Snicker? No, you know what's a "Snicker", is that the Serbia Montenegro team, that by the definition urged by you, are the "world champions", are playing Angola to avoid last place in this year's de facto "world championship". You guys focus almost exclusively on the geopolitical aspect - "well, it's a global game, and only the US and canada participated, therefore..." and this does not change the fact that the NBA, which has the best basketball players in the world, from all over the world, has franchises that compete against each other for 100+ games a year (thru the finals) to determine who the best team is. When that is done, I will keep calling them the World Champs. It won't mean less at all, not to me, or to them. You think the next time Houston wins a title, it's going to mean less to me or them since there's a shooting guard playing for Tel Aviv Maccabee who hit a bunch of 20 foot treys against the US in Pool play back in 2004? I don't think so. They'll simply be the best basketball team in the world, regardless of what happens in the 8-game tourney between international all star teams every two years, at least in my opinion. This has nothing to do with being an ugly american or jingoistic -- nothing at all. If all the players in the NBA transplanted themselves into the Filipino league, I'd have no problem with them calling themselves the FNBA World Champs. I still don't understand why people care. This is like people from Arena football protesting that the NFL champ that calls itself the world champion.
Sam, it's not *that* big a deal. We're just debating current world perceptions and changing times. I mean, I think most people here know we're not debating "world hunger" or "religion." Or anything like that. It's just that most threads happen to kinda "blow things out of proportion." "Miller Beer: Taste great? Or less Filling?" (for you older posters) "Yao Ming: HOFer or FLOPer?" True. We are. For now (today; this era; 2004). But talk to me in 2014. The political and economic landscape will be even more global. The "world" is getting "smaller." It's just that some of us *see* some of those changes now.
I would agree with that. It's not fair to throw all other Americans into the same category you are in. In your case, it's simply a matter of not being able to respectfully agree to disagree, as other posters can, but of trying oh-so-hard to "win" an argument you cannot win. It's like watching a clumsy bear in a trap that just gets stuck deeper as it makes its silly moves to get out of the trap. It always makes me laugh when you post "I don't understand why people care" or "Why do people make such a fuss..." when you are the one that seems to get most excited about topics and that never ceases to attempt (in vain) to have the last word and be witty or clever while doing it. Call them whatever you want, it's not like anybody cares at all (in your case).
