Your opinion. Here is the video to get the ball rolling. Before you make jokes about England, remember we already make fun of ourselves plenty enough so back off, this is the topic about US football.

Lack of focus, tbh. Many top American athletes played soccer as kids, but ended up in other major leagues. And while that in my mind is the main reason, there are others.

The pay-to-play system is beyond stupid. The rabid soccer fans in the USA tend to be recent immigrants who favor their former countries (Mexico is the big one for that).

Another main reason is that Americans are used to having the best. The NFL, NBA, MLB, NHL, NASCAR, NCAA, literally any sport you can think of that Americans even care a little about they're the best at. Even the Olympics. You see this in the TV deals, there's big money for the EPL or Liga MX broadcasting in the USA. MLS? Not so much. Americans largely don't want to watch their domestic sides, because they don't contain the best athletes in the world. Much stereotyping is done about the MLS being a retirement league - but one of the main reasons why owners chased aging superstars was because local fans would turn out to watch the David Beckham's of the world - because they were the best.

It's hard to describe the ego and elitism of the United States to those who have not experienced it firsthand. There is a need to be the best, and if this cannot be accomplished easily or quickly, it is often left by the wayside. Laugh all you like, it has made America the most powerful nation economically and militarily for the best part of the last century - but it isn't the best attitude for fostering a sport that wasn't created by Americans, adopted by America, and most importantly, dominated by Americans.

All the NFL MLB NHL...etc are sport only played in US, nobody cares in rest of the world...

Tennis. Aside from Serena-Isner and some others in the top 50, none is dominating.Handball, US are inexistant there ofc its a Europeen sport. Volley, well you got a decent team but you dont dominate.
Olympics ? depend on which sports, you have ADN of tall mucular blacks that can break records in short distance, for Historical reasons... When UK abolished slavery, US since they couldnt bring anymore, elevated them like a group of cows. they killed the most intelligent ones, and choose tall and strong ones to make children deniying the rest which created a 2.0 generation of tall strong blacks genetically. Same in Jamaica so in many olympic sports, a white 1m70 french cannot compete with an average afro american in 100 meters...

I respect the swimming and gymnastic US federations, you got more budgets and more practicers than most of europe and you got many medals, but you dont dominate. China does in Gym.

The fantasm of US being best at everything is and will stay a fantasm, aside for some sports only popular in US, you dont dominate any sport doesnt mean you dont win i talk about being the best for a long period.Yes US think they are the best, not just in sports but in all areas even style of life. but fast foods arent best food, health and education arent the best eaither and there is no democracy even when you vote a president who wants change, the corrupted congress blocks him...

That Ego is only Hollywood movies fruit, something i laugh at each time they try to paint History their way. They keep spreading blood over the planet for resources yet Hollywood keeps on attracting new stupid jarheads to kill themselves thousands miles from home.
For me, Most of US people are stupid, and my opinion on the matter i think you know it.

To comeback on the subject, I think if non US like Ginobili or others who come from countries where Basket is not developped ( amator ) and still make it in a country where all the poor hoods have only this to succeed. then i conclude that if our hoods were not 100% concentrated on Football and Handball and martial arts, we would succeed there with no problem...

I think the fact in Football, other nations are settling the level very high from streets to professional leagues, amator french go to US kick the ball in front of scouts and gets free studying bourse. means that the level of skills and tactics are too low before reaching professional Football. If they want to succeed, they need to have more Pulicic who comes to Europe early and be pationate rather than only money hunter like most of US sportsmen... Its a big sacrifice im not sure it will pay off.

When its not your national sport, its harder to attract and develop talent, simple as that.

Aren't most top NHL players Canadian (historically and currently)? I heard Kane was the only American-born MVP in NHL history (everyone else being Canadian or European). Also, hockey as a whole is massive in South Asia (field hockey) and Eastern Europe (ice hockey). It's ignorant to say hockey is dominated by America or is only cared about in America.

Football isn't the only sport American's don't dominate. Tennis and Cricket (2nd most supported sport in the world) are also sports dominated by athletes from other countries. Americans really only have Basketball to boast about because American Football isn't played notably outside of the USA.

