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agree.. what the hell do they do for the fans, but rob the gullible from there hard earned cash. and they live like kings from it!!!! it's sad that a basketball or baseball player makes more than a brain surgeon or even the president of the united states for bouncing, batting or throwing balls.. the country is back @zz backwards..
But the President, don't have a good three point jumper.
OK, I stand corrected. I was actually thinking of the Brooklyn Dodgers from the 1940s and 50s, most of whom weren't born in Brooklyn, but many did make it their home while they played ball here.
Players salaries were so low then, that players couldn't afford to maintain a family home in two cities, so they often moved their families to the major league city where they played. In the off-season, they would just stay with mom and dad on the farm back in Arkansas. Burt most had to have an off-season job, to support their families.
There is a great story about the 1944 St. Louis Cardinals and St. Louis Browns, whose managers, Billy Southworth and Luke Sewell, shared an apartment in St. Louis. Both teams played in Sportsmen's Park, so they could never be scheduled for home games on the same day, and they never saw each other. But both teams won the pennant, and they had to manage against each other in the World Series---and sleep in the same room after the game every night. And maybe the same bed, for all I know.
Maybe I've got a wrong impression but I've never seen huge mobs of American fans supporting their national team, in whatever sport.
We don't have a "national team" in any of the Professional Sports in the United States. And, we have numerous sports too - Baseball, Basketball, Football, Hockey and more.
I think he meant the teams we put together to compete in the Olympics, about which not everyone in this country goes crazy.
But there is the point that the USA is a large enough country to have a monopoly on the talent for two sports that traditionally are uniquely American (baseball and football) and one that is Canadian (hockey). So the rest of the world has not been able to compete against the USA in those sports. That leaves us out of "nationalistitic" competition.
On the other hand, the countries of Europe all play the same sport, and they all play against each other, so that fosters a nationalism about their competitive sports teams.
When the Stanley Cup playoffs roll around, I doubt if very many Americas would consistenly root for the American team to beat the Canadian team strictly because they are "American". Nor did anyone root for the Phillies or the Braves to beat the Blue Jays in the World Series for reasons of Americanism.
Our Cites play each other. rather than playing other Countries so much. ---that big pond makes travel a little difficult. Europeans can take the train to games.
Prettymuch the US sports market is confine to national games and few really care for internation games. It more to do with different sports taste and tradition IMO. For examle peole watched lance armstrong and then it dies off. Forumula ! racing has never been big really. In some respects americans actually like their home sports because they can attend game or event in person.Often they follow the individuals thru thier college days on to thier professional careers.
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