I hate to flame on this subject, but anyone seriously interested in America's Cup should be looking to get pissed off and contact people that are involved in fielding America's team(s)... and definitely sending letters to US Sailing and the USSFoundation
http://www.ussailing.org/ussf/ . This year's single entry in the America's Cup race, Team BMW Oracle
http://bmworacleracing.com , was really a prime representation of the lack of character that has over- run so much of the United States in the past two decades. Speaking as a former public school educator - someone who is ashamed to have a president that is surely not as smart as most of my neighbors - and as an avid sailing enthusiast... I can't understand why, with regard to the oldest sporting trophy, we are not outraged at the performance (or lack of) that has undergone our participation in seeking this important international reflection of our country.
A brief look at the crew of this year's US entry will reveal a ship full of foreigners... mostly Australian's (the defenders and modern choke holders of the cup). See the following to view USA's crew members:
http://www.americascup.com/en/americascup/teams/index.php?idContent=13821
Only the fat-cat Afterguard are American's. Instead of waiting until too late to make Chris Dickson walk the plank the US should have sought a crew of America's to recapture the longest held US trophy. This approach to American pride would have found us placing ads to hire Germans to fight Hitler. How can you even respect the idea of recapturing America's Cup when the opposition fights the battle for you? I am not a bigot or a racist… unless believing that in terms of a competition where teams represent a country, team-members ought to be from that country or have some direct connection to it in terms of their heritage.
It is a sad day... and has been for some time in the United States. As a teacher in our nation's schools I struggled over the past two decades to resist the melting away of our children's character in the face of a society that cares too little and understands even less about the battle still facing us in the world. Our country is course to become the Rome of history books in 3000 AD.
I hope people will contact the USSF and make a plea for making our next opportunity at The Cup less about how much we can spend and more about how much pride we can rebuild into the effort to make this again a reflection of the character of the United States. I believe an effort to make the America’s Cup a mission to recapture pride in America, with our own people fighting the battle, and our heritage as a nation on the line, would promote widespread interest and support from a nation looking for a light on the horizon.
Shame on us for our efforts in this year’s Cup and for those that supported such an effort.
