What is up with America's teams?

[tigerfan1234 0]

I know this is a football forum, but I want to get as much out of this one as possible. What is wrong with American sports teams? We don't win any international competitions anymore, but are led to believe that we are the best at everything. We used to be the best at just about everything, but not in the last ten years it seems. I could care less about soccer, but in a strange way it makes me mad that we don't even play that sorry sport well. What are everyone's thoughts?

[AWK 0]

It is simple, Take all the talent proccessed into the NFL, NHL, MLB, NBA, and notice how they have grown up focusing on their particular sport. Athletes go where the money is, and unfortunately in America it is not soccer.

[Captain Liger 0]

Money is the root of all evil. You think the pro athletes we send up to play on the international level give a rip about how well they do? They can't afford to get injured and risk NOT making the big bucks here in the States. Basketball is a prime example. Whatever happened to the Dream Team?

Hockey may be the only exception. Those guys are just brutal anyway and would probably kick each others faces in for free.

[Aubie16 1]

As far as soccer, we just aren't as good as some of the other countries i'm afraid, but I believe we are catching them...

As for the rest of the sports...

Part of the problem is our best athletes usually aren't competing in some of these olympic/international compititions. So our players aren't really the ones with the most talent.

As for sports where our best athletes do compete...

I think it is a matter of 'team chemistry'. Our guys get thrown together in these all-star teams and have very little time to practice and learn to play together. Other countries have national teams who travel and play with each other most of the year.

Of the 3 situations...I think the last one affects us the most. Team Chemistry is a huge part of being successful in any sport. I believe they did something a while back that showed league championship teams are often better than the all-stars. I forget what sport set up the exibitions though...

[tigerfan1234 0]

The chemistry thing is very important and a good point. Maybe some teams deserve a little bit of a pass for this reason, but it still sucks that we have all these professional leagues with guys making big bucks and we get schooled during international play. I'm not just talking soccer here, and as I said earlier I don't like soccer so that one doesn't sting as bad. But, Basketball, Golf, Summer Olympic Sports, to a certain extent Winter Oylmpic Sports, and Baseball are sports Americans should be great at. I mean Baseball is AMERICA'S pasttime! Lord knows, if there ever was an international football competition and we lost, I would go through the roof!

[AWK 0]

The chemistry thing is very important and a good point.  Maybe some teams deserve a little bit of a pass for this reason, but it still sucks that we have all these professional leagues with guys making big bucks and we get schooled during international play.  I'm not just talking soccer here, and as I said earlier I don't like soccer so that one doesn't sting as bad.  But, Basketball, Golf, Summer Olympic Sports, to a certain extent Winter Oylmpic Sports, and Baseball are sports Americans should be great at.  I mean Baseball is AMERICA'S pasttime!  Lord knows, if there ever was an international football competition and we lost, I would go through the roof!

243453[/snapback]

You do realize that if there was ever one, The U.S. would absolutely dominate every game, hence why there is none.

[tigerfan1234 0]

We should be dominant in basketball and baseball too. I can handle being just good in all the other sports, but the big three should be America's for the taking. Just my two cents. You figure how many millions these guys get paid and how sports crazy our nation is, we should have more pride than that.

[SKCAUB 0]

Soccer? ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ!!!!

[WaReAgLe83 0]

We're not the only ones...England goes through this at every World Cup. They created professional 'football' (soccer) and yet the team have only made the final once in '66 when they hosted it. They've even lost out in WC qualifying a few times.

(Yes, I'm actually watching the World Cup...and enjoying it somehow.)

[Cumming Tiger 0]

The problem is that MANY of the players that make up our professional teams are from other countries, so when internation competition comes into the picture they go home to play for "their" country. I don't think should be allowed. If you come to America and play a professional sport (and make a gazillion dollars doing it) then you should have to compete internationally for the US.

The Baseball Classic was a good example of this. A large number of the baseball superstars went to play for their "home" countries leaving the US to field a team that included several amatures.

I think the Baseball classic would be a good idea if the winner of the US "World Series" would be the team that represents the US and a similar process for the other countries. That would provide a great baseball tourney at the international level IMO.

[freebody 0]

You realize that the "Big Three" in some countries would be soccer, rugby, and cricket? Yeah, we would get our ass handed to us in those as well.

And is baseball still "America's pastime"? I don't ever recall any neighborhood games breaking out when I was a kid - not one. Maybe that went away in the fifties, after people starting moving out to the suburbs and quit trying to single-handedly repopulate the earth with five-kid families. Seems the pick-up impromptu games played when I was a kid were more scalable for less players - like basketball, soccer, football (not touch), who-can-hold-the-firecracker-and-still-count-to-five-on-one-hand, and the always popular, but later non-pc, smear-the-*****. But basically, kids here nowadays may go to little league practices and games, but when they get home, they break out the video games or play some other sport. Baseball was "America's pastime", but now it is just "Latin America's passport".

[AUesquire 1]

Cumming hit the nail on the head. Anyone who paid close attention to the World Baseball Classic, saw that this was nothing more than the MLB divided up into several All-Star teams. MLB and now, the NBA have both become truly international games.

I still think the USA could be dominant in basketball if the great players would commit to representing their country, but I'm afraid those days are gone. Baseball? I don't believe we will ever dominate in that sport because it's become such an international game and there is just too much talent around the world.