The Worst Part of Team USA Basketball.

Published on August 19, 2004 By Gideon MacLeish In Sports & Leisure

I was reading another article basically justifying Team USA's subpar play in Olympic basketball, and it led me back to a blog I wanted to write the other day, but didn't get around to.

I have decided that the thing that really irritates me the most about this year's Team USA has less to do with the unmotivated performance of the stars that are there, but really, about the stars who didn't come (Kobe Bryant is the one exception to this; he has bigger fish to fry, like petitioning the California Penal officials to let him wear a prison jumper of Lakers colors).

What irritates me the most is their reason. Many stars stayed home because of terrorism concerns.

Are these the same Americans who stood hand in hand in September just under three years ago and vowed not to let the terrorists win? Balking at the opportunity to represent their country in a GAME while our soldiers are over in Iraq facing real, everyday fears (whether you feel this war is right or not is immaterial; the fears are real and the soldiers deserve our respect)? These cowards won't come out of their mansions to represent what once was one of the great dreams of American athletes: to represent their country at the top stage, in front of the rest of the world.

I believe the terrorism fears are just another lousy excuse to be selfish, me first individuals who won't go anywhere unless there's some moron waving a multimillion dollar contract in their face. Hell, these guys would not have even STAYED in the Olympic Village; I think that's a safe bet if ever there was one. They would be more likely to have been in some villa overlooking the Mediterranean, eating their fill of gyros (mmmmmm, gyros).

However the USA men's basketball team finishes, I will at least give them credit for ahowing up. A lot of the NBA superstars couldn't even muster that much.

signing off,

Gideon MacLeish

Comments

Larry Kuperman

on Aug 19, 2004

Hey, Gideon. Glad to see some sports related articles here. (Even if this one is kind of political.)

Olympic basketball has lost it's cachet. Jordan, Barkely, et al were the real Dream Team. This team boasts but two superstars- Duncan and Iverson. The leagues other top players were just not motivated. But then....why should they be?

A CNN poll showed that 67% percent of respondents couldn't care less about the Olympics. I would include myself in this group. The Olympics are irrelevant to me. Part of the reason is that there is no Soviet Union, no "worthy opponent" that lights our competitive fire. When the US beats Australia in basketball, I don't derive the same pleasure as when our hockey team beat Russia (then the Soviet Union) in the Miracle on Ice game. And a good percentage of the star players on teams are either part of the NBA (Manu Ginobli, Yao Ming, et al) or hope to become NBA players. Less a game than an open try out.

Part of the reason is that the rules and events seem more haphazard. Puerto Rico beat the US Basketball team. Wait. Isn't Puerto Rico part of the US?

I wouldn't watch swimming when it wasn't an Olympic event, why should I watch when it is? The events are (to me) boring and somewhat meaningless. I'd rather watch baseball.

I don't feel let down that players chose not to go. My national pride is not at stake. If we wanted motivated players, use amateurs for whom the opportunity to appear on an international stage was meaningful. As it used to be.

Gideon MacLeish

on Aug 19, 2004

Using amateurs makes sense until you realize the playing field isn't level for a capitalist society playing amateurs vs many of these other countries, whose "amateurs" are much like the old "factory baseball team amateurs" of the late 19th century: their "job" is a front.

If everyone would use amateurs, I'd be all for it, but it should be about a level playing field. As for the players not going, it's more about the fact that they are using a flimsy excuse to cover for the fact that they really don't care about their country as much as themselves.

Personally, as one who grew up during the climax of the cold war, I think the Olympics played a strong part in its demise. Despite the nastiness of the boycotts, we were exposed to a culture that was alien to us, and could gradually see they weren't the evil that we'd been led to believe they were.

Good response, though.

Welcome Guest! Please take the time to register with us.
There are many great features available to you once you register, including:

Richer content, access to many features that are disabled for guests like commenting on the forums.
Access to a great community, with a massive database of many, many areas of interest.
Access to contests & subscription offers like exclusive emails.
It's simple, and FREE!