We Suck

I’m tired of doom-and-gloom media coverage about the decline of the USA’s economic global stature. Ask a random citizen on the street which country has the largest economy and you’re likely to hear “China” as the response. Not true … at least not yet. And we’re still number one in all matters related to military might, spending more annually than all other nations on earth combined. What I am pissed about is our decline as a sports power. We’re really beginning to suck. Japan just won the women’s World Cup. Another year without an American winning the British Open golf tournament. And Rory McIlroy, a guy from Northern Ireland – a country about the size of Rhode Island – wins the Masters golf tournament this year. Granted, golf isn’t a “sport” so much as a hobby, and most Americans could care less about soccer. But tennis is a real sport, and we suck there, too. No Americans in this year’s Wimbledon finals, semi-finals or even quarter-finals – men or women. A Chinese woman won the French Open tennis tournament; no American in sight. At the last Summer Olympics, the Chinese won the most gold medals. And at the most recent Winter Olympics, who took home the most gold? Canadians. Think about that for a moment. Even this year’s NBA champions, the Dallas Mavericks, have as their best player a guy from Germany. Really? In a sport the USA “invented.” At least our teams still dominate pro football and major league baseball. Baseball is a sport – right?

Bad Guys Always Win

I’m not a professional basketball fan. But I am amused by the current NBA finals. As of last night, the best-of-seven series is tied at two games each. The Miami Heat are the “bad guys.” LeBron James, the best player in the game today, fled his hometown Cleveland Cavaliers last year for Miami in a brazen attempt to win NBA championships. Who can blame him? He had no chance to win in Cleveland, and now leads the best team money can buy. Only the Dallas Mavericks, the presumed “good guys” in this equation, stand in his way. Americans love to wax poetically about their sports gods. Tiger Woods. Kobe Bryant. Brett Favre. Reprehensible individuals, rich in money and celebrity, bankrupt otherwise. Professional sports is business. It’s theatre and nothing more. Always has been. There are no “good guys” – just entertainers and their handlers, all out to make as much as they can for as long as they can. Now, I can’t wait to read about who wins game five tomorrow night in Dallas!