Hockey, Soccer,Tennis

[Burgold]

Volleyball, Ice Skating, Gymnastics etc. and even Basketball to a lesser extent. Why does America fare so poorly in international competition? Is it a lesser drive? Lesser nationalism? Are we too fat and content? Too interested in endorsements and not in competing? Have we made everything too expensive and too hard for the talent too emerge? Do we care too little about the international sports and competitions?

Pretty much all the Americans are gone from Wimbledon. We used to field major threats on both the men's and ladies' side. We were tossed aside in the World Cup. No real surprise there, but I thought we had been getting better. Is it enough still that we made it to the tourney? Despite the NHL and even in the NHL how well are Americans represented? Even in baseball, we seem to be outmanned or outplayed. Even in basketball our dreamteamers now-a-days merely compete or can be beaten.

Are they so much better or are we so much worse?

[Major Harris]

i think we don't care a whole lot about international competition. we, as fans, do, but i don't think the athletes care as much as the other countries' athletes. and i think that has something to do w/ lesser nationalism.

[skinfan2k]

atheletes who partcipate in international gaems dont get paid like they do in their respective leagues..

[Prosperity]

Volleyball, Ice Skating, Gymnastics etc. and even Basketball to a lesser extent. Why does America fare so poorly in international competition? Is it a lesser drive? Lesser nationalism? Are we too fat and content? Too interested in endorsements and not in competing? Have we made everything too expensive and too hard for the talent too emerge? Do we care too little about the international sports and competitions?

Pretty much all the Americans are gone from Wimbledon. We used to field major threats on both the men's and ladies' side. We were tossed aside in the World Cup. No real surprise there, but I thought we had been getting better. Is it enough still that we made it to the tourney? Despite the NHL and even in the NHL how well are Americans represented? Even in baseball, we seem to be outmanned or outplayed. Even in basketball our dreamteamers now-a-days merely compete or can be beaten.

Are they so much better or are we so much worse?

The world is a big place

[Burgold]

True, but there always seemed to be a Sampras, Connors, Everette, McEnroe, Aggassi in Tennis... and they make pretty big money. Who's left? Maybe the Williams' sisters, but they certainly don't seem to be a force. Tennis may be a bad example, because it has become unimportant, however, in the 70's and 80's it had a large following in the U.S. and was a pretty important sport. Was it because of the characters. Probably not. I think it was because we were winning consistently. The best of our best was even money or better than all of their bests. Reminds me of Pro basketball in Washington. You couldn't find a lot of bball fans for the Bullets/Wizards until they started winning.

It's a catch-22, I suppose. If they were winning it would be popular and there'd be more money. They are not winning, so it is unpopular, but worse we seem to be getting less and less competitive.

[PokerPacker]

its because the sports that we are good at and have passion for (ie: football,) other countries are too afraid to compete in.

[Burgold]

Untrue, we are losing pretty consistently in baseball and hockey and have become on a very even playing field in terms of basketball. Heck, we didn't even make the medal rounds in basketball last time.

[PokerPacker]

Untrue, we are losing pretty consistently in baseball and hockey and have become on a very even playing field in terms of basketball. Heck, we didn't even make the medal rounds in basketball last time.

that's because we didn't even attempt to make a basketball team. we just threw a bunch of names together and hoped they would do something. its all about teamwork, and unfortunatly that isn't a big aspect of american basketball anymore. now its all about putting up numbers for yourself.

[Mass_SkinsFan]

skinfan2k hit on part of the answer already, but there's more to it....

We live in a Capitalist society where athletes get PAID to PLAY. Their allegiance it to their paycheck/bank account and not the country for the most part. American sports fans look at our sports championships as "World Champions" and for the most part couldn't care less about the Olympics, World Cup, World Basketball Championships, etc.... Therefore, the focus both monetarily, and interest/fame-wise is on our own leagues and teams.

This creates an athletic society where the focus is totally on the league level, not the international level. Hell, we put the basketball and hockey teams together and give them a couple weeks to practice, then send them off to take their lumps in international competition. We did it with the USMNT at the World Cup as well. MLS didn't even stop its season for the World Cup.

[Burgold]

That's just an excuse. That's the team we were able or chose to field and they got spanked. The fact that they were our second tier all stars, the fact that they played without passion, and didn't seem to have any fight when they realized they were in one all speaks poorly about the modern American athlete. It may also be part of the answer to this thread's question.

