Long before Jerry Maguire made it a part of pop culture, it was the mantra of the Canadian amateur athlete. "SHOW ME THE MONEY!"
Canadian athletes, aided and abetted by a compliant media, have been crying poor for a generation, with good reason. Financial and technical support routinely provided for athletes of other nations has been just as routinely denied in Canada.
Most of the time, the government didn't even bother to listen. The cynical observation was that the people at the trough in Ottawa saw no political advantage to be gained by spending more on athletes who performed in the spotlight for two weeks out of every four years. Their performances made us feel warm and toasty for a nano-second or two but the moment was always lost.
That attitude has been changing over the course of the past few years and, now that we have the Vancouver Winter Olympics just five years away, the cashbox is open.
Wednesday's federal budget speech included an additional $20 million to bring the Government of Canada's annual contribution to a record-setting $140 million, money that's locked in until 2010. The $140-million figure is double what it was in 2001.
Part of the reason the feds are more sport-friendly these days is obviously the fact that nobody wants us to look like fools in Vancouver, or, more to the point, to be the culprit who made us look like fools. Canada has played host to two previous Olympic Games (Montreal in '76, Calgary in '88) with the unenviable record of failing to win a gold medal at either.
Another, perhaps more important reason is that this time, the athletes didn't just stick their collective hand out and demand cash. They delivered a strong, thoughtful business plan combined with an ambitious goal: To be the best in the world at the 2010 Olympics.
Whether or not "Own The Podium" can deliver what it promises -- at least 35 medals at the Vancouver Games -- it already has been the most successful argument ever made for financial support of Canadian athletes.
For once, all the major players on the winter sports scene came together with one voice with a vision and a strategy that captivated the government and is probably going to captivate a lot of new corporate support as well.
With the NHL on sabbatical until at least October and quite likely even well beyond that, there is a window of opportunity just now when some major corporate sponsors might be discouraged enough with hockey to find another niche for that sponsorship money that's burning a hole in their pockets.
Indeed, there is already a sense in some parts of the corporate world that the Olympic train is leaving the station and "we'd better be on it."
Bell Canada Enterprises is already on board for $200 million. RBC is in for $110 million. CIBC has a big financial commitment to Alpine Canada. In the coming months and years, there will be dozens more. You can bet on that.
Suddenly well-financed, the onus is now on the athletic community to deliver on the "Own The Podium" report prepared by Cathy Priestner Allinger and Todd Allinger. It is an impressively detailed document, mostly scientific in nature but with more than enough smoke and mirrors thrown in.
They have based their 35 medal prediction on historical mathematical formulas involving the expansion of the pool of what they call "potential medallists" combined with better technical and coaching support that will help improve our poor Olympic game-day record.
Nobody knows if it is a valid way to predict and secure medals but one thing is certain -- it is a document that magically separates governments and corporate sponsors from their money.
FINANCIAL SUPPORT
This kind of financial support is exactly what the athletes and their support groups have been calling for as long as I can remember. Now they have to demonstrate they know what to do with it to make us the No. 1 Winter Olympics nation in the world.
It's a scary prospect that might fall into the category of "Be careful what you wish for."
We prefer to look at it as an incredible opportunity to prove they were right all along.
