What screams are made of

The USA Olympic basketball team, sometimes better known as the "Dream Team," could be considered a powerhouse staple in the sports world. It is an entity that every American from coast to coast can embrace and take pride in. The best players our country, nay, the world has to offer, playing united under the glory of the stars and stripes. \nWhen the International Olympic Committee agreed prior to the 1992 Olympic Summer Games in Barcelona to allow professional athletes to participate in the games, people around the world assumed, quite rightly, that the United States would essentially take over the basketball portion, and take over they did. Jordan, Bird, Magic, Barkley and a host of others composed the squad that led our nation to the gold medal that year. And another group of NBA All-Stars did the same in Atlanta four years later and in Sydney in 2000.\nIt would seem that after three consecutive Olympic gold medals, however, the IOC, the organization that governs the Summer and Winter Olympic Games, has decided that although the games in the basketball bracket will still be played as scheduled, the gold medal in the sport of basketball will be officially awarded to the United States in every Olympic Games for the remainder of time. Upon hearing the news, American-born NBA stars have decided to decline invitations to play for the team, citing that they prefer not to risk injury or terrorist attack in Greece this summer. \nPlayers who have accepted their invitations have taken a nonchalant approach to the tournament, opting to play with as little dedication and determination as possible to focus on traveling Europe before they return home to the states. With the gold medal already in the bag, why not spend some time sightseeing? After all, a government-funded European vacation only comes along once in a lifetime.\nObviously the IOC doesn't really intend to just hand out gold medals to any country, in any sport, but you certainly couldn't have guessed that based on the performance of the American team since their last assault on the world of basketball, a world our country supposedly built. \nAfter being embarrassed at the 2002 World Basketball Championships in Indianapolis, where the team finished a dismal sixth place, fans around the country expected to welcome back the star-studded lineup that was mysteriously missing from that roster. We figured names like Shaq, Kobe, T-Mac, Ben Wallace, Kevin Garnett and Vince Carter would all be lining up to offer their services to play for their country. Well, you know what they say about assuming.\nTwo nights ago the revamped squad faced Italy, not exactly a basketball superpower, in their opening exhibition game in preparation for Athens. For those of you who were fortunate enough to miss that game, Team America was drubbed by a surprisingly inspired, quick and potent Italian team that boasts not even one player currently held by an NBA franchise. Pouring salt on an already gangrenous wound, the 95-78 beating, was the worst margin of defeat any American basketball team has suffered in any international exhibition or tournament game since the IOC's decision leading into the '92 Games. Unofficial spokesman for the team, Allen Iverson, was quoted as saying that the game would serve as a wake-up call. \n"I think we need something like this to understand it's not going to be easy," Iverson said. \nWhile Iverson did hit a buzzer-beating three-pointer to squeak out a win over Germany Wednesday, a three-point victory over the Germans doesn't exactly foreshadow the awakening of a sleeping giant. For a country that likes to consider itself the best at every sport, let alone a sport that was created in its own backyard, this summer has the potential to sink American sports to an all-time low. \nNo longer are we likely to see gold in international baseball. Now basketball seems to be slipping slowly out of our grasp as well. With these two pillars of American athletic prowess now wrenched from our control, perhaps we as a nation can go out and beat the hell out of everybody else's football team. \nOh, I must have forgotten, nobody else has one.