Graks, thats just American opportunism. They want to be on the side of someone who wins. Obviously you're going to opt to support Beckham over some rubbish American football player.
I don't think so. I mean, we have american clubs here. And they don't compete internationally.... so you could cheer for the best American players and not have them be losers.
I think it's because we cheer for personalities and stories more than we cheer for nationalities.
Forumla 1 racing is full of foreign drivers and we cheer for them. The NHL is full of foreign players and we cheer for them.
Again, I tell you, it's because Amercan's trace their roots back several generations to other countries, and our country is full of people from other countries. We have mixed races and nationalities. We don't have a close nit group the way many other nations do.
We even identify ourselves with our states as much as our countries.
It's not the same culture. We really don't care as much about where a person is from as foreign countries do. We just care that they are talented and entertaining.
Hell, look at how much hollywood loves foreign actors and actresses. Ian McKellan, Ewan McGregor, Mel Gibson, Russel Crowe, Emma Thompson, Penelope Cruz, etc etc.
Edit: Also, there are several foreign players on the Clippers, and I cheer for them. And Clippers sure as fuck don't win much.