NO HOLDS BARRED

On this edition of No Holds Barred, host Eddie Goldman spoke with former pro soccer player, current politics professor at Pacific University in Oregon, and author Jules Boykoff.

His latest book is Power Games: A Political History of the Olympics.

We spoke with him by phone Wednesday.

"I really wanted to raise a number of themes that I felt haven't been illuminated that much in the histories that have been written about the Olympics," he said.

One was class privilege.

"Class privilege was a big part of the Olympics even from the beginning, when it started by a French aristocrat named Baron Pierre de Coubertin, who basically got together a bunch of his dukes and counts and princes to start the International Olympic Committee (IOC). That kind of class privilege has threaded all the way through today," he said.

Another was the long history of "athlete activists, who had either taken a political stand or they stood for something transformative." And there is the "activism that's outside of the Olympics," including indigenous people, environmentalists, taxpayers, and others who have fought against all sorts of abuses done in the name of the Olympics. Still another goal was to help people learn about how capitalism works through the various predatory, unfair, and discriminatory practices of the IOC.

All this was discussed with the opening of the Rio Olympics almost upon us, on August 5. We discussed the mass displacement of people from their homes and especially the favelas, how like other Olympics this one is being used as a way for real estate interests to grab enormous profits, the environmental disasters facing the Rio Olympics, the phony promises made by politicians, and the mass movement and activities against the Olympics going on right now in Rio.

The book also reviews the history of several attempts at creating alternative games, including the Women's Games and Workers' Olympiads, which took place before World War II. We discussed those and why alternative games are not as strong today as they once were.

With many cities from Boston to Krakow to Toronto and others declining to bid on hosting Olympic Games, and the seemingly endless doping and embezzlement scandals facing both the IOC and numerous international federations, we discussed the prospects for reform of this Olympic monster.

With all these scandals and this growing opposition to the Olympics, he argued that the Olympic movement was "weaker" now than it had been in a long time, meaning conditions were ripe for fighting for basic changes right now. Fighting to reduce the size of the Olympics, demanding that resources be used for the people such as creating social housing out of Olympic facilities, and advocating an open voting process in the IOC were just some of the reforms discussed. But we also considered whether it is possible to reform the kind of huge money-making machine which the IOC has become.

And we discussed more on the Russian state-sponsored doping program, the dangers facing Los Angeles should that city be chosen to host the 2024 Olympics, the need for intellectuals and progressives to support sports programs for the people, and much, much more.

Power Games: A Political History of the Olympics is an entertaining and informative read, and is highly recommended in order to understand the historical and social roots of the growing crisis in the Olympic movement, and how to move forward.

You can play or download No Holds Barred here and here. If one link does not work, please try another.

No Holds Barred is available at Google Play Music.

Also, No Holds Barred is available through iTunes.

You can also listen to No Holds Barred via Stitcher through iOS or Android devices or on the web here.

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The No Holds Barred theme song is called "The Heist", which is also available on iTunes by composer Ian Snow.

No Holds Barred is free to listen to and is sponsored by:

The Boxing Tribune, boxing's independent media. Unlike every other major boxing website, The Boxing Tribune is not funded or owned by promoters, managers, or networks, and is fully independent and free to write the truth. For independent boxing news and views, go to http://boxingtribune-news.com.

The North American Catch Wrestling Association, a grassroots organization designed to help rebuild the sport of catch-as-catch-can-wrestling. For more information, go to their Facebook page at facebook.com/NorthAmericanCatchWrestlingAssociation.

The National Registry for Wrestling, whose mission is to increase wrestling's fanbase, to build a registry of all wrestling fans, to serve as a connecting point for all wrestling fans, and to provide TV and Internet listings for wrestling. For more information, go to NR4W.com.

Labels: corruption, doping, Eddie Goldman, IOC, Jules Boykoff, No Holds Barred, Olympics, Power Games, Rio, sport

On this edition of No Holds Barred, host Eddie Goldman discusses the ballooning series of scandals and crises in world sport and the combat sports, including doping in pro and amateur boxing, the state-sponsored doping program in Russia, the Rio Olympics debacle, the Minnesota wrestling Xanax scandal, and more. Highlighted is the need to combat not only each instance of corruption and the structures which allow and profit from such outrages, but also the common win-at-all-cost amoral attitudes which are prevalent in world sport today.

You can play or download No Holds Barred here and here. If one link doesn't work, please try another.

No Holds Barred is available at Google Play Music.

Also, No Holds Barred is available through iTunes.

