American Sports
 

i want to know, when it comes to some sports, americans think they are the best.

Why is the winner of the MLB season called world champ, when in actuality, only 2 nations are represented in the competition. Do they think that teams from other parts of the world wouyld not stand a chance.

Also, why is the winner of the superbowl called world champ. As far as im aware, "Gridiron" is played im more places than USA.

If you ask me, sports like this should have a change of titles. No longer should they be called WORLD champs, but maybe North American champs instead.

because you're not catering to the brilliant north american minds on TPWW, you're catering to the dumbass rednecks who don't know any other countries exist besides Iraq, Canada, and Mexico.

Bob Sanders

What he said.

It's funny how you never, ever see American fans blasting other countries sports out of no where but atleast a few times a year, someone from outside the US has to take shots at football, baseball, etc..

I'm guessing that other thread about how rugby is better than football inspired this, no??

Quite hypocritical..

I'm not exactly sure how it started but for some reason it stuck. The whole "World" part isn't as stressed as you guys think it is, not really a big deal.

World Wrestling Federation is based out of Stamford, Conn..

The only other place football (see: gridiron for you poofs) is in Canada. I would wager that a team from the CFL could not beat the worst of the NFL. A lot of CFL players are those that couldn't cut it in the NFL for whatever reason. Until someone in the world comes up with a team that could beat the Super Bowl champion, I think they can call themselves the world champions.

I always thought it was because players from all over the world play in MLB/NBA/NHL etc

Most major sports are pretty well represented by foreign nations. I mean, I don't think they can claim world champions except the NFL really, but whatever. I sleep well at night either way.

Technically, I've never heard the Super Bowl being called the world championship. And the World Series is more of a name than it is the world champions title.

That all said, all of the world's best baseball players play in MLB. Japan is the next best bet, but the league as a whole is the equivalent of the U.S. second division and the best Japanese players routinely come to the U.S.

For football, it is an American sport. There are teams/leagues in Europe, but they are American players who weren't good enough to play in the NFL. The Canadian league is a lot of Canadian players and NFL rejects, but as somebody said, they wouldn't stand a chance.

You really don't have to call it national championship when both are THE league for the respective sports. Both are centered around the U.S.

because those leagues are the best leagues in he world and have the best players in the world, so pretty much they are wold champs

What Gertner said

NHL doesn't call there champions World Champions, they call them the Stanley Cup Champions.

Super Bowl Champs... where does that say World Champs?

I've heard the super bowl champs reffered to as world champs on t.v numerous times.

Baseball players from around the world come to the US to play in MLB, so I don't really see why it's a big deal that the MLB championship is called the "World Series".

when you win the championship in the top league in the world i feel you have every right to call yourself world champions.

Because we have the best league in every major world sport except Soccer(Football).

Hockey - CHeck
Baseball - Check
Football - Check
Basketball - Check
Soccer- Joke

That is not to say Americans are the best at all these sports (Which is far from true.)

But our sports arent really like Soccer, so we can make that claim. I would kill for a UEFA(Right name?) type club championship like Soccer has a few of but there would really be not reason, our "CLub" teams are the only ones that can compete.

I like the World Baseball Classic, that was an amazing IDea, for those who do not know, its like a World Cup for Baseball. Sadly there arent that many countries involved, just The Americas and Asia.

Your "major world sports" seem to resemble major American sports Matthew...

Lol at those being every major world sport.

Baseball is a major sport in Asia and South America.

Hockey Rules the Former Soviet nations as well as well as the northern Europeans.

BasketBall is exploding all over the world.

What makes any of those not "Major".

What sports even come close to being as widespread as any of those?

Cricket? Fuck no. Rugby? Not nearly as many counties play it.

Cricket is probably bigger than all those sports besides basketball. And that's only because the Chinese are into it.
We prefer to keep rugby for the purists :)

I honestly think China is into Baseketball just as much as Cricket.

Take away China, and Cricket has shit.

No way is Cricket even NEAR Hockey and BAseball Worldwide.....Maybe Baseball bu not Hockey.

I don't see the importance of it all. It's not like they come over here and say 'we are world champs, bow down and worship us.'

I can see a spectacular backfire one day when the US win a world title in football or something similar.

Yeah Bad Company's point seemed to me to be about Chinese playing Basketball and not Cricket otherwise it wouldn't have made much sense.

Hey leave us out of it you bloody Mexican wanker, it's those pesky New Zealanders!

Cricket easily eclipses any American sport for worldwide popularity. Just having India and Pakistan being obsessed with it makes this a formality, never mind the rest of southern Asia. Add in that it's a very popular sport in Africa. And the Caribbean, which is probably where you are thinking of for baseball.

Rugby Union probably does too, but the nations who are strong at playing it are fairly thin on the ground. Though it is growing in popularity.

Calling baseball a major sport in Asia and South America is a bit silly. Japan is not very big, and they also play rugby.

You calling ice hockey, hockey is a bit stupid too. There is also field hockey, which is big in Europe and Asia and probably much more popular than ice hockey. The Eastern Europeans also like that weird handball game, probably as much as they do basketball.

But really football is the true world sport. American sports are niche at best. Rugby and cricket can claim true world championship competitions with international interest. American sports cannot and could not mobilise that sort of worldwide interest in a major championship. Only showpiece occasions like the Superbowl can manage it.

lol yeah.

Baseball is huge in Japan, Popular in Korea too.

In South America....Cuba, Dominican, Venezuela etc are all pretty big baseball countries, and it is really picking up in Columbia. I guess maybe it is more of a Central American, but South America is really taking to it.


I will agree that Soccer (Football) is THE worlds game, hands down.

But you guys are really underestimating "American" sports. Niche? Come on.

You say that they cant generate the same level interest in major championships as Rugby and Cricket? Come on.

Basketball World Games are some of the biggest events in the world!

This debate got sidetracked.

Go back to the first post in this thread. The actual argument is why Americans think their sports are worthy of having their championships called "world championships". Based on ECG's argument, American sports are certainly worthy of having world championships because they aren't even the biggest sports in the world. American sports attract players from around the world, but the sports are not necessarily the most popular in their respective country.

Whether cricket and rugby are bigger sports than baseball and basketball, I really don't know. All I know is that soccer is the world's most popular sport, rightfully so.

Cricket is definitely bigger than baseball and basketball. There is absolutely no arguing that. The Asian subcontinent is obsessed with it. Rugby Union is more debatable, but again neither baseball nor basketball would be able to have a international world cup of the standard Rugby Union does. The sun never set on the British Empire as they say so where the Brits went, so did their sports.

So yes as regards the original question, for American sports the national leagues effectively represent the world championships.

Other sports like rugby are played in many countries at a competitive level. The American sports aren't.

Then why do you guys care??

If if football, basketball, and baseball mean so little around the rest of the world, then why does it matter?? It would actually make more sense to be mad if say, the UK, had a football league which compete against the NFL, and we still called our SuperBowl champ "World Champ".. If the NFL is the only big American football league, why would their championship not be considered the "world championship" considering they are the only ones in the world playing that particular sport at that particular level?? Same with baseball etc..

Isn't the World Series name just a throwback to its early 20th century origins designed to hype it up some?

People really get way too hung up on that one

Also baseball is huge in certain parts of the world, ie North and Central America and Japan, but I think like ECG said, Cricket is easily 'the' sport of the British commonwealth, more than Rugby purely because of its number one pegging in the Indian subcontinent, definitely more popular than the American sports.

America is not be all end all of sports or the world. Americans have a hard time realizing this.