Hey, Ray! What Do You Mean by "Amateur"?

During the US-Canada curling game at the 2010 Olympics, Ray Turnbull (whom Alan and I had a chance to chat with briefly a few years ago), pronounced that Canada's curlers are amateurs.

Huh??? they win prize money, they obtain all sorts of sponsorship, and they do ads capitalizing on their status. These folks are professionals.

I think what Ray meant was they are not full-time professionals and they do not receive gubmnt funding, at least not directly.

You know what? I do a bit a acting and a bit of blogging and happen to earn a bit of extra money from my acting. Does that mean I'm an amateur economist?

Despite what my colleagues might argue, I don't think so.