I think a lot of the problem is simply how sports are viewed in this country. Last week, Frank DeFord's (SI writier) commentary on the web and NPR dealt with the demise of the WUSA (women's soccer league) and the lack of support for organized women's sports in general. Unfortunately, most sports are watched by men, and they prefer the contact, bone-crunching aggressiveness of football and NASCAR. One of his comments on women's sports particularly struck me:
"And everyone just loves gymnastics, at least ONCE EVERY FOUR YEARS..."
I think that's the point--the American public adores skating every Olympic cycle, but then tends to forget about it after that until the next Olympics. We had several good years after Tonya and Nancy that gave the sport a boost, but then the pro events became more cheesy and same old, same old and the appeal of them died. While many people may know the "best loved" (for lack of a better term) skaters like Peggy, Dorothy, Brian B., Scott and Michelle, the others are just not household names like these skaters. I think we're also seeing a period where the eligibles are better known than the pros, too and more likely to attract an audience. Tara has been off ice for a protracted period and was on and off due to injury in her pro career, and without sounding rude, she just didn't become the "next Dorothy Hamill" in terms of mass appeal after her Olympic win. While we skating fans may adore the other skaters who were to be in her show, the general public more likely didn't know many of these skaters beyond Oksana. Again, I don 't mean to sound nasty, Paul Wylie is one of my favorite skaters, but I bet if I mentioned his name to any number of non-skating fans, they'd ask "Who?" I'd also bet that the same group couldn't name the current Olympic Ladies Champion either considering how fast she went off the skating radar. Sad, but true.