I thought americans are good at physical sports like rugby which is the same like nfl lol, but shocked to learn that new zealand and aussies have been the best for years.

they are great at establishing the basketball level, I give them props to that. nba is known worldwide.

great at establishing baseball too, although I don't know much.

in motorsports, no americans are seen at f1 and wrc. Nascar drivers wouldn't stand a chance in those competitions.

conclusion: most american athletes feel satisfied to be better nationally, doesn't bother to look at what happens outside the border.
until the attitude doesn't change, then nothing will (including football sorry I mean soccer :p).

@Emobot: I don't know about that map... There is no sport in USA that is officially the national sport. For decades baseball was regarded as "closest at hand", but in recent times Americans consider their football as number one. And this basically follows the popularity of that sport. Did you also know that in Brazil Capoeira is regarded by a law the national sport... In Norway I would rather say it is cross-country skiing considering the insane amounts of olympic medals it has given that small country. In some countries like Canada there are two, Ice-hockey and Lacrosse...

I liked when R Mahrez was recently interviewed by Sky Sports and he explained quite accurately why France produce more world class players than England. I think that his thoughts can somewhat be applied to all the world... and it got something to do with the culture and relationship of a country and its citizens to a certain sport.

You can watch it here: (youtube.com/watch?v=ytSJkfrDJ7E&t=145s)

@Pelle Dude, just trust me when I tell you Lacrosse is nowhere near Hockey popularity in Canada, ok?

@Emobot I believe you :))

Armstrong, Tyson Gay, Justin Gatlin, Marion Jones and most of US athletes were tested positive. Some went to jail others got 4 to 8 years ban. That ego we are talking about is irrelevant outside Us borders... doesn’t mean all athletes are cheats they still got their legends like Michael Phelps who I have a lot of respect and some black boxers mainly in heavy weight...
But to say they got any superiority is BS, NASCAR what is this ? Do they have a F1 champion ?

For instance, you take any nation of Europe has at least same amount of legends in individual sports and collective. France got Teddy Rinner in Judo multiple world champion and Olympic for more than a decade now, since 18 yo he won 100% of medals. In tennis you got : Tsonga, Gasquet, Lucas Pouille, benoit Paire, Gilles Simon, Gaël Monfils, Mayet etc with 20 players in the the top 50, same with women. Handball and Volleyball multiple world champs, in handball they won 6 world cups in the last 7.
In Spain and Italy they got their legends, in England too, if EU participated as a United state, they would be ranked first miles ahead in term of medals...
France or Spain is only assimilated to one state of US, and the most prolific state in Sport cannot compete with à European nation in term of professionals per population rate...

US people should travel a little...

@Pelle Thank you, I appreciate your trust. ;)

@tiki Well, other country play basketball, yet America still mostly dominate most international competition in the sport. :U

@tiki

Put the overall accomplishments in sport of the USA next to any other individual nation and it's not even close. Comparing them to the rest of the world and they will obviously not look as great because you're using examples from like 10 different countries.

Armstrong, Tyson Gay, Justin Gatlin, Marion Jones and most of US athletes were tested positive. Some went to jail others got 4 to 8 years ban. That ego we are talking about is irrelevant outside Us borders... doesn’t mean all athletes are cheats they still got their legends like Michael Phelps who I have a lot of respect and some black boxers mainly in heavy weight...

From the 80's to the 00's, that was hardly just America. Doping was prevalent all over sport, and singling out Americans for it is a disservice to the thousands of other athletes around the world (particularly the Eastern bloc) who participated thoroughly in the practice. As evidenced by the most recent Olympics and the case of Russia, it's not gone away either.

This isn't me banging my chest in some form of nationalism either. Look up and down the charts of nearly any sport, and the USA is bound to turn up somewhere, with far more regularity than any other nation.

We have same problem in Australia. It’s like why is New Zealand so dominant at Rugby 🏉. Not much competition and from other codes and the people play it there like a religion.

