Reason 2: The USA is "Sportcentric"

Yesterday, I watched the Bryan brothers play a fabulous match to keep America's hopes alive in the Davis Cup against Spain. Playing against a formidable team and having to deal with a vocal and patriotic Spanish crowd, the Bryan Brothers were part of an international match that continues today.

However, just 3,000 or so miles to the East, protests much stronger than cheering againt two sporting greats in the Bryan brothers, were occuring. Harsh protests, fights and battles against America and American foreign policy are being waged. Deaths and fighting at U.S. embassies overseas are again headlines.

Is America Too Self-Centered In Sport & Politics?

I am struck by the fact that we, as a nation, tend to be very self-centered in many respects. Having lived abroad for 17 years, I have seen how the United States is viewed in a not-so-friendly way around the world. Perhaps because the U.S is such a large, powerful and diverse nation, the country and its people sometimes do not look past its borders in trying to understand other cultures or countries. Perhaps the USA will always be the object of envy around the world due to the country's short history, yet historic rise to power and wealth.

Having travelled in fact to Cairo just a few years ago, it was evident that America was on the precipice of not being liked or, even, accepted as an ally in that country. Why is this? Without judging or pointing a finger of blame, can we, as a nation, look at ourselves in terms of sport and see if it reflects in any way our foreign policy?

The most often heard criticism in my time abroad was concerning our championship in baseball: The World Series. "How can you call it The World Series?" a forgeigner would ask me. Of course we poke fun at ourselves in calling it The World Series, when in fact we are really the only nation, other than Canada, that participates in the event. Perhaps calling it The World Series is a bit assuming. And before someone goes and says that baseball is played elsewhere, let's look at The Rugby World Cup. 20 nations attempted to qualify for the tournament and 12 played in the 2011 World Cup in New Zealand. Our World Series includes professional teams, not individuals playing for their country, in just two countries: Canada and The USA. If you look at the sport of soccer as America calls it (it's football in every other country in the world), the World Cup is an enormous sporting event with qualifying taking nations to other nations around the world. If we ever do host a global competition for baseball, what shall we call it? We've used "The World Series" on our own domestic product.

The Real or Royal Tennis Court at Falkland Palace, Scotland.

Perhaps, Americans learned from the British: Wimbledon has become "The Championships", which to me implies that The Australian, French and US Opens are meaningless. The ultimate golf tournament in Britain is just "The Open." Again, does that relegate The Masters to a secondary position? One could argue the Brits were there first. They tend to do this with firsts. I played rugby at Blackheath Rugby Club which was just: The Club. It was the first rugby club and hence called itself simply, The Club.

The British invented the game of golf on a cold, windy heath in Scotland during the reign of James V1 of Scotland, who brought the game to England when he ascended the Southern throne and was crowned James I of England. That was 1603. America was not yet born. Just 200 or so years earlier, Henry V hit a tennis ball for the first time in Falkland Palace. Christopher Columbus hadn't even been born. Yes, the British got there first. I guess they can call their championships what they want since they were the first.

Americans look at the Olympics as our national moment. The Today Show presents daily from the venue. That's how I know the importance of The Olympics. The Olympics are global but are also just once every four years. Americans simply do not play a sport that often for their country. The World Cups in both rugby and soccer (excuse me I meant to say football) are truly global. There are other international events in just those two sports: The Tri-Nations Rugby which pits New Zealand, Australia and South Africa against each other on an annual basis. There is the European Championships in football, again asking numerous European national teams to travel and qualify and then, hopefully, bring back the silver and raise the pride of a nation.

Countries have "friendlies" in many sports including football, rugby, cricket, and more. These countries often call an international match a "Test" match when it is nation versus nation, to differentiate it from a domestic match. We have no such differentiation here in the USA as we really don't require the terms - international matches just do not happen that often.

This experience of playing for or aspiring to play for one's nation is inherent in the upbringing of juniors in nations around the world. It's not in the USA. American juniors look to the NFL or they look to baseball and "The World Series". Neither of these sports are played internationally to any great degree. Baseball is popular in South America and Asia. One could argue basketball is a global sport and they would be right - but there is no Basketball World Cup. Only The Olympics serve in that regard for an international competition on a global scale for the sport.