[Burgold]

Mass,

I'll give you that, but it doesn't really explain Americans being pushed to the side in tennis and other international pro-sports. Popularity might, as I've discussed above, but popularity is often correlated with success. The lack of success bred lack of popularity irregardless of the large sums of money available.

Heck, no American even made it to the finals of the international Poker competition!!! If that's not about money, what is? Mind you, while it's competition, I don't know if it's sport.

[PokerPacker]

i think another important factor is that many countries have one sport, and one sport only. they have a great passion for that one sport and kick ass with that one sport. you don't see russia playing in the world cup, do you? they have their athletes playing hockey. the dominican republic has baseball. brazil has soccer. we have all of the above

[Mass_SkinsFan]

Mass,

I'll give you that, but it doesn't really explain Americans being pushed to the side in tennis and other international pro-sports. Popularity might, as I've discussed above, but popularity is often correlated with success. The lack of success bred lack of popularity irregardless of the large sums of money available.

I think "popularity" has a lot to do with it. I know that many in our younger generations see sports like tennis as boring and not worth their time. Heck, it's not something I watch very often myself. Whereas, with tennis, the older generations see younger faces, with new attitudes that aren't necessarily what they expect or want out of the same sports and aren't watching for that reason.

Additionally, sports in America have become largely an urban endeavour. It's more about the cities and less about the suburbs these days. Tennis and a lot of these other international sports just don't appeal to many of those people. Especially when they don't see a monetary gain to it. How many Wimbleton Champions do you think your average urban athlete can name? But I bet they can tell you the last 5-10 NBA Finals MVP's.

[Burgold]

That's a possibility, though Russia has it's proffessional hockey, basketball, gymnastics, ice skating, etc. programs that have all been pretty successful... You're right about soccer. It's a third tier sport in the U.S. and therefore, our third tier athletes are going up against their first tier. Now we are a bigger and richer country than most so we should have a larger pool to pick from and better training, better equipment etc, but it's still a good point.

[ashburnskinsfan]

A big part of the perceived loss of competitiveness is the rest of the world catching up. Take basketball ... until a few years ago, and possibly driven by the original dream team with Jordan , most countries were as interested in volleyball as basketball ... it just wasn't on their radar as an important sport. It's also true that in team competitions other countries seem to prepare better and be more team-focused.

But it is also true that to be successful in most of the individual sports takes a dedication and sacrifice that team sports just do not require. In the USA opportunities exist outside of sport that cause young athletes to not commit themselves as fully as they might in other countries. Russian tennis players and Kenyan runners, as two examples, dedicate themselves totally because it is their best opportunity for success in life.

A friend's daughter who is a very talented 14-year old figure skater just decided to give up the sport competitively. She was required to get up before 5am to spend two hours at the rink before school, the same again after school, do her homework and go to bed. She decided that her life should be more than that and as she is a good student there will be plenty of professional career options for her to pursue outside of sport.

In the USA, being very good at a sport will usually get you a full scholarship at a good university. Ironically, being good at a sport provides your exit as you get a free college education in the career of your choice. :laugh:

[Thanos]

Folks its not that bad.The US still leads the medal count at the Summer Olympics.We have the best swim team on Earth.The women's soccer and softball are doing well.We have a new generation of young tennis stars coming up that are more diverse.

[PleaseBlitz]

Volleyball, Ice Skating, Gymnastics etc. and even Basketball to a lesser extent. Why does America fare so poorly in international competition? Is it a lesser drive? Lesser nationalism? Are we too fat and content? Too interested in endorsements and not in competing? Have we made everything too expensive and too hard for the talent too emerge? Do we care too little about the international sports and competitions?

Pretty much all the Americans are gone from Wimbledon. We used to field major threats on both the men's and ladies' side. We were tossed aside in the World Cup. No real surprise there, but I thought we had been getting better. Is it enough still that we made it to the tourney? Despite the NHL and even in the NHL how well are Americans represented? Even in baseball, we seem to be outmanned or outplayed. Even in basketball our dreamteamers now-a-days merely compete or can be beaten.

Are they so much better or are we so much worse?

The majority of our best athletes play football, basketball, and baseball. Its what our country loves. How would we fare in international basketball if LeBron, Kobe, and Duncan played together year round? We'd crush everyone, without a doubt. How good would our soccer team be if athletes like Mike Vick, Reggie Bush, and Santana Moss were on the team and have played nothing but soccer their entire lives???? How many players on the French soccer team can run a 4.3 40? Seriousl, the US could dominate soccer........if anyone cared about soccer.