” emblazoned on it is $30. The best music is whatever’s on “TRL.” Ford SUVs are cool. I’d be more upset about this if I weren’t sold on materialism myself. I ridicule people constantly for not sharing my personal tastes. Macs are the best. Jimmy John’s sandwiches taste better. Real drummers don’t play Sabian. My personal preferences may have been based on personal decision, but they all seem to revolve around placing one corporation’s products over another’s. To do so is only American. Still, I can say I made these decisions myself, not because some evil corporation beat it into my head through constant advertising. Nike and others are so prevalent in our consumer culture because they constantly identify themselves as winners by association. The scores of Nike-fitted Americans winning medals at the Olympics only serves to further this idea. However, when you think about all the talent an athlete has for running or throwing basketballs or golfing, it’s insulting to the athlete to consider that they would not have succeeded had they chosen a different brand of shoes. It gets even sillier when the product in question has nothing to do with the athlete’s performance, like those ads where Michael Johnson promotes cell phones. Due to the influence of major corporations, the Olympics have become too much of a promotional tool for advertisers to claim credit for the success of the athletes who actually won medals. According to them, Jones and Greene succeeded partly because they knew what shoes to wear. Johnson’s choice of cell phone really made the difference. Maybe that’s why I was more impressed with the work of Ian Garvey, who finished fourth place in the Pokemon World Championship, without major corporate sponsorship, using the exact same equipment as his competitors. I for one would like to see the Olympics return to its true spirit-reinforcing the belief that on equal ground, we Americans, regardless of race, gender or Nikes, are collectively better at sports than any other nation on the face of the earth.