Being not regulars in this environment, it hurts us as a nation when we play internationally. Our athletes are not used to carrying the weight of the nation on their backs. Just ask Andy Murray how this feels when he plays at Wimbledon. The sport, match and event go past personal ambitions - you are playing for the Stars & Stripes, the glory of America. You might even think you are part of the American Dream and have to prove it to the world. Immense pressure on an athlete that isn't an integral part of our rearing as sportspeople and this hurts performance.

Let's look at The Davis Cup. An annual, international tennis event, which for Americans, allows sportsmen to put their invidual and personal sporting achievements on the back burner and play for their country, their nation, their flag. We learn what it is like to play in a truly hostile environment. We learn, through sport, cultures of other countries. And in the past 20 years as a nation America has suffered in this international event. It's the same for the women too. The U.S. is 0 for 12 in the last 12 Federation Cups. We're suffering on the world stage in sport just as we are flailing in our foreign policy.

Sportscenter or Sportsworld?

As a country in which ESPN's "Sportcenter" tops the ratings, perhaps it is time to look less at ourselves and more at the world in regard to sport. In most nations, one of the highest accolades a sportsperson can receive is to be "capped", meaning that he or she has represented his or her country on a national team. Perhaps if America looks to "cap" more of its athletes in the decades to come, we will understand our foreign counterparts better. Understanding other nations through sport and culture cannot do anything but help our ailing foreign policy.

Davis Cup: Why America Struggles

Spain Runs Away With Singles Matches

The first two singles matches in this Davis Cup semi-final saw the U.S. drop both of its matches to go down 2-0 in the best of five match. John Isner and Sam Querry both lost here in Gijon, Spain to give the Spaniards the decided advantage. David Ferrer, still tired from a semi-final match in New York on Sunday at The US Open, outlasted Querry in 4 sets and 3 hours. It took 5 sets and and over 4 hours for Spain's Nicolas Almagro to gain the 2-0 match advantage.

Granted that the Americans are missing Mardy Fish who pulled out of the US Open with heart issues and the USA is playing in Spain, but to go down 2-0 so quickly is again another tough day in the history of the Cup for the Americans. In the past 25 years the USA has won the Cup just 5 times. In the last 15 years, the USA has won it just once. Spain has won it 5 times in the past 25 years. Serbia, a country with a population of just 7 million, has won it twice in the last 5 years! And here are the Americans struggling yet again.

This morning the Bryan brothers, who are 20-2 in Davis Cup play, will try to keep the American hopes alive in this semi-final and I am left pondering why as a country the United States has such difficulty in winning this competition. I believe there are several reasons, but two come to mind at the top.

#1 The Play In Spain Stays Mainly On The Clay

The Spaniards excel on red clay, which is the surface of choice for the nation with a population around 50 million. Rafa Nadal has dominated on the red clay of Roland Garros and Rome. The Spanish are dominating here in Parque Hermanos Castro in Gijon on the Northern coast of Spain overlooking the gorgeous Bay of Biscay. It has been a reign close to that of Sweden's when Sweden won 6 Cups in fourteen years. In fact, Sweden is the team with the most Davis Cup match wins since the Cup expanded to The World Group in 1981. The years of Mats Wilander, Stefan Edberg and Mikael Pernfors were a vintage era for Sweden. Borg had put Sweden on the Davis Cup map with an astounding 33 win match streak in Davis Cup play, a record that might never be broken.

Could it be that those countries with juniors that grow up playing the majority of their tennis on red clay have an advantage? It seems so in the past 25 or so years, especially in regard to the Davis Cup. Even those years where the Americans had Pete Sampras and Andre Agassi, the Americans have had a relatively poor showing at the Davis Cup.

In the USA, hard courts are the mainstay of the junior tournaments. Ame rising hopes are hitting balls on the cement or the decoturf in hopes of winning their home title: The US Open. Just as I would argue that the British juniors play much more frequently on grass with aspirations looking at Wimbledon, the Spaniards, and even the Swedes, look at the French Open and red clay is the surface of choice.

