malin87 wrote: All i said is that US could and should improve the sport!

To understand this match, you have to understand the US sport system. To understand the US sport system, you have to understand their culture and psyche as compared to Europe.

1                 The player standard of US table tennis as a whole is of a high standard compared to the rest of the world.  Take out Kreanga and Gionis and on average they are as good as or better than Greece. It’s just that the players are scattered over a vast country and the top guys don’t qualify to play for the US. The US TT rating system is vastly superior to any other country. With the USATT their TT representative authority is more professional and democratically run than most other countries. It’s just that they have ‘factors’ to contend with not present in Europe.

2                 Americans on average work very long hours, get little time off and their welfare system is largely non-existent. Compare that with Europe where most workers have >3 weeks holidays per year, free healthcare, schooling and so on. So less time-off for hobbies etc.

3                 The country is vast, and their public transport system is limited, thus getting around for matches can be very difficult and time consuming even within a city.

4                 Americans don’t have a sense of community as in Europe thus the TT community is very insular. How else can you explain that California has these great clubs but doesn’t have a meaningful inter-club competition?

5                 US TT tournaments are as good as or better than any in the world. But again, they are scattered all over this big country.

6                 Amateur sport, especially TT, in Europe is mostly run by retired persons who basically take on the work as non-paying jobs. They can do this as their welfare system allows people to retire when they are still healthy and capable of working for several hours in a week. In USA, retirees tend to do just that, retire or if they are poor, work until they drop dead. So they don’t have the extensive volunteer system to run amateur sport as in Europe.

7                 Americans don’t understand team-based league systems for sports as Europeans do. Their top sports operate a vague league system but there’s no promotion or relegation, so new clubs cannot get a look-in. There are big clubs, but they operate as businesses within a Franchise which protects them. It’s basically a monopoly. So for TT to have a competition worthy of wide viewing it would have to be within a professional franchise system. They then would be competing for investment with profitable business schemes. Amateur sport in the US just not compare very well with European amateur sport because American culture, politics, finance and welfare system does not allow it.

This is a long way to explain that this match does not represent the best of US TT but is a couple of levels below their top ‘division’.

Counter arguments are welcome for this totally non-scientific and un-researched viewpoint.

Indeed, experts say raising an Olympian — or seeking Olympic glory on one’s own — is an extremely pricey proposition, especially when measured over the period of years it takes to get to and then compete at the games. At best, say athletes and others connected to the Olympics, it’s easily a six-figure “investment” – with no guarantee of a “return” (meaning a medal or an endorsement deal) – when factoring in the costs of equipment, coaching and travel.