WORLD CHAMPIONS...my foot ! ! !

They should have been dubbed "Our Own Little World Champions."

 

At least in soccer and rugby they have a REAL world championship played every four years. These are MASSIVE events, especially the soccer world cup. Literally BILLIONS of people will watch the finals of the soccer world cup, while many millions will follow the rugby world cup.

Current true soccer world champions - Brazil (2002)
Current true rugby world champions - England (2003)

The US did a credible job in the soccer world cup (held in Japan/South Korea) but did not qualify for the rugby world cup (held in Australia).

These are true world championships. The list above are only National Champions.

 

They are world champions because it is well accepted around the world that the best football and baseball is played here in our country. Thus the best team in the NFL and MLB is world champions. That is why people from all over the world push so hard to come play in those leagues. No one is beating down the door to play football in Kenya

 

Granted - but Irish teams who win the national championship in hurling or gaelic football do not call themselves "world champions." Even though at least one US team competes in these sports.

Perhaps a moderator who read this could move it to sports?

 

C4- I would have absolutely no problem calling the Irish teams World Champions. If they are considered the best in their sport around the world, then go for it.

 

Appreciate that Pastor. In the eternal scheme of things this is meaningless of course and our little discussion will have no impact.

My thoughts are that "world champion" has the implication of a "world sport" and there are relatively few of those.

 

C4 I would argue that the major sports leagues in America are world sports. They are flooded with players from around the world. They are watched and supported around the world. So although they teams are only from the USA, the players and fan support come from around the world. What other qualifications do they need?

And yes you are right in the eternal scheme of things this is meaningless, but fun to dialogue about.

 

I think that they need world recognition to be a world sport. American football and baseball are virtually ignored in Europe. The only time you here about them on the sports is at World Series and Super Bowl time. Unless, of course, you are around Americans .

I don't know of any "fan base" for either sport anyplace in Europe that I know how. I suspect that very few folks in Africa or India think much about baseball or American football either.

Baseball?? Possibly an argument there, but still only pockets of support in a few countries.

Basketball is a different story. US dominance in that sport is just about over. If NBA teams were to play with only their American players they would face challanges to their superioriy. I would love to see a "World Cup" of basketball every four years. That would be fascinating. It has almost grown to be a world sport so would probably have a lot of support.

 

There is a "World Cup" of basketball, the World Basketball Championship. This is the tournament that the U.S. pros lost in 2002. We not only lost the world championship, but also the Olympics. The U.S. dominance of basketball isn't just about over, it's fully over already.

 

Good point cc - I had forgotten about that. How often is it played?

 

I realise that MLB has players from a small handful of countries.

I didn't realise that the NFL was flooded with players from around the world.

 

The NBA is increasingly populated by foreign players because it is the best league in the world.

 

C4 Check on the player profiles on many teams and you might be surprised. The NFL is not to the point of MLB and NBA, but it is growing.

Pastor Larry, I agree with that, and that has been part of my point.

 

My belief is that world championships should be based on national teams, not club teams. I think we might be shocked at the result of a serious NBA strike. The European Basketball League is a growing force.

Of the big three (American football, basketball, and baseball) the only truly world sport is basketball and the Americans no longer dominate that sport.

What countries other than Japan, South Korea, and the Caribbean nations are represented in MLB?

What countries have sent players to the NFL?

Soccer club (Manchester United, Real Madrid, Chelsea, etc) teams are made up of players from literally all over the world. There is a "World Club Championship" but it has nothing like the prestige of the World Cup.

 

Thats right! Argentina #1!!! There is a Basketball World champioship, but a World Cup of Basketball would be great! Go Argentina!!! (Who by the way took home the gold in soccer too!)

 

For a Massachusetts resident you don't sound very enthusiastic about our champs. What's up with that?

 

Hey PatsFan, maybe she's a Bruins fan. (snicker, snicker)

Have we all forgotten the NFL Europe? There are a lot of in development players hoping for their chance for the Big Time! There will be a point in the future where American football will be as universally accepted as baseball. In the mean while the Patriots and the Berlin Thunder (2004 World Bowl) can argue about who are the real "World Champions"

 

Four of the six NFLEL teams are based in German, where there are HUGE numbers of Americans. It has not been able to fly anywhere else adn I could find do news of the Scotland team on the NFL Europe website. It looks like they have moved to Germany as well. Nobody that I know ever follows NFL Europe and nobody here follows baseball. To say that American football will be as accepted as baseball is not to say a whole lot. The vast majority as folks I know here and in the UK find both of those sports terribly boring, so there really is no TV market for them. They are not played at all at youth level. I have heard that some young people in Italy play baseball, but American football is only played in NFL Europe and folks in the States get better media coverage than we do here.

I can say with absolute confidence that neither of these sports will EVER compete with soccer. As big as basketball has become it is still decades behind soccer.

In what team sports do you think we can truly determine a World Champion based on international rather than national competition?

My choices in order of a truly world sport:

1. Soccer
2. Rugby
3. Basketball

Anything else?