You can also listen to No Holds Barred via Stitcher through iOS or Android devices or on the web here.

The PodOmatic Podcast Player app is available for free, both for Android at Google Play, and for iOS on the App Store.

The No Holds Barred theme song is called "The Heist", which is also available on iTunes by composer Ian Snow.

No Holds Barred is free to listen to and is sponsored by:

The Frank Gotch World Catch Wrestling Tournament. On Sunday, July 3, 2016, catch wrestlers from all around the world will compete in Humboldt, Iowa, the hometown of the legendary world champion wrestler Frank Gotch. Organized by the Catch Wrestling Alliance and co-sponsored by IAWrestle, the Frank Gotch Statue Committee, and the Frank Gotch Kids Wrestling Club, the event will take place at Humboldt High School. For more information, go to CatchWrestlingAlliance.com.

The North American Catch Wrestling Association, a grassroots organization designed to help rebuild the sport of catch-as-catch-can-wrestling. For more information, go to their Facebook page at facebook.com/NorthAmericanCatchWrestlingAssociation.

BJJ Eastern Europe, for the latest Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu news, articles, interviews, competition calendar, European belt rankings, academy directory, and more. For more information, go to BJJEE.com.

The National Registry for Wrestling, whose mission is to increase wrestling's fanbase, to build a registry of all wrestling fans, to serve as a connecting point for all wrestling fans, and to provide TV and Internet listings for wrestling. For more information, go to NR4W.com.

Labels: amorality, boxing, corruption, doping, Eddie Goldman, No Holds Barred, Olympics, Povetkin, Rio, Russia, sport, sports, world, wrestling

On this edition of No Holds Barred, host Eddie Goldman spoke with Luke Dowdney, the founder of Fight for Peace and Luta Sportswear .

Originally from the UK where he was an amateur boxer, Luke Dowdney now lives in a favela in the Rio de Janeiro area in Brazil. In 2000, he founded Fight for Peace, a non-profit organization which supports young people in communities affected by gun crime, violence, and drugs. The organization set up academies in Rio, and later London, to provide youth with training in boxing and many styles of martial arts, as well as education.

Fight for Peace is now an independent NGO, and receives funding from many sources, including Luta Sportswear, also founded by him, which gives half of their profits to Fight for Peace.

The programs supported by Luta Sportswear are expanding to New York, and he was in town this week to start this process and promote the Luta brand. We spoke with him by phone Thursday afternoon.

Why boxing?

"Boxing is something that is so important to teach us about discipline, to teach us about what you put in is what you get out, that whole notion of never quitting," he said.

We also discussed the expansion of the program to include many disciplines in the martial arts including MMA, their working together with local organizations and gyms, their working with boxers including 2012 Olympic super heavyweight champion Anthony Joshua and world heavyweight champion Wladimir Klitschko, the recent mass protests in Brazil against the massive government spending for the 2014 FIFA World Cup and 2016 Rio Olympics while the needs of the people are not being met, and much more.

You can play or download No Holds Barred here and here. If one link doesn't work, please try another.

No Holds Barred is also available on mobile phones and iPads through Stitcher.

Also, No Holds Barred is available through iTunes.

The No Holds Barred theme song is called "The Heist", which is also available on iTunes by composer Ian Snow.

No Holds Barred is free to listen to and is sponsored by:

ONE Fighting Championship. ONE FC is Asia's largest and most prestigious mixed martial arts event. ONE FC features the best Asian fighters and has initiated the ONE Asia Partnership Network, which includes most of the major MMA promotions and MMA gyms in Asia. For more information, go to their web site, at ONEFC.com.

Beezid.com - Penny Auctions. Your #1 source for exciting auction shopping and outstanding deals on just about anything! Top rated, most trusted auction site online. Where do you shop? Beezid.com - Penny Auctions.

American Top Team. Whether you're a beginner or a champion, train with the champions in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, boxing, wrestling, grappling, and mixed martial arts at American Top Team. Check out their web site at http://americantopteam.com/.

The First Annual Liberty Bell Classic East Coast King of Catch Tournament, organized by the North American Catch Wrestling Association in conjunction with Scientific Wrestling. This catch wrestling tournament will take place Saturday, August 31, 2013, at the Klein JCC, 10100 Jamison Ave., Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19116. No points! No politics! Only submissions and pins win! For more information, go to http://nacwa.weebly.com.

Labels: boxing, Brazil, Eddie Goldman, favela, Fight for Peace, London, Luke Dowdney, Luta Sportswear, martial arts, MMA, New York, No Holds Barred, Rio