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As the torch is put out on another summer Olympics, the United States went home with 103 medals, 35 of them gold.

However, one will not find a gold medal for the U.S. men’s basketball team. In fact, there is no silver medal for the team either. The U.S. men’s basketball team watched the stars and stripes raised a notch lower then the blue and white flag of Argentina as the men’s team accepted its bronze medals.

Falling from a team expected to easily capture gold to one losing to the likes of Puerto Rico and receiving bronze, the men’s basketball team is a far cry from the “dream team” it once was.

It was 12 years ago when NBA players formed the dream team and began playing together in the Olympics. If you ask me, professional athletes should not be in the Olympics, and Athens was a perfect example of why not.

Maybe they did not train together long enough, maybe they did not adjust to a new coach, or maybe they just didn’t care.

Are you trying to tell me a team of NBA players has as much heart as a team like Argentina’s who has been playing together internationally for eight years? Something tells me that is not the case.

Now, in contrast, take a look at the women’s basketball team. The team did consist of WNBA players; however, most of them were not starters on the international team, and it did not seem to be a problem for the players at all.

The women’s basketball team had a lot of club and younger players. With a lot of the WNBA players retiring, it is good to see there is a younger team ready to go for future Olympics.

There was more heart on the women’s end of the Olympics, and it shows. They went home with the gold. I wonder how that plane ride went, as the women and their gold flew back to the United States with the men and their bronze!

Anyone into sports should know about the “Miracle on Ice.” The “Miracle on Ice” occurred when the U.S. hockey team defeated the Russians in the 1980 winter Olympics.

At the time Russia was said to be unbeatable in hockey, and it was a team that had been playing together for a long time.

In the 1980 winter Olympics the men’s hockey team consisted of mostly college hockey players. The “Miracle on Ice” is said to be one of the greatest sports achievements of the 20th century. I think professional athletes participating in the Olympics are preventing another miracle like that from happening.

In an article posted on Yahoo! sports, U.S. basketball program President Tom Jernstedt offered some suggestions for the next Olympics. He suggested the team train together longer, or else send that year’s NBA champions to the Olympics.

If you ask me, pro-athletes should be eliminated from the Olympics completely. It is time to return the Olympics to the true athletes, like those of the ancient games who didn’t have professional contracts. With pro athletes in the Olympics, the great underdog and rags-to-riches stories are lost.