Beef Jerky vs. Prime Rib

The United States of America is no longer in the World Baseball Classic. No, it isn’t over, they didn’t even reach the semifinals! Yes, even with a sport we supposedly created we couldn’t win.

My friend Rocky has posted about the globalization of sports in his blog, Not Prince Hamlet, and discusses the issue that other countries take global sporting events more seriously than our athletes do here in the U.S. I agree with this notion, but believe that there is a deeper factor at work here. Have you ever lost a game (Clue included) and played it off like you didn’t care as much as the winner, though deep down inside you know you got beat badly? I contend that is what is happening with this generation of U.S. athletes. The main problem in my opinion is that our Athletes are soft. They are not tough enough to compete on an international stage. It is fine when we are on our own soil competing against each other in a brother-in-law sort of way. But when it REALLY matters and we are playing against others who care about winning, we can’t cut the mustard.

You don’t agree? Let’s take a look at the recent trends that show the U.S., though superiorly talented (as many would say), still losing in the global arena.

Basketball – This began in the 2000 Olympics when we only beat Lithuania by 2 in the semis and France by 10 in the gold medal game! Then in ’04 we beat the same Lithuania team, but for the, ahem, Bronze. And don’t forget that we couldn’t win with amateurs so we created the ‘Dream Team’ to supposedly give us the advantage forever. How short lived that was. As for basketball outside of the Olympics, we struggle mightily there as well, we just don’t hear about it because we lose!

Baseball – We won Gold in the 2000 Olympics (the first time the sport was in the Olympics, btw). Then we didn’t even make the field in 2004! Now in the WBC, 2006 we can’t make the semifinals, with home field advantage (although Mexico could argue that playing in Anaheim is an advantage!)

Soccer – Outside of the women’s game (who I believe do take their sports more seriously and are mentally tougher than the other sex), we are pathetic on the international stage. Up until the last World Cup when we were underdogs and actually exceeded expectations, making a good run, our men have struggled just to get into the tournament! Given, this year, we should/could do better although we got a rotten draw in our pool.

Golf – (I know some say it isn’t a sport but it fits nicely in this column). Look at the Ryder cup. In the past ten years, we have taken 1 to Europe’s 4! That is with Tiger, Phil, Duval, Freddy, etc, who win week in and week out on the PGA tour.

All of these examples are team sports and that is also where I think we are lacking. I don’t think anyone would argue that Tiger Woods is the best golfer of the day, but on a team, I would say he is a liability! Looking at our U.S. WBC roster, we have more career home runs/wins top to bottom than anybody else playing, but we don’t make the semis. Our dream team features players who individually can do things the sport has never seen, but we struggle to win gold or even compete in the Pan Am games!

All this goes to show that we are soft! We have the talent, but don’t know how to use it as a team, and what to do when the going gets tough. At some point, U.S. athletes will have to wake up and get over themselves and realize that the excuses and lackadaisical attitudes when losing won’t cut it much longer. Maybe that will begin in Germany in June (where Chuck Strawn is rumored to be headed to watch Futbol). Maybe our guys will toughen up and win some games they aren’t supposed to on an International stage. It would be a breath of fresh air that we haven’t had in over 10 years!