With the Olympics officially here, I got to thinking: if I were to be a professional athlete, would I rather win a gold medal in the Olympic or a championship ring with a professional team? Would you rather win an NBA finals or gold medal with the basketball team.
Then I got thinking some more and realized, if it were me, there’s no question? I’m going a championship ring with a pro team.
As a football fan (or more specifically, a Cowboys fan) I remember dreaming of playing at the professional level as a kid. The same was true of other sports. I don’t recall how many times I was in my driveway shooting hoops, pretending to be shooting the winning 3-pointer in the NBA finals. I personally never had that dream of the Olympics.
At some point in time, I realized that dream was never going to happen but if hell froze over and stars aligned and I got my opportunity, I’d choose to play for the Cowboys, nonetheless win a Super Bowl for them.
Of course, football is not an Olympic sport, but even if it were, my opinion would stay the same. It’d be much more of accomplishment to defeat the best of the best in the NFL than teams overseas who don’t even play the sport.
The same can pretty much be said of basketball. I’d much prefer to win an NBA (heck, maybe even college basketball) because I’m playing against the best at my level. To beat them and end up at the top would be an honor. The rest of the world has yet to catch up the United States when it comes to basketball.
As a Mavs fan, I’d prefer to win the finals with Dallas than the gold in the Olympics (the ’92 Dream team might be an exception)
Maybe I have this perspective because my favorite sports are known as American sports. Baseball is known as “America’s Pastime,” while football might just be the most popular sport in the U.S.
Perhaps it’s that reason combined with the fact it’s hard for me to get interested in some of the Olympic events. I’ve never been a huge fan of watching swimming (especially when the guys wear speedos). Although gymnastics takes athleticism, I don’t consider it a sport but that’s a discussion for another time.
I love watching football, baseball and basketball and to win a Super Bowl, World Series or NBA Finals would be a childhood dream come true.
What are your thoughts? If you had your pick would you prefer to win a championship with a professional team or a gold medal for your country, which would you choose?
