Quote:
Originally Posted by Table 5
I doubt I'll be getting up in the middle of the night to watch the games live, but on some level I'd rather cheer on a bunch of these middling pluggers than overpaid NHLers.
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But why? It's not like the players loafed around at the last Olympics because they're overpaid. Who cares how much money they make if the hockey is good?
I understand people like the unique stories that come out of these kinds of teams but does it make the on-ice produce more entertaining?
I remember being frustrated over pre-1998 Olympics because I believed Canada would win gold if we actually got to send our best hockey players. It was a sentiment shared by many. It's what made losing to the Czechs in Nagano so crushing and winning in SLC so glorious.
If we don't medal in these games, people will shrug and say "well we didn't send our best players". If we win gold, people will shrug and say "well, those weren't the best players we beat". It will be a nice story for the winners and an oh well story for the losers.
At least some of the athletes in other sports will get more of the spotlight.