Why are we Americans so focused on things like honor, loyalty, respect etc in Sports?

[ArbitraryWater]

Great points... Especially when American peeps are all like "He just ruined his legacy by..." LOL... By doing something NOT playing.

The Figo instance is literally the only Thing you can point out... I mean, Ronaldo / Best Player in the World, goes from United to Madrid, no backlash... First return, Manchester cheers him on...

Complete opposite in Basketball with LeBron... I get why Clevelanders were mad, because of the way he did it, but that's not even what it's about... Just the thousands of People saying "Oh LEBRON ISNT LOYAL!!!" "LeBron will NEVER BE this and that guy!!"

Really, they switched teams, so what, get over it.

[FrobeShaw]

????

I don't follow soccer but I assume that symbolizes him being a traitor or something....why though?

[Rubio2Gasol]

????

I don't follow soccer but I assume that symbolizes him being a traitor or something....why though?

Because he's a traitor.

But alas, that was payback for Enrique.

[FrobeShaw]

Why a pig head? Because he's a pig head? lmfao

[Godzuki]

few years ago, when Barcelona won 6 out of 6 trophies possible. Breaking a bunch of record in their way and many considering that team the best ever they had 8 starters that cost the club "nothing" (salaries aside) as they came through the youth ranks, this included valdes, puyol, pique, xavi, iniesta, busquets, messi , pedro...

Yankee's comparison would be Real Madrid, Chelsea or PSG, that sign players on spending power alone.

i don't follow pro soccer much at all, only in world cup

all i know is it always seems like Barcelona is signing every top player on their team, and ridiculously stacking where things become anti competitive. if they do it thru their youth ranks, like minor leagues in baseball, then i suppose they earned it then. I am more against spending more than everyone else can to field a dominant team. I didn't know that about Barcelone, but i swear i always read about them signing these top players from other clubs.

the whole point of sports is competition. NOT A FEW TEAMS WINNING/DOMNIATING....a league should be competitive. Damn whats that term to describe league 'even'ness' they always use? ....on the tip of my tongue

I honestly can't believe what i'm reading in this thread from some people

[Magic 32]

OP has forgotten about this shitstorm:

Didn't this happen in the 90's as well?

I think other players have made the Barcelona/Real swap

[SupermanOnSteroids]

because murica is the land of the free and the home of the brave. not like that ******* ass europe. can europe match this shit?

[Godzuki]

The free thinking one. Successful people today think a lot more freely than successful people in the past. My dad is slowly learning about this and might give up being a Knicks fan just because of this "loyalty" thing marketing people have pushed so idiots keep being loyal to a privately owned team in a privately owned league just because they slapped the name of the city/state in the team name to make more money.
Being loyal only applies to players and fans, not the owners.

you do realize its in a LEAGUE's best interest to have parity? lol couldn't even remember this word a minute ago....i don't know how it just came to me now.

this whole thread is bizarre is fukk if i'm really reading things right.

I mean people here are really advocating a few teams having ridiculously stacked rosters over the rest of the league? a few teams having advantages in getting top players over the rest of the league?

how do you not see that as anti competitive?

Yes its the goal of a team to make it the best they can with stars....and its the goal of the League to make it as competitive from team to team as they can.

Unfortunately you do the best you can because there will always be owners richer than others. There will always be areas that are bigger with more sports fans than others. But the Leagues goal should always strive for parity. This is sports, do you people realize the whole point of sports? competitive competition? Maybe some of you have gone too far into the entertainment direction..

[Derka]

Fans here are insane, that's why. Here in Boston, see the example of Jacoby Ellsbury for what I'm talking about.

Its a business and no matter how personally loyal I am to the laundry the Boston teams wear, the business implications behind the machinations of these players are not something I get all worked up about. These guys have a short window to earn all the money they possibly can, so that's what they need to do.

[dreamwarrior]

Because it's not about winning or losing it's about how you play the game. That's been drilled into us ever since we were kids. But when you get into the professional level, it's a business first. Why aren't the Kings getting chastised for trading their elite PG? What about the 76ers who wanted to trade their ROY MCW?