Is the Dutch speed skating coach right about American athletes?

[jschuck12001]

The only place I talk with people from other countries is on SG but before that it was well understood that people from around the world don't care much for us Americans and our attitudes towards basically everything.

So the Dutch speed skating coach went off on America yesterday and seemed to vent his frustrations about Americans thinking we are the best at everything and we only stay in our own little world so we have no competition.

Just curious what people's opinions are on this topic.

 

[RobbieD_PL]

Well he certainly has a point about how funneling sporting and fiscal resources to sports with no global appeal detracts from winning and consistently dominating at the Olympics. He uses the precise example of NFL as a sport with zero global reach; He wasn't necessarily having a go at America or gridiron football as a sport in itself.

Then again the same can be said of most countries with a uniquely national past-time. Australian AFL comes to mind, but then again, that is centred around one city, Melbourne.

Also, the reverse of funneling to non-Olympic sports is true; if a country sets out to dominate across the board, it can end up spreading resources too thinly.

 

[Sir Didier Drogba]

Whatever, I dont like arrogant douchebag europeans either who think we are better than everyone just because our countries are older. I like and respect some American sports and also you make more effort to play our sports (soccer, rugby) than we make to play yours. You shouldnt give a fuck what guys like him say.

 

[RobbieD_PL]

Soccer has taken a LONG time to even get some kind of credibility in the Anglosphere outside the British Isles. It's only come up recently in the past two decades; before that, it always played fourth-fiddle to something else.

Rugby Union and Cricket are two classic examples of sports which are majority Anglophone (France, Italy and Argentina are the exceptional presence in Rugby Union) and which their North American sides are at the lower ends of professionalism.

 

[Bobby]

I actually think he's a troll and knows he wound people up by saying that. He may even be reading the comments/tweets about it and pleasuring himself.

He's right that American football takes up most of the financial resources we set aside for sports, but it takes them up because people like it and have very little issue with it taking them up. I've met American coaches who say similar things, "we're blowing all this money on football and we could be dominating at the Olympics", the problem is few here care about those sports outside of the Olympics. They're totally aware of them, they just don't bother going or participating in high numbers.

Soccer has taken a LONG time to even get some kind of credibility in the Anglosphere outside the British Isles. It's only come up recently in the past two decades; before that, it always played fourth-fiddle to something else.

Rugby Union and Cricket are two classic examples of sports which are majority Anglophone (France, Italy and Argentina are the exceptional presence in Rugby Union) and which their North American sides are at the lower ends of professionalism.

The white Anglosphere, anyway. Soccer is the sport in Jamaica, Trinidad & Tobago, Nigeria.

 

[RobbieD_PL]

But soccer has seen the highest youth participation in the U.S.; it's a similar problem to Australia. Once the kids get to a certain age, they're playing different sports. The one's which have the greatest appeal within the national context. They're forced to pick between soccer/swimming/athletics or other sports with global appeal and sports which are really popular in their countries but have a global pinnacle of 15 teams or less.

 

[Sir Didier Drogba]

Exactly, I watched and really enjoyed women's handball, rowing, various track and field events, even some gymnastics and thought what a nice break from football. Guess how many minutes of those sports I have watched since the olympics? Also, USA does not exactly struggle at the olympics either - summer and winter combined they are still far and away the dominant country in the world. What the fuck does Holland win in the summer?

 

[Bobby]

I'm not sure soccer is the #1 sport among youth here. In my experience basketball is played by more kids, it's just not as organized (read: monetized) as soccer is.

 

[Sir Didier Drogba]

Soccer is DEFINITELY the number one youth sport in BC, even more than hockey.

 

[Bobby]

Of course, I live in a basketball state.

 

[RobbieD_PL]

The white Anglosphere, anyway. Soccer is the sport in Jamaica, Trinidad & Tobago, Nigeria.

There's a strong West Indies cricket side in the Caribbean. It's not just soccer.

 

[Mus]

Soccer is for wog pussies and faggots bro

 

[regularcat]

when i was growing up the biggest sports were baseball, basketball, football and ice hockey.

i was never really exposed to soccer like the other sports, i think the most soccer i played was in physical education class and we only spent around two weeks playing it.

but once i met some people who watched the sport and started to watch for myself i realized how tactful and structured it was and saw it no different from our football or ice hockey.

i have always been more interested in team sports rather than solo sports, had soccer been a one man sport i would have no interest in it.

as for the dutch coach, i couldn't care less about his opinion, you either hate or congratulate and it is obvious what he is doing.
he should worry about his nation and his sport and his athletes and not worry about what he thinks america's problems are.

 

[Alex]

The only place I talk with people from other countries is on SG but before that it was well understood that people from around the world don't care much for us Americans and our attitudes towards basically everything.

So the Dutch speed skating coach went off on America yesterday and seemed to vent his frustrations about Americans thinking we are the best at everything and we only stay in our own little world so we have no competition.

Just curious what people's opinions are on this topic.

I can't help but wonder if some of my recent rants have also made you start asking these questions?

To me though, the fact that you're asking these questions shows that Americans are not as bad as they're being perceived - well at least not all of them!

 

[Alex]

Well he certainly has a point about how funneling sporting and fiscal resources to sports with no global appeal detracts from winning and consistently dominating at the Olympics. He uses the precise example of NFL as a sport with zero global reach; He wasn't necessarily having a go at America or gridiron football as a sport in itself.

Then again the same can be said of most countries with a uniquely national past-time. Australian AFL comes to mind, but then again, that is centred around one city, Melbourne.

Also, the reverse of funneling to non-Olympic sports is true; if a country sets out to dominate across the board, it can end up spreading resources too thinly.

Not really one city. I'm not a big Aussie Rules Football fan (being from NSW), but AFL is the major code in Victoria, SA, WA and Tasmania...Not just Melbourne.

 

[Alex]

The white Anglosphere, anyway. Soccer is the sport in Jamaica, Trinidad & Tobago, Nigeria.

Jamaica, T&T and other Caribbean nations have traditionally been huge cricketing powers. It was the national game of many of the islands until very recently.

 

[jschuck12001]

I can't help but wonder if some of my recent rants have also made you start asking these questions?

To me though, the fact that you're asking these questions shows that Americans are not as bad as they're being perceived - well at least not all of them!

LOL, its true Alex, we had our discussion and then I came across the Dutch coaches response.

I do agree with some of the things the Dutch coach said. We cant grow some of our other sports because there is so much focus on the top 3 and this affects our ability to field a legit contender come World Cup time.

 

[RobbieD_PL]

Not really one city. I'm not a big Aussie Rules Football fan (being from NSW), but AFL is the major code in Victoria, SA, WA and Tasmania...Not just Melbourne.

Well pretty much rugby is dominant in NSW and QLD and everywhere else the round ball sport is AFL. I just mentioned Melbourne as the place where half of the top-flight's teams are from. 9 are in Melbourne + Geelong and there are only 2 AFL teams per state in, WA, SA, NSW & QLD.

 

[Alex]

Well pretty much rugby is dominant in NSW and QLD and everywhere else the round ball sport is AFL. I just mentioned Melbourne as the place where half of the top-flight's teams are from. 9 are in Melbourne + Geelong and there are only 2 AFL teams per state in, WA, SA, NSW & QLD.

Yes, but that's because of the populations in SA and WA - they don't have the numbers to backup more teams at the national level. It's still well and truly their primary sport. It's also because the national AFL competition grew out of the state VFL competition. That obviously leaves that state with more teams with historical support etc

 

[Bobby]

Isn't Aussie Rules the dominant code in NT too? The Tiwi Islands produce a lot of good players for their size.