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[Dan]

Why doesn't that issue apply to American teams?

I've never once heard a fan of any team in this country talk about how they need to sign more American players.

[Butter]

Why doesn't that issue apply to American teams?

I've never once heard a fan of any team in this country talk about how they need to sign more American players.

America is, what, 65% white at this point?  

Britain, as we discussed when you posted that lily-white picture of the Southampton fans at a game, is somewhere around 90% white.  

I would argue it has something to do with that.  Plus, our immigration laws just aren't as hard-core as most of Europe's is.  Even Americans who want to play in some parts of Europe can have problems getting visas there.  When was the last time a work visa got turned down for a foreign player here?  Delayed, sure.  Outright rejected, not much.

[Dan]

That all makes sense and is good food for thought.

I would point out, though, that I'd never thought about foreign players as being non-white. I mean, it seems to me they don't want Italians or French or Swedes...other places that are also considerably white. But you're right regarding the immigration laws - sure, that's something that definitely reflects upon the attitudes of the fans (or is it the other way around?). I still think that if you care about your club as much as some of these fans claim, then they'd want their club to win as much as possible. If that's the case, then you should want the best players...English or otherwise.

[rva]

We don't have to worry about it too much because we're so snobby we only play games we invented and thus are naturally dominated by Americans.

People are skeptical of European basketball players and Asian baseball players.  As of now, it's mostly somewhat  justifiable complaints about style of play, along with maybe certain mild stereotypes (Europeans can shoot, but are soft; Asians are crafty pitchers and fast but have no power).

If there were the potential for the NBA or MLB to suddenly be only say 1/3 American players with the best teams to be made up of entirely foreign players, you'd hear a lot more crabbing. 

[Dan]

I guess that's a legit point. I buy it to a certain degree, but the counterexample would be that I didn't hear too many people complaining about the Spurs back when they were winning championships. They had a French point guard, an Argentine shooting guard, a Virgin Islander power forward, and then the rest of their rotating cast was a crap shoot (most probably American, although Nazr Mohammed is Ghanaian).

But you're right - you'd hear a lot of complaints if it came to that. "I" wouldn't care - I want Carlos Santana, Shin-Soo Choo, Carlos Carrasco, Asdrubal Cabrera, and whoever else to win win win. I don't personally care where they come from.

[rva]

At some point I just decided that people are allowed to be as racist, xenophobic, or as sexist as you want to be when you root for teams and do not need to apologize for it.  I root for black players in the NHL because they are black, and I root for Asian players in MLB because they are Asian.  And to some extent, I root for white guys in the NBA.

I think it's cool that you have to be Basque to play for Athletic de Bilbao.  I think they see it as trying to preserve their culture and independence, which is way more important than winning a silly trophy.   Is that them being xenophobic, or is it everyone else caring way too much about an athletic contest?

[Butter]

Yeah, I don't have a big deal with it either.  I like how Barcelona does things and don't really see a big issue with it for some reason.  I am ashamed to say I probably was slightly happier that Dallas won the title knowing their big star is a big ol' European white guy, though I was also very happy for Jason Terry and that substitute center they had on the team who was African.

[Dan]

Alright I guess the point that there's no reason we should care about a silly athletic contest so much is as good a counter-point as any. I've always bought into the mantra of "the whole point of a sports team is to try win the championship" and that's it. I know it's really about making money and being a business, and theoretically winning the championship helps bring in more money so they are often intertwined but in the end it isn't technically about winning. I guess if I knew that my team wasn't willing to try to win the championship then I'd probably be disappointed/hurt/etc and then find a team who does.

Of course, I'm a Clevelander so maybe that's hypocritical.

[rva]

Wow.  I guess Leicester City means business.  Too bad Sven Goren Ericksson is still the coach.  Did they not learn anything from Notts County?

[Dan]

I don't know what the reference to Notts County means, but I do know that Danns was someone SFC supporters wanted, and if they actually get CMS then they will have 2 of our supposed targets. I think they will be one of the top teams at the end.

[rva]

Is Leicester going to return a single member of last year's starting XI?

That team is going to be bankrupt in two years.

[Dan]

JACK CORK!!

Sounds like a great signing to me!

[Cockney Rebel]

Me too.

And for not too much money either. I do believe we'll benefit not just from his skills but will turn a profit on the the lad too.

[rva]

Yeah, I was really hoping to get him.  Feel a bit bad for him though, as it looked like he was loyal to Burnley and wanted to go back but they didn't have the $$ to meet Chelsea's demands.

He played pretty well when Saints had him on loan.

He was good in Football Manager, too.  I tried to buy him after the loan ended and he wanted to come.  But Chelsea wanted something like $5 million for him so I couldn't get him.  Pretty much exactly like what happened in real life re: Burnley.  

A midfield of AOC-Schneiderlin-Cork-Lallana is pretty tough to beat.  Four guys who could all be in the Premier League in two years.  Hopefully with Southampton.  I imagine Cork will play some on defense as well.

[Dan]

Yeah, the one board I was reading was saying that he might be used as Jaidi's replacement as a CB. I like that midfield you lined up there, but think it might be weird if the captain isn't starting. Or we could play a 4-5-1 with AOC and Lallana attacking out wide, Hammond in the middle, and Schneiderlin and Cork as the defensive mids.