USA is 55 states ( anyway arround that number ), now like I said if we take Europe as United States of Europe, you will understand my point. France could be compared to a state not to a half of a continent...
Of course if 55 states compete with the same flag they will outscore any single nation in Europe. Now if Spai, France, Uk, Germany, Italy compete with same flag ?just imagine what their football NT will looks like. Their Basketball NT.....

@emo like I said before, Afro Us citizen have natural physical edge and height and I explained it Historically, it’s like bull culture, Slaves needed to be strong and tall. And you can see a big difference between US Afro people and European Afro people in term of physical attributes and heights...

And US football + Basketball are mainly axed on that. In addition that’s US sport, i know few people arround me who prefers Basketball to Football.

For dopage, even Karl Lewis got caught using forbidden substances but in the 80’s and 90’s the legislation was not as strict as now.

And right now, Us sport has declined, just look to Tennis or Golf they aren’t dominant anymore it’s more balanced than you think...

And they will never match Europeen level in Europeen sports like football, handball, volleyball, Rugby and same can be told about Europeen on Us sports.

Look at Belgium or Holland, how big is their country and the players they are able to produce, it cannot be emulated just because a big nation decided to. And it has nothing with money, people here choose marginal sports while they all know which sport pays the best.

USA is 55 states ( anyway arround that number ), now like I said if we take Europe as United States of Europe, you will understand my point. France could be compared to a state not to a half of a continent...
Of course if 55 states compete with the same flag they will outscore any single nation in Europe. Now if Spai, France, Uk, Germany, Italy compete with same flag ?just imagine what their football NT will looks like. Their Basketball NT.....

Europe has more than double the population of the United States. But going further, China has four times the US population. So does India. Indonesia and Brazil have more than 2/3rds of the American population, while it can be expected that Pakistan and Nigeria could both catch the USA in population within a couple decades. Population isn't everything, the institutions that are in place to facilitate sport are.

Now if Spai, France, Uk, Germany, Italy compete with same flag ?just imagine what their football NT will looks like. Their Basketball NT.....

Key word, if. They don't. So for the purposes of this conversation, it's irrelevant, but I'll entertain the idea just for you.

I know that for many sports, an all-Europe team would do quite well. However you could not convince me for a second that in the case of basketball, the USA would lose to anyone. That was the whole point of the dream team, while the rest of the world has gotten better, they still aren't anywhere even close.

@emo like I said before, Afro Us citizen have natural physical edge and height and I explained it Historically, it’s like bull culture, Slaves needed to be strong and tall. And you can see a big difference between US Afro people and European Afro people in term of physical attributes and heights...

Ah, race. Fun. If you actually had a point here it'd be worth talking about but you don't. The average white male and person in the US is slightly taller than the average black male. So stop being racist I guess?

And the USA has 50 states, with a couple territories (which outside of Puerto Rico are basically just pacific military bases with less sub-10k population).

Irregardless of all this, the USA spends more money, time, and attention on sports than probably any other culture on Earth. Due to this, they show up more in the upper echelons of sport. You say look to tennis and golf, no heir has come to replace Pete Sampras, but on the women's side Serena Williams is going to retire as the most decorated athlete of all time. In golf, Spieth is the new young gun - and half of the leaderboard for any major PGA event is American. The LPGA has a bunch of very successful East Asian players, but despite that, Americans remain a constant.

You can't convince me of something that there is literally limitless evidence against.

@Sun

Actually, there is some research to be done on that.

Today, the dominance of African American athletes in many sports is unquestioned.... They represent approximately 12% of the United States population, yet they comprise 75% of the athletes in the National Basketball Association, over 50% of professional football players, and close to 25% of professional baseball players. This article analyzes various studies of race differences in athletic performance... focusing primarily on the possibility of a genetic basis for these differences—the most controversial issue.

Also...

The average white male and person in the US is slightly taller than the average black male. So stop being racist I guess?

Height doesn't have to do as much with athletic ability. You can have freakish athletes at 5'8" as well as 6'8". But I don't think it's a coincidence at all that the athletes that are considered "freakish" or "generational" in terms of athletic ability in American sports are mostly black. I'm sure black folks have some sort of genetic makeup that gives them a slight advantage in muscular endurance or performance, but our society is too liberal to do more genetic research into that. Someone is bound to get offended, regardless of what the research proves.

