STATE YOUR CASE: What is the planet’s best spectator sporting event?
THE OLYMPICS
by JEFF DAHDAH
staff writer
The greatest possible sporting event is the Olympics. The Olympics is a scarce occurrence compared to events such as the World Cup or March Madness. After all, these championships take place four times as often as the 400-plus championships of the Olympics. Because of this the agony is four times more magnified, the ecstasy four times greater and the success four times more improbable. Because of the gap in time, the Olympics trump any event.
What makes it greater than other competitions such as the World Cup is the size. The World Cup involves 32 countries playing one sport. The Olympics involve six to seven times that.
The moments in the Olympics stand out more too. There are simply more of them. Sure, everyone remembers Northern Iowa beating Kansas, but those are one moment for each championship. Multiply that by the magnitude of and the number of moments, and the Olympics overshadows. Phelps winning gold by a tenth of a second, Douglas becoming the greatest gymnast at 17, Bolt becoming the fastest man ever and Ohno rising as the greatest winter athlete in his final Olympics were some of the greatest moments in sports history.
These moments are worth waiting four years for. These moments never disappoint. These moments make the Olympics greater than any other sporting competition.
– dahdahjm@gmail.com
Twitter: @DahDahJeff
MARCH MADNESS
by CURTIS LUNDSTROM
sports editor
March Madness. It’s in the name.
David slaying Goliath, Cinderella stories and ultimately one victor that rises above the rest.
Every team in the country has a shot at winning the title. It may be a long shot for some, but there’s a chance. Other sports limit that in the way they’re set up.
The best part about the NCAA tournament is the intimacy. In what other sport can you personally invest your time, energy and money to succeed or fail like what is possible with March Madness?
We put our happiness and fate into the players’ delicate hands when we fill out those brackets and enter pools.
Filling out my bracket each year is like Christmas, my birthday and Valentines day all rolled into one. It is absolute euphoria.
Teams I’d never heard of before Selection Sunday have me pulling my hair out as I scream at the TV yearning for the upset over blue-bloods like Duke or North Carolina so I can gain an edge.
Their loss is our gain, their victories our defeats. And as each round goes by, we rejoice or mourn with our teams as we rise or fall in the office pool standings.
There’s nothing like it.
– curtislundstrom@gmail.com
Twitter: @CurtisLundstrom
WORLD CUP
by JASON BORBA
staff writer
I’m going with my soccer roots and saying the World Cup is the best sporting event around. For one month every four years, the world stops and watches the greatest international tournament there is.
The special thing about the World Cup is every country has a chance to make it as one of the final 32 teams. Making it to the World Cup is no easy task, as the field is cut from 120 to 32 countries. Making it into the tournament is an accomplishment in itself.
National pride is worn on your sleeve as you watch every minute, no, every second of your country’s game. The players on the field care because they aren’t playing for themselves: They are playing for their country. You get to see the best players in the world playing in soccer’s biggest stage. The World Cup is where heroes are born and rivalries are renewed.
Losing means everything, but winning means even more because if your country is the last team standing, there’s no denying that they are the best team in the world and they can actually call themselves world champions. No other sport can say that.
– jborba@aggiemail.usu.edu
Twitter: JBorba15