Underdog?
Is underdog really the right word for Cuba?
Aside from the disadvantage of not having any MLB players on their team, Cuba has gotten the gold in the past three World Cup Baseball's, and the gold in the past three Olympics. Granted that this is petty amatuer shit compared to the majors, but Cuba is a team not used to losing and they're a team that (from an international perspective) is expected to do well.
I wonder if underdog is the right word for them? Maybe the word is disorganized, or unfocused, or bush league -but underdog?
Come to think of it, Robert from 26thparallel said it best in a Babalu post:
The Cuba team is, "a bunch of Glorifed Amatuers."
1 comment:
Well, setting everything else aside for the moment I'd say that from a sporting standpoint the Cuban team was an underdog going into the WBC. They were not expected to get out of the second round playing in the same pool as Puerto Rico (the home team), Venezuela, and The Dominican Republic which are all loaded with major leaguers. I understand that Cuban players are professionals but baseball pundits put the quality of their overall talent as strong AA. Of course they have some legitimate major league talent but they have never faced major league competition. This tournament can not be compared to ones in the past because of the presence of major leaguers.
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