Other than that though, I agree with your points.

Actually, there is some research to be done on that.

All of the research I've looked into in regard to who becomes elite athletes in football equates to socio-economic class - i.e. if an elite athlete in high school who comes from a well-off family will end up going to med school or something, whereas an elite athlete in high school who comes from a poor family sees sports as "the way." I assume it's the same for basketball, but I don't have any evidence for that. In addition, the athletes than do come from well-off families (such as Christian Mccaffrey) have parents that made their wealth through sports. Regrettably, in the USA at least, because black families have a lower average income than white families, it makes it more likely that black individuals will become athletes.

But in relation to what tiki was saying:

@emo like I said before, Afro Us citizen have natural physical edge and height and I explained it Historically, it’s like bull culture, Slaves needed to be strong and tall. And you can see a big difference between US Afro people and European Afro people in term of physical attributes and heights...

Zero truth to that whatsoever.

Height doesn't have to do as much with athletic ability. You can have freakish athletes at 5'8" as well as 6'8". But I don't think it's a coincidence at all that the athletes that are considered "freakish" or "generational" in terms of athletic ability in American sports are mostly black. I'm sure black folks have some sort of genetic makeup that gives them a slight advantage in muscular endurance or performance, but our society is too liberal to do more genetic research into that. Someone is bound to get offended, regardless of what the research proves.

Hilariously, the individual in basketball who is most remembered as a "genetic freak" is Yao Ming, who is about as asian as it gets. I think your point has more to do with the fact that black athletes are more likely to pursue professional sports (at least mainstream ones). There are certain genetic markers that favor certain groups of people (i.e. sub-Saharan populations and marathoning), but getting a black guy from Cameroon to race a black guy from Kenya has only one outcome (assuming all other variables are equal). It's not ALL BLACK PEOPLE, or ALL WHITE PEOPLE, or anything of the sort and I think it's a mistake to organize patterns of thought based on that.

In addition, I'd like you to read this. I would like to hear your thoughts on it.

Nothing to do with genetics ~ Messi’s growth defect at FCB. Everything to do with passion.

Hilariously, the individual in basketball who is most remembered as a "genetic freak" is Yao Ming, who is about as asian as it gets.

That is completely false. Yao was never considered a "freakish athlete" in the NBA; he was just absurdly tall. Yao's mobility was absolutely woeful and he always struggled from foot injuries due to his massive size. In comparison, Shaq played most of his career weighing around 300 pounds, and ended up having a career almost 3x as long as Yao's.

If you want to look at freakish athletes in the NBA, you're going to be looking at Wilt, Jordan, Kareem, Julius, LeBron, Giannis, Shaq, Dominique, etc. Definitely NOT Yao Ming.

Never has a non-black player in the NBA ever been considered a monster athlete. And again, you seem to misunderstand the difference between HEIGHT and ATHLETICISM.

That is completely false. Yao was never considered a "freakish athlete" in the NBA; he was just absurdly tall. Yao's mobility was absolutely woeful and he always struggled from foot injuries due to his massive size. In comparison, Shaq played most of his career weighing around 300 pounds, and ended up having a career almost 3x as long as Yao's.

From like '05 once injuries screwed his career, sure. When he first came to the NBA, no one could defend him, largely due to his height, but also because that guy could MOVE. You don't get drafted 1st overall just because you're tall. He was gangly as hell, and certainly wasn't ripped to pieces like Shaq, but I think you doing the guy a disservice, especially because Shaq himself has stated that no one could defend him like Ming. The 02 draft was the first one I ever watched, and genetic freak comparisons were flying everywhere. You seem to come into the idea that I claimed he was a freakish athlete, which I did not. Read the post again.

Never has a non-black player in the NBA ever been considered a monster athlete. And again, you seem to misunderstand the difference between HEIGHT and ATHLETICISM.

Blake Griffin? Bill Walton? Prime Pau Gasol? Hell, you live in Toronto, have you seen Jonas Valanciunas? Aside from Griffin, I'm not sure any of these guys are on LeBron athlete level, but then again who is?