The quality is improving, but from such a low base.
Organized counts for little, by itself. Basketball is much more "organized" in England, for example, since it doesn't exist in a disorganized form. It will be a long time before England produces a player, much less a team, which can compete on the world stage in basketball.
It's the disorganized form, what I called "mindshare" among the youth, which counts. Which is why Brasil can produce, year after year, Peles, Xicos, Ronaldos. The USA will keep on producing world class and world beating basketball players because of this mindshare. We've already begun to lose the youth mindshare battle in baseball, however; witness all the imports we need now to keep the game alive. American youth (except for immigrant children in, say, Florida) do not, by and large, play baseball in sandlots, etc. in any great number. Organization by itself is like Soviet central planning.
Until soccer is played by orphans without soccer moms and $20 grand to blow on junior camps over a 5-year period, my view is US soccer will not produce steady contenders.
Kb |
