Go Team Go!
For those of you who are interested, I compiled a list to the third exercise and posted it. I will post my response along with Brian's in the comment section. There were a lot of interesting items, espicially when we looked outside the U.S. for underdogs and rivls. Click here for story.
posted by Michael @ 12:59 PM
2 Comments:
Underdog with a strong fan base
Chelsea and Arsenal would have been my been my top picks, but both teams have enjoyed success in the past few years. Chelsea is like the Boston Red Sox. That dumb Jimmy Fallon and Drew Berrymore flick is based on a book where the character is a die hard Chelsea fan.
Serve and volley players. On both the men's and women's tours, these players are near extinct. Martina Hingis was the last women's player who regularly played serve and volley. On the men's side? Boris Becker? Johnny Mac? Ivan Lendl certainly showed that a player with a big serve could dominate. There is an artistry involved in playing this type of tennis.
Dutch soccer. Played for the World Cup in 1974 or 1977. There are a lot of reasons why the Dutch have not duplicated the success they had in the 1970s. Too many to bore you with at this point. Still, the Netherlands have a rabid following.
Any Japanese baseball team other than the Giants. The Giants may be the Yankees in Japan, but every team has a strong, passionate following. On the flip side, the Giants' dominance has contributed to the slow decline of Japanese baseball, or base baru.
Pakistani cricket. The national team, which was competitive up until about 5 years ago, has a strong following. However, the Pakistanis are no threat to the Indians and Australians' hegemony.
Israeli world cup soccer. In the class of also-rans, Israel stands alone. The explosion of supports and joy when Israel tied France in Cup qualifying was unbelievable. Truly one of the biggest upsets in Cup qualifying. When Israel competes in the Middle East group for cup qualifying, then (A) Israel will regularly qualify for the Cup, (B) soccer deserves the Nobel Peace Prize because (C) real peace will have been achieved.
Dark horse. Every World Cup has one team that breaks through seemingly out of no where. Portugal in the last Cup certainly qualifies. France in 1998 would be another.
Fierce rivalry
Man U. vs. Man City; Man U vs Liverpool. The Red Devils matches against Arsenal and Chelsea have come to life in recent years. But those three are long time rivals even in if Man U and Man City is a bit lopsided.
Britain vs. Argentina. The Falklands. The Hand of G-d. Need I say more?
Juventas, AC Milan, Real Madrid, Bayer Munchin, PSV. Other clubs jump up to contend for various Euro titles like Ajax or Inter, but these teams play each other often enough that the rivalry transcends intraleague competition.
Pakistan vs. India; India vs. Australia. When Pakistan played India in cricket, it was a wonderful occasion. In the first series, the Pakistanis out played the Indians. In the last series, though, the Indians dominated, leading to the second rivalry. Australia turned cricket into a game of speed. In short, the Aussies introduced athletes to clubby world of cricket, and simply dominated until the Indians adjusted and are now in striking distance of the Aussies.
Macabbi Tel Aviv, Kinder Bologna, Real Madrid, Panathinaikos, Benneton. Similar to Juventas entry, but this pertains to basketball obviously.
Overrated (a little value added)
England. When was the last time they played for the title? The Germans stifle them at every bend and turn while the Brazilians out run them. When Portugal knocks you off in the Cup, your reputation should sink, but not England's. Complete mystery.
Basketball. FIFA honcho Seph Blatter may worry about international hoops but outside of Spain, Greece, Italy and Israel, no one really gives a damn. Germany can ball, but almost every European and Asian country just really does not give a crap. There are some very good international players but not enough to make a competitive league in any one country. Put another way, soccer has top leagues in England, Spain and Italy. Basketball? I will give you Spain and Italy. But that is it. Australia, Israel and Greece have good second tier leagues but soccer has France, Netherlands, Greece, Russia, and the Nordic countries. Put another way, you will see a Pan-European basketball league before you see one in soccer.
F1. Another mystery. The sport is bloated. The drivers are fantastically wealthy. Like NASCAR where the same 5 rednecks win every weekend to borrow a George Carlin phrase, the same 5 Eurotrash drivers take the flag. Teams spend nearly a gazillion dollars to be competitive. For what?
America's Cup. Good story when the Australians won it in 1984 and then the Americans got it back. The New Zealand victories breathed life and technology into the sport. But when a landlocked country (Switzerland) wins the Cup, well, it is time to end the competition. Besides, the boats are utterly worthless because they cannot be used in other competitions. And technology makes them obsolete when the next Cup competition begins. And how long does qualifying last? 1 or 3 years?
I am channeling my buddy Brian:
Underdog
Indian Nat’l Cricket Team – “It is true that the Indian team as an entity is in a constant state of flux; and that is perhaps its most endearing feature. There is never an inkling of what the team will do next. On its day it can be unstoppable, a dramatic winner, a stable of dashing young men; on its off day it can wither away and die hoping to be de-selected and reborn. Only our team [and maybe Pakistan] can boast of having that inflammable and yet infallible passion that is the hallmark of great teams. Great teams here are not ones that always win or always perform, but those who put up a show and goddamit, give the fan a run for his friggin' money.”
Arsenal – won a few lately, but a perennial also-ran
Colombia’s Nat’l Soccer team – A team so obsessively followed, eight players have been murdered in the last decade
Rivals
Man Utd. – Liverpool football
NZ All Blacks versus Australia (rugby)
India/Pakistan cricket
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