the chosen one

this question has always bothered me for some reason but why are us brits exactly so bad, well not bad but not as good as other countries at the sports WE invented. eg. football we're not exactly bad but we always seemed to be outclassed in most ways by other teams, cricket our a**es are getting whooped by all the southern hemisphere countries.

so why are we exactly so bad at the sports we invented, us inventing the sports you would expect us to be actually good at the sport wouldn't you?

Tiggs

no money/time/effort at kids level.

the chosen one

yeah also we have lack of commitment when it comes to some of our teams, like some of the other countrys teams for there sports they train almost 24/7.

Davestamf

I don't think we're quite as bad as it may appear at first glance since we participate in almost all top sports, at the top level, and so it's not surprising that we can't win them all. Some countries focus on one or two activities at which they might excel, but then have absolutely no representation in dozens of other sports. Think what we do well. Football, Rugby, Hockey, Horse Racing, Swimming, Skating, Golf, Rowing, Athletics, Formula One, it goes on. We may not come top too often, but we're in the world's top ten most of the time - even in Cricket! How do Brazil, or Italy, or France compare?

GaryK

We've always been good at pubs based games, snooker, pool and darts!!!

planky

Perhaps we should concentrate on only one sport in this country and then possibly we can become world masters at that sport.

Now which sport??..Btw it must be a 'world' sport and i'll start off with Rugby

Crush

Table Tennis

Davestamf

No need because right now England are the top world Rugby team.

*Cino*

It because English are lazy

NotoriousREV

Also nice to see 2 all UK podiums in Race 1 & 2 at the World Superbike Championships today, a couple of the British Superbike lads showing the world class guys how to ride a motorbike.

stuckhere

Money!
Living in the states for the past year I have had the opportunity to see there school/colleges etc at first hand.
The money poured into the above is phenomenal. They have stadiums half the size of Wembley, when it was standing!
No one has the passion, the vision to do anything.
Take a look at Tennis for example.
Who is dominating womens tennis right now, the Williams sisters.
England is dominated by classes. Tennis is a middle and upper class game here.
A poorer person is not going to have the money to afford the kit and to pay the fees to play tennis.
We have the talent, just nobody to find it.

Davestamf

Yes, but the men dress in armour to play a ridiculously slow version of Rugby during winter, and then play Rounders in summer. Not for me.

Brendan Hughes

Meeeow!

Someone sue that man for psychological damage!

stuckhere

Me either Dave.....had the unfortunate pleasure of watching a 'rounders' match in SanDiego and it was the dullest thing i've ever done.
But its the money aspect I was trying to get at and the difference between the social classes to answer the original question.
How many well educated football players do you see apart from LeSaux? Why, because its cheap to play you can kick a football anywhere.

the chosen one

rounders isn't that a kiddies sport??? yeah anyways i heard james beatie is suppose to be pretty smart, seeing as he done a degree to become a doctor but chose footballing instead, i have to admit the UK's youth has alot of potential its just that our country's too badly involved with solving things abroad instead of looking after its own nation. at the moment i see the USA and Australia are dominating the world of sports today eg. williams sisters, marice green and ian thorpe.

anothing thing that i've seemed to of noticed is that we always have such expectations for our teams eg. tim henman he was hoped to win wimbledon this year but he just can't pull it off when he needs to. pressure i think personally plays a big part seeing as players for most of our sports feel asthough they got to go out and prove something.

[Edited by the chosen one - 7/28/2003 1:44:13 AM]

Carter

Heh. He said in an interview that if he hadn't played football he would have liked to have been a doctor. Not quite the same thing...I don't think he even did the right A-levels.

Carter

You're arguing against yourself there. The Williams family are famously working class - the sisters training on a South Central communal court, dodging bullets from the gang wars...etc etc.

If they can do it why not some schemie from Glesgae?

Edit - and the game has pretty much the same image over the pond, too - country club, kerching kerching etc.

[Edited by Carter - 7/28/2003 2:01:03 AM]

the chosen one

carter i don#t think there past was quite that bad, think it was on wimbledon when john macenroe mentioned that there fathers had links with people eg. coaches and that who could provide the 2 of them the facilities that they needed, also they had dedication and persistance to become the best in the world, as for our players as i said earlier on in this thread that our country just doesn't have the patience to work on the talent we already have.

and yes james beattie did do some kind of degree in doctoring.

Carter

Arf. Would that be MB BS, BM BS or MBChB at five years each? Or the accelerated entry course offered to graduates by several medical schools at a mere 4 years, naturally following a 3 year BSc/BA course?

Either way, he was playing professional football for both Blackburn and Saints at the same time as doing one of the toughest degree courses in the country.

Shyeahright.

ChrisB

God bless the uneducated!

SJ_Skyline

This Brit is good at cornering

flat4

i hear you Chris


kev

unclebuck

Kids in the UK seem to be more interested in 'singing' and 'dancing' than doing any kind of physical activity.

They all want to be w@nky limp wristed pop idols rather than getting involved in anything that takes any long term commitment or determination to achieve.

Bit of a generalisation I know, but you get my drift.

UB