The biggest stage in sports

By: Tyler Schuman

What could possibly be better than the Olympics? In sports you always picture yourself in the biggest situations. You always see yourself on the biggest stage at the highest level with the most people watching your every move. When you think about the biggest stage possible, it has to be the Olympics.

When you think about who you would like to play for, a lot of baseball players will tell you the Yankees. Most football players would tell you the Cowboys and a lot of basketball players in Oklahoma City will tell you the Thunder. But when you get past the professional favorites, there is a whole new level – playing for your country. A lot of people do not even think about playing for their country. I know I don’t. But if you are going to put yourself in the biggest scenario you could ever dream of, the Olympics would be that stage.

The Olympics this year are a great example, with the American hockey team knocking off the Russian team. Everyone has seen the movie “Miracle,” but this week we got to witness it again, and the feeling was just as great as before. I’m sure that every player on that team would tell you playing for their country is much better than playing for their NHL team, and that beating the Russians is better than beating your league rival. I think the reason that many people do not appreciate the Olympics is because they do not realize how much work goes into the Olympics.

For example, with Apollo Ohno no longer representing the Americans in speed skating, Shani Davis has been training every single day to get to the point where he can step in and fill Ohno’s shoes. People do not see the years and years of training that every single one of these athletes has put into these games, and so they do not understand how big they truly are.

If you are picked to be on the Olympic team, you have pretty much been told that you are the best at what you do. It also means that you have been chosen to represent your country in a foreign land on the biggest stage, and what could be more appealing than that?

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