Re: If America got to the World Cup final, how many Yanks would watch
 

ok. i will bet you. 50:1 that usa wins one of the next 12?

Re: If America got to the World Cup final, how many Yanks would watch
 

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rick basketball is not treated like a national sport here, that is why the national team blows relative to what they should be.

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I just don't get that mentality.

To me sport is at its pinnacle at international level.
Competing for you country in a team sport in a World Championship is the summit as far as I'm concerned.

Wouldn't your NBA stars want to show the rest of the world that they are the best.

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I understand your perspective on international play, which is a big reason why I love the college game and loathe the NBA. But your question shows that you don't understand just how unimportant international play is in the eyes of most NBA stars.

Ask the NBA stars how important international competition is, and they'll answer with varying degrees of "how much will I get paid?" (Many of the game's top players refuse invitations to join the national team.) The NBA has devolved from a team game to a loosely-organized one-on-one competition; its style of play is so different from the international game that the Team USA players don't have time to adjust.

I think the USOC would do very well to steal the "rugby idea" in this thread. Assemble a squad of Americans currently playing in Europe, who didn't quite have the individual talent to make the NBA; form the roster a full calendar year before the Olympics; keep them together for that year, playing exhibitions against NBA teams, NCAA teams, and European teams.

Oh, and regarding the original topic: what ratings did the 1980 "Miracle on Ice" get? A World Cup final featuring the USA would probably do just as well. People who don't know soccer from curling would watch, just for the pseudo-patriotic angle.

Re: If America got to the World Cup final, how many Yanks would watch
 

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rick basketball is not treated like a national sport here, that is why the national team blows relative to what they should be.

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I just don't get that mentality.

To me sport is at its pinnacle at international level.
Competing for you country in a team sport in a World Championship is the summit as far as I'm concerned.

Wouldn't your NBA stars want to show the rest of the world that they are the best.

[/ QUOTE ]

I understand your perspective on international play, which is a big reason why I love the college game and loathe the NBA. But your question shows that you don't understand just how unimportant international play is in the eyes of most NBA stars.

Ask the NBA stars how important international competition is, and they'll answer with varying degrees of "how much will I get paid?" (Many of the game's top players refuse invitations to join the national team.) The NBA has devolved from a team game to a loosely-organized one-on-one competition; its style of play is so different from the international game that the Team USA players don't have time to adjust.

I think the USOC would do very well to steal the "rugby idea" in this thread. Assemble a squad of Americans currently playing in Europe, who didn't quite have the individual talent to make the NBA; form the roster a full calendar year before the Olympics; keep them together for that year, playing exhibitions against NBA teams, NCAA teams, and European teams.

Oh, and regarding the original topic: what ratings did the 1980 "Miracle on Ice" get? A World Cup final featuring the USA would probably do just as well. People who don't know soccer from curling would watch, just for the pseudo-patriotic angle.

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That's actually really sad

Re: If America got to the World Cup final, how many Yanks would watch
 

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ok. i will bet you. 50:1 that usa wins one of the next 12?

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Sure but one or both of us might be dead by the time the bet is over

Re: If America got to the World Cup final, how many Yanks would watch
 

But maybe, just maybe if we make all of our waitresses wear 15 pieces of flair we could develop it. Or maybe, just maybe if we elect Rick Flair president... I dream of the day when the US put's its full resources into developing our flair.

Re: If America got to the World Cup final, how many Yanks would watch
 

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the usa will likely win a world cup in the next 50 years. they actually do pour a lot of resources in the game. also, it is the 2nd highest played sport for american youth behind basketball. there is a ton of money poured into olympic and world cup development squads. this has been going strong since about 1990 and look at how much the usa has improved in world competition.

so, really, you both are right and wrong. doug is wrong bc the usa DOES pour cash into soccer but it is not even close to a power.....yet.

rick is wrong bc if the usa continues to improve it will certainly compete and, with all the luck involved in soccer, will likely take a cup. also, america has the advantage since it will host a few cups and more than any other nation in the upcoming competitions.

edit: i should note that rick is correct in that usa will NEVER dominate soccer. they may win a cup but they will never be considered the best or the favorites.

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If we're talking about the next fifty years there is no way the US will host 3 of them. We're much more likely to host none. The next two are spoken four. For the ten after that I think all these countries are more likely to host before the US than after:
- China
- England
- Spain
- Italy
- Argentina
- Brasil
- some other African country
- Sweden or Norway

I would say there are a few other countries like Turkey or Greece that could eventually table a solid bid that could rival the US. Although Blatter said he doesn't want to do joint bids anymore I could see The Netherlands and Belgium joining as they did for Euro 2000. Also, the 1938 cup could well be in Uruguay who hosted first, but I'm not sure they have the stadia.

So I would put it at about even odds that the US will host 1 world cup in the next 12, hosting 2 is extremely unlikely and 3 is pretty much not going to happen.

Re: If America got to the World Cup final, how many Yanks would watch
 

I don't believe the US will win the cup in the next 50 years, though it is far from impossible.

I probably did underestimate how much we put into soccer. However, soccer is a pretty easy game to play for young kids, which I suspect is a large part of the reason it is so popular. Once they reach high school, most of the better athletes will gravitate towards basketball, football, or baseball.

Re: If America got to the World Cup final, how many Yanks would watch
 

RRRICK-

The fact of that matter is that soccer just isn't nearly as big over here. I'm sure there are various reasons why, but that's irrelevant. [Most] people don't grow up watching soccer dreaming of one day playing in the world cup. That doesn't mean the WC isn't the biggest single sporting event, because it obviously is.

The US is still a pretty good team. (as far as i know) I think that's pretty amazing because it really is a second-rate sport to us.

Now, if you want to write this off as arrogant Americanism, that's fine. But the US is a very large and athletically competitive country. If the sport was more popular, the team would be better. Perhaps not the best, but signifcantly better.

To help put things into perspective, my high school (ages 13-18) had a football(american), baseball, basketball, hockey, golf, tennis, crew, track, cross-county, volleyball, and even a BOWLING team, but did not have a soccer team. (although this probably isn't the norm)

Re: If America got to the World Cup final, how many Yanks would watch
 

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If you removed every other sport, and every boy dreamed of playing in the world cup, if soccer was the way out of Pennslyvania coal mines (football), off of the farm or out of the innercity (baseball, basketball), then we could beat brazil.
But it would take a couple of generations.

If the US made the world cup final, we'd be lucky to get 20% of the US watching.

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Re: If America got to the World Cup final, how many Yanks would watch
 

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If you removed every other sport, and every boy dreamed of playing in the world cup, if soccer was the way out of Pennslyvania coal mines (football), off of the farm or out of the innercity (baseball, basketball), then we could beat brazil.
But it would take a couple of generations.

If the US made the world cup final, we'd be lucky to get 20% of the US watching.

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that 20% figure is so wrong. the media would hype it up like mad. people would watch. (of course assuming prime time)