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Bus One Seven
There's No "Dream" in "Team"
by Roderick Armageddon
Dream Team. We're all reasonably familiar with the term. We hear it in ads for American Idol tours and home remodeling shows, in descriptions of past white house cabinets and on the cold benches of high school football stadiums. It's relatively commonplace nowadays, though the circumstances surrounding its origin -in relation to modern athletic importance- truly defined an era of absolute greatness; something of unequivocal mastery. The concept of a Dream Team came from a bold move that had sweeping international impact on modern athletics. Unfortunately, today the term graces Web sites and spelling bees with a level of regularity reserved for high-fiber diets.
Did the title -as we know it today- come from one of the most impressive sporting events of the 21st century, or was it inspired by something less public, less profound?
Regardless of the source of the moniker's common modern usage, we're now faced with it daily, advocating everything from sweepstakes to television programs. There's the dream-inspired spectacle known as The Celine Dream Team Tour, a strangely vague event sponsored by Celine Dion's new perfume. And I must mention the Nanocomputer Dream Team, an advocacy group for the proliferation of the concepts and movement behind nanotechnology. In ten years it may be one of the most important sites on the Web, but right now it's just a bit silly. Of course we have to mention the New Zealand-based wedding planning company named -you guessed it- The Dream Team. Hell, even the SCI FI Channel had a program called "The Dream Team with Annabelle and Michael." If we can dream of the "best of the best" in whatever subject that we're passionate about, chances are someone has already labeled it a Dream Team.
Mainstream media can't seem to stop using the moniker and it's starting to wash out. With every fourth grade basket coach showering the title on their youngsters, it just doesn't pack the punch it used to. I'm certain the moniker reached its peak when I saw it on Fox News, embedded in the headline, "Exclusive: Jacko Dream Team Named." Yikes. Batten the hatches kids, the storm has hit.
In an effort to regain a grip on the purity of the concept behind the Dream Team, as well as to celebrate a moment punctuated by true sportsmanship, physical mastery and a love of competition, I believe we could all benefit from a brief history lesson. Stop your clocks and flip the calendar back 12 years. The title, Dream Team, may have been bastardized beyond recognition, but the term as we know it today came to legitimacy during the games of the XXV Olympiad, driven by the most pure of intentions.
International Olympic Committee rules, which had previously prevented players from the National Basketball Association from being eligible for Olympic basketball, were changed on April 7, 1989, by virtue of a 56-13 vote in favor of open competition for all nations. With the rule change, USA Basketball set forth on its mission of assembling the best team possible, and thus the era of Dream Teams was foisted upon the world. In the summer of 1992, the United States sent an all-star team from the NBA to compete in the Olympic Games in Barcelona, Spain. The results? The U.S. men's basketball team was never challenged as a new era of international basketball made its debut.
Cruising through the 1992 Olympic qualifying tournament with an unblemished 6-0 record, the USA Olympic men's basketball team later strolled easily past its Olympic opponents en route to an 8-0 record and the Olympic gold medal. Averaging an Olympic record 117.3 points a game, the USA squad won by an average of 43.8 points and the closest any opponent could come was 32 points (117-85 versus Croatia in the gold medal game).
Perhaps it was the open goodwill and spirit of the 1992 games that made this the perfect environment to launch the Dream Team concept. Perhaps it was a competitive environment punctuated by the fact that for the first time since 1972, the Olympic Games were boycott-free. Whatever the reason, the United States' Dream Team made a significant impact on team sports and pop culture, ushering in the era of global all-star teams, trickling all the way down to local all-stars in villages and townships across the world. Even to this day, the International Olympic Committee uses the title to describe the team's achievement on their Web site.
USA Basketball's Dream Team has yet to repeat the impact it made in 1992, when the fervor and vigor of being "the first" -and quite possibly the best- pushed every player to truly be all that they could be. Hell, even infamous NBA bad-boy, Charles Barkley, delivered his best behavior on the International court in 1992. Though the 1996 and 2000 USA Basketball teams managed to bring in perfect records and subsequent gold medals, these teams never held the sparkle of the 1992 squad. The 2004 games hope to showcase another strong performance by the American squad, rebounding from a disastrous sixth place finish at the 2002 World Basketball Championships.
As 1992 USA Basketball coach Chuck Daly said, "You will see a team of professionals in the Olympics again, but I don't think you'll see another team quite like this. This was a majestic team." Too true Mr. Daly. I don't even like basketball, but I watched every USA Basketball game I could during the 1992 Olympics. That team had charisma -true star power. Above all, that group of athletes deserved the moniker, Dream Team.
No offense to superstar chefs, fourth grade basketball squads and teams of overpriced attorneys, but when used to define a collection of cleaning supplies or supermodels, the title loses the prestige and polish that it once held. In a world riddled with ill-will, now more than ever we need to relish the past greatness of those who truly made the grade and defined the term, Dream Team. The true sign of greatness is an unequaled performance defined by circumstances, punctuated by skill, talent, compassion, camaraderie and valor. Celebrate greatness before it fades away. |
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