They are simply missing the point!

By CAM

When one looks into the extent and maturity of professional sport, no country in the world can come even close to the United States of America. Major League Baseball (MLB), made up of the National League and the American League with 30 teams in total, was founded in the 1869. The National Football League (NFL), made up of the American Football Conference and National Football Conference and comprising of 32 teams was founded in 1920! The NBA (National Basketball Association) and the NHL (National Hockey League) in their own right have a tremendous amount of history and are structured in a similar fashion.

While these organizations include teams from the United States and Canada, they have had in their respective rosters several international players from the very early days. For example, Joe Quinn of Australia played for the St. Louis Maroons in April 1884!  Today, it is common to see players from Latin America and Japan in the MLB and players from Europe in the NBA and NHL.

While there are certain defining rules and guidelines set by the sporting bodies, the independent franchises operate like corporations. It is completely their business as to which player they choose to contract and how much they choose to pay for his services. Whether the New York Yankees end up with players from a specific country or not is entirely based on what they determine is right for them as a team to win the World Series.

Having said this, it is very possible that in 2010, there are absolutely no players contracted from Japan (for example) into any of the NBA franchises. If Kenshin Kawakami is not signed by the Atlanta Braves in 2010, one does not for see Japanese baseball fans to be burning American flags on the streets of Tokyo!! One definitely does not expect any diplomatic backlash nor does one expect President Barack Obama and Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama to sit down and mull this over!!

If you think otherwise, you are simply missing the point!

I am forced to give you the reader, the above preface in order to make my point regarding the recent row with the IPL selections. If I were a Sohail Tanvir fan for example, I am justified in objecting to him not being selected by the Rajasthan Royals or any other team for that matter. However, I must also understand that the team management will put a team together that can maximize their chances of winning the IPL championship. It is never about any one specific player. And it is definitely never about any one specific country. At the end of the day, to hire or not to hire is between the team and the player. India, as a country, has nothing to do with it. Pakistan, as a country, has nothing to do with it.

And that my friends, is the point!