Black Power activist to sell Olympic gold medal

msnbc ^ | 14 Oct | msnbc/ap/reuters

[flowerplough]

Sprinter Tommie Smith 'feels that what he did ruined his life in many ways'.

[ClearCase_guy]

It may show up in the Oval Office.

[subterfuge]

He should write a book and tell how he was brainwashed into doing the bidding of the race hustlers—including how they abandoned him after he did so.

[MichaelP]

I'll give him $2.50 and throw it into the sewer...

Mike

[ontap]

When one chooses to make a gesture that is going to be controversial one has to take the responsibility for those actions....a public apology would help but I doubt he feels he needs to make one.

[Doogle]

"selling for the money....and oh yeah, sharing it with the public"

[ontap]

How much gold is in the thing...that would determine it’s worth to anyone other than him.

[I cannot think of a name]

“I'll give him $2.50 and throw it into the sewer...”

I bid $2.51. I'd melt it down and cast it into bullets. There may be a time coming when sending it back would be most appropriate.

[albie]

I’m sure there are those who see some sort of significance in the medal where “it helped to advance race relations”. “It’s about an african american who felt he could no longer be a slave to the white man”. etc and so on, blah, blah.

Perhaps the “Slave Museum” in Charleston will take it!

[GonzoGOP]

The former San Jose State runner has put his gold medal for the 200 meters and red-and-white Puma spikes up for auction at New York-based M.I.T. Memorabilia. The bidding starts at $250,000, and the sale is scheduled to close Nov. 4.

M.I.T.'s Gary Zimet said Smith is selling the medal for the money but also because he wants to share it with the public.

If it was about sharing, donate it to a museum. This is about the money pure and simple. He cheapened the award when he used it as a venue for his stupid salute. And now he finishes rendering it meaningless by selling it at auction. The circle is complete, or in this case more of a Tidy Bowl spiral.

[Above My Pay Grade]

I’m sure it has some historical value as a collectible, but I’d be shocked if he got anywhere near the opening price of $250,000. I’d guess more like a tenth of that.

It would be a hoot if someone like Rush Limbaugh bought it. I’m sure a clever conservative could think of a thousand amusing uses for it.

[Malone LaVeigh]

So what do you want to do? Sell it or pawn it?

[FourPeas]

Smith's biography on his official website sheds light on his attitude toward the fallout from the incident, questioning why the public interpreted the gesture as "an act of disloyalty to the country he represented."

"Why do so many Americans still consider this gesture as disrespectful even today, when we consider ourselves to be politically correct and considerably more understanding of cultural differences?" the biography asks.

Proves that stupidity knows no colour.

[Vinnie]

He should keep it. Never know when he might need a tooth filled.

OJ got the glove.

[nuconvert]

He’s stuck on stupid

[flowerplough]

DING!DING!DING!DING!

Pencils down, we have a winner!

Post of the day, Vinnie, for “OJ got the glove.”

[jakerobins]

Why barry bother? He won a Nobel without doing anything....He could probably get awarded some gold medals without ever running a race....

[ClearCase_guy]

I;m thinking that a fan will buy it and give it to Barry to display as a symbol of Black Power. Put it right there in the Oval Office and tell Whitey to have a nice day.

[tx_eggman]

Smith, now 66 and living in Georgia declined to comment on the auction to the San Jose Mercury News. "He feels that what he did ruined his life in many ways ...

Who'da thunk ... actions have consequences.

Life's a bitch Tommie, deal with it.

[chippewaman]

Maybe he needs to go to Las Vegas and visit Rick, the Old Man, Chumlee and Corey at the Pawn Shop.