A substantial number of baseball’s all-stars, in Major League Baseball, are not from the US. It’s a popular enough sport elsewhere, but the best players tend to want to come to the US to play. About 25% of the players are foreign.
Same with basketball, which hasn’t had an American MVP in 8 years. About 30% of the players are foreign.
Most other leagues don’t call their own championships/titles the “world” anything. American Major League Baseball explicitly calls its finals the World Series. The American NBA calls its winners the World Champions.
For those two sports and leagues, it’s a pretty solid argument that those are the best players and coaches in the world at those sports, where the American leagues attract the absolute best talent.
It’s harder to make that argument for soccer leagues around the world, though.
Being from a country and playing a sport in the country they immigrated to doesn’t mean the country they came from is big into that sport…
What you’re saying is like saying “many who like this very US specific food are not from the US, so that means that food is common outside the US.”
How do you not see the idiocy of that?
It’s still a mainly US specific sport, the fact that many who play it (in the US) aren’t from the US doesn’t change that fact at all.
My point is that the best in the world at those two sports compete in the top US professional leagues, and that anyone in the world is welcome to participate if they have the skill level. Nothing you’ve said addresses my point, and you’re arguing against something I’ve never said or implied.
To your point, though, both baseball and basketball are quite popular in the countries of origin of these international players. Baseball is huge in Japan, Korea, and much of Latin America. Basketball is huge in much of Europe, and the Euro League is competitive, as are the national leagues in Spain, Italy, and France. But the young stars from those leagues (and Turkey, Australia, and China) have been drafted into the NBA after having already proven themselves in professional competitive play. So not only are you arguing against something I never said, you just showed up, uninvited, to be wrong about it.
A substantial number of baseball’s all-stars, in Major League Baseball, are not from the US. It’s a popular enough sport elsewhere, but the best players tend to want to come to the US to play. About 25% of the players are foreign.
Same with basketball, which hasn’t had an American MVP in 8 years. About 30% of the players are foreign.
Sure but that’s true of a lot of football leagues too.
Most other leagues don’t call their own championships/titles the “world” anything. American Major League Baseball explicitly calls its finals the World Series. The American NBA calls its winners the World Champions.
For those two sports and leagues, it’s a pretty solid argument that those are the best players and coaches in the world at those sports, where the American leagues attract the absolute best talent.
It’s harder to make that argument for soccer leagues around the world, though.
Being from a country and playing a sport in the country they immigrated to doesn’t mean the country they came from is big into that sport…
What you’re saying is like saying “many who like this very US specific food are not from the US, so that means that food is common outside the US.”
How do you not see the idiocy of that?
It’s still a mainly US specific sport, the fact that many who play it (in the US) aren’t from the US doesn’t change that fact at all.
My point is that the best in the world at those two sports compete in the top US professional leagues, and that anyone in the world is welcome to participate if they have the skill level. Nothing you’ve said addresses my point, and you’re arguing against something I’ve never said or implied.
To your point, though, both baseball and basketball are quite popular in the countries of origin of these international players. Baseball is huge in Japan, Korea, and much of Latin America. Basketball is huge in much of Europe, and the Euro League is competitive, as are the national leagues in Spain, Italy, and France. But the young stars from those leagues (and Turkey, Australia, and China) have been drafted into the NBA after having already proven themselves in professional competitive play. So not only are you arguing against something I never said, you just showed up, uninvited, to be wrong about it.