Discussion
dear all, i have been thinking (yes i know fairly drastic for me), anyway I have been thinking about our national teams.
England Football team ranked 8th in the world.
England Rugby Team ranked 4th in the world
England Cricket team ranked 1st in the world.
I was trying to think of another country that does as well or better in as many sports.
I know I have said English teams, but if you add in the Athletics we are up there as well.
Australia, cricket and rugby but not great at football.
New Zealand the same.
US Good football and fair rugby team, but not known for their cricket prowess
Have i missed anyone glaringly obvious?
England Football team ranked 8th in the world.
England Rugby Team ranked 4th in the world
England Cricket team ranked 1st in the world.
I was trying to think of another country that does as well or better in as many sports.
I know I have said English teams, but if you add in the Athletics we are up there as well.
Australia, cricket and rugby but not great at football.
New Zealand the same.
US Good football and fair rugby team, but not known for their cricket prowess
Have i missed anyone glaringly obvious?
Were we not 4th or 5th in the Football until last week don't know how that's possible.
NZ are pretty turd at cricket of late (test match anyhow which we are currently #1)
South Africa, very good rugby and cricket teams, decent football team. Most of the old colonies/rest of the world have been much better than us at the games we supposedly 'gave to the world' We're a bit of a jack of all trades when it comes to sport teams, decent at most things but never dominate for any length of time?
ETA might be better in the Sports forum this one....
NZ are pretty turd at cricket of late (test match anyhow which we are currently #1)
South Africa, very good rugby and cricket teams, decent football team. Most of the old colonies/rest of the world have been much better than us at the games we supposedly 'gave to the world' We're a bit of a jack of all trades when it comes to sport teams, decent at most things but never dominate for any length of time?
ETA might be better in the Sports forum this one....
Hugo a Gogo said:
how about Hockey (Ice and Field), Basketball, Baseball, Volleyball, Handball?
well baseball especially seems to be played by less countries than rugby.i specifically was thinking about the bigger games were the world cups were televised.
yes master of none but so far South Africa seem to be the closest I think.
Personally I think the English teams are pretty rubbish when taking into account to how much investment the country has in sport and the infrastructure available.
There are many under developed countries that don't even have a fraction of the facilties available that English teams have yet still give England a run for their money in major sporting events.
Take financial investment out of the equation and on the face of it I don't think they are that bad...
There are many under developed countries that don't even have a fraction of the facilties available that English teams have yet still give England a run for their money in major sporting events.
Take financial investment out of the equation and on the face of it I don't think they are that bad...
jesta1865 said:
Hugo a Gogo said:
how about Hockey (Ice and Field), Basketball, Baseball, Volleyball, Handball?
well baseball especially seems to be played by less countries than rugby.i specifically was thinking about the bigger games were the world cups were televised.
yes master of none but so far South Africa seem to be the closest I think.
Hugo a Gogo said:
those other sports have do various international and world championships which are indeed televised
yes but not to the level the others do hence why i didn't mention them, i went with the ones the average joe bloggs would know about. yes i realise you could argue that basketball and so could be as big as cricket or rugby but i didn't think so.hence my choice.
jesta1865 said:
Hugo a Gogo said:
those other sports have do various international and world championships which are indeed televised
yes but not to the level the others do hence why i didn't mention them, i went with the ones the average joe bloggs would know about. yes i realise you could argue that basketball and so could be as big as cricket or rugby but i didn't think so.hence my choice.
How many Russians or Americans or Japanese know when the Cricket world cup is on?
The news here in Germany isn't full of rugby world cup stories either, but it was quite a big deal when the handball world championships were on, for example
For years I considered us the "jack of all trades" like a previous poster, but it's actually more complex.
Look at football, there are issues right from the lowest level:
1. how we choose players: when the club scouts are out and about they are looking mainly for the larger more athletic boys. I believe the common idea is that it's easy to train these guys then make a smaller player strong. In this country Lionel messi probably wouldn't have got a chance, so you have to wonder who could have slipped through the net this way.
