International sports could be better

By Adam Bagni
Collegian Staff
April 4, 2007

International competition is a great thing for the sports world, and events like the Olympics and the World Cup are widely loved and followed. But, there are several adjustments that need to be made to the way America is represented in these competitions. These are the first four changes that should be implemented:

1.) Force athletes to play internationally.

There’s no team that’s sweeter to root for than Team USA. If you’ve ever been to an international sports competition (I’ve been to two – USA hockey at the 2006 Olympics and a USA soccer match), then you know what I’m talking about. It’s one thing to root for your team and quite another to root for your country.

The Olympic hockey game against Russia in 2006 was awesome. The entire arena was filled with flags and banners, most of which waved throughout the game. It was so loud in the stadium that I could barely hear D.B. Sweeney (remember the ice hockey player who became a figure skater in that 1992 chick flick The Cutting Edge), who was standing right next to me, talk about his latest project. I’ve never been to a sporting event with a more electric, involved crowd, and there’s a good chance I never will be again.

With all the pride and passion that goes into being a fan of your country’s team, you can imagine the honor of being asked to actually play for the USA, right?

Well, not exactly.

In this age of multi-million dollar athletes who have multi-million dollar egos, players are continuously refusing to play in international competitions. Tim Duncan has refused to compete for the 2008 Olympics after repeated criticisms of the officiating. Shaquille O’Neal also opted out, as did Barry Bonds at the World Baseball Championships. Some club owners aren’t fans of their players playing for their country either. Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban has consistently voiced his disapproval at Dirk Nowitzki playing for Germany, while Yankees boss George Steinbrenner actually blocked an angry Jorge Posada from playing last year for Puerto Rico.

Unfortunately, some guys are just too worried about the bottom line, and the public is giving them a free pass. Can you imagine if David Beckham refused to play for England in the World Cup because he wanted to stay healthy for the LA Galaxy? He would be vilified.

I say make them play. And if anyone complains about it, then the public should boo him worse than a Bonds at-bat in Philadelphia.

2.) Have universal drug testing.

During the Congressional Hearings on Steroids in American Professional Sports back in 2005, the representative of the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) continuously agreed that his organization would gladly take part in the drug testing of all of America’s professional athletes.

The five major American sports leagues, as well as their respective player union representatives, all opposed the idea of a federal law forcing WADA’s testing procedures on them. They argued that they could police themselves.

After watching the entire hearing, it’s obvious that the only league that had an out was Major League Soccer, because they’re already subject to international testing by soccer’s governing body, FIFA.

Besides that, the other four should be forced to adopt universal standards across the board, with strict penalties. The arguments that every league is different, every case is different, sports are different, the supplements are confusing, etc. are all bogus.

I watched the entire day-long hearing, and after taking note of every point, a solution was pretty clear to me. If you take steroids, you should pay equally. Pass a law.

3.) Sports suck on tape.

Who watches sports on tape these days? OK, besides niche sports like the Strongman Competition.

Nobody does, because watching sports on tape sucks. After all, who wants to watch a game where you can look up the result online? It’s pointless.

Yet, arguably the two biggest sporting events on this earth, the World Cup and the Olympics, are often shown on tape in areas with different time zones than the host.

Sure, I understand that no one wants to watch anything at 3 a.m., but give us that option. Air figure skating on tape at 8 p.m., but give me the option of watching it live at 4 a.m.

For ratings reasons, it probably won’t happen. But then again, how many viewers will you lose at 8 p.m., because they watched at 3 p.m.?

Give the people the games live!

4.) Get Major League Baseball players into the Olympics.

Major American sports are always doing things to try to reach their game out to a more global level. This makes their lack of support for international sporting events even more amusing.

The worst offender is clearly Major League Baseball. It’s the only major American sports league that doesn’t allow its players to participate in the Olympics. As a result, Beijing in 2008 will be the final appearance of baseball in the Games, at least until 2014.

The league has tried to remedy this by having minor leaguers participate in the Olympics and creating the World Baseball Classic. Now I love the WBC, but it still doesn’t mean much. If Team USA was battling it out for a gold medal though, everyone knows the stakes would be high.

Sure, the Olympics falls right in the middle of baseball season. So what? The NHL and professional soccer leagues across the world take a break for a few weeks so their players can duke it out for Olympic glory. Fans of those leagues don’t seem to mind.

I think Phillies fans could live without their team for a few weeks while Ryan Howard tries to bash a few runs for Team USA, don’t you?

And that’s something that can energize baseball worldwide.

bagnia1@lasalle.edu