BASEBALL
Just because I have played a higher level of baseball than a lot of people lets look at that "tournament" first. Pitch counts? Are friggin serious? The pitchers in the Little League World Series have less stringent requirements. Its a much different game when you know that you only have to face a Clemens or a Peavy or Willis until the 3rd inning and then face another starter who does not come out of the bullpen, which, if you've played the game, is much much much different than starting a game. That one rule alone, to me, made the World Baseball Classic an utter joke. Many US players didn't participate because of owners, whereas the Japanese teams have always had a little chip on their shoulder and put their best out there just to win, but yet with the exception of Ichiro, the Japanese players have been absolute busts in our game.
HOCKEY
Not our sport. Most of our kids do not grow up with sticks in their hands like the Canadian and European teams. If more of our top athletes that chose to play sports like football basketball and baseball chose to play hockey we'd be much more competitive in the international game.
SOCCER
Who friggin cares? Again, if you had NFL DBs and WRs and small forwards and guards from the NBA playing soccer we would dominate the game, but America finds this game to be tedious and our kids play sports designed for real men. The speed and physical nature of hoops and football make soccer look like a joke.
BASKETBALL
Again, because a lot of players fear injury, they don't participate in a great deal of international competition. Our players remain loyal to their employers, whereas the Euros get paid pittance compared to our guys and love the chance to beat the US and A. To be sure, this sport has boomed outside of the US and even with our very best the gap has closed to almost nothing. Also, the teams from other countries are fielded much differently than ours and play together a lot more often.
GOLF
Kelly was right. Europe is not a country moron.