Does red clay allow for more stroke production than the hard courts of America or even the green, green grass of Britain? One would have to argue of course it does. As the slowest of the surfaces, juniors are allowed the time to learn proper swing technique with proper form, backswing, and follow through. Just looking at the history of the Davis Cup and the wins, those countries playing on red clay as juniors completely dominate the event. Let's look at it this way: the red clay courts at The French Open's Roland Garros require the ultimate in stroke production from the baseline and a repertoire of shot-making. The last American to win in France? Andre Agassi in 1999. Since the French Open "opened" its doors in 1968, only 3 Americans have won the French title. Michael Chang in 1988, Jim Courier in 1991 and 1992 and Agassi in 1999.

Perhaps with Andy Murray's win on a hard court, the British will realize that looking at the grass is just a small part of preparing a junior for the tour, the Grand Slam, and the Davis Cup. Americans should take note as well and look past just training and playing on hard courts.

In looking at the first two matches of this semi-final in Spain, Isner's 95 unforced errors really was too big a mountain to climb, even with his 24 aces in the match. His opponent, 12th ranked Nicolas Almagro, had just 52 unforced errors in the 5 set marathon. Unforced errors really point at the confidence of a player and his stroke production. Clearly Almagro had the hefty edge in this statistic. Stroke production rears its ugly head yet again. A big serve can get one out of trouble, but it can't win big matches all the time. One needs all the shots on the red clay - the slice, the volley, the swing volley. Sadly, Americans growing up on the hard courts, don't have the opportunity to work on their repertoire as much as nations with juniors growing up on red clay. The pace of the court is just too fast.

Reason number two that America struggles in the Davis Cup will appear in tomorrow's blog, but let's hope that, at least for today, the Bryan brothers keep the American hopes alive and their win avoids a white-washing at the Davis Cup, a world-wide tennis event that Americans should hold dear in their heart. Perhaps the next 20 years will mute my point and see the USA take home Cup after Cup... not likely but we can always hope.

Americans At The Top of Tennis! Oh, That's Just Doubles

Why Doesn't Doubles Get The Coverage It Deserves?

We are in the middle of an era where the media is harping on about the lack of American tennis players. Hold on folks.The Bryan Brothers are the best in the world in tennis and have been for the past few years. Oh yeah, that's just doubles.

I was so happy to see a photo of the Bryan Brothers winning the US Open on the cover of yesterday's Wall Street Journal. It was a testament, finally, to the dominance of this duo in their respective sport: Men's Doubles Tennis. And, given, that the majority of the viewing public (those with the finances that US Open sponsors American Express, JP Morgan and Chase are all vying for) plays doubles, I am surprised that doubles does not get nearly the television or media coverage that singles receives.

When I go and teach a clinic and discuss how the Bryan Brothers play often I-formation or Australian, most of my students look at me with a dazed look and say: "We've never seen them play." We should feature these brothers - they are simply the best the world has to offer.

Just How Good Are The Bryan Brothers At Doubles?

They are the best ever. Full stop. As Roger Federer can be said to be the best ever with the most Grand Slam singles titles, The Bryan Brothers are the best in doubles, matching that feat. Not only did Bob and Mike Bryan win the US Open this year, they are Olympic Gold Medallists as well. It's fortunate for them their sport offers so many opportunities for glory, but for a super duo like this, with 12 major titles under their belts, they have taken many of the opportunities and have owned the doubles landscape internationally over the past 5 or 6 years.

Rachel Cohen, of the Associated Press, writes that the Bryan Brothers were inspired by the "Woodies" - Mark Woodforde and Todd Woodbridge of Australia, who in their time at the top won 11 coveted Grand Slam titles in the Open Era, which began in 1968. This week, the Bryan Brothers broke that record - one which I personally thought would never be broken as the Woodies simply dominated the doubles court at most major events. You can read Rachel's excellent article here: Rachel Cohen on The Bryan Brothers

The Bryan Brothers are now tied with  Bob Lutz and Stan Smith with four US Open titles.

If you don't remember Lutz and Smith - they won over 40 doubles titles between them and in fact Lutz was number 7 in the world in singles and Smith topped the charts at number 1. They were a dynasty. Now they've been surpassed and yet so few tennis fans even realize.

The Bryan brothers have now won a Grand Slam title each year since 2004. The scary thing? They play doubles so their professional shelf life is longer. The expiration date for doubles players - well don't we all still play it on the weekends? These guys are going to be around for The Olympic Games in Brazil in 2016! I wouldn't put it past them if we see them in 2020 either. What's another 8 years?