American sports aren't what they used to be
It seems that all three major team sports in America are facing an issue that could be damaging to the future of the sport. None of the three at the highest level, the NBA, NFL or MLB, are going anywhere anytime soon but there is cause for concern.
The national pastime, baseball, has an identity crisis at it's highest level. Luker on Trends recently released a poll of the top 50 athletes and there were no current MLB players on the list. Also, according to an article from MLB.com there was a record 259 players from a record 19 different countries and territories on Opening Day rosters. That is 29.8% of America's pastime aren't even American. The percentage of international players continues to increase year after year.
So has the talent pool for American baseball players decreased or has the talent pool of international players increased? That question is answered at the lowest level of the game. Little League organizations are drying up and the travel ball circuit is growing but kids aren't sticking with baseball after elementary school. It feels as if every father has a travel ball team because his son didn't make another team and the sport is being watered down and not fun and consistently competitive for all participants which causes kids to play other sports like football, basketball, or soccer.
The number of Black professional baseball players is down as we know but think about it for over two decades the faces of baseball were black, Barry Bonds and Ken Griffey Jr. Most black kids find the sport to be boring and not exciting enough or feel like the sport is not for them but for Whites and Hispanics only because that is they recognize as baseball players.
Football has a much bigger problem as they try to tackle the issue of safety. In trying to make the game safer they are losing both players and fans alike. The NFL seen TV ratings drop 8% in 2016 and more and more parents are pushing their kids into other sports. In addition, NFL players are retiring earlier because of the long-term impact injuries have on the body and mind.
The vicious and violent nature of the game has been one of it's main attractions and when that is taken away casual fans will turn away. You ever notice how when you get a new car you suddenly see that vehicle everywhere, well that's how concussions or the appearance of them are viewed. Now every time there is a huge collision on the field there is anticipation of one of the guys going through concussion protocol and missing weeks of action which is best for the individual long-term and that should be priority no.1.
All the way down to the smallest level of football there is a huge priority on properly tackling, breaking up passes down field, and running the ball and lowering your pad level. Football has to find a way to protect it's players without being overprotective.
Basketball's popularity has grown beyond our borders at an exponential rate and we were not truly prepared for it. That's why we struggled in international play for a few years. We thought our B or C team could beat their A team and we found out they were catching up with us. Now the NBA looks absolutely nothing like it did even 5 years ago let alone 10-20. We have embraced a style of basketball that is easy to play and sometimes hard to watch, maybe not at the NBA level but high school and sometimes even college is unbearable.
The reliance on the three point shot ,and pick-and roll basketball with the drive and kick principle is all basketball is. it used to be the team that wins the rebounding and turnover battle wins the game but now it's who hits the most threes. Kids are not focused on the fundamentals of the game and have lower IQs than their predecessors simply because they focus on one thing when they workout and that's shooting threes. Ever play pickup counting everything by ones and have guys jacking up threes like they are worth more, it's because everybody wants to be Steph Curry.
Unlike football and baseball, if you are on the court you can have an impact on every play or possession of a basketball game. That requires skills that are simple: attention to detail, anticipation, peripheral vision, and most of all communication. You have to have the ability to be coached and molded and the American born player is suddenly unable to possess these as shown in the 2016 NBA Draft where a record 26 players were drafted and a record 113 international players were on rosters at the start of the NBA season taking one quarter of the roster spots available. And 2016 marked the third consecutive year that at least 100 international players were on NBA rosters.
All these issues are concerning if you're a young American athlete as the pool of talent that makes it to the big stage is steadily decreasing.