2. The FA has too many agendas and they are not all about England being the best in the world or winning trophies. Just look at the current manager: most agree now is the time for him to go, but the FA are holding out. For what? Value for money? Who to replace him? Harry redknapp? You couldnt select him because he wouldn't "toe the line" so we'll miss out like we did with Brian Clough.
3. Attitudes of players - retiring from international duty because your not first choice? MTFU!
It needs a complete overhaul just like we did with cricket. 10-15 years ago we were rubbish. We looked and saw what the best in the world were doing (australians) and emulated it. It took a decade but we are now the best. If we applied the same logic to the other sports we could achieve the same. Unfortunately there are too many people making too much money to allow that to happen.
Look at football, there are issues right from the lowest level:
1. how we choose players: when the club scouts are out and about they are looking mainly for the larger more athletic boys. I believe the common idea is that it's easy to train these guys then make a smaller player strong. In this country Lionel messi probably wouldn't have got a chance, so you have to wonder who could have slipped through the net this way.
2. The FA has too many agendas and they are not all about England being the best in the world or winning trophies. Just look at the current manager: most agree now is the time for him to go, but the FA are holding out. For what? Value for money? Who to replace him? Harry redknapp? You couldnt select him because he wouldn't "toe the line" so we'll miss out like we did with Brian Clough.
3. Attitudes of players - retiring from international duty because your not first choice? MTFU!
It needs a complete overhaul just like we did with cricket. 10-15 years ago we were rubbish. We looked and saw what the best in the world were doing (australians) and emulated it. It took a decade but we are now the best. If we applied the same logic to the other sports we could achieve the same. Unfortunately there are too many people making too much money to allow that to happen.
Hugo a Gogo said:
jesta1865 said:
Hugo a Gogo said:
those other sports have do various international and world championships which are indeed televised
yes but not to the level the others do hence why i didn't mention them, i went with the ones the average joe bloggs would know about. yes i realise you could argue that basketball and so could be as big as cricket or rugby but i didn't think so.hence my choice.
How many Russians or Americans or Japanese know when the Cricket world cup is on?
The news here in Germany isn't full of rugby world cup stories either, but it was quite a big deal when the handball world championships were on, for example
Rugby is growing massively over there.
We give the Yanks grief for not "getting" other sports the rest of the world play, but its a bit unfair sometimes, they do get them and do play them and are trying to grow their games.
Handball is indeed big on the Continent, esp. the Northern central European countries, Germany and Scandanavia. Having seen a cpl of games I like it aswell, its an entertaining sport.
andrew311 said:
Were we not 4th or 5th in the Football until last week don't know how that's possible.
NZ are pretty turd at cricket of late (test match anyhow which we are currently #1)
South Africa, very good rugby and cricket teams, decent football team. Most of the old colonies/rest of the world have been much better than us at the games we supposedly 'gave to the world' We're a bit of a jack of all trades when it comes to sport teams, decent at most things but never dominate for any length of time?
ETA might be better in the Sports forum this one....
South Africa:NZ are pretty turd at cricket of late (test match anyhow which we are currently #1)
South Africa, very good rugby and cricket teams, decent football team. Most of the old colonies/rest of the world have been much better than us at the games we supposedly 'gave to the world' We're a bit of a jack of all trades when it comes to sport teams, decent at most things but never dominate for any length of time?
ETA might be better in the Sports forum this one....
Cricket (ODI) - 3rd
Cricket (Test) - 2nd
Rugby - 2nd
Football - 51st
To get a fair feel for englands global performance in sport you need a broader 'global' sport selection, not just sports England invented! Thats like the mongolians claiming their the 'sportiest' in the world because no one can match them for dead sheep dragging on horseback! where are england for:
Track & field
swimming
tabletennis
tennis
rugby
football
basketball
ice hockey
boxing
greased yak wrestling
Track & field
swimming
tabletennis
tennis
rugby
football
basketball
ice hockey
boxing
greased yak wrestling
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