Watching the US get destroyed…

Watching the US get destroyed in the Ryder Cup last weekend repeatedly conjurred up images of the US basketball team (aka “The Bad Dream Team”) from the Summer Olympics. The parallels are many: a group of players from the US are drawn from their separate teams or individual situations to fight as a team against other national teams. Given the manner in which these players are measured in the US ($ on the PGA tour, NBA star status), the US teams should dominate the other countries’ entries, but are beaten multiple times, sometimes handily. Symptoms appear to be lack of team cohesion, lack of team energy and signs of ambivalence.

What gives?