i think there's a number of reasons why americans aren't winning any longer - some of them are a sense of entitlement, instant gratification, and too many choices which leads to distractions.
look at MLB. so many of the stars come from poor nations such as the Dominican Republic, Mexico, etc. there's no sense of entitlement in these countries. there's no such thing as instant gratification there where baseball is seen as their only chance to get out of their impoverish situation. because many of the ball players are from poor families some of who can barely afford to feed and cloth their families, they certainly can't afford PS3, Xbox, Wii, iPads, etc so for entertainment, the kids focus all their time playing baseball. so from a very young age, these kids spend every afternoon and all weekend on the baseball diamond. they see their heroes who are now stars in MLB which only fuels their desire and passion to try harder to improve.
kids in the US? there's too many choices, too many distractions and way too many luxuries have made them soft. if they get bored or arent' good enough at baseball, they can try basketball or football or something else. and if they aren't good enough at that? who cares? playing Wii, PS3 is just as much fun and easier and parents are very willing to buy this stuff for their kids.
you see the same thing happening with basketball and football. a lot of the NBA stars come from impoverished families from the inner city.
it's no surprise that the are so many serbians, another war torn country, close to the top in tennis. think about this...americans get in their car and drive everywhere. we barely ever walk anywhere. europeans do alot more walking and don't drive nearly as much. while they're walking, burning off calories and building muscles/endurance, americans are sitting in their cars in traffic, eating fast food, gaining weight and losing fitness. europeans have a better fitness base to build from starting from a very early age.
adversity builds character. adversity pushes the human spirit to strive for and achieve more. adversity encourages us to push the boundaries. it's through adversity that we learn about who we are and what we're made of. right now even in this economic recession, life is too easy and comfortable compared to what people in lesser developed countries have to go through every day.
