July 9, 2001
10:07 AM Subscribe
With Britain getting whipped on most sporting fronts, the BBC suggests we take a leaf out of the Americans' book. [More inside]
well, this article was annoying. the only reason America is a "world beater" in baseball is because it draws upon a vast talent pool not only inside the nation but outside as well. as for football, i just think not many outside of the US play the sport early on (HS or college), therefore there is a perceived lack of talent outside of the nation. but asking for informed foreign commentary on american sports would be asking a bit much, even if it is the BBC.
posted by moz at 10:18 AM on July 9, 2001
posted by moz at 10:18 AM on July 9, 2001
Mocata: do we really want to revive snooker to its 1980s heights?
posted by holgate at 10:20 AM on July 9, 2001
posted by holgate at 10:20 AM on July 9, 2001
holgate: horrible thought I know - although Mart would feel strangely vindicated.
posted by Mocata at 10:38 AM on July 9, 2001
posted by Mocata at 10:38 AM on July 9, 2001
It's always embarrassing to be beaten at a game you've invented.
Why? The simple fact that someone invented it doesn't mean that he/she is the *best* at it. This statement is meaningless. And the sport wasn't "invented" by anyone still living. So, in essence, what the writer means is that it is "embarrassing" for a nation that housed the creator of a sport to suffer a defeat in that same sport many decades (or even centuries!) later. Pffft.
posted by davidmsc at 10:41 AM on July 9, 2001
Why? The simple fact that someone invented it doesn't mean that he/she is the *best* at it. This statement is meaningless. And the sport wasn't "invented" by anyone still living. So, in essence, what the writer means is that it is "embarrassing" for a nation that housed the creator of a sport to suffer a defeat in that same sport many decades (or even centuries!) later. Pffft.
posted by davidmsc at 10:41 AM on July 9, 2001
Isn't Cuba as good as the USA at baseball? Didn't we routinely get our butts kicked at basketball until the creation of "The Dream Team"?
Of course, I would love to see football in the Olympics...
posted by owillis at 11:01 AM on July 9, 2001
Of course, I would love to see football in the Olympics...
posted by owillis at 11:01 AM on July 9, 2001
Why, but how simple. Change the British national sport to croquet.
posted by jfuller at 11:24 AM on July 9, 2001
posted by jfuller at 11:24 AM on July 9, 2001
Isn't Cuba as good as the USA at baseball? Didn't we routinely get our butts kicked at basketball until the creation of "The Dream Team"?
Judging the US at any sport based on the performance of its amateurs is hardly ideal. As far as baseball is concerned, the most talent per capita can probably be found in the Dominican Republic.
Of course, I would love to see football in the Olympics...
You and your football, owillis. I'll never understand it. :-) But to be honest, we recently experienced the eqivalent of Olympic-level football, and it was pretty poor.
posted by jpoulos at 11:32 AM on July 9, 2001
Judging the US at any sport based on the performance of its amateurs is hardly ideal. As far as baseball is concerned, the most talent per capita can probably be found in the Dominican Republic.
Of course, I would love to see football in the Olympics...
You and your football, owillis. I'll never understand it. :-) But to be honest, we recently experienced the eqivalent of Olympic-level football, and it was pretty poor.
posted by jpoulos at 11:32 AM on July 9, 2001
I think Olympic football would be closer to Division I-AA NCAA or Canadian Football, which is still better than the XFL
posted by owillis at 11:52 AM on July 9, 2001
posted by owillis at 11:52 AM on July 9, 2001
David Coulthard is UK's biggest challenge to Formula 1's WDC in the past four or five years.
As for Cricket, some of the best cricket pitches and players are outside England.
posted by riffola at 2:21 PM on July 9, 2001
As for Cricket, some of the best cricket pitches and players are outside England.
posted by riffola at 2:21 PM on July 9, 2001
Ummm, I may just be a dumb American riffola, but Eddie Irvine is from Northern Ireland and might disagree with you. He came very close to beating Hakkinen in '99 after Schumacher broke his leg.
posted by machaus at 4:16 PM on July 9, 2001
posted by machaus at 4:16 PM on July 9, 2001
When I was in the DR, I visited a podunk town called San Pedro de Macoris. This must be the baseball capital of the world. Sammy Sosa, Andres Gallaragga and scores of other major leaguers came from this town which has about as many people as your average N. Virginia subdivision.
As far as British Sport goes, they need to relax their immigration policies =).
posted by Kevs at 7:36 PM on July 9, 2001
As far as British Sport goes, they need to relax their immigration policies =).
posted by Kevs at 7:36 PM on July 9, 2001
Kevs: What and get loads of Canadians who might win something? It'd never happen, we're too good at coming second!
posted by davehat at 9:17 PM on July 9, 2001
posted by davehat at 9:17 PM on July 9, 2001
Hey, we might have had a crap weekend of sport over here, but it was only in the sports that don't matter. In England, there's only one sport that counts, and that's football, (or as you like to call it, saw-ker ). When we lose to Germany on September the first, then we'll start talking about a national sporting catastrophe!
moz: You don't really believe that about American football do you? Nobody outside the USA plays the sport because nobody cares about it. Same reason why only Australians play Aussie Rules football.
posted by salmacis at 12:50 AM on July 10, 2001
moz: You don't really believe that about American football do you? Nobody outside the USA plays the sport because nobody cares about it. Same reason why only Australians play Aussie Rules football.
posted by salmacis at 12:50 AM on July 10, 2001
machaus: My mistake, I thought Eddie used Ireland, not UK as his country.
posted by riffola at 1:54 PM on July 10, 2001
posted by riffola at 1:54 PM on July 10, 2001
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"It's always embarrassing to be beaten at a game you've invented. Perhaps we should take a leaf out of the Americans' book.
With American football and baseball, the US has games at which it can be a world beater, largely because the rest of the world can't fathom the rules or be bothered to spend a whole day playing by them.
The English had a go with cricket, but made the fatal error of putting pitches everywhere they visited (or, more properly, colonised).
The answer? Run the Cricket World Cup along the lines of baseball's World Series and keep almost every other half-decent country out."
posted by Mocata at 10:07 AM on July 9, 2001