Why Not Amateurs Next Time?
By Jim Benz

The best football payers in the world play on Sundays in the NFL. Still, that doesn't stop me from watching college football on Saturday afternoons. And some folks voluntarily attend high school football games too.

The best basketball players in the world are in the NBA. But a widely held opinion is that the college game is more enjoyable to watch and more fun to follow.

To that end, why do we need NHL players in the Olympics again in 2006?

The idea worked nicely in Salt Lake City. I get it. Put the world's best on it's biggest stage to determine which nation has the best hockey players.

But is that best for the Olympics?

You'd figure people would be more inclined to watch Olympic hockey if the stars are playing. Lemieux, Jagr, and Lindros may encourage more people to flick on the television than a goalie battle between some dude from Manitoba we've never heard of and an 18 year-old freshman-to-be at Lake Superior State.

But at least my expectation level as a fan is fulfilled. The NHLers and the NBA Dream Team could play in these games from now until the 3004 Olympiad in Kabul and the Olympics will still conjure a feeling of amateurism. Granted, it's a misguided feeling. It was when the Russians were running hockey assembly lines before the fall of communism. It is now when Michael Johnson and Marion Jones are pulling in mucho denaro for Nike deals. But so long as 14-year-old gymnasts and pixie-like ice dancers are involved in the games…people think amateurism.

So I'm just as inclined, if not moreso, to watch the U.S. Olympic hockey team even if I've never heard of one player on the roster. At least I'd know what team to root for. Heck, in the Salt Lake Games, one-third of Pittsburgh rooted for the USA, another third for Canada because of Mario Lemieux, and the last third backed either The Czech Republic or Russia based on the influence of various Penguin players.

People care about the Olympics because they want to root for a team or a person on a nationalistic level. But nationalistic lines are blurred for hockey fans when their favorite NHL player is beating their country's top goalie for a game winner. It's confusing and makes the rooting aspect far less enjoyable.

Plus, aren't Olympic officials out-thinking themselves here? Why bother incorporating the NHL stars if the USA vs. Russia game is buried on CNBC at 11:30 at night? You could do that just as well with amateurs. Besides, Olympic and NBC execs would be the first to tell you, the Olympics aren't about hockey. 1980 was a blip on the radar screen. The Winter Games are about good-looking, fresh faced North American figure skaters getting screwed by nasty judges who've been influenced by the stonehearted Russians. The Olympics are skiers who overcame liver transplants and speed skaters who braved a battle with pinkeye at the age of six.

Hockey? What's that? I've seen the Olympic television ratings and I've seen NHL ratings. It's kind of like comparing Canadian Gold/Silver medal winning skater Jamie Sale to Linda Tripp. So if NHL star power isn't going to help, why not incorporate something that does, something that sells in the same fashion and is consistent with the marketing of the rest of the Games? I hear there's this cross-ethnic right winger from Kalamazoo who could make the 2006 team even though he lost his pet beagle in a barn fire when he was in the fifth grade. I see a feature piece cookin' right now! That's a little bit more in line with the Olympic way than: "Meet Brett Hull. He drives an Escalade."

And we haven't even gotten into all the dilemmas surrounding the NHL and its schedule.

Hey, I'm not asking for 1980 to be repeated again. That moment could never be duplicated. The world outside of sports is too different. The point is, I know which country has the best basketball talent. It's the United States. I don't need a Kobe Bryant jam in the face of some 5'6" center from Angola to prove it.

I also know the U.S. doesn't have the best hockey talent in the world. I don't need Jaromir Jagr scoring a hat trick on Mike Dunham to prove that either.

What I would like is the return of old-fashioned Olympic competition for hockey and basketball. I may not be watching the best talent assembled at the same time. But that doesn't mean it wouldn't turn out to be a better tournament.

Tim Benz hosts "Pittsburgh Sports Night" on ESPN Radio 1250.