American Sports- How global are they?

[Whirlysplat]

The role of the US in world sport seems curious to me. America does not really value international competition in sport; Rather than playing the dominant sports in the rest of the world, the US of A plays it's own. The most popular team sports in the world Association Football and Cricket are hardly played in the US.

Although I usually would not quote Wiki, this article is excellent.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sports_in_the_United_States

So why doesn't America compete with the rest of the World properly?

Let's thrash this out!

 

[Themanofbat]

Because Americans can't look outside the box and think that the world begins and ends with them.

 

[Addendum]

I don't think the world begins or ends with my country. I just wonder how it would benefit the US if we played more futbol and/or cricket. I haven't heard anything convincing

 

[Whirlysplat]

The other thing which is strange is college sports.... Weird!

 

[Frizzo the Clown]

Why do American sports teams claim that they're the World Champions, when the only other country that they may have played against is Canada?

 

[Whirlysplat]

Why do American sports teams claim that they're the World Champions, when the only other country that they may have played against is Canada?

I have always wondered this also.

 

[Addendum]

Now that I can agree on. Pretty nutso

 

[Whirlysplat]

Now that I can agree on. Pretty nutso

Generally they are the only ones who play these sports to any standard, so I guess they are world champions; Hey, I could invent some game today, beat my neighbour at it and I would be the world champion. I guess.

 

[Addendum]

The championships in the sports mean more than the "championships" in professional wrestling, but the "world champion" aspect just about places it in the same boat with pro wrestling.

I think the only "world champions" can be found in 1) the FISA World Cup, 2) the Olympics (though they're technically not called "world champions" but the idear is there), 3) other international competitions that slip my mind

 

[BlackLantern]

The other thing which is strange is college sports.... Weird!

What is weird about college sports? do you not think Universities and colleges should have athletics. as for the term "world champion", its mostly marketing..."world champions" sound sexy...

 

[Whirlysplat]

Cricket World Cup, Rugby World Cup etc.

 

[BlackLantern]

and what do you mean by "competing properly"?

 

[Whirlysplat]

and what do you mean by "competing properly"?

In sports other people play and value. Which the creators of, are not the only ones who play it at that level.

 

[BlackLantern]

In sports other people play and value. Which the creators of, are not the only ones who play it at that level.

in the US we go with tried and true sellers....football sells, baseball sells...rugby and cricket do not. As for the international sporting community, each professional league here has players from any number of countries. No one forces them to come to the US to play professional sports.

 

[Addendum]

Aside from the creator of Ultimate frisbee and the creator of hackey sack (maybe), the rest of the people that have created a sport are all dead.

And in all those sports, "other people play and value"

So what's your point

 

[Whirlysplat]

in the US we go with tried and true sellers....football sells, baseball sells...

In the U.S. they sell, I agree. Doesn't your country long to compete with others on a level playingfield, in games the world values! Rather than, hmph, hmmph, haha, the "world series".

 

[BlackLantern]

In the U.S. they sell, I agree. Doesn't your country long to compete with others on a level playingfield, in games the world values! Rather than, hmph, hmmph, haha, the "world series".

so the US should play cricket simply because everyone else is playing it or values it? I feel the frostiness between the international sporting community and the US goes both ways. I'd bet if MLS(Major League Soccer) wanted to compete internationally with other football organizations, they would get laughed at. Our company has an office over in London and Seven Oaks, I'm buddies with one of the staff who was here in CT for a visit this week and we were talking soccer (football) and he led me to believe that the rest of the world basically considers MLS the ******ed stepchild of the football(soccer) community. The US has its own sports and we are quite happy with them. On another note, I don't agree with the NFL playing regular season games outside of the US, be it London, Mexico, or whereever.

 

[Whirlysplat]

so the US should play cricket simply because everyone else is playing it or values it? I feel the frostiness between the international sporting community and the US goes both ways. I'd bet if MLS(Major League Soccer) wanted to compete internationally with other football organizations, they would get laughed at. Our company has an office over in London and Seven Oaks, I'm buddies with one of the staff who was here in CT for a visit this week and we were talking soccer (football) and he led me to believe that the rest of the world basically considers MLS the ******ed stepchild of the football(soccer) community. The US has its own sports and we are quite happy with them. On another note, I don't agree with the NFL playing regular season games outside of the US, be it London, Mexico, or whereever.

Major League Soccer is pretty funny; Don't you guys want to be taken seriously by the rest of the world!

 

[Addendum]

So I guess I was right. You have nothing convincing regarding the US playing "world sports"

 

[BlackLantern]

Major League Soccer is pretty funny; Don't you guys want to be taken seriously by the rest of the world!

Well, all the best soccer players are playing outside of the US and those leagues are lot more prestigious and have a lot more history than MLS. The MLS basically gets a lot of players coming right out of college and probably a good number of players who couldn't cut it in Europe or South America. Soccer (Football) is truly a global sport and I'd like for the US to be competitive in it, but it is going to take time.

 

[BlackLantern]

I'd love to be able to see an English Premiere League team play an MLS team and actually have the match count for something.

 

[Addendum]

The NHL already has players from countries other than Canada and the US, though the teams are either from Canada or the US. MLB is also international with players from countries that have a focus on baseball (Japan and the various Central and South American countries and then Canada). I think that "world teams" thing from a couple years back was just a one-off, but baseball is already somewhat international.

Fußball still has a ways to go to get established as a major sport in the US, instead of just being something kids play in school (grade school on up to college)

 

[Whirlysplat]

The NHL already has players from countries other than Canada and the US, though the teams are either from Canada or the US. MLB is also international with players from countries that have a focus on baseball (Japan and the various Central and South American countries and then Canada). I think that "world teams" thing from a couple years back was just a one-off, but baseball is already somewhat international.

It peaked round the world in the 40's

 

[Whirlysplat]

I'd love to be able to see an English Premiere League team play an MLS team and actually have the match count for something.

As would I. American football has improved greatly over recent years. They even beat us once. That said, they are not capable of winning a major title. I think turning football into a girls game, upset many people around the world.

 

[Addendum]

People got upset? oh well.