Growing Pains of the FIBA Worlds

First off, I'm back. 4 months is a pretty long time not to blog.

This post is actually for expressing my frustration with the FIBA Worlds. It kind of pains me that it is not getting the same response from the audience as the FIFA World Cup. Yes, I know that the World Cup as gotten its reputation and value from the years and years that great games and tournaments have been played, and the FIBA Worlds is still far from that level. Maybe they have to some things like...

1. Get a catchier name. World Cup sounds better than World Championships just by number of syllables alone.

2. Play in better venues. FIFA has venues built for the games and cities only get to host if they put in the right amount of money. I'm thinking that FIBA Worlds should have audiences like the All-Star game in Dallas.

3. Convince countries to send their A-team every time. Now, I know the rest of the world is still miles from catching up with the US, unlike in football where there is more parity, but a couple of upsets here and there and the world will take notice. Then all the stars will draw the crowds, and it's bigger by miles than what we know today.

This year's Worlds seems to be a bit exciting with all the upsets taking place. However, sad to say, it seems that there are only a few contenders: the US, Spain, Argentina and Brazil (just because they almost tripped up the US). So the real excitement might only take place comes the semis and that just seems kind of sad.