So this is America's game? America's past time? I can not and will not believe that, not after America's latest showing in the World Baseball Classic. Once again the championship game excluded Team USA and once again the tournament was won by Japan. But the lack of a presence during international tournaments is not exclusive to the World Baseball Classic, aside from the 2000 Summer Games, Team USA is an utter failure. So what gives? Where is the outrage from the people?When basketball's Team USA slipped up in a few international tournaments and one Olympic games, the public, media and those who make a living through basketball identified a problem and sought a solution. The problem: How can the National Basketball Association be the home of the world champions if the brand of basketball played in America/the NBA was not the absolute best in the world? The solution: David Stern gets, perhaps the games best team builder, Jerry Colangelo, to run operations for Team USA's new effort. Jerry Colangelo then built a new team with a new creed, brick by brick to reestablish USA's global dominance in basketball. And he did so by getting the NBA's absolute best (Kobe Byrant, Chris Paul, Lebron James) to commit, really commit to the name on the front of the jersey with one common goal. The stars of that team bought into a new system and cast their egos aside for the sake of winning and win they did. USA dominated en route back to the top proving that America could not win just with talent but also needed dedication.
Which brings me back to the World Baseball Classic. Last night while watching the championship game between Korea and Japan, I perked my ears up during an interview with Bud Selig and announcers Joe Morgan, Steve Phillips and Jon Miller. The announcers were talking with the commissioner about how to improve Team USA to ensure a better showing by the team in the future of this tournament.
Steve Phillips proposed players commit earlier and begin their training for the tournament in roughly February in order to be prepared for the tournament and avoid the lash of injuries and poor showings by team USA this year. It was initially met with praise by Bud Selig before Joe Morgan began a rant against such an idea, saying it would be too much to ask of those selected players. Why? Are these players not getting some compensation for participating in the tournament? So why is it too much to ask these players to prepare a little earlier than usual? Why do the dedicated need not apply?
If USA baseball wants to become a legitimate force internationally they need to take Steve Phillips' advice and build on that by using the mold created by the NBA and Jerry Colangelo. Rather than create a team for an event, build a program for dominance and growth of the game. If the stars are not eager to fill this role then finding players who are in the minors (rising stars) will be hard, seeing as they jumped at chances to play for teams like Mexico, Italy and the Netherlands. All Team USA would need is one star to commit to the cause and lead by example and sell the tournament. But if there is no star willing to do so, USA once upon built a hockey program consisting of college students to take down the mighty U.S.S.R.Bud Selig is onto something with the WBC, as evidence by how the well the tournament has been received in all other competing countries. What would take this tournament and ultimately to another level is the success of Team USA.
4 comments:
1. The MlB's best players are not dominated by americans. The MLB is a melting pot of the best players in the world. Yes there are amazing american players. but there are also amazing international players. there are so many amazing south american players.
2. The MLB has the LONGEST season of any professional sport. do u really think players want to play anymore than they have to, to win a MEANINGLESS (get to that later) world series classic? They are risking injury, burning out during there own season, and if they committed any sooner, spending less time with their family then they already do.
3. the only thing MLB players care about is money, contracts, and the world series. they are the highest paid athletes in the world. i doubt they care about a world series classic that was created 6 years ago. (i think, i dont even know when it was started, cause no one cares).
4. baseball may be are past time, but there is a large difference between the nba and the mlb. the nba's BEST players are american. ALL OF THEM. there are a FEW sprinkled international players that are good, maybe even stars. manu, parker, gasol, but these international superstars come NO WHERE close to the american superstars. we were losing to teams filled with NOBODIES. u had never even heard of some of the players. we were getting killed by argentina, who had manu and noc. and noc sucks in the NBA. so why are we losing to them?
BUUUUTTT... in the MLB... EVERY team is filled with international superstars. either with bats or pitchers. so its not as absurd when we dont win the world series classic.
the usa would have to begin training much earlier to win the wcs. and no one wants to do that. most teams that make the playoffs are playing 8-9 months out of the year. and thats like every day ball. so why the fuck would they want to train to win a meaningless wcs? its not that important.
Not only do I agree with Beto whole-heartedly, I must say that I do not agree with your whole mindset Beans. Why should America dominating the world of baseball be a priority still.
In the case of the NBA Jerry Colangelo reached out to the stars of the NBA, who looked inward at themselves and said, you know what, if I go, and all the other stars go, we will domintae the olympics. Which is what happened.
MLB players from America simply can't have that mindset because as Beto said, the game is a melting pot with the best players coming from various countries around the world. Which brings me to my next point.
It's very "american" of us to be so disappointed that our best American stars did not shorten their off-season in order to prepare for the WBC...all for the sake of our being the best in the world. Just because the sport was invented here, and for a long time played here and no where else, it's not that deep that we don't dominate the sport anymore. If we can't win with the players that want to play, then we aren't the best in the world. Japan is. You don't hear the UK complaining because they no longer dominate the world of cricket, Pakistan works everybody every year. Same thing with New Zealanders and Rugby, South Africa dominating and it's no one is begging for a return to dominance.
Let's stop thinking that America "should" be the best at each sport that originated here. Because I can honestly say, if someday, Italians are better football players than Americans, I will not care, as long as the major world stage for these sports remains in the US with the MLB, the NBA, and NFL....what are we even complaining about.
I agree with both Beto and J, but I'd just like to add that I thinks its interesting that Americans DO get upset when we dont win at everything. There was outrage when we didnt win gold in basketball. Mind you, we picked it up at the China games but still...it was a concern. The truth is that if you want to win a championship - at anything - you have to have mad dedication. That's the way it is with everything you - you want to be the best, you have to put it all in there. I guarantee you that the Japanese team brought it hard. If they didnt, then that makes it more embarrassing for us. When we wanted to win gold in China we brought out the all-stars...Kobe, LeBron, Chris Paul, D-Wade etc... If we expect to win or want to win at the WBC (which, i personally am not that interested in) we've got to bring the best players or work our asses off, like a the 1980 US hockey team. It's a trade off, like everything. The truth is that because baseball is our national pasttime we care more about the regular season...basically, we (and I am very much included in this group) care more about a penant than we do about anything else.
Do you know what extremely popular sporting event was once considered a waste of time? The NCAA tournament. Yes the event that dominates the month of March once played second fiddle to the NIT. How did that change? Well it was most importantly given a chance, then it wa able to attract some of college basketball's powerhouses, such as UCLA.
The World Baseball Classic deserves that same chance. Why? Because it truly has caught on around the world. But although there are plenty of stars representing their countries (Ichiro-Japan, Magglio Ordonez-Venezuela, Justin Morneau-Canada, Geo Soto-Puerto Rico, David Ortiz-Dominican Republic) the WBC does not stand a chance without a competitive Team USA.
But to be crystal clear, I never said Team USA has to win the WBC to make it relevant, but instead that USA needs a program in place to field an actual team that really competes.
A successful WBC is just good for the game. It is good for the game just as the Olympics are for basketball and hockey and the World Cup is for soccer. That is why David Stern has his best players represent their countries during the Olympics, where the risk of injury and wearing down is just the same (think Manu Ginobli and Yao Ming). It is also why the NHL actually puts its season on hold in order for their players to participate, but hockey players never tire or injure-because they're hockey players, right? And also why those european soccer club owners put their $100,000,000+ stars on loan for their respective countries. But they're such superior athletes that their legs never tire and they're bodies never break down, right?
Stop making excuses for the American Major Leaguers, their job is to play baseball so if they're asked to do so for an extra month they ought to. Most people work year round, why shouldn't they?
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