American exceptionalism

[DanaC]

Originally Posted by xoxoxoBruce

Neither do I.
Switching allegiance after a defeat of your team is very bad form.

Well - not so much that - I mean, once England's been knocked out fans usually choose another team to cheer for, in fairness. Sometimes it's one of the other British or Irish teams. Sometimes it's one of the African nations. Sometimes it is America. It's kind of necessary really, given we usually get knocked out fairly fast :P It is rarely a team that we've played against though.

There is definitely a sort of *thinks* not anti-American attitude that's far too strong a way to put it - but a feeling among some that America is too full of its own sense of importance in the world that might play into UT's experience. But more likely when it comes to football I think there's a bit of an attitude of: oh so now you want to play proper football in a world contest do you? Having pretty much shunned it as a 'girl's/kids' game for most of the lifetime of the contest, whilst you superbowled between yourselves.

I think quite a lot of Europeans kind of look down on Americans a bit. Some Brits too. Silly really. I think for some there's a sense of Americans as not as sophisticated, and a bit brash and unpolished compared to the older cultures that you sprang from :p

But I don't ever recall anybody being 'offended' by the phrase (or even notion) of 'American exceptionalism'. It's not like you say it to us....it's the narrative you tell yourselves.