Political statements are a part of sports. During the 1968 Olympics, after finishing first and third in the 200 metre sprint, Tommie Smith and John Carlos walked out to the podium with shoes in hand, then proceeded to raise a gloved fist straight into the air to draw attention to the plight of African-Americans during the Civil Right Movement.

The US and 5 other nations including Canada all refused to send athletes to Russia to compete in the 1980 Moscow Olympics, after the Soviet government invaded Afghanistan. A similar thing happened in the 1984 Olympics, where countries behind the Iron Curtain refused to participate in the Los Angeles games. The soviets claim that they boycotted these Olympics because of security concerns and a growing anti-soviet sentiment in the US. Others believe that it is because of the previous US boycott.

The most recent have been about new President Elect Barack Obama. Denver Broncos Wide Receiver Brandon Marshall scored a touchdown in Thursdays 34 to 30 win over the Cleveland Browns. After scoring the touchdown, Marshall pulled out a black and white glove as a tribute to Obama, but was stopped by teammate Brandon Stokley because the celebration would have cost the Broncos a fifteen yard personal foul penalty.

During the CFL playoffs, the Winnipeg Blue Bombers scored a touchdown. After numerous player lifted their jerseys to reveal "Obama 08" T-Shirts. Unlike the NFL, in the CFL there is no penalty for excessive celebration.

There is only one problem with making these political statements. After one person has made one, everyone expects every other athlete to make one. But there is one fundamental problem with that. If the athlete doesn't have a thought on a particular subject, he shouldn't have to express a view. A situation like this occurred last year.

When the Golf Channels Kelly Tilghman said that the only way golfers had a chance to beat Tiger Woods was to "lynch" him in a back alley somewhere. Woods accepted the apology after Tilghman was suspended for her comments and the issue was dead. Or so we thought. Former Browns Running Back Jim Brown criticized Woods for not speaking up sooner.

Brown, who is a political activist, would have said something because the comments offended him. But Woods, who may not have been offended by the comments, did what he thought was right. But the fact that Brown was active on the political side, he thinks that every athlete should have an opinion on everything and voice it, which is wrong.

Similar things happened to Michael Jordan. When Jordan refused to take a stance on political issues, he was criticized. Maybe he just didn't have an opinion on the particular subject or didn't care to the extent of other athletes. Forcing an athlete to take a stance on different issues, may make them shy away from giving opinions for fear of criticism or negative public relations.

The most recent overlooked opportunity for a political statement went overlooked by most if not all nations. The Beijing Olympics could have been boycotted like the ones in the early 80's because of China's very poor human rights policy's. When that was mentioned people balked and said they won't force their athletes to boycott. That is the right way to handle it and all countries did what they should have done.

If an athlete wants to make a statement like Smith and Carlos, or as a tribute like Marshall and the Blue Bombers, they have to realize there is a time and place. But for situations like the Olympic boycotts of the 80's, because a country was invaded, which happens all the time. The Cold War economics and political systems were the main reason for the boycotts, but a battle in politics shouldn't be fought on the playing field.