Go ahead, bash Dwyane Wadeall you want.

Call the NBA superstar unpa-triotic, greedy, just another mil-lionaire athlete who doesn’tunderstand how good he’s got it.

Then listen, really listen, towhat he tried to say.

A lot of people are making alot of money off the OlympicGames. Sponsors. Executives.Television networks. Governingbodies. Vendors. Everyone, itwould seem, except the athletes.

It’s a multi-billion dollar pie,why shouldn’t they get a slice?

“Look, what Dwyane Wadesaid isn’t entirely wrong,” formerU.S. Olympic swimmer GaryHall Jr. told The Associated Presson Thursday.

“Maybe he went aboutaddressing the issue clumsily.But the issue he is addressing isreal.

“Do the Olympic Gamesexploit the athlete? Absolutely.Do the Olympic Games exploitpatriotism? Absolutely.”

A day earlier, Wade was quot-ed as saying there should besome compensation for NBAstars who give up a good chunkof their summer to play in theOlympics.

The Miami Heat guard was amember of the American teamsin 2004 and 2008, and he’sagreed to compete once more atthe London Games, which beginJuly 27.

“It’s a lot of things you do forthe Olympics – a lot of jerseysyou sell,” Wade said. “I do thinkguys should be compensated.”

The backlash was immediate.On message boards, fans accusedWade of defaming the Olympicmovement, of not caring abouthis country, of only being con-cerned about padding his alreadyhefty bank account. There werecalls for him to be left off theU.S. team.

Even some fellow Olympiansconsidered his view out of line.

“When you’re walking in theopening ceremonies behind yourflag, you’re thinking about all thepeople who stood for this coun-try in the armed services, all themen and women who sacrificedand represented our country tothe fullest,” said American fencerTim Morehouse, who won a sil-ver medal at Beijing. “Youshouldn’t be thinking, ‘Man, Ishould be paid for this.’ If that’sthe way you’re thinking, youshould just stay at home.”

Recognizing the maelstrom hestirred up, Wade issued a state-ment Thursday saying he didn’twant to be given any Olympicpay.

He also tweeted that pride forhis country “motivates me morethan any $$$ amount” – whichshouldn’t be in question, any-way, since he’s poised to join avery small club of U.S. hoopsterswho have competed in threeOlympics.

What a shame it turned outthis way.

There was a real opportunityto make some significantchanges in the whole Olympicstructure, changes that would’vebenefited all athletes – not just asmall group of NBA millionaireswho don’t really need the moneyanyway.

We’re talking about those whoare barely scraping by, who haveto take a part-time job to makeends meet, who dip into theirown pockets to pay training andtravel expenses because theirobscure sports don’t generateenough money to pick up the tab.

You know, the majority of ath-letes in London this summer.

“I’ve been waiting for oneiconic athlete who would lookbeyond his own success andfame to help all those other ath-letes who have nothing to speakof,” said Evan Morgenstein, theagent for a number of high-pro-file swimming stars such as DaraTorres and Amanda Beard.

“No one makes that muchmoney. We’ve been looking forthe messiah.”

Wade was poised to take onthat role, but it appears the stronggust of negative public opinionsent him fleeing for cover.

Maybe it would help if a fewmore high-profile athletes joinedhim on the firing line, crafting amessage that focuses on helpingall Olympians.

Hall and his longtime agent,David Arluck, have talked in thepast about starting up a union torepresent athletes in their deal-ings with the U.S. OlympicCommittee, but the idea nevergot very far.

Now, the last thing we want tosee is a strike on the eve of theopening ceremony, or the nextOlympics being called offbecause of an IOC lockout.

That said, there’s no doubt thatthe current labor arrangement isfar too one-sided in favor ofthose who watch the games from

the private boxes, decked out intailored suits.

“The culture has to change,”Arluck said. “There’s alwaysbeen a lot of talk about unioniz-ing. But nothing has really hap-pened. That’s a real shame.”

For a start, Hall suggested,

how about setting aside 5 percentof all TV revenues for the menand women we’re actuallywatching on the tube? NBC willbe paying $4.38 billion for U.S.broadcast rights at the next fourOlympics.

Using Hall’s modest figure,that would create an athletes’pool of $219 million – whichbreaks down to roughly about$8,400 per athlete (the SummerGames are supposed to becapped at 10,500 athletes, whilethe much-smaller Winter Gamesgenerally have about 2,500). The

number grows when rights feesfrom the rest of the world are fac-tored in.

Morgenstein said the figureshould be much higher – a mini-mum of 45 percent of the televi-sion revenues going to the ath-letes, more in line with the laboragreements for the major U.S.professional leagues.

“All the executives in the blueblazers are clinking their glassesof wine at their retreats,” theagent said. “The athletes arenothing more than indenturedservants. That’s the hideous truth

of the Olympic movement.”But give the guys who run the

movement credit: They’ve man-aged to persuade athletes theworld over, both rich and poor,that competing for love of coun-try should be enough.

It’s a concept many find hard toshake, even if they clearly under-stand the concept of fair compen-sation in their regular jobs.

“It’s not about the money tome,” said Philadelphia Flyersdefenseman Kimmo Timonen,who has competed in three Win-ter Games for his native Finland.

“It’s an honor. You representyour country. And that’s prettymuch all I need.”

Here’s hoping a certain MiamiHeat guard returns to the fray,bearing a different message.

“Dwyane Wade is a hero,”Morgenstein said. “Believe me,there are plenty of athletes whowant to scream out to him,‘Don’t get on the lifeboat andleave us on a ship that’s goingdown. Take us with you.’ I’mhoping that someone will hearhis voice. He could the messiahof Olympic athletes.”

DAILY NEWS, BOWLING GREEN, KENTUCKYPAGE 8C - FRIDAY, APRIL 13, 2012 SportsOLYMPICS

ASSOCIATEDPRESS

Paul Newberry

columnist

D-Wade feeling heat